Learning Disabilities

Also known as DCD (developmental coordination disorder), dyspraxia is a learning disability that is characterized by an inability to perform activities that require heavy use of coordination, motor skills, and balance. Children with this disability are often considered to be clumsy. They can learn to manage this disability with the help of an occupational therapist. Verbal dyspraxia is a condition where an individual has difficulty using speech sounds.

Many times, people with dyspraxia have language problems and sometimes a degree of difficulty with perception and thought. However, dyspraxia doesn’t affect a person’s intelligence, although it can trigger learning problems in kids. People with dyspraxia often have other challenges too. These may include ADHD, mental health issues, sensory processing issues, autism, slow processing speed, etc.

An occupational therapist, a pediatrician, an educational psychologist, or a clinical psychologist can diagnose dyspraxia. The evaluator will require details regarding a kid’s gross and fine motor skills, intellectual ability, and developmental history when performing an assessment.

·         Gross motor skills: These include how well the kid can use large muscles that coordinate body movement.

·         Fine motor skills: These include how well the kid can use smaller muscles.

The evaluator will need to know how and when developmental milestones, such as crawling, speaking, and walking, were reached. The kid will also be evaluated for touch sensitivity, balance, and variations in walking activities.

Scientists don’t know what exactly causes dyspraxia. However, experts believe that the affected individual’s nerve cells that control muscles aren’t developing properly. If motor neurons cannot develop proper connections for any reason, the brain takes much longer to process information.

Although dyspraxia isn’t curable, a person can improve with treatment. However, the earlier a kid is diagnosed, the better his/her prognosis will be. Specialists that generally treat people with dyspraxia include:

Occupational therapy: An occupational therapist evaluates how the kid manages day-to-day functions at school and home. The therapist will then help the kid develop skills specific to everyday activities that the child finds difficult.

Speech and language therapy: A speech-language pathologist conducts an assessment of the kid’s speech and then applies a treatment plan to help the child communicate more effectively.

Perceptual motor training: This involves improving the kid’s language, movement, auditory, and visual skills. The individual is given a series of activities that become more advanced over time. The objective is to challenge the kid so that he/she improves, but not so much that it becomes stressful or frustrating.

Dyslexia is a disability that lowers a person’s ability to recognize letters and associate them with sounds. Individuals with dyslexia usually have a normal intelligence level yet still experience this language development problem. Although it is now treatable, students with dyslexia often suffer from long periods where their literacy skills make it hard for them to perform academically before they are diagnosed and provided with support.

The signs of dyslexia may be difficult to spot until a child begins school. A teacher may be the first person to notice the symptoms, especially if a kid struggles to spell, read, and follow instructions in the classroom. The symptoms change at different stages of life and ages. Each kid with dyslexia faces distinct challenges and has unique strengths. However, there’re some general symptoms that a child may need some additional help in school.

Preschoolers with dyslexia may exhibit symptoms that include:

·         Finding it difficult to remember or learn the letters of the alphabet

·         Having trouble recognizing letters

·         Mispronouncing familiar words

·         Being unable to identify rhyming patterns

Grade-schoolers with dyslexia may show symptoms that include:

·         Reading more slowly than other children of their age

·         Being unable to tell the difference between particular words or letters

·         Writing numbers or letters backward

·         Having trouble sounding out words when reading

·         Struggling to follow a series of instructions

Middle and high schools pupils with dyslexia may exhibit symptoms that include:

·         Having trouble writing clearly (making errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling)

·         Taking a long time to complete tests or finish their homework

·         Having messy handwriting

·         Using the wrong words

·         Avoiding reading aloud

Adults with dyslexia may find that they have a hard time:

·         Spelling, remembering, or memorizing words

·         Reading at a good pace

·         Copying things down or taking notes

·         Learning another language, doing math, or remembering numbers such as pin numbers or passwords

·         Meeting deadlines and staying organized

Scientists haven’t yet pinpointed the exact causes of dyslexia. However, they do know that brain differences and genes play a role. Brain differences between persons with and without dyslexia happen in the brain’s areas involved with crucial reading skills. These skills include identifying what written words look like and understanding how sounds are represented in words. Many times, dyslexia runs in families. A significant percent of siblings of people with this condition also struggle with reading. Researchers have also found genes associated with problems with processing and reading language.

Dysnomia refers to a learning disability that lowers a person’s ability to remember important things such as names, words, etc. Because they’re unable to recall important information, learning activities become difficult, and their academic progress is slowed down significantly. Their use of written and oral language will be labored and can cause them to lose confidence in their abilities. Dysnomia can also make it difficult to label visual information. For instance, people with dysnomia may struggle when they don’t know an individual’s name (even though they can recognize the individual’s face). Because it’s difficult to name things, the condition often slows processing speed and interferes with memory.

Dysnomia is often considered a symptom of difficulties associated with learning concerns, executive functioning, concerns with inattention, or language processing concerns. Typically, it’s a symptom that some other concerns are occurring. If a child receives a diagnosis of only dysnomia, it’ll be important to talk to the clinician to see if other concerns such as ADHD, learning delays, or language delays have been ruled out.

Common symptoms of dysnomia include:

·         Difficulties with recall

·         Difficulty completing tasks quickly

·         Trouble naming things

·         Inconsistent recall of fundamental things like letter names or math facts, and problems on timed tests

·         Using fillers often

Delayed maturation of the prefrontal cortex, particularly those areas concerned with word-finding, is considered to cause dysnomia. Therefore, it often arises with problems regulating behavior and attention, or those observed in ADHD.

Many things can be done in the classroom to help children with dysnomia. First, parents need to ensure that their kid’s school knows about the condition. Naming ability is a precursor of reading, so difficulties with the skill can interfere with reading, writing, and other academic activities. Second, kids with dysnomia often benefit from accommodations in the classroom. These may include using cue cards or resource notebooks during exams, using multiple-choice questions during oral questioning, conducting take-home or open book exams, etc.

Because dysnomia involves difficulties accessing words and language, many people with the condition find that speech and/or language therapy can be an effective part of working through the difficulties. The therapist can teach the patient strategies to practice finding words and help to make speech production more fluent. If anxiety or symptoms of ADHD are also present with the signs of dysnomia, parents should consult with a child therapist or child psychologist who also works with those issues.

This refers to a lowered ability to perform handwriting tasks. People with dysgraphia usually have trouble with fine motor skills and simple tasks like tying their shoelaces or writing down their thoughts. Surprisingly, they tend to have fantastic verbal skills as compensation for their lack of handwriting skills. People with dysgraphia might write more slowly than others, which can impact how well they can express themselves in writing. These people also tend to have trouble with spelling because it’s difficult for them to produce letters when they write.

One of the major symptoms of dysgraphia is messy handwriting. Some important handwriting skills individuals with dysgraphia might struggle with include:

·         Writing grammatically correct sentences

·         Forming letters

·         Writing in a straight line

·         Spacing letters correctly

·         Writing complete words without omitting letters

·         Holding and controlling writing tools

Producing writing includes different motor skills. For instance, people utilize gross motor skills to hold their arms in the appropriate position. They utilize fine motor skills to hold writing tools, and motor planning for spacing and forming letters. Having trouble with motor skills leaves a direct impact on transcription.

Some people might still use the term dysgraphia, while it’s no longer an official diagnosis. It also isn’t viewed as a learning disability under IDEA. Even though it isn’t an official diagnosis, the challenges are very real. And individuals who have them often require additional support to manage the challenges and improve skills.

Physical and occupational therapists often perform evaluations that observe the motor skills involved in writing. Dysgraphia often appears with ADHD and other learning differences. These include expressive language disorder, written expression disorder, and dyslexia. Therefore, it’s important for children to have a full evaluation to find out if something else is going on.

There’re different ways to help an individual with dysgraphia achieve success. Strategies generally fall into these categories:

·         Modifications: Changing tasks or expectations to avoid or minimize the area of weakness

·         Accommodations: Providing substitutes for written expression

·         Remediation: Giving instructions for improving writing skills and handwriting.

Therapists should consider each kind of strategy when planning support and instruction. The earlier the therapy begins, the better. Children may receive the services at school for free. They might also receive accommodations to keep the condition from obstructing their learning. Occupational therapy can be effective for some adults. However, they’ll need to contact therapists who work privately.

This is a learning disorder that makes people have increased difficulty learning math skills. This makes it difficult for them to keep up with the academic curriculum and move on to more advanced forms of mathematics. They usually have difficulties with visual-spatial relationships and find it hard to process formulas and math computations. There’re different terms for dyscalculia. Mathematics learning disorder is one, and mathematics learning disability is another.

People don’t outgrow dyscalculia. Children who have a difficult time with math might continue to struggle with it in their adulthood. However, there’re strategies that can help kids improve their math skills and handle the challenges. Difficulty with math can happen at all levels. It can be as difficult to learn algebra as it’s to learn addition. Basic concepts such as quantities can also be a challenge. That’s why dyscalculia can make it difficult for the patent to do everyday tasks.

Individuals with dyscalculia may have trouble with math in various ways. Symptoms might vary from individual to individual and can appear differently at different ages. In some people, problems with number sense may occur as early as preschool. In other people, the signs show up as math gets more complicated in school.

Common symptoms of dyscalculia include trouble:

·         Understanding the meaning of concepts or quantities such as smallest vs. biggest

·         Comprehending that the word “five” is the same as the numeral 5 and that both mean five items

·         Judging distance or speed

·         Estimating time

·         Understanding the logic behind math

The exact causes of dyscalculia are unknown. However, according to researchers, there’re two possible causes of the condition. These include:

Genes and heredity: According to research, genetics might play a role in problems with math.

Brain development: According to brain imaging studies, there’re some differences in brain development in people with and without the condition. The differences have to do with the brain’s structure and how it works in areas that are associated with learning skills.

An evaluation is the only way to diagnose dyscalculia. Evaluators utilize different tests for children than for adults. Evaluators use a particular set of tests for dyscalculia. However, evaluations also include testing for other challenges. This is because people with dyscalculia sometimes also struggle in other areas such as working memory or reading. A diagnosis lets children receive services and supports at school. For instance, children may get special instruction in math. The school may also provide accommodations to make learning math easier for them.