Learning Differences
Learning Differences
Nearly one in six children suffer from some type of learning disability – a condition that can handicap school performance and place children behind their peers academically. A learning disability is not an indicator of how smart or intelligent a child is, how well he or she is capable of comprehending information, but rather it is a condition that places boundaries on a child’s ability to retain information in an organized way.
Examples of common learning disabilities include:
Dyslexia
– a condition that causes reading comprehension obstructions, including an inability to recognize words, as well as difficulty with reading comprehension
Auditory and Visual Processing Disorder
– a condition that inhibits a person’s ability to accurately hear and process information provided either audibly or visually
Attention Deficit Disorder
– a condition that prevents a person’s ability to stay focused on a task
Dyscalculia
– a condition that causes confusion concerning mathematical terms
Dysgraphia
– a condition that inhibits the ability to coordinate ideas and thoughts through writing
Learning differences are evident among children who have difficulty with certain subjects or activities in school. Symptoms may also arise when a child consistently loses homework, has coordination problems, or has difficulty memorizing and comprehending instructions.
Treatment
A child psychiatrist can professionally analyze a child to determine whether certain conditions are present that may inhibit normal learning processes. By understanding the types of learning handicaps a child suffers with, efforts can be made to correct the condition and accommodate other learning methods in school and at home. Many children with learning disabilities improve with time and therapy.
