Cause
of Learning Disability
You
are here:
Home
> Children
with Special Needs
-> What Causes Learning Disability
|
When
parents get to face the fact that their child
has a learning disorder, they cannot help but
ask how their child got it, why, and what caused
it.
Scientists
are in the process of studying the causes of
learning
disability (LD) as they are also in
the pursuit of finding ways to prevent it.
To date, there
is actually no known exact cause of learning
disability amidst chasing down probable and
contributing factors leading to LD. There are
simply too many matters to consider before pinning
down its cause with detailed accuracy.
|
|
Mental health experts
stress this to parents who insist on looking at the
past for reasons that could have led their child to
this condition. It is strongly advised that the family
accept the situation, look positively forward and
help find ways to improve the child's condition instead.
Scientists once believed
that all learning disabilities rooted from one specific
area of the brain. Further research backed by the
NIMH proved that the causes are far more complex and
varied than arising from a single neurological malfunction.
Research showed that
different regions of the brain encounter difficulty
to piece together the information making it hard to
"intellectualize" them.
A leading
theory gaining popularity explains that learning disabilities
emanate from slight disturbances in brain structures
and functions. Oftentimes, these disturbances are
believed to begin prior birth.
Errors
affecting the development of fetal brain
As the
fetal brain develops from a few universal cells during
pregnancy, it grows into a new and complex structure
known as neurons. These are billions of intricately
interconnected nerve cells with specialized structures.
It is during this cell evolution that things may go
haywire in the developmental process that can alter
or affect the formation or interconnection of the
neurons.
Brain
stem forms in the early pregnancy stages which controls
breathing and digestion, the propellers of life. What
goes to develop later is a deep ridge that separates
the thinking part of the brain or cerebrum into two
- the right and left brain hemispheres. Other areas
follow to develop associated with the senses such
as sound, sight, and those with thinking, emotion
and attention.
Nerve
cells grow and move to their necessary places to form
brain structures forming networks along other brain
parts. Information is shared through these networks
transmitting them to other regions of the brain.
Development
of the brain is very vulnerable to disturbances during
the entire pregnancy. The fetus may not survive when
disruption happens in the early stage, or if it happens
to survive, the borne infant may suffer various disabilities
and even mental retardation. If disturbances occur
on the later stages of pregnancy where cells have
started to develop accordingly, these disruptions
may leave errors on cell location, connection and
composition. Some scientific experts are convinced
that these errors affecting fetal brain development
are the culprit of learning disorders. All brain structures
are present during birth.
Cracking
brain development interferences
NIMH scientists
and other fellow researchers are engaging in long
hours studying the brain development's natural process
in the hopes of understanding the complex process
and structure better when disruption or irregularities
arise. By gaining full understanding of the process,
scientists can start to identify and pinpoint exactly
where things will go wrong.
In the
course of these studies, other factors are being looked
into such as genetic issues, abuse of substances,
problems encountered during pregnancy and harmful
toxins that can affect brain development.
Genetic
Issues
It is
a fact that learning disabilities have a tendency
to run in the family that makes it a genetic issue.
Children with difficulty in reading when it comes
to hearing sounds of words usually take after a parent
experiencing related difficulty. But of course, the
parent's difficulty already takes a different form
in the child. This can be seen in a parent with a
writing disorder having a child who has expressive
language disorder. It goes to show that specific learning
disorders are unlikely to be inherited directly. A
slight brain dysfunction of a parent can lead to a
child having full blown learning disability.
Aside
from genetics, learning disability may actually be
influenced by the environment of the family seeming
the condition to be hereditary. If a parent has expressive
language disorders, tendency is they do not communicate
with their children well, or their language is distorted,
they end up in less talk. This makes the child unable
to acquire a sense of good language while growing
up, making the child appear learning disabled.
Substance
Abuse: Alcohol, Smokes and Drugs
Pregnant
women are strongly advised not to take drugs, drink
alcohol and smoke tobacco or cigarettes as these will
affect the baby's health since these are directly
passed onto the fetus. The U.S. Public Health Service
warns against the dangers of this unhealthy practice.
Data show
that mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more prone
to delivering smaller babies less than 5 pounds. This
little weight makes the baby susceptible to health
problems. LD is one of them. Alcohol also shrinks
the chances of a baby to be born normal since alcohol
can distort neurons that are just starting to develop.
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a result of heavy alcohol
intake during pregnancy. This is a condition that
causes intellectual impairment, physical defects,
low birth weight and hyperactivity in a child. Alcohol
can also affect the child's learning, memory and attention.
It is better to steer clear from alcohol during pregnancy.
Conceiving
women doing drugs especially cocaine in smoke-version
called "cracks" are posing extreme dangers to their
baby. These drugs can affect the development of the
child's brain receptors. Research shows that drug
abuse causes receptor damage. The receptors are responsible
for transmitting signals to the brain from our sensory
motors directing us to react to our environment. If
the receptors are damaged, there is difficulty in
understanding sounds, speech and letters. This makes
researchers believe that learning disorders and even
ADHD are associated with faulty or damaged receptors.
Pregnancy
and delivery problems
One possible
factor that can be attributed to learning disability
is pregnancy complications. There are cases that the
pregnant woman's immune system gets to react to the
fetus and treats it as an infection. This can lead
to disruption in the child's formation of brain cells
forming in the wrong portion of the brain. Another
factor is when the umbilical cord gets twisted around
the baby's neck temporarily interrupting the supply
of oxygen during delivery. This sudden absence of
oxygen can impair the baby's brain functions that
can lead to conditions of LD.
Environmental
Toxins
A year
after a child's birth, production of neural networks
and new brain cells still occur. A one-year old child's
cells are still prone to development disruptions.
As researchers
explore relative factors leading to LD, their studies
also look into environmental toxins that can be detrimental
to a child's brain development. The presence of harmful
toxins found in the environment like lead and cadmium
are still the highlights of neurological studies.
Cadmium, an element used to create steel products,
can mix with the soil where we grow food, while lead,
a former component in gasoline and paint, can still
be traced in water pipes. The National Institutes
of Health sponsored a study to see the effects of
exposing animals to lead. Rats exposed to lead showed
significant changes in brainwaves reflecting slow
learning ability. Lead exposure caused the animals
to exhibit prolonged learning problems even when the
lead has long been taken out.
Children
with cancer undergoing radiation and chemotherapy
can also be subject to learning problems since their
cells get affected in the process. LD is more exhibited
in children with brain tumors going through radiation.
Back to
Top ^
|
