Unraveling the Challenges: Understanding Learning Disorders in Children

Children often need help in school to grasp some topics and techniques. While they toil hard and keep battling with a particular skill set over time, it can indicate a learning disorder. Possessing a learning disorder implies that the child finds it difficult to get hold of some learning regions, although intelligence or inspiration remains unaffected.

Children having learning disorders may feel anxious since they cannot master a subject even after working hard and may find themselves helpless and withdraw. However, to unravel the challenges faced due to learning disabilities in childhood, parents and healthcare providers can unite to offer the best treatment.

This guest post focuses on the concept of learning disorders in children and untangling the issues children face due to the same so that nothing can limit them in their way of learning.

The concept of learning disorder

A learning disorder explains a set of learning and thinking disabilities that can influence how the brain consumes facts, utilizes, stores, and delivers information. Childhood learning disabilities can include reading or arithmetic disabilities. Few of them may possess conditions like attention deficit. Children with learning disorders can have numerous learning disabilities that hamper their learning.

Types of learning disorders

Children often find it difficult to read right from left or identify patterns according to shape or size. Due to their learning disorder, children also have difficulty comprehending and adhering to instructions or remembering what was just told. Childhood learning disorders occur when the brain consumes and performs with the information uncommonly. Now let’s have a look at the various types of learning disorders.

Reading

When a child faces a learning disorder accompanied by reading, the child finds it hard to comprehend a said word as a blend of unique sounds. Knowing how a specific letter showcases a sound and how various letters combine to form a word takes time and effort. Children may struggle with reading at a certain speed, comprehending their reading, recollecting what they have read, concluding, and spelling. Dyslexia is a common reading disorder that causes the child to have issues selecting various speech sounds in words.

Writing

Writing calls for intricate skills that include vision, motion, and the capacity to process instruction. Dysgraphia is a writing-related learning disorder that causes the child to write slowly, consuming much of their time. It also needs help remembering how to create letters and draw sketches. The child needs help implementing thoughts into writing, comprehending the written text, and with grammar and spelling.

Mathematics

Dyscalculia is a learning disorder in arithmetic that may hinder the child from comprehending how numbers work and connect. The child may also have issues solving mathematical problems, grasping fundamental mathematical rules, deploying arithmetic symbols, comprehending word problems, and arranging instructions while executing a mathematical problem.

Unraveling the challenges

Now that the kinds of learning disorders have been discussed, it’s time to proceed toward finding possible solutions to untangle the issues children face on account of their learning disorders so that they can have a bright and prosperous time in school, learning and grasping new and exciting concepts easily and quickly. The ways to untangle the issues related to learning disorders have been mentioned below:

Know the specifics regarding the child’s learning disorder

The first way to clear the issue the child is facing lies in knowing the kind of learning disorder the child is undergoing. How the disorder hampers the learning process and the associated cognitive skills must also be analyzed thoroughly. It is simpler to understand learning processes if the process by which the learning disorder hampers the child is understood.

Polish your child’s potential

Although children with learning disorders battle in a particular area of learning, they can shine in other areas. Focus on the child’s passion and on the areas that delight them. Supporting children with learning disorders in nurturing their potential and interests will allow them to win in places of difficulty. So it is imperative to nourish the child's strength by uncovering their areas of interest and pushing them to attain what they want.

Modifications in the classroom

Few children with learning disorders get more time to do their tasks. They may be allowed to solve lesser arithmetic problems and get seated near the tutors to get attention. Some children can also get a calculator to solve mathematical problems quickly. The school can even offer audiobooks that the child can listen to while reading a hard copy. Such accommodations in the classroom can also encourage the child to overcome their learning disorder and have a good time at school.

Role of Therapy in handling learning disorders

Children possess a receptive mindset, which a specific factor can instantly influence. The parents must detect shifts in the child’s behavior and try communicating with them to know the issues. However, few children are scared to speak up. Here’s where a therapist comes into play. Expert counselors can examine the underlying issues and motivate them to speak up. Let’s have a glance at a few kinds of therapy and their importance:

Parent-child interaction therapy

Parent-child interaction therapy is behavior-based therapy aimed at refining the bond between the parent and child. The first step to solving an issue the child faces is speaking to them openly. Hence, parent-child interaction therapy strengthens the bond between the parent and the child, allowing them to speak frankly to know the issues and solve them correctly. The therapy comprises the relation enhancement stage and the discipline stage. Parents grasp skills to offer their children healthy surroundings.

Cognitive behavior therapy

When a child faces issues with learning disorders, it indirectly affects their mental peace, making them frustrated and anxious. Here, cognitive behavior therapy can be helpful for children having anxiety and mood swings. During the therapy session, they can detect and know their thought patterns and tackle situations. The child learns to change pessimistic situations and form good thinking habits. The therapy aims at developing a healthy perspective toward life for the child.

Dialectical behavior therapy

Dialectical behavior therapy works well for children dealing with depression and frustration mentally. The therapy allows the child to take charge of the scenario and manage stressful situations. Analyzing and understanding the effect of the child’s behavior is included under applied behavior analysis. The child learns how to respond in real-life scenarios, and the therapist recommends ways for interaction and self-management so that the child can manage situations independently, even in the social field.

Conclusion

Learning disorders are pervasive and can affect children significantly, hampering their capacity to learn, process instructions, and execute specific work. The types of learning disorders emerge from various symptoms, and children’s learning disabilities can be diagnosed through various medical examinations and helpful therapy. It is essential to help a child with a learning disorder as soon as possible so that the situation can be tackled at the earliest stage and the child can succeed in school and other fields of life.

Each child is unique and special in their way. Hence, if they face any issues, they should be addressed immediately at the introductory level to avoid it getting complicated. The ways mentioned in this guest post on unraveling the issues related to learning disorders can significantly help a child overcome the trouble and succeed in education.