Specific Learning Disabilities

            At 8 years old, Linda is having problems in school.  In fact, her teachers have noticed her challenges soon after she entered Grade 1.  No matter how her teachers taught her to follow the model on her penmanship notebook, she frequently reversed certain letters.  Up to now, she still struggles in reading.  She tends to read the first two letters of the word and guesses the rest of the word.  Using this strategy, she sometimes pronounces the word correctly, but she is more often unsuccessful.  Her teachers have called her a “slow learner” