There
are two common types of learning disabilities
that commonly occur in children and unfortunately,
this can have a great impact on their learning style
and pacing as well. These disabilities are dyslexia
and dyscalculia.
Of course, it is
common for children to have a difficult time understanding
math concepts or even just reading in early
childhood education classes. This is why you
should not be quick to assume that if your child
is finding it difficult to grasp the concept of
addition, he or she is already suffering a learning
disability.Still, you need to be on your toes because
if this is already a habitual problem that you notice
in your child, then this just might be a learning
disability already.
By definition, learning
disabilities are neurological disorders that
can affect the psychological procedures entailed
in using or processing language. The procedures
affected here can be just one or can be more. These
disabilities make it much more difficult for any
child to read, write, spell, and do the basic calculations
in math.
The sad thing about
learning disabilities is that they are actually
lifelong conditions. However, this does not mean
that if your child is diagnosed with a learning
disability, he or she can never be successful upon
reaching adulthood. In fact, these special children
can still be successful students as long as you,
as parents, understand the disorder extensively
and you are able to instill the proper support that
your child needs.
The very basic thing
you need to do in order to provide the support your
child needs is to get support for yourself as well.
Remember that you are not alone here; there are
many children suffering from learning disabilities
all over the world as well. There are also well-known
cases of successful people today who suffered learning
disabilities as a child. Case in point would be
the renowned Hollywood actor Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise
suffered from dyslexia, a common reading disability,
which implies that the actor would have trouble
reading the scripts prepared for his blockbuster
movies. Yet, look where he is now. And Tom Cruise
is just one of the many people who successfully
conquered their learning disabilities! Thus, the
first thing you need to do is get the support that
you yourself would need.
Dyslexia
As mentioned above,
dyslexia is a condition that can affect the reading
and language ability of a child. Statistics show
that as high as 8% of the total population of children
in a school can be afflicted by this condition.
Most children diagnosed with dyslexia find it difficult
to separate or distinguish the sounds that are written
in the words they read. This is quite troubling
when the child is reading because words do have
to be sounded out, especially when the piece has
rhyming words.
Do not be too quick
to self-diagnose your child to having dyslexia.
It is important for you to seek the professional
help of a licensed psychologist for this. Still,
there are some telltale signs that you should look
out for. Your child might be afflicted with dyslexia
if:
- He or she takes
a long time to learn the connection between the
letters of words and their sounds
-He or she finds
it difficult to decode even single words
-He or she has
difficulty spelling words phonetically
- He or she has
spelling and reading errors that are consistent,
including word reversals, letter reversals, letter
substitutions, and the likes
- He or she gets
confused with even small words
- He or she is
observed to guess the words being read out of
context
-He or she has
difficulty learning new words
- He or she transposes
number sequences and gets easily confused when
dealing with arithmetic signs
- He or she finds
it difficult to remember simple facts
If you observe these
signs consistently manifesting in your child, then
have him or her formally assessed and diagnosed
so that dyslexia treatment can be taken on right
away. Most diagnosed dyslexics get additional help
from tutors, teachers, and speech therapists. What's
important here is that your child should receive
one-on-one attention so that therapy can be monitored
and fostered.
Also, as parents,
you should look into what academic modifications
your child's school can provide. Helpful modifications
include giving your child extra time for assignment
and project completion, as well as access to tests
done on audio tapes.
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia, on the
other hand, affects the mathematical abilities of
children. Children afflicted with dyscalculia find
it hard to perform mathematical calculations - even
the basic ones. Dyscalculia does not really have
a particular form that you can watch out for so
how the condition affects the child varies greatly.
Studies show that
the condition is greatly associated with weak visual
processing. With this ability weak, the child then
finds it difficult to visualize the numbers presented
to him or her, and the numbers are then mixed up
mentally. This then leads to calculation mistakes.
Another related cause can be language processing
difficulties. When the equations are spoken out
by the teacher, the child might have difficulty
processing the numbers and arithmetic equations
that he or she hears, which still results to miscalculations.
Just like dyslexia,
dyscalculia has some telltale signs to watch out
for. Your child might be suffering from dyscalculia
if:
- He or she is
slow when it comes to math and counting skills
- He or she finds
it difficult to read numbers
- He or she finds
it difficult to remember numbers given in a sequence
- He or she gets
easily frustrated when it comes to mathematical
organization and computation skills
-He or she has
trouble telling the time from a watch or clock
- He or she has
trouble approximating the length of an activity
- He or she exhibits
poor mental math abilities
- He or she has
trouble playing RPG or role-playing games on video
- He or she has
trouble keeping the score when playing games
Professional evaluation
and diagnosis of the condition is still recommended
here. Once this is achieved, therapy can then be
implemented. The important thing here is to determine
which particular math problem or problems the child
has and then therapeutic steps can be taken from
there.
Visitors
who read this article also read these:
-
Types
of learning disabilities
-
Cause
of Learning Disability?
-
Learning
Disabilities and IQ
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