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Learning Difficulties In Children – Symptoms And Coping Issues To Overcome These Difficulties
Today many children undergo lot of stress related to academics from a very early age. Coping up with the activities, curriculum and relation to the school environment is an everyday challenge. These children have difficulty in following the instructions, or read, write do certain other task related to academics, which in turn hamper their overall development and eventually become a target of peer rejection, leading to low self esteem and shame for oneself. Children undergoing such a situation are the ones having “Learning Difficulties”.
Learning Difficulties is generally referred to the chronic difficulties in learning to read, write, spell, or calculate. Though their causes and nature are still not fully understood. Presence of a learning disability does not indicate subnormal intelligence, but it is thought that learning-disabled are neurologically based difficulty in processing language or figures. These difficulties can overcome by special learning strategies or with extra effort and tutoring on the part of parents and teachers. Examples of learning disabilities include difficulty in reading (dyslexia), writing (dysgraphia), and mathematics (dyscalcula). Learning disabilities may be diagnosed through testing, and children may be enrolled in programs offering special help. Children usually show early signs of Learning Difficulties, if these signs are left unrecognized, learning disabilities may result not only in poor classroom performance but also in low self-esteem and disruptive behaviour.
Some of the early symptoms of Learning difficulties are:
- Poor performance in group tests.
- Difficulty discriminating size, shape, color.
- Reversals in writing and reading.
- Slow in completing work.
- Poor organizational skills easily confused by instructions.
- Difficulty with abstract reasoning,sequencing, calculations as well as problem solving.
- Gets distracted easily and is hyperactive.
- Lags in developmental milestones in terms of physical- motor, language, mental and social adjustment.
When considering all the given symptoms, as a parent you should very well know that each child is a different individual. No child will show all the listed symptoms. Some symptoms maybe common as compared to other ones.
You as a Parent should keep in mind certain issues which can help your child to come out of learning difficulty.
- Accept them for what they are according to their age of development and potentials and have a realistic expectations and demands.
- Listen to your children as much as you can. This way you will come to your child’s strength and weakness.
- Look for and encourage their strengths, interests, and abilities and overcome their limitations and difficulties.
- Reward them with praise, good words, smiles, and pat on the back as often as you can.
- Involve them in various family activities. Tell them when they misbehave and explain how you feel about their behavior, then let them come up with their own behaviour correction strategy.
- Help them to correct their errors and mistakes by showing or demonstrating what they should do. Do not nag! Nagging will aggravate the problem.
- Give them reasonable chores and a regular family work responsibility whenever possible.
- Provide toys, games, motor activities and opportunities that will stimulate them in their development.
- Read enjoyable stories to them and with them. Encourage them to ask questions, discuss stories, tell the story, and to reread stories.
- Increase their ability to concentrate by reducing distracting objects in the environment around.
- Do not get hung up on traditional school grades! It is important that they progress at their own rates and be rewarded for doing so.
- Take them to libraries and encourage them to select and check out books of interest.
- Help them to develop self-esteem and to compete with self rather than with others.
- Insist that they cooperate socially by playing, helping, and serving others in the family and the community.
- Serve as a model to them by reading and discussing material of personal interest. Share with them some of the things you are reading and doing.
- Consult with teachers or other specialists whenever you feel it to be necessary in order to better understand what might be done to help your child learn.
Children with learning difficulties need lot of love, understanding and patience from parents. Its only you who can help your child to cope up with the situation and overcome their difficulties, hence giving them a wonderful life ahead.
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Math Tutoring for Kids Who are Gifted and Learning Disabled
It is easy to misunderstand a child who is both learning disabled and gifted. Mentally retarded, or “slow,” are the labels often mistakenly given to persons with learning disabilities. Because of these misconceptions, a child who is gifted and who is also learning disabled often experiences a very challenging life. Academically, the child may perform poorly, but more important is the potentially damaging psychological impact of being perceived by others as “dumb” or mentally deficient, despite possessing the unlocked abilities and potential to excel. The self-confidence required for dealing with these issues and progressing past them can be achieved through success with a tutor.
