Understanding a child’s learning disabilities

‘Dyslexia’, a word made common in Aamir Khan’s film ‘Taare Zameen Par’, does not make much sense to most of us. But, it is the need of the hour that this term is clarified in simple language. All of us would have come across children who speak well, are smart and intelligent, but have difficulty […]

‘Dyslexia’, a word made common in Aamir Khan’s film ‘Taare Zameen Par’, does not make much sense to most of us. But, it is the need of the hour that this term is clarified in simple language.

All of us would have come across children who speak well, are smart and intelligent, but have difficulty with studies or classroom learning in particular. Such difficulties may lead to behavioural and emotional problems, leaving both parents and teachers puzzled and confused. This article is an attempt to educate teachers, parents or anyone who is puzzled with ‘What is wrong with this child?’, ‘Why does he/she not learn academics like others?’, ‘How do I help them learn’?

We may have also noticed that some children are not able to read fluently. They read by spelling each word, letter by letter. There are other children who can read the text well but cannot make out what the main idea is. They do not understand how various ideas, people and events relate to each other and to themselves. These are children who may spend considerable amount of time studying or preparing for tests but perform badly because they are unable to arrange and prioritise information in their minds. This is also visible in their writing which is often poorly organised and incoherent. The writing may also show signs of irregular size of letters, inconsistent spacing between letters and words.

Some children display confusion with directions of left and right or behind, before, up, down, in and out. They find it hard to follow directions in getting from one place to another. They may also have difficulty in understanding when more than one instruction is given at a time.

The teacher community from time to time comes across students who are a puzzle to them. As they do not have any visible disability, they are labelled as lazy, not interested in studies and are subjected to punishment. They get teased by their peers and some also come under mental strain. Their self-esteem is affected and even though they try very hard, they remain underachievers in academics.

Approximately 10% to 12% of all school-going children have difficulty with classroom learning. These difficulties are known as specific learning disabilities (SLD) or learning disabilities commonly known as Dyslexia.

Learning disability (LD) is a neurological condition which affects the functioning of the brain in a minimal way. The processing of information that one receives through the senses is affected. It is an umbrella term used for problems that interfere with learning basic skills such as reading, writing, math or motor planning. It also affects the higher level skills such as memory, attention, time management and organisation.

Children with LD have average or above average intelligence. They face challenges with studies because of the break down in their learning process. It is not a type of mental retardation as some people mistakenly assume it to be.

Types of LD
· Dyslexia – It is the most common and well known SLD related to reading
· Dysgraphia – Difficulty with producing neat, legible and expressive written output in certain duration of time.
· Dyscalculia – Difficulty with numbers, doing arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts.
· Dyspraxia – Difficulty with motor planning affecting body movements.
Characteristics of children with LD
· Have particular difficulty with reading, writing, spelling and math.
· Have difficulty with kicking or catching the ball.
· Write 14 as 41 and confuses ‘b’ for ‘d’ ‘n’ for ‘u’
· Have difficulty in telling left from right.
· Have difficulty remembering the order of the days of the week or months of the year.
· Have history of delays in speech, making sentences or pronouncing words correctly.
· Have difficulty in remembering tables and alphabet.
· Having difficulty in following multiple instructions.
· Has difficulty with attention.

The way forwards

Remedial education is the answer to correct the above deficits we need to understand the difficulties the child is facing with classroom learning and teach him the way he learns. Identifying his strengths and weaknesses and using the strength to overcome the weakness.

Remedial teaching understands that there is no one right way to teach the 3 R’s. The teacher’s goal is to provide instructions and learning opportunities in her classroom which will ensure maximum growth in academics for each child.

The teachers have the power to influence the lives of their students hence it is important that the teacher is aware of their learning style and individual instructional need.

— Farida Raj
(The writer is a Remedial Educator at Centre for Special Education)

---

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.
Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .