What is a learning disability?
A learning disability is an umbrella term that describes a condition which affects a person’s ability to learn. This then impacts their reasoning, language, or academic skills. Having a learning disability does not mean the person is stupid or lazy. Think of it as their brain being wired differently and so taking in information and processing it is handled differently than most people. Learning disabilities typically affect one’s ability to read, write, listen, speak, reason and/or do math.
Below is a list of the most common types:
Dyslexia
Is probably the most well known learning disability. It is a language based learning disability. It basically affects a person’s ability to read and write. Written words that appear fine to most people can appear reverse, upside down or jumbled to a person with dyslexia. Sometimes the word look fine by the individual is unable to connect the written word to the sound and thus reading out loud is an issue. Another common issue is that connecting the written word,sentence or phrase to its meaning. This can happen even if the person has seen the word, sentence or phrase many times before.
Dyscalculia
It is math based learning disability. It affects how a person memorizes or processes numbers. Common problems are using operations (+, -, x or /), counting, and remembering common math facts like the times tables.
Dyspraxia
This learning disability focuses around using one’s body. A person can have problems with fine motor skills like using scissors, or gross motor skills like running or jumping. This disability is basically the brain having trouble communicating with the limbs and other parts of the body.
There are a whole host of other learning disabilities that someone can have. The best way to deal with these disabilities is to catch them early in child development. With the proper treatment and support system a child can grow up to cope with these disabilities.
Things to look for:
This is just a list of things that might indicate learning disability. It is important to have a trained professional perform an assessment to ensure a proper diagnosis.
- Short attention span
- Weak reading and writing skills
- Weak hand eye-coordination
- Poor memory
- Inability to differentiate between letters, words, numbers or sounds.
- Is Disorganized.
Understanding a Learning Disability:
Please check out this link below. They have some amazing simulators on some of the learning disabilities. I went through these with my partner and her friend. We tried the math simulator which is calculating exact change for a different items at a grocery store. Let me tell, we are 3 engineers and we struggled. I can only imagine how difficult it is for a child to go figure this out on their own. I had wished I had this simulator growing up when I tried to teach my brother math. I would have had so much more patience with him.
https://www.understood.org/en/tools/through-your-childs-eyes