Academics are a significant part of any child's life and excelling in academics is an integral first step to success in life as each future step tends to be contingent upon how you may have performed in your school. Very frequently, however, we do come across children who tend to have some difficulties related to learning. It's aspects though known to many, particularly through the movie Taare Zameen Par, still tend to baffle many parents and students alike, as they are not always aware of what needs to be done or what can be done.
The fact is that the process of learning can be impeded due to various factors and at various stages. Problems can happen on account of either a difficulty in understanding or comprehension, or due to difficulties in grasping concepts or due to problems in retention due to the use of ineffective strategies for memorising.
Numerous times, even though as parents we understand where the problem resides, we are not able to either explan it to the child or to the school or we are not able to develop alternate approaches to teaching which would be ale to take care of the deficits. Learning disabilities form a significant proportion of the problems that children face, accounting for about 2-3% of the problems experienced by school aged children.
What is Learning Disability
Learning Disability, or LD, as it is commonly referred to, is a neurological condition, which essentially means that there is a difference in the way in which a child's brain is wired to learn and grasp concepts. The problem in learning can be in reading, spelling, writing, comprehension, mathematical abilities and in memorising.
Having a Learning Disability does not indicate a problem in intellectual capacity or intelligence. In fact, the criteria for being diagnosed with LD includes having a normal intellectual quotient or IQ, which rubbishes the myth that many individuals have relating to intellectual deficits in thos echo have LD.
What are the Common Types of Learning Disabilities
LD consists of different subtypes which include the following:
Dysgraphia - it is a writing disability in which an individual finds it difficult to structure and form alphabets and words and also finds it difficult to write within a defined space.
Dyslexia - is a condition in which individuals have a difficulty in reading and understanding written words.
Dyscalculia - is a difficulty in grasping and working with numbers and mathematical concepts.
Auditory and Visual Processing Disorders - these are conditions in which individuals have difficulty processing language despite normal vision and hearing.
What Are the Signs to Identify a Learning Disability
Learning problems in children can be identified as early as in preschool. For a lot of children who are at a young age, disabilities tend to show themselves in the form of difficulty in communication with a slow rate in the development of speech due to which children also do not engage in play with other children. As a child grows older and starts pre-primary and primary classes, the difficulty tends to be in forming alphabets and numbers, with frequent reversals or mirroring of the same.there tends to be a confusion between words or arithmetic signs along with a problem in memorisation.
In middle school, spellings become a significant complaint and writing can also be a concern wherein a child refuses to write, ignores grammar and punctuation or at times reading may become a difficult task with a child not being able to utilize phonetics to form words and would ignore punctuation while reading as well. In high school these problems only worsen and the adolescent experiences a worsening of grades at each subsequent level and conceptual understanding of concepts tends to be weak making picking up of new material more difficult. As a result, some of these children can become more inattentive as they are not able to understand and grasp things or they can have behavioral problems as their restlessness may increase as well.
What Can You Do?
As a parent it is important that you be able to pick up the early signs of a problem with learning. Frequently we do not give much weightage to what is being told to us by teachers as we may feel that they are not doing their job well. However, as a parent it is your responsibility to ensure that if there are problems which are being reported by the school then you too try and look into them. If problems are ignored for too long they only worsen with time and tend to impinge into behavior and conduct issues in the future if left unchecked at an early stage.
Discussing with the class teacher and the school counsellor is an important first step and if the same feedback is being received from everyone regarding your child's academic performance, then it would be important that you consult a Clinical Psychologist registered with the RCI to get an evaluation which would give an accurate understanding of where the problem lies so that work can start in helping solve the difficult areas for your child.
In most cases, where the problem is purely learning related, the work tends to circle around a special educator. When there are motor issues or problems with inattention or distractibility, a lot of times an occupational therapist may be needed in conjunction with a special educator. And in case there are behavioral problems, the work with the child would be done in collaboration with the psychologist who did the evaluation.
At each stage, regardless of who the specialist is who is working with your child, do ensure that you are also involved and know about the work that is happening. Typically in working in the area of academics, motor functioning or even behavioral problems, the support of the parents is strongly indicated to ensure that what is being worked upon in sessions is also being followed at home. So you should ensure that you too understand the processes that are being utilized with your child so you too can implement the same, which would allow for a smooth transition when session with the child need to be suspended as well.
