Learning disabilities are one of the most common kinds of disabilities seen in children. While children with learning disabilities require special care, they can also go unnoticed if you don’t get the symptoms checked. So, we must understand the kind of learning disabilities that children can have and what you can do about them. In this article, we will discuss a few of them to understand the conditions better. This is to find out what we can do if a child has a learning disability.
Even today, there are a lot of things unfortunately related to learning disabilities. The stigma and misunderstandings associated with learning disabilities cause a lot of problems for both parents and children. To overcome these issues, we must familiarize ourselves with the conditions enough to know enough about them. We can destigmatize learning disabilities and how they are treated in society by talking about them.
What Are Learning Disabilities?
Learning disabilities affect the way in which the brain reads, stores, and processes information. Because of these conditions, a lot of issues can occur for the child if it is unnoticed. We can also define it as a disorder of any of the psychological processes related to speech and language. These can then manifest as an issue in processing information, listening, speaking, reading, spelling, or doing mathematical calculations.
This is why it is important to get the symptoms checked out. Because they can greatly affect the quality of life of the child, learning disabilities should be treated with proper care. This makes it even more important to get to know about learning disabilities. This is to improve the quality of life of those who have them. So, let’s look at a number of different kinds of learning disabilities that children can have.
Dyslexia:
Dyslexia is a common learning disability in children. It affects 20% of the population. It commonly deals with the concept of language and reading. People who have dyslexia have difficulties with reading and other processing skills that are based on language. This greatly affects their quality of life. Dyslexia is not “curable.” But with the right kind of care, we can treat it and handle the symptoms. Early intervention can make the lives of people with dyslexia easier.
Emotional and educational support is absolutely necessary when it comes to dyslexia. It can, however, as it has, in a lot of cases, go unnoticed until the person becomes an adult. Nevertheless, whenever doctors diagnose it, they encourage the person to seek medical help. Some of the symptoms of dyslexia include late talking, learning new words slowly, difficulty with nursery rhymes, and problems with colours, letters, and numbers. As for children who are in school, a major sign is when they are not able to read as expected for a child their age.
Dyscalculia:
Dyscalculia is another one of the common learning disabilities in children and is related to understanding math. People who have this learning disability encounter a lot of problems related to math. A lot of seemingly basic concepts of both may not be so easy to grasp for people who have dyscalculia. A child who has dyscalculia can have issues working with abstract math as well as basic math functions. The condition is common but not as well-known as dyslexia.
You can spot some symptoms of dyscalculia in early school-going children. They have basic math skills that are well below average for their age. Some of the symptoms of dyscalculia include difficulty with concepts like greater than and smaller than. Moreover, it includes connecting numbers with their alphabetical counterparts, such as 5 and five. The child also has difficulty remembering math facts such as multiplication and addition tables and estimating time.
Dysgraphia:
Dysgraphia is a learning disability in children related to writing. It affects the writing disabilities of children and how they interpret the text. Doctors can also diagnose it early on in the school-age when you spot your child having difficulties with writing. In the early stages, it can manifest itself in the child in the form of difficulties with spelling and handwriting. It can also show itself as difficulties putting their thoughts on paper. It is also pretty common when compared to other learning disabilities in children.
Some of the signs that a child may have dysgraphia include illegible handwriting, avoiding drawing or writing in school, an awkward pencil grip. Moreover, having an awkward position when writing, saying words out when writing, and having unfinished words in a sentence. While all of these may be a part of the developmental process of a child’s writing abilities, they can also mean that a child has dysgraphia if these symptoms become long-term.
It is important that we know and understand the many learning disabilities in children. It is only by learning and knowing about these conditions we will be truly able to help children who have learning disabilities. With the right support and care, we can make sure that children with learning disabilities can rise up to their full potential. We hope that after reading this article, you have familiarized yourself with a few of the common learning disabilities in children.
