Education Care

A learning disability is a problem that the brain has in processing certain kinds of information. This information may take the form of verbal, written, or numerical cues. While these problems can’t be cured, they can be effectively dealt with through various strategies. People with learning problems often go on to live highly successful lives, but first they must identify what type of disability they have and how to work with it. The following is a listing of the most common learning disabilities and their symptoms.
Dyslexia: This is the most common and well-known learning disability in the United States. People with dyslexia have problems reading and/or understanding written language due to directional or sequencing problems. Symptoms of dyslexia may include: late talking, trouble learning the alphabet, poor spelling, and overreliance on memorization.
Dyscalculia: Those with dyscalculia find it hard to understand the basic principles and practices of mathematics. Some indicators of dyscalculia include: difficulty learning numbers, mixing up mathematical symbols, and having trouble with numerical order.
Dysgraphia: This learning disability is characterized by the inability to write within a set space, such as a lined piece of paper. The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) categorizes this disorder as an output problem, caused by lack of control of the small muscles that dictate fine motor skills. Possible symptoms of dysgraphia include: late development of fine motor skills, poor handling of writing tools, and illegible handwriting.
Auditory and Visual Perception Disabilities: People with these kinds of learning problems are able to see and hear without difficulty, but still find it trying to understand language. Thus, this is a problem with how the brain interprets language cues. Those with auditory perception disabilities have a hard time telling the difference between various sounds (or phonemes), especially when more than one sound occurs at a time. Those with visual processing problems may encounter one or more of the following obstacles: transposing letters, not knowing which letter or symbol to focus on first, skipping letters, sentences, or even paragraphs, rereading the same passage over and over again, and poor depth perception.
Memory Disabilities: People with memory problems have a hard time retaining or retrieving audio or visual information. They may be unable to recall a statement that someone has recently made to them or a passage that they have just finished reading. This inability to access one’s short-term memory makes it difficult to input information into one’s long-term memory. A person who has issues with integrating information may understand individual facts perfectly but has trouble incorporating them into larger systems of logic. These individuals might be criticized for being unable to “see the big picture.”

So your child has been diagnosed as having a learning disability. What’s your next move? You may feel disappointed or discouraged, but you need to realize that these feelings are temporary and shouldn’t be communicated to your child. While it’s important that you acknowledge your feelings, make sure that you do so with an appropriate person, such as your spouse, partner or a close friend, not your child. Children have very fragile self-esteem and they tend to internalize things, so parents will want to avoid giving their children any sort of negative messages about their learning disability. Otherwise, parents run the risk of having their children think that they’re somehow at fault for their learning problems. A much better and more productive way to handle this situation is to be as positive and nurturing as possible. This is easily accomplished through the
following simple steps:
1. Inform yourself
The more you know about your child’s learning disability, the easier it will be for you to deal with it effectively. There are a host of excellent online
resources available to parents of children with learning disabilities. Along with excellent articles on everything from treatment options to an easy-to-understand breakdown of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), these sites feature links to
local learning disability specialists and support groups.
2. Show a little sympathy
Keep in mind that any frustration you may feel is small in comparison to what your child is going through. After all, he or she is the one that has to
learn the strategies necessary to making the most of his or her educational opportunities. The best you can do is support your child and have faith in his or her perseverance. Even if a particular treatment option doesn’t work, know that there are others available and don’t give up. Hope that you will find one that works for your child.
3. Look on the bright side
Sure, things may look bleak at first, but keep in mind how lucky you are to have caught the disability when you did. Some people manage to make it all the way to adulthood without knowing that they have a learning disorder, which causes them to experience unnecessary difficulty in school and at work. You should also make sure to communicate to your child that their learning disability is just one aspect of their lives. It’s not the entirety of who they are, although it may take considerable time and effort to work through these issues. Keeping the problem in perspective will allow your child to do what’s necessary to overcome it without being overwhelmed by the challenge this poses.
4. Enhance the positive
Focus on all the things your child can do, rather than what they’re currently unable to. This doesn’t just mean praising what they have no trouble doing, but every step they make along the way in learning how to work with their disability. Any progress they make should be noted and praised, which will encourage them to keep on going. When your child feels like you’re backing them, it will be that much easier for them to reach their potential.

