Learn About Various Types of Learning Disorders

Imagine a  child, not seemingly interested in studies. You decide to take things into your hands and get his interest to it, but, he seems anxious when you approach him about studies.

“Ah! His books are incomplete, illegible too, that’s why!” you believe.

You start your work, but he is not understanding what you are trying to teach, he seems to be lost in his own world, keeps lazing around and repeats the same mistakes over & over again.

“You better pay attention, don’t give me a tough time.” you chastise.

“I am trying” he says, and repeats the same error again.

“Forget it, you’re such a difficult child!” you yell and walk away.

Does this scenario seem relatable? So quick to label flaws, aren’t we? The rage takes over so swiftly that we forget to consider reasons or explanations for the same. Isn’t it possible that the child was genuinely trying, but something more hardwired had a deficit? We are talking about his neurodevelopment.

Neurodevelopmental disorders are conditions that begin in early childhood, which has a severe impact on academic, personal, social, occupational and cognitive functioning of the individual. Impairment in communication skills, along with odd behaviour, activities and interests can be observed.

One such Neurodevelopmental Disorder, specific to learning and academics is Learning Disorder.

What is a Learning Disorder?

Specific Learning Disorder/Disability (LD) is a neuro-developmental disorder wherein; the child experiences a delay or deficit in his/her ability to acquire a basic academic skill (Whitbourne and Halgin, 2015). Their academic or otherwise performance do not meet the level of performance of other children within the same age, education and Intelligence Quotient (IQ).

This difficulty could affect the personal, academic and work-life of the individual. Along with difficulties in specific academic domain such as, reading, writing or math, the individual may also face difficulties in paying attention, organising, planning, analyzing and processing new information or skills.

Most of these disorders are lifelong, i.e., it carries forward to adulthood as well. Although the severity of certain conditions may diminished due to timely intervention and treatment, the disability wouldn’t vanish.

Causes

Some of the causes for Learning Disability are as follows:

• Heredity and genetics- Fault in one or more genes, may cause Learning Disability. For example, a fault in the CDK13 gene can affect learning and communication in children.
• Premature birth.
• Low birth weight.
• Lower socio-economic conditions.
• Low education of parents, that is, parents with less than 12 years of education.
• Problems during pregnancy and birth.
• Fetal exposure to alcohol or other drugs.
• Post-natal brain injury/ illness.
• Being an adopted child.

Types of Learning Disorders

The most common types of learning disorders are:

1. Dyslexia:

Individuals with dyslexia, or learning disorder with impairment in reading, have difficulty in reading and writing skills. The child may show inadequate progress in several school subjects, especially language oriented subjects. They have poor phonological processing and awareness. This condition may be observed right from learning alphabets stage of learning, as there could be major trouble in remembering or retreiving learnt alphabets or words.

Symptoms:

• Inability in differentiating individual sounds of words (phonetics).
• Very slow reading speed, wherein they distort, omit or interchange words.
• Disparity in what the child hears & what they write.
• Difficulty with spellings.
• Bad or illegible handwriting.
• Poor word/letter recognition.
• Attention span can be really short.
• Difficulty in rhyming words.
• Lack of comprehension.
• Issues in fluency.
• Hesitance and anxiety when asked to read.
• Poor recall of what they read or learnt.
• Difficulty in gathering inferences from what they read.

2. Dysgraphia:

Individuals with dysgraphia or learning disorder with impairment in writing, have problems in written expression, along with synthesizing or comprehending information. They have major difficulty with spellings, punctuations, grammatical errors and paragraph organization. This may result in serious problems in academic subjects.

Symptoms:

• Poor spelling.
• Poor grammar, along with inappropriate punctuations.
• Incomplete words
• Inconsistency in handwriting wherein; the child mixes capital and small letters, irregular size and shape of letters, etc.
• Very slow writing speed, with unusual grip on pen or pencil.
• Trouble following lines or maintaining margins.
• Difficulty in copying words or letters accurately
• Poor coherence and ability to listen and write at the same time.
• Word or letter reversals, i.e., writing ‘b’ instead of ‘d’, etc.
• Difficulty in putting thoughts into writing.
• Handwriting can be illegible or difficult to read.

3. Dyscalculia:

Dyscalculia or learning disorder with impairment in mathematics refers to inability in understanding mathematical concepts, terms or symbols. It is also called ‘number dyslexia’ or ‘math dyslexia’. Individuals suffering from this disability may have poor visual-spatial orientation. This condition may lead to difficulty in completing homework, where the child has to solve sums on his own.

Symptoms:

• Poor number sense and ability to learn arithmetic facts.
• Trouble with counting, especially counting forward or backwards.
• Difficulty in telling time.
• Difficulty in memorising or organising numbers.
• Interchange use of mathematical symbols.
• Poor calculations.
• Difficulty in understanding word problems.
• Difficulty in memorising tables or arithmetic rules.
• Inability to record or organise information while solving mathematic problems.
• Trouble in understanding money concepts and estimates.
• Difficulty in comparing two amounts.
• Fears the subject or anything related with numbers.

