|
 |
Learning differences cannot be labeled as easily as other medical conditions or physical handicaps. It is a broader term that covers a pool of possible causes, symptoms, treatments and outcomes. There is no single cause for learning differences and therefore finding a single remedial technique is difficult.
A learning disability is caused by a deficit in a specific brain area that affects how information is received, processed, or communicated. Children and adults with learning differences have trouble processing sensory information because they see, hear and understand things differently. A learning disability signifies inadequate development in a specific area of academic, language, speech, or motor skills, which is not due to mental retardation, autism, physical/neurological disorder or deficient educational opportunities. People with these disorders are usually of average or above average intelligence but as children have difficulty learning some specific skill (arithmetic, or reading e.g.) it results in their impeded school progress. Children with a learning disability cannot try harder, pay closer attention, or improve motivation on their own; they need help to learn how to do these things. |
| |
 |
|
Learning disorders must be differentiated from normal variation in academic attainment and from scholastic difficulties due to lack of opportunity, poor teaching, inadequate schooling or cultural factors that can result in poor performance. Sometimes learning differences are misdiagnosed in the presence of other conditions e.g. slow mental development, visual impairments, hearing problems etc. Every child should ideally be screened for learning disability at the start of pre-school or at the age of 4 years. Screening tests can be done later in life also when a caregiver perceives signs of delayed learning.
Learning differences can be divided into three main categories. Several sub-categories have also been identified:
Developmental Speech and Language Disorders
Earliest indications of learning disorder are often seen through speech and language problems. Children with developmental and speech disorders have difficulty producing speech sounds, using spoken language to communicate or understanding what people are saying. This problem can lead to one or more of the following diagnosis:
- Developmental Articulation Disorder:
This is speech difficulty which results mainly in omitting speech sounds (e.g. cay for clay) lisping or lalling. Substituting for e.g. toof for tooth is sometimes classed as articulation disorders. It includes for example articulation errors that involve the failure to form speech sounds correctly; as well deficit in linguistic categorization of speech sounds for example, difficulty in sorting out which sounds in the language make a difference in meaning.
- Developmental Expressive Language Disorder:
The expressive language disorder is the inability to make the movements needed to produce a word, even though the sufferer knows the word intended. Children with language impairments have problems expressing themselves in speech. It can take other forms as well e.g. a 4 year old speaking only 2 word phrases and a 6 years old not able to answer simple questions. Language disorder may be either acquired or developmental. The development type of expressive language disorder is usually recognized by age 3 years, although milder forms of the disorder may not become apparent until early adolescence, when language ordinarily becomes more complex. The outcomes of the developmental type of expressive language disorder are variable.
- Developmental Receptive Language Disorder:
Some children have trouble understanding certain aspects of speech. Their brain receives information in a different way e.g. a child asked to hand over a bell may feel constant confusion even in following simple directions. In such cases hearing of the child is fine, but (s)he cannot make sense of certain sounds, words, or sentences they hear. Hence there is a strong relationship between understanding speech and using it. If a child is suffering from receptive language disorder s(he) also develops expressive language disability.
|
| |
|
|
