Understanding the most common specific learning disabilities (SLDs) is crucial for planning effective interventions. It’s also essential to recognize what SLDs are not. Once you’re familiar with the symptoms of these SLDs, you can better determine if your child may have one and you can quickly plan for appropriate treatment programs and tutoring centers to support their learning journey.
What Are Specific Learning Disabilities?
First, it’s important to clarify that learning disabilities do not indicate a lack of intelligence. Children with SLDs typically have average or above-average intelligence. Misunderstanding this can lead to the incorrect assumption that learning disabilities are linked to low intelligence, which is simply not true. These children can be successful in and out of school.
Children with above-average intelligence, adequate upbringing and opportunities, and conventional learning assistance may have these learning challenges.
SLDs generally fall into four key categories:
- Spoken Language Disabilities: Children who face challenges with listening and speaking.
- Written Language Disabilities: Children who express difficulties with reading, writing, and spelling.
- Arithmetic (Mathematical) Disabilities: Problems with understanding mathematical concepts and performing calculations.
- Reasoning Disabilities: Children who struggle with organizing and integrating thoughts and ideas.
Children with SLDs may face difficulties in one or more of these areas. Now, let’s dive into the specific types of learning disabilities.
1. Dyslexia
Dyslexia is one of the most well-known learning disabilities, officially categorized as a specific learning disability in reading. However, it’s often misunderstood as being solely a reading problem, when in reality, dyslexia affects much more.
A person with dyslexia may not only struggle with reading, but also with recalling information, comprehension, and reading speed. Spelling can also be challenging, as these issues are interconnected. Challenges in reading can lead to slow comprehension, which affects recalling and spelling. Hence terming dyslexia as just a reading problem limits the scope of treatment or intervention.
The most common cause of dyslexia is believed to be auditory processing disorders, though other factors may contribute as well. While reading programs for kids can be highly effective, working on improving auditory processing disorders is the key. Targeted comprehension and reading exercises and programs can help a lot.
2. Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia, the term for a specific learning disability related to math, is just as prevalent as dyslexia. However, it presents unique challenges because of its diverse manifestations. This variability can make planning dyscalculia intervention programs a challenge for parents and educators.
Individuals with dyscalculia may struggle with math concepts, counting, telling time, recognizing patterns, and understanding money management. These skills are fundamental to daily life, which is why addressing dyscalculia is so important.
There is some evidence suggesting that differences in brain structure may contribute to dyscalculia, and research indicates that it could be hereditary.
3. Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is officially classified as a specific learning disability affecting writing. This condition can present as sloppy handwriting, difficulty expressing thoughts on paper, or trouble organizing and planning written work.
The root causes of dysgraphia vary. Sloppy writing may be related to issues with fine motor skills, while other symptoms are tied to cognitive processing challenges, such as difficulties in organizing information. Since writing is a complex cognitive task, involving multiple brain functions, the precise causes of dysgraphia are not yet fully understood. Some research suggests a genetic link.
Intervention programs focused on improving writing skills and addressing cognitive processing issues can be helpful.
4. Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)
While similar to dyslexia, APD is distinct. APD affects how individuals process sounds, rather than how they decode written words. Children with APD often struggle with auditory discrimination, especially in noisy environments. This disorder can impact their ability to speak, read, and spell effectively.
There is still ongoing debate regarding the relationship between APD and dyslexia, as the distinction between the two can be subtle.
5. Nonverbal Learning Disabilities
Nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD) affect a person’s ability to interpret nonverbal cues, such as body language or facial expressions. This can lead to social difficulties, as children with NVLD often have trouble navigating social situations and understanding nonverbal communication.
NVLD is thought to stem from weaknesses in visual discrimination, a cognitive skill also linked to other learning disabilities like dyslexia and APD. Students with NVLD usually have difficulty with right-brain tasks and relative ease with left-brain tasks.
6. Executive Functioning Disorder
Executive functioning disorders affect a child’s ability to plan, strategize, and regulate emotions or behavior. These difficulties often co-occur with other learning disabilities, making them challenging to address in isolation.
7. Visual-Motor Disabilities
These disabilities impact coordination between vision and motor skills, making tasks like reading and writing difficult. Poor eye-hand coordination and trouble following lines of text are common symptoms. As with other SLDs, visual-motor disabilities often occur alongside other conditions like dyslexia or dysgraphia.
Helping Children with Learning Disabilities
Recognizing and addressing learning disabilities can be difficult, but it’s important to remember that with the right support, your child can thrive. You can make students with learning disabilities efficient with suitable interventions and plans. Here are some tips to help:
- Put things in perspective: While learning disabilities present challenges, they are not insurmountable. Your role is to offer encouragement and help your child navigate these struggles. Keep reminding yourself that everyone has struggles. But as a parent, it is up to you to encourage your kid to overcome those struggles. The most important thing is to give your child all the moral and emotional support they need and a lot of love.
- Learn and become an expert yourself: Teaching yourself about your kid’s condition is a great way to help them. Understanding their needs will allow you to advocate for them and make informed decisions about interventions. If your child has an executive functioning disorder, you will know what type of executive functioning skill training exercises the child needs. You will also know what works for your child and what does not. And as you are the expert on your child, you will know what’s best for them.
- Be an advocate: Speak up on your child’s behalf whenever necessary. Be calm, reasonable, but firm when addressing concerns with teachers, schools, or professionals. No matter if your child has a sensory processing disorder or dyslexia, support them as they need it. When they need to. Any time.
- Focus on strengths: No child is defined by their learning disability, encourage their passions and build their confidence. It does not mean that you must ignore weaknesses like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dysgraphia, etc., completely. You need to nurture areas in which your kid excels, while treating them as required, creating adept intervention programs and seeking help from professionals.
Conclusion
Raising a child with a learning disability can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming for the parent or child. Support is available from learning centers, specialized tutors, and intervention programs. With the right guidance and dedication, your child can overcome obstacles and reach their full potential. At Strategic Learning Clinic, we offer individualized programs to help children with a range of learning disabilities succeed. For over 35 years, our qualified teachers, individualized learning programs, and research-based interventions have helped thousands of students learn and grow. Now it’s your turn.
