Learning Challenges

Approx 7 to 10%, of all school going children of normal intelligence slip back in academics. They become underachievers and unmotivated causing concern to parents and teachers!
Many of them experience difficulty in reading, writing and math.

Prevalence of learning difficulty While difficult to assess accurately, the general consensus of 7 to 10% of all children experience some difficulty. This translates upto 4 children in a group of 40! The gigantic proportions of this problem will be clear when we consider the number of children in schools around the world !

Learning Difficulties

Introduction

Learning Challenges We face it all the time , especially in childhood The ability of the human brain for intellectual activity is virtually unlimited, its capacity for perception infinite. Yet we rarely achieve our actual mental potential. A part of the reason is that, during childhood, we are susceptible to learning difficulties that prevent us from developing the skills required to allow the brain to grow. This often arises because our innate learning styles do not match the way we are taught. Understanding the basic principles that govern childhood learning allows us to help children learn better and achieve their potential. It is particularly useful in teaching children with specific learning difficulties in reading, writing or mathematics.

WHAT IS LEARNING DIFFICULTY ? When people (children or adults) experience difficulty in the areas of reading, writing or mathematics, they are said to have a learning disability. Typical indications are " My child speaks so well but cannot write a sentence", "My daughter dislikes reading, when she reads she is slow, often misses letters and cannot pronounce simple words". To establish if a child has a learning challenge, three important factors have to be ascertained first :

1. A discrepancy between intelligence and achievement.
Children who are normal in intelligence (assessed by standard IQ test), yet do not perform to their full capacity and consequently achieve lower results than could be expected.

2. Physical limitations in vision and hearing, emotional/behavioural disorders and acutely limited mental faculties.
Other handicaps as above must be ruled out. Learning problems stemming from such factors are usually secondary conditions and require remediation of the above primary causes is to be attempted first. It is important to know that learning difficulties can also arise due to a disadvantaged background which could result in malnutrition, limited exposure and so on.

3. Basic neurological functioning must be established

• Verbal intelligence test score 90 and above
• Visual deviation not to exceed 20/40 with best correction
• Hearing deviation not to exceed 30-35 decibels with best correction
• Motor disability only minor
• Emotional conflicts no primary conflicts

Dyslexia - the basic facts

What is it
Inability to read is probably the first indicator that the child has a learning difficulty. The term dyslexia, though it refers to a reading difficulty, has become synonymous to represent all kinds of learning disability. Persons of otherwise normal intellectual capacity whose read abilities are deficient, despite exposure to adequate instruction can be understood to be dyslexic.

TYPICAL SYMPTOMS

• Reads slowly, often reversing letters, words and numbers.
• Tries to guess while reading, omitting or adding words not in the text.
• May have a poor vocabulary and weak comprehension.
• Fails to perceive and analyze distinctive features or sequential features of a story, affecting comprehension and less understanding of meanings.
• Difficulty in pronouncing new words,
• Difficulty distinguishing similarities and differences in words
• Difficulty discriminating differences in letter sound (pin, pen).
• Difficulty applying what has been read to social or learning situations.

Dysgraphia - the writing problem

Dysgraphia essentially means difficulty in writing. Dysgraphia can interfere with a student's ability to express ideas and can cause low classroom productivity, incomplete homework assignments, and difficulty in focusing attention Difficulty in writing also appears when comprehension is limited. Dyslexia and dysgraphia are common language disorders. Lack of fine-motor coordination to produce legible handwriting may cause dysgraphia and for some others physical tremors may interfere with writing. Difficulty in translating mental into written , inability to revisualize letters and inability to remember the motor patterns of letter forms may also be the causes for the writing difficulty.

• Makes errors in spelling, tense, punctuation, syntax
• Unable to write long sentences, use more words.
• Handwriting is often illegible and shows irregular and inconsistent letter formations.
• Writes very slowly and/or very small.
• When they print their writing is often a random mixture of upper and lowercase letters
• Writing requires inordinate amounts of energy, stamina, and time.
• Dysgraphic students forgets what he or she meant to express.

Dyscalculia - math difficulty

Math difficulty arises when reasoning and concept understanding are low. Problem solving and math relationships are poorly understood. Inability to grasp and remember math concepts, rules, formulas, sequences (order of operations), and basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. Poor long term memory (retention & retrieval) i.e may be able to perform math operations one day, but draw a blank the next!

• Unable to associate numbers with quantity or discriminates right from left.
• Reverses numbers and confuses before and after.
• Estimation of space, size, time, shape and weight are poor.
• Spatial orientation and visualization are low.
• Slow to acquire abstract reasoning
• Difficulty remembering dance step sequences, rules for playing sports.
• Difficulty keeping score during games, or difficulty remembering how to keep score in games.
• Often looses track of whose turn it is during games, like cards and board games are also typical symptoms.