4. Non- verbal Learning Disability:

Individuals with this disability have difficulty in understanding non-verbal communication. They cannot distinguish between facial expressions and body language of others. Individuals suffering from this condition have problems in visual, spatial, organisational skills and poor motor performance. This disorder usually goes unnoticed due to highly advanced verbal skills of the individual masking all other deficits. It can be mostly seen comorbid with anxiety.

Symptoms:

• Difficulty in recognising or distinguishing non-verbal cues.
• Begins to speak like an adult from a young age due to early language and speech acquisition.
• Cannot understand jokes since they always take words in their ‘literal’ sense.
• Is often clumsy due to poor motor co-ordination, therefore can be seen dropping things frequently or bumping into others.
• Visual-Spatial difficulties are common, such as, differentiating objects, etc.
• Trouble in following multiple instructions at once.
• Can be interruptive or ask too many questions, cutting the flow of natural conversations.
• May have difficulty performing basic tasks such as tying shoe lace or using an instrument, due to poor fine motor skills. https://wetrainbrains.com/2019/06/7-types-of-learning-disabilities-in-children-and-their-symptoms/

Other Learning Disorders/Disability:

5. Dysphasia:

Language processing disorder or dysphasia involves inability to understand or produce spoken language due to damage in parts of the brain relating to communication. There are three types of dysphasia. ‘Receptive dysphasia’ is when the individual has difficulties in comprehending or receiving knowledge. ‘Expressive dysphasia is when the individual has difficulty in articulating their thoughts into words. ‘Mixed dysphasia’ is when the person suffers symptoms from both the types mentioned above.

Symptoms:

• Difficulty in understanding the semantics, or meaning of words.
• Poor fluency in speech.
• Inability to retell a story or fact they read, were told or experienced before.
• Poor verbal language skills.
• Poor reading and writing skills.
• Difficulty in expressing through speech.

6. Dyspraxia:

Learning Disability with motor skills or dyspraxia refers to problems with movement and co-ordination, involving both fine motor and gross motor skills. It is also called developmental co-ordination disorder. There could be a delay in the developmental milestones of children suffering with this disorder. There are two types of dsypraxia. ‘Ideational or planning dyspraxia’ affects the planning and coordination of the individual, whereas; ‘ideomotor or executive dyspraxia’ affects the speed and accuracy of motor activities. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2066137/

Symptoms:

• Poor hand-eye coordination, i.e., holding pen/pencil, it’s grip and writing.
• Difficulty in maintaining balance, for instance: holding a book to read.
• Poor dexterity, resulting in illegible handwriting, inability to use computer, etc.
• Troubles in performing daily functional activities that require fine or gross motor skills.

Screening for Auditory & Visual Processing Problems:

It is possible that the difficulty in learning is caused due to issues in one’s sensory functions. Hence, it is very important to screen basic sensory issues such as visual or auditory impairment, before diagnosing Learning Disorders.

Auditory Processing Disorder- This condition is characterized by the fact that the child is unable to recognize the subtle differences in speech sounds, even if the sounds are loud and clear enough. If the child cannot hear properly (especially in situations with more background noise), it could affect his/her ability to read, write or spell. Inability to distinguish subtle difference in phonetics (sounds of spoken language) can impact learning negatively.

Visual Processing Disorder- Problems in visual perception can lead to several issues such as inability to copy from blackboard, reversing of letters and numbers, shapes, omitting words or lines, difficulty in perception of spaces, etc. Individuals suffering with this disorder can have poor visuo-spatial and visuo-motor understanding, along with visual memory issues.

Testing & Assesment:

For assigning a diagnosis of Learning Disability, the individual must have average or above average measured intelligence quotient (IQ). If the IQ is lower than average, the diagnosis will be directed towards intellectual disability or slow learning. A diagnosis of Learning Disability is typically assigned only after the child completely 7-8 years of age.

The commonly used tests for assessing LD are:

1. Woodcock Johnson Achievement Tests
2. Wide Rande Achievement Test (WRAT)
3. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
4. Malin’s Intelligence Scale for Indian Children (MISIC)
5. Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI)

Treatment:

There is no permanent cure for Learning Disorders, however academic interventions can be made ergonomically or otherwise through teaching aids, specialized syllabus and therapy. Some of the treatment methods are listed below-

1. Special Education Programme
2. Shadow Teaching
3. Speech or Language Therapy
4. Occupational Therapy
5. Behavioural Therapy
6. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
7. Specialized teaching techniques
8. Teaching aids
9. Issuing extra time to prepare or write in exams.
10. Building self-esteem and sense of accomplishment in the child.

 

Other Important Articles

• What is Communication Disorder
• What is LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: STAGES
• WHAT IS SOCIAL (PRAGMATIC) COMMUNICATION DISORDER
• Information About Dyslexia
• Common Psychological Disorders Among Young Adults