Learning Disability
Learning disability is a neurological condition which affects the brain's ability to send, recieve and process information. A child with learning disability may have difficulties in reading, writing, speaking, listening, understanding mathematical concept and general comprehension.
Learning disabilities includes a group of disorders such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia.
Causes of learning disability -
Heredity factors
Illness during and after birth
Use of drugs or heavy medicines during pregnancy.
Premature or prolonged labour.
Malnutrition during infancy.
Increased exposure to toxins such as lead in paints, toys etc.
Comorbidity - presence of two or more diseases simultaneously.
Characteristics of Learning Disabled Children -
Difficulty in the acquisition and use of language (LSRW skills).
Child may show hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Child shows the signs of anxiety, moodiness or ups and downs in his behaviour.
They suffer from severely impaired learning inefficiency.
They exhibit a significant educational discrepancy.
Child may exhibit disorder of memory, thinking, perception or motor functioning etc.
Child lacks motivation.
Child are not able to maintain attention.
Child lacks adequate ability of problem solving, information processing and thinking skills etc.
Types of learning disabilities -
We can classify the learning disabilities into the following types -
Dyscalculia -
It affects a person's ability to understand numbers and learn mathematical facts.
Child demonstrate impaired mathematical calculations.
It is associated with weakness in fundamental number representation and processing.
Dysgraphia -
It involves impaired ability to produce legible and automatic letter writing and often numeral writing.
Individuals with dysgraphia often have difficulties in executing functions like planning and organising.
Dyslexia -
It is characterised by disorder in accurate and fluent word recogniseation, decoding and spelling.
The person has deficiency in phonemic and phonological awareness which refers to the ability to hear, identify and manipulate the sound structure of a spoken word.
Non-verbal learning disability -
This type of disability is not listed in IDEA or DSM-5 as a specific type of learning disability.
It is a learning disability that causes difficulty with motor, visual-spatial and social skills.
These children are often well-spoken and can write well but struggle with subtle social cues and comprehension of abstract concepts.
ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) -
In this condition, a child feels hard to control his behaviour and pay attention.
It includes difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behaviour and hyperactivity.
Dyspraxia -
It is characterised by difficulty in muscle control which causes problems with movement and coordination, language and speech.
Educational Provisions for Children with Learning Disabilities -
Use of multi-sensory approach in teaching.
Teaching should make students active.
Examples given should be at the level of students.
Regular behaviour observation.
Making students aware about their shortcomings.
No extra items in the classroom which may cause attention disturbance.
Use of standard language
Increase in the use of black-board and visual aids.
Emphasis on learning by doing.
Homework should be according to students capability.
Provided with extra help.
Individualized educational programmes
Provided with therapy, e.g. - speech therapy etc.