Have you heard of Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell? Of course yes, you know them! They are the great inventors whose inventions are still talked about, and their inventions have paved the way for several new innovations. But did you know what was common to all three of them? They all suffered from learning disability sometime in their lives.

The spread of awareness on issues like learning disability in India is very recent. There is still inadequacy in the rehabilitation services and special education programmes. Even if there are facilities, the lack of awareness prevents them from getting utilized. A better awareness of learning disorder and at the same time a better awareness of culturally acceptable means for treating the affected children can only decrease the burden on affected children, their families and society in India as a whole.

Learning Disability is a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intellectual and social functioning. Arrested or incomplete development of mind might be considered to mean whatever caused the disability occurred in childhood or before.

LD can create a crisis between children and parents, and often the quality of the attachment is affected in a negative way. Parents are special in their own way but parents of special children with disabilities are uniquely special. Always remember that parents are role models for their children, and children are quick to enact the behaviour of their parents. To develop a positive outlook in your child, it is first important to be optimistic yourself. A simple change in your attitude will transform the parenting of your child with a learning disability from challenging to easygoing.

It is important to diagnose learning disability to decide the appropriate line of care. An early diagnosis will help in treating the manageable physical and psychiatric conditions. In some conditions genetic counselling is also required. Besides psychiatrists, even paediatrician, general practitioners and other hospital specialists may also help in diagnosing learning disability.

“The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995,” which came into force in the year 1996, is a significant step in the direction of ensuring equal opportunities for people with disabilities and their full participation in the nation building. This law is a landmark and grants provisions like education, employment and vocational training, job reservation, research and manpower development, creation of barrier-free environment, rehabilitation of persons with disability, unemployment allowance for the disabled, special insurance scheme for the disabled employees and establishment of homes for persons with severe disability etc.

Your positive attitude and your efforts along with proper moral support can successfully help you or your child to overcome this disability. Always remember that even an ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ says ‘I-M-POSSIBLE.’ So, this year on the Learning Disabilities Awareness Month, get yourself abreast of the information on learning disability and measures to overcome it.

One of the best and easiest ways to inform yourself about your child’s learning disability is by reading a good book on the subject. There is a ton of literature available about learning problems, so it may be a bit of daunting task to choose something to start with. Luckily, there are many informed parents and specialists out there who have already waded through this flood of information, so you don’t have to dive in on your own. The following is a list of written resources that have made it past the critical gaze of those in the know:

1. No Easy Answers: The Learning Disabled Child at Home and at School, Sally L. Smith, $23 (paperback), available at Amazon.com

This has been the book that parents of learning disabled children have turned to for more than fifteen years now. Smith is the parent of a learning disabled child, the founder and director of the Lab School, and an education professor at the American University, so she’s extremely well-qualified to write about this subject. The book covers a wide range of information, including a look at how learning disabilities are diagnosed and tips on how to make sure your child is getting the education he or she deserves. The updated version includes sections on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), ADD, and ADHD.

2. All Kinds of Minds: A Young Student’s Book About Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders, Melvin D. Levine, $28.70 (paperback), available at Amazon.com

Even though this book is geared toward young readers, it’s a valuable resource for both parents and children to learn from together. Levine is a professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School and a staunch child advocate. Here, he introduces different types of learning disabilities through stories told from the point of view of five elementary school students. Each student talks about their classroom experiences, their struggles and triumphs. This approach will help children with learning problems to see that they’re not alone and that there are strategies that can they can implement to ease their scholastic difficulties.

