Motivational and Attribution Problems

Chronic difficulties with academic assignments often lead children with learning disabilities to anticipate failure; success is seen as an unattainable goal no matter how hard they try. Seligman (1992) identifies this outlook as learned helplessness. Youngsters who maintain this attitude frequently give up and will not even attempt to complete the task. As a result, even when success is possible, the individual no longer tries because she has the mindset that failure is inevitable anyway. What individuals believe about the source of their own success or failure on a task is known as attribution. Many students with LD attribute success not to their own efforts but to situations or events beyond their control.

Because of their propensity for academic failure, individuals with learning disabilities tend to become passive or inactive learners. They are not actively involved or engaged in their own learning (Torgeson, 1977) and often fail to demonstrate initiative in the learning process. Swanson (1998) calls these pupils "actively inefficient learners." Motivation is the desire to engage in an activity. Many special education and general education teachers, especially those in middle and high schools, comment that students with learning disabilities are not motivated to learn, and research suggests that this is a common characteristic (Fulk, Brigham, & Lohman, 1998).