Learning Disabilities

For someone that has been diagnosed with a learning disability, they may feel that it takes over their lives. But with the right help it will not affect their ultimate success in life. In this research essay I will be talking about what a learning disorder is, how to detect that a child has a learning disorder, and how it affects children in school and ways to treat them. The four common types of learning disability I will be discussing are Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia.

Doctors describe learning disabilities as a neurological disorder. In comparison children with learning disabilities are not as quick to pick up basic reading, writing, reasoning, recalling, and or have the ability to organize information as children that do not have learning disabilities. The statistics show that one in ten (or 3 million) (Child and Family Canada, 1997) Canadians has a learning disability. All learning disabilities do not have to do with a person's aptitude in school. Rather, in having a learning disability the person is not able to analyze, store, process and receive information like other people. (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada [LDAC], 2005) These impairments can make it more complex for a student who has a disability to learn as quickly as someone who is not affected by learning disabilities.

Researchers today still do not know what the main cause of learning disorders are, but there are many theories on how they develop. First, there are genetic influences. "Experts have become more responsive to the idea that learning disabilities run in families and that heredity may play a role. However, researchers are still debating whether learning disabilities are, in fact, genetic, or if they show up in families because kids learn and model what their parents do." (Kids Health, 2006)

Some experts believe that learning disabilities can brain development is tied to learning disabilities. Problems such as premature birth, lack of oxygen, or low birth weight may have to do with the cause of learning disabilities. Young children who receive head injuries may also be at risk of developing learning disabilities. Infants and young children are susceptible to environmental toxins and poisons, which could result in a learning enfeeblement. (LDAC, 2005)

There are no physical signs of someone who has a learning disability, therefore it can make learning disabilities hard to recognize. Learning disabilities on average first appear when a person has complexity writing, reading, speaking, figuring out math problems, speaking with a parent or even paying attention in class. Some students' learning disabilities are identified in grade school when a parent or a teacher notices a child can not follow directions for an assignment or is struggling to do work he or she should be able to do with ease. Other children develop complex ways of covering up their learning issues, so that their learning disabilities may not show up until their teen years due to ways of hiding their disability.

Parents can help children with learning disabilities achieve such success by encouraging their strengths, knowing their weaknesses, understanding the educational system, working with professionals and learning about strategies for dealing with specific difficulties.

Learning disabilities are divided into two main groups: verbal and nonverbal.

Students who have verbal learning disabilities have difficulty with spoken and written words. The most common and most widely known verbal learning disability is dyslexia, which causes people to have trouble recognizing or processing the sounds the letters are linked with. Because of this, people with dyslexia have problems writing and reading tasks or assignments.

Some people with verbal learning disabilities may be able to read or write adequately but have trouble with other aspects of language. For example, they may be able to sound out a sentence or paragraph perfectly, making them good readers, but they are unable to relate to the words in ways that will allow them to make sense of what they are reading (such as forming a picture of a thing or situation). As well, some people have trouble with the act of writing as their brains struggle to control the many things that go into it - from moving their hand to form letter shapes to remembering the correct grammar rules involved in writing down a sentence. People with nonverbal learning disabilities may have difficulty processing what they see. They may have trouble making sense of visual details like numbers on a blackboard. Someone with a nonverbal learning disability may confuse the plus sign with the sign for division, for example. Some abstract concepts like fractions may be difficult to master for people with nonverbal learning disabilities.

A behavioral condition called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often associated with learning disabilities because people with ADHD may also have a hard time focusing enough to learn and study. ADHD was first described by Dr. Heinrich Hoffman in 1845. A physician who wrote books on medicine and psychiatry. Students with ADHD are often easily distracted and have trouble concentrating. They may also be excessively active or have trouble controlling their impulses. As discussed on the attention deficit disorder website it discussed that:

"the symptoms must be present for at least six months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level"

Dysgraphia is a term for problems with writing. In this situation your older child may not have the ability to form letters correctly, and has difficulty writing within a certain space. Writing neatly takes time and effort. Despite the extra effort the child has shown his or hers handwriting may still be hard to read. A teacher may say that a learning-disabled student is unable to finish written tests and assignments on time. Supervisors may also find that written tasks are always late or incomplete.

Dyscalculia is a term for difficulties computing math. With this problem a person with this type of learning disorder may not be able to grasp math concepts. The individual may do well in history and language, but may fail tests involving fractions and percentages. Math is difficult for many students. However, with dyscalculia, a young person may have a much more difficult time doing math than their peers. Dyscalculia may prevent someone from solving basic math problems that others of the same age complete with no difficulty.

Auditory memory and processing disabilities is a term for problems understanding and remembering words or sounds. A person with this learning disability may hear normally, but may not remember key facts