Intellectual giftedness is exceptional in its own right–this is what many experts fail to realize. Social deprivation and poor classroom performance are just a couple of the problems that are experienced by both gifted children and those with mental retardation. Also, similar problems can be caused by a learning disability. There are particularly tricky challenges if a child is learning disabled but otherwise gifted.
A lot of times, gifted children who have learning difficulties have problems in school. Their learning disability can lead to a decrease in motivation as well as difficulty in completing classroom tasks which may, as a result, mask their true potential. But in other endeavors, such as music or dance, the child may be highly creative and intelligent. An undiagnosed learning problem may also lead to the opposite problem: an otherwise gifted child may struggle in school due to the presence of a learning disability not yet diagnosed.
Parents must become knowledgeable about the signs of various learning disabilities and of being gifted. There may be a huge gap between test results (measuring academic potential) and actual academic performance for a gifted child with a learning disability. It’s also possible for such children to display impressive creative intelligence, that manifests itself only at home and not in the grades they receive at school. Behavior problems, or “acting out,” is not uncommon among children with learning disabilities, especially when frustration builds. If your child is displaying these characteristic features, you may wish to have your child evaluated for the presence of a learning disability.
Learning disability tests can be administered by school officials with ease. Inevitably, smart children with learning disabilities fall through the cracks in public schools; there isn’t enough attention to help everyone. If a parent or the child himself feels that they need to be tested for a learning disability, the parent must become the child’s advocate. Any student has the right to take a learning disability test; this right to test for suspected learning disabilities is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. First talk with your child’s teacher and if you find that you are not getting anywhere, it is essential to go to the school’s officials.
A number of options exist for children that are diagnosed as gifted and learning disabled. A gifted child might need extra resources; a really gifted child may need to skip a grade or more. Opportunities for cultural field trips and art classes, to aid in experiential (not just instructional) learning, should be regularly offered. Alternative information presentation, special classes, or technological aids each help with some learning disabilities.
Studies have concluded that the optimum environment for children who are gifted and have a learning disability is one that accepts differences and provides help with the learning disability; further, it is still extremely important that they be challenged regularly. A tutor who can work one-on-one can use this learning environment to attain more successful results. In addition, these children should be offered every chance to put forth their own preferences and desires. Their intelligence will help considerably; they can understand the implications of their learning disability and thus better cope with it. Children who are gifted and learning disabled, with the correct interventions in place, have a fantastic chance of becoming successful adults. After it is determined what the diagnosis is, the parents and child can then begin to learn how best to cope with it. The child needs not only support for the learning disability, but an environment that gives him or her challenges and stimulation.
Children who are gifted and learning disabled have an excellent chance to become successful adults. Once the learning disability is diagnosed, coping strategies can be integrated into the child’s life. It is important to provide the child with a stimulating, intellectually challenging environment that includes support for the learning disability.
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Understanding Learning Dificulties and Disabilities
Imagine having something very important to say but you just can’t get your thoughts across or make the person understand what you are trying to convey. You may feel bombarded by sights and sounds, unable to focus your attention.
You may not need to imagine this, you may understand it. You might be the parent or relative of a child experiencing learning problems, or have a loved one in your family diagnosed as learning disabled. Although different from person to person, learning difficulties are common daily experiences of many children and adults. Those with a learning disability may experience a feeling of failure and low self-esteem. OK, enough doom and gloom. It is important to understand that those with learning disabilities can and do learn and learn well.
This type of disability usually only affects certain limited areas of development, rarely are learning disabilities severe enough to prevent a person living a happy and normal life. This can effect a persons life a lot or very little. One thing is sure and that is our understanding, reaction and response to the person with learning difficulties, drastically effects that person.
Being patient, trying to understand and treating the person with respect greatly reduces their frustration and anxiety, helps them relax, feel less tense but most of all gives them time to think without pressure or fear of failure.
This article is not designed to tell you all about learning difficulties, it is merely here to help you understand and relate with confidence and in doing so ease the pressure for the learning disabled to better cope with their disability.
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