Parents should make an effort to learn about and recognize how language-based learning difficulties can appear in the first few years of school.
Children with language-based learning disabilities may have trouble understanding basic math concepts and completing tasks that are age appropriate , such as tying their shoes or finishing puzzles. In addition, their spoken and written language skills may take longer to develop.
Even though my general strategy is to treat LBLDs holistically, it is still useful to recognize the particular difficulties that children frequently encounter. Understanding the typical difficulties encountered by children with LBLDs can help you develop a carefully tailored, comprehensive approach that addresses your child's particular needs.
What Is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is primarily a reading disability, but it also impacts many
other areas of learning andexpression. For this reason, dyslexia is an excellent example of a classification that benefits from a broader understanding under the LBLD umbrella.
Although dyslexia is essentially a reading difficulty, it also has an impact on a variety of other learning and expression processes. Because of this, dyslexia is a fantastic illustration of a category that benefits from being under the umbrella of LBLD.
Dyslexia has long been acknowledged as a specific learning challenge. Some dyslexia specialists conclude that the term "dyslexia" should only be applied to people who have reading challenges.
According to other specialists, the term "dyslexia" actually refers to a wide variety of neurological variations that can affect many different cognitive abilities, such as speaking, listening, reading, and writing as well as sequencing and memory.
Specialists on dyslexia all concur that dyslexia is the reason that some children have more reading difficulties compared others in their age range and grade level. Within a few years, even a slight reading delay can result in a considerable learning gap between what a child can actually read and what is required of him or her to read in class.
Due to their tendency to avoid reading, the gap will frequently widen over time for children with dyslexia. Since reading is difficult for them, it make sense that they would want to avoid reading. However, avoiding reading also puts them at a larger disadvantage.
When it comes to young readers, more proficient readers read more and improve their reading skills, whereas less skilled readers read less and will lag behind their classmates. With time, a reading proficiency gap can widen and start to affect other aspects of learning, like vocabulary development and comprehension skills. The amount of reading a child does has the potential to affect other skills as well, such as speaking and writing.
Delayed improvement in these areas lowers the self-esteem and motivation to do school work of many children with dyslexia. Both of which can further impair their ability to learn in school.
What Is Dysgraphia?
Most parts of writing are challenging for children with dysgraphia.
Writing grows in a similar manner as reading, where a child progresses from fundamental abilities, like identifying letters, to complex abilities, such as writing sentences and paragraphs.
At an early age, a child begins to understand how to form individual letters, spell simple words, and string together words to express thoughts.
A young child will learn how to form individual letters at a young age, how to spell simple phrases, and how to link words together to communicate ideas.
A breakdown in any of these areas can translate into a writing disability, or dysgraphia.
Dysgraphia, a writing challenge, can result from a breakdown in any of these areas. Furthermore, effective writing requires well-developed executive functioning abilities, which is another reason why children with ADHD and executive functioning issues frequently have trouble writing.
What Is Dyscalculia?
Similar to dyslexia and dysgraphia in many ways, dyscalculia is a learning challenge that affects mathematics . Counting, recognizing numbers, forming numbers, understanding money, telling time and other basic math skills are challenging for children with dyscalculia.
Dyscalculia can also affect older children who may struggle with simple math operations like adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.
Math is represented by numerous rules that must be followed in order to be successful, just like written language. These rules are frequently difficult for children with dyscalculia to learn and remember, therefore they need much more intense instruction to become more competent in mathematics.
Because dyscalculia and dyslexia regularly come together, kids who have dyscalculia may also struggle to interpret written instructions, examples, and word problems.
In my experience, many children who are diagnosed with dyscalculia also experience anxiety about math, which may further impair their capacity to learn and complete math-related tasks.
When deciding the kind and level of help you should give your child, this emotional component must also be taken into account.
What Are Spoken Language and Visual Processing Challenges?
Generally speaking, being able to process information that is heard or seen is required to learn. I am not describing hearing acuity or seeing acuity, but rather how information that is seen or heard is processed, retained, and recalled.
Children with LBLDs frequently exhibit significant delays in both spoken language processing and visual processing. As a consequence, they are unable to learn efficiently in a classroom and beyond.
Learning typically involves the ability to process information that is heard or seen. I'm not referring to how well you can hear or see; rather, I'm referring to how your brain can interpret, save, and remember what you've heard or seen.
Both spoken language processing and visual processing are usually noticeably delayed in children with LBLDs. They can't learn effectively in or outside a classroom as a result.
If your child has delayed spoken language processing skills and delayed visual processing skills, there are a numerous things you can do to help. Giving children who struggle in these areas strategies and techniques to process and retain information that they have learned is essential to their support.
What Are ADHD and Executive
Functioning Disorders?
In the last ten years, it has been more prevalent to describe attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a deficiency of executive functioning abilities.
Focus, material organization, and time management are challenges for children with executive functioning disorders, such as ADHD. Therefore, it is not surprising that these students have difficulty completing their academic requirements.
The result is the same as if the child were a slowly developing reader, when ADHD affects a child's capacity to maintain focus while reading: the child is unable to learn material through reading.
The Ongoing Need for Support
I’d like to confirm what you might already know: that most language-based learning difficulties do not go away. Children with LBLDs continue to need support throughout their entire education.
I want to reaffirm what you may already be aware of, namely that the majority of language-based learning challenges continue to persist. Children with LBLDs will still require Support throughout their education.
Your child's needs will change as his or her capacities grow and develop. At times your child might just require a little support occasionally, but other times, they might require a lot more support .
It's possible that you'll discover that child needs a lot more support than you can give. I urge you to seek out educational therapists or special education teachers to collaborate with in these circumstances so that you can give your child the additional support they may require.
Keeping everyone on the same page is important and can be accomplished by exchanging ideas and strategies with those specialists that you have learned and that you believe will work best for your child.
Dr. Kawthar Hameed Abdullah is an educational psychologist and a special educational specialist. She holds an Ed.D in both educational psychology and special education. She has over 25 years experience working with children with different educational, intellectual and emotional challenges.
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