Different Learning Disabilities in Children
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Learning time is crucial for all; whether it is a child or an adult, learning makes one grow and succeed in life in a much better way. But consider a person who faces numerous problems and hindrances while learning simple and basic things of life! How discriminated he must be feeling when he is unable to read a simple sentence or when he finds it difficult to tackle a simple math problem! This kind of situations does not occur suddenly but these are most of the times by birth. As soon as the child starts growing, his learning disabilities start coming into existence.
Homework is trouble for every school kid but when a certain area of learning becomes consistently problematic for him, this means that he is suffering from some or the other kind of learning disorder. The sooner you become aware of your child’s problem and you get it treated; the easier and beneficial it becomes. First of all, it is very important to be aware of the kind of learning disabilities your child is facing. Then you have to make sure that they are provided with the right support and training, so that their obstacles could be tackled in a right manner.
What is Learning Disability?
Learning disabilities include a wide variety of learning problems. But then at the same time, it doesn’t indicate a child to be lazy or dumb. A child with learning disability does not lack intelligence or motivation; in fact they are very smart and active in other aspects of life. The main reason behind their learning disability is that their brain responds in a different way; it receives and processes information differently as compared to other normal children. Children with this kind of disability generally find problems while reading, writing, math, reasoning, listening, and speaking. And this is the reason why they sometimes are labelled as slow or dumb in their class.
This is true to the fact that if their disability is not treated at the correct time, then their entire future can be ruined. So if your child has some kind of a problem then don’t be ashamed of it; in fact discuss it with their teachers and try to learn more and more about this problem in general. You alone can pull your child out of this difficult phase and you can even pave the way for success at their school and beyond.
Signs and symptoms of learning disabilities
Let’s have a look at some of the signs and symptoms of learning disabilities and disorders. It differs from one child to another. There are some children who are unable to read and spell; whereas on other hand, there are some who love reading and writing but they find solving a math problem a matter of great difficulty. Besides, there are some children who are unable to understand what others are saying or communicating. So all these problems are very different from each other, but then these all are identified as learning disorders.
Since learning disabilities include different kinds of problems, therefore sometime these become difficult to be identified. Some problems indicate warning signs more commonly than others and some do not. It is only your knowledge about the same that could help you catch a learning disorder early. Only this way you can quickly take action to get your child helped.
Learning disability symptoms in different age groups
Children studying in preschool generally face learning disabilities in pronouncing words. They trouble judging the right word, and learning the alphabet, numbers, colours, shapes, and days of the week is also intricate for them. They face difficulty in rhyming and following directions or learning routines. Controlling crayons, pencils, and scissors or colouring within the lines is a tricky task for them. Besides, buttoning their shirts, using their zippers and tying their shoes are some activities that are never listed on their to-do list.
Similarly, for children up to 4th standard, learning disabilities are again linked to their day to day activities. Like, they find trouble learning the connection between letters and sounds; this unable them to blend sounds to compose words. While reading lessons, they get confused with basic words, consistently misspell words and makes frequent reading errors. For such children, learning basic math concepts is a tough job. Telling time and remembering sequences are not on their list of activities. They are very slow in learning new skills.
For children in grades 5th to 8th, learning disabilities are classified as difficulty with reading comprehension and math skills. They are not able to attend open-ended test questions and word problems. These children in particular, are afraid of reading and writing and they therefore avoids reading aloud. If they are told to read a document, then they spell the same word in different manners. They have poor organizational skills (bedroom, homework, desk is messy and disorganized) and face trouble following classroom discussions and expressing thoughts aloud. Their handwriting is also very poor as they get confused while judging lines and words.
One important thing to remember is that it is not necessary every time, that a child suffering from any of this problem at one point of time has learning disability. When a specific problem becomes consistently uneven in a child and it starts hindering in his ability to master certain skills, only then it could be referred as a learning disability. Therefore being attentive all the times in respect to your child is very important. There comes a development milestone chart; if you keep comparing your child’s development to the indices of this chart, then you can timely know how efficiently he is growing. This way you will also be able to judge any kind of disability in your child (if any) in an early stage. Early detection helps in curing the problems easily.
Different types of Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities are frequently grouped by school-area skill set. Once your child is in school, the common types of learning disorders that more conspicuously revolve around them are reading, writing, or math. Let’s have a look at each one of them.
A child suffering from reading related Learning disabilities is said to be suffering from Dyslexia. Dyslexia is of two types: Basic and comprehensive. The basic reading problems refer to the stage when a child finds it difficult to understand the relationship between sounds, letters and words. On the other hand, reading comprehension problems occur when a child is unable to grasp the meaning of words, phrases, and paragraphs.
A child suffering from writing related learning disabilities is said to be suffering from Dysgraphia. It involves the physical act of writing or the mental activity of understanding and blending information. It basically refers to the stage when a child finds difficulty in forming words and letters. It indicates a struggle for the child when he is told to express and organize his thoughts on paper. Symptoms of a written language learning disability includes neatness and consistency of writing, spelling consistency, accurately copying letters and words and writing organization and coherence.
Then there are children who find difficult solving a math problem; such children are said to be suffering from Dyscalculia. Depending upon the child’s strength and weaknesses, learning disabilities in math vary greatly. It is mainly affected by a language learning disability, or a visual disorder or a difficulty with sequencing, memory or organization. Math-based learning disability might make your child struggle with memorization and organization of numbers, operation signs, and few basic facts about number. They can even find difficulty in understanding counting principles. Analysing a clock and telling time can also be a matter of great difficulty for them.
Other than reading, writing, and math learning disabilities, there exist many other kinds that get impacted due to learning disorders; like difficulties with motor skills (movement and coordination), distinguishing between sounds, understanding spoken language, and interpreting visual information.
A child with learning disabilities in motor skills is said to be suffering from Dyspraxia. He finds difficulty in moving objects and coordinating them. Such learning disabilities make cutting, running, jumping, and ball throwing and catching difficult for them. This is the reason why a motor disability is sometimes also referred to as an “output” activity. This means when the brain is unable to process information correctly while sending it out, then the problem refers to dyspraxia. For proper functioning of your body and brain, it is important to ensure that your brain is able to communicate with the necessary limbs to complete the action.
Motor learning disabilities also include problems with physical abilities that require hand-eye coordination; these include tying shoe laces, holding a pencil or buttoning a shirt.
Other than motor learning disabilities, language and communication learning disabilities are also in relation to the output activity of an individual. Reason behind this is that the brain can understand or produce spoken language only if it is able to organize the thoughts in a right manner. To explain something or to communicate with someone else, your brain has to be active enough to understand the spoken language and to produce an answer to it. Language-based learning disorder includes verbal language skills, like the ability to retell a story and the fluency of speech. If any of these aspects is consistently disturbed in your child, then you can relate your child to be suffering from language and communication learning disabilities.
For instance, your brain is in a position to produce information in the right manner, but even then it is unable to do so. Then not every time we can blame your output features; sometimes the input features can also be at fault. Like your eyes and ears are the primary sources of delivering information to your brain. If either of them is not in a position to work properly, then your learning could definitely suffer. So, with numerous kinds of learning disabilities existing these days, there are plenty of reasons and identifications for them.
So far we’ve seen that school learning is a great way of identifying learning disabilities. Other than this, anxiety, stressful events, depression, emotional trauma, and other conditions that consistently try to affect your concentration level can also make learning a tougher challenge for you.
Ways to fight Against Learning Disabilities
Consulting a paediatrician or a psychiatrist can prove to be beneficial for fighting against learning disabilities but above all, the foremost thing to follow is that try and understand the functioning of your brain. Like if your child is a victim of learning disability, then initially try and understand his brain and its functionality. This way you can find a way to improve and repair the faulty wiring of his brain that disrupts normal lines of communication and makes it difficult to process information easily. As a latest discovery, the science today has introduced numerous ways of understanding the inner workings of the brain. One such crucial discovery that aims to bring new hopes for learning disabilities and disorders is called Neuroplasticity. This discovery refers to the truth that with some procedures and medication, the natural ability of a brain could be changed forever. After performing this procedure, the brain will once again be able to form new connections and generate new brain cells in response to experience and learning.
With the help of this discovery, few groundbreaking treatments for learning disabilities have been developed. Lot many innovative programs have been conducted during which by using strategic brain exercises; the weak cognitive areas of brain have been identified and strengthened. For example, for children who were having difficulty in indentifying different sounds of a word, some latest computer-based learning programs have been performed, which helps in slowing down the sounds so that children could easily and quickly understand them. Moreover, with the help of such programs, very soon, they will be able to gradually increase their speed of comprehension. With the launch of Neuroplasticity, a ray of hope has been generated for all those students with learning disorders, and above this, it is expected that with further research and efforts, very soon there will be treatments that would target the actual causes of learning disabilities.
As far as the parents of such children are concerned; for them it is very important to remember that they have to be positive every time. They have to ensure that their child’s strength is always nurtured, because children with learning disabilities might struggle in one area of learning, but then at the same time they excel in other areas. So parents need to pay high attention to the interests and passions of their child. Only this way they can help and support their child while struggling against the areas of difficulty.
