How to Point Out the Learning Disability in a Kid
28th May 2019
There are many children who have learning disorders and they struggle in school because they have not been diagnosed properly. This can very much affect a child’s motivation and self-esteem. So, one needs to identify the learning disability in the child as soon as possible.
Now, the question is; how will one get to know that a child is suffering from learning disabilities? Well, a learning disorder is a kind of information processing issue that actually holds back a person from a particular learning skill and use them effectively. Hence the disorder appears like a gap in between the expected skills and academic performances based on a certain age and level of intelligence of a child.
There are learning disability courses for teachers available and one can go through the course so that they can easily identify if there is any learning disability present in the child and how they should tackle it.
Signs of learning disabilities
Here are some common learning disorders mentioned that most commonly affects a child. There are also any particular signs with which one can identify that a child is suffering from learning issues.
Reading
Learning disorders in the case of reading are majorly based on the difficulty that a child's face was perceived as a spoken word as a combination of a distinct sound. It can make the thing very hard for them to understand how a letter or some letters together can represent a sound and how letter combinations make a certain word. They face problems with working memory. Children facing reading difficulty can show a problem with the following skills:
- Reading at a typical pace
- Recalling accurately what they read
- Understanding what they read
- Making inferences based on their reading
Spelling
It is a kind of learning disorder in reading, which is commonly termed as dyslexia. There are some specialists who can use this term only to describe some of the information processing issues that can cause difficulty with reading.
Written expression
Writing requires a very complex visual and a motor and information processing skill. A learning disorder in writing expression can face certain issues like:
- That handwriting is very hard to read.
- Slow and labor intensive handwriting.
- Difficulty putting thoughts into writing.
- The trouble with spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
- Written text that is poorly organized or very hard to understand
Math
When a child faces learning disorders in mathematics, then they can face problem showing skills in:
- Calculating math problems.
- Understanding how numbers work and how they relate to each other.
- Using math symbols.
- Memorizing basic calculations.
- Understanding word problems.
- Organizing and recording information while solving math problems.
Nonverbal skills
When a child faces a learning disorder in non-verbal skills it means that they will not be able to develop some good basic language skills and strong rote memorization skills since early in childhood. Difficulties are very much evident in the case of visual/ spatial skills, visual/ motor skills and some other skills swell which are important in case of social or academic functioning. A child with a learning disorder in non-verbal skills may have trouble with the following skills:
- Using language appropriately in social situations.
- Interpreting facial expressions and non-verbal cues in case of social interactions.
- Fine motor skills like writing.
- Physical coordination
- Paying attention, planning, and organizing.
- A higher level of reading comprehension or written expression, that mainly takes place in later and higher classes in schools.
When these problems appear in a child, then they still can be going to school to learn things, but for that, they will need specialized SEN teachers to help them. SEN teachers are those who have done special education courses online only to work as a teacher who can help these children.
These teachers can be of great help to make the students learn and understand things. They find some innovative ways of teaching so that these special children get interested to learn more. Learning disabilities for a parent can also make them aware of the fact that where the problem lies with the child and then the teacher can look at their academic performances. These children will always need some extra help and they should be provided with that along with some extra care and love.