3. Helping Children Overcome Learning Disabilities: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents and Teachers, Jerome Rosner, $18.95 (paperback), available at Amazon.com

The approach of this book is different from most others on the subject. For starters, the author suggests that parents and teachers avoid using the label “learning disabled” and instead focus on the specific problems that their children or students face. Rosner is a professor of pediatric optometry at the University of Houston and has written several books on working with children who have learning issues. Readers will appreciate his accessible explanations of each type of learning difficulty, as well as his positive and practical solution-based approach.

The following article includes pertinent information that may cause you to reconsider what you thought you understood. The most important thing is to study with an open mind and be willing to revise your understanding if necessary.

Complimenting those with learning disabilities is important since these people are struggling harder than the rest. Often when a person has a learning disability, they show low self-esteem. The mind is often confused. Often the person ponders on why he was centered out and labeled different from the rest.

This means that this child has not grasp the meaning of different. Different is a beautiful thing. Different means that a person is completely or partially different from others. According to British definition, different is a good thing. We have different races, ethnics, class, gender and so forth. If we all were alike what a miserable place, we would live. On the other hand, the difference sparked minds, invoked hatred, and created chaos continually down through the centuries. We are all EQUAL and this is a fact that none of us can deny.

We live in a diverse world where prejudice still lingers through the years. Mentally ill patients, people of different race and so on are targets for persecution. Women have struggled down through the years to become noticed for their equality. In a battling world, is it any wonder some of us have learning disability.

In this article, I will separate learning disability, since some patients are misdiagnosed. Learning disabilities means the person might struggle to learn particular subjects, due to mental interruptions. The person will show continuous signs of learning disability. However, when a person struggles in one area of learning and not in other areas, disability is inappropriate in some instances.

When a person struggles in a particular area of scholastic skill it may well be the material that is hindering the learning. It could also be a belief that was cultivated that hinders the child from learning. For example, beliefs stem from religious roots, even if a person does not have a religious family background.

Religion is the number one source that brings about confusion, since at birth we are giving the gift of intuition and insight. This natural gift deteriorates down through the years since influences poses a large problem. Influences will break down beliefs even if the belief is fact. The learning tool for this problem is yet to be discovered. However, convictions can go a long way to break down influences.

I will not cover this area of concern, since my future book in the making will provide a wealth of details. However, influences and religion is the underlying root of most problems in the world. By no means am I discouraging religion, rather asking to consider the religious teachers carefully to avoid corrupted influences.

Tip:

“It is very common to have a learning disability along with ADHD. In fact, research shows that thirty percent of people with ADHD also have a learning disability. Beyond learning disabilities, over fifty percent of individuals with ADHD have some other type of brain-based disorder. This is why depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder and other similar disorders are higher than normal in ADD clients.”

We were all created as individuals. When a child grows, influences, which are strong persuasive voices and behaviors, affect the child. If the child notices good or bad behaviors in influences, and notices a consistency of rewards coming to bad behaviors?

I can stop here and you can fill in the blank. I hope that this will help you learn. Life is filled with lies, chaos, despair, hate and so forth. Although prejudice is slowly making its way to the back, it is still creating learning problems for millions around the world.

If your child is suffering with a learning disability, and has been diagnosed with ADHD, be sure to continue regular medical checkups. I have a good feeling that somewhere down the road physiological treatments for ADHD patients will be more in focus.

From the beginning, the DSM-IV was accurate when they linked ADHD to the central nervous system. However, when the law increased the symptoms of ADHD, more studies leaned toward mental illness and learning disability. Remembering these people are searching for answers them self can help you as a parent, find answers to your child’s problem.

Don’t ever give up if your child is struggling to learn. Instead, keep on searching for answers by keeping track of his symptoms and continuing medical checkups. If your child attends therapy, do not believe everything you are told by the expert. Rather, take it upon your self to research the marketplace to learn at your own level.

Now you can understand why there’s a growing interest in learning disabilities. When people start looking for more information about learning disabilities, you’ll be in a position to meet their needs.