Do also ensure that your specialist is in touch with your child's teacher or school counsellor so that everyone who is working with your child is on the same page. Frequently, the mistake that happens is that there are too many people who are working but no one is working collaboratively with each other which creates significant problems for the child who ends up being pulled in different directions.
So be an advocate for your child and also remember that the ultimate aim is your child's enhanced performance at school along with behavioral competence!
What is Learning Disability
Learning Disability, or LD, as it is commonly referred to, is a neurological condition, which essentially means that there is a difference in the way in which a child's brain is wired to learn and grasp concepts. The problem in learning can be in reading, spelling, writing, comprehension, mathematical abilities and in memorising.
Having a Learning Disability does not indicate a problem in intellectual capacity or intelligence. In fact, the criteria for being diagnosed with LD includes having a normal intellectual quotient or IQ, which rubbishes the myth that many individuals have relating to intellectual deficits in thos echo have LD.
What are the Common Types of Learning Disabilities
LD consists of different subtypes which include the following:
Dysgraphia - it is a writing disability in which an individual finds it difficult to structure and form alphabets and words and also finds it difficult to write within a defined space.
Dyslexia - is a condition in which individuals have a difficulty in reading and understanding written words.
Dyscalculia - is a difficulty in grasping and working with numbers and mathematical concepts.
Auditory and Visual Processing Disorders - these are conditions in which individuals have difficulty processing language despite normal vision and hearing.
What Are the Signs to Identify a Learning Disability
Learning problems in children can be identified as early as in preschool. For a lot of children who are at a young age, disabilities tend to show themselves in the form of difficulty in communication with a slow rate in the development of speech due to which children also do not engage in play with other children. As a child grows older and starts pre-primary and primary classes, the difficulty tends to be in forming alphabets and numbers, with frequent reversals or mirroring of the same.there tends to be a confusion between words or arithmetic signs along with a problem in memorisation.
In middle school, spellings become a significant complaint and writing can also be a concern wherein a child refuses to write, ignores grammar and punctuation or at times reading may become a difficult task with a child not being able to utilize phonetics to form words and would ignore punctuation while reading as well. In high school these problems only worsen and the adolescent experiences a worsening of grades at each subsequent level and conceptual understanding of concepts tends to be weak making picking up of new material more difficult. As a result, some of these children can become more inattentive as they are not able to understand and grasp things or they can have behavioral problems as their restlessness may increase as well.
What Can You Do?
As a parent it is important that you be able to pick up the early signs of a problem with learning. Frequently we do not give much weightage to what is being told to us by teachers as we may feel that they are not doing their job well. However, as a parent it is your responsibility to ensure that if there are problems which are being reported by the school then you too try and look into them. If problems are ignored for too long they only worsen with time and tend to impinge into behavior and conduct issues in the future if left unchecked at an early stage.
Discussing with the class teacher and the school counsellor is an important first step and if the same feedback is being received from everyone regarding your child's academic performance, then it would be important that you consult a Clinical Psychologist registered with the RCI to get an evaluation which would give an accurate understanding of where the problem lies so that work can start in helping solve the difficult areas for your child.
In most cases, where the problem is purely learning related, the work tends to circle around a special educator. When there are motor issues or problems with inattention or distractibility, a lot of times an occupational therapist may be needed in conjunction with a special educator. And in case there are behavioral problems, the work with the child would be done in collaboration with the psychologist who did the evaluation.
At each stage, regardless of who the specialist is who is working with your child, do ensure that you are also involved and know about the work that is happening. Typically in working in the area of academics, motor functioning or even behavioral problems, the support of the parents is strongly indicated to ensure that what is being worked upon in sessions is also being followed at home. So you should ensure that you too understand the processes that are being utilized with your child so you too can implement the same, which would allow for a smooth transition when session with the child need to be suspended as well.
Do also ensure that your specialist is in touch with your child's teacher or school counsellor so that everyone who is working with your child is on the same page. Frequently, the mistake that happens is that there are too many people who are working but no one is working collaboratively with each other which creates significant problems for the child who ends up being pulled in different directions.
So be an advocate for your child and also remember that the ultimate aim is your child's enhanced performance at school along with behavioral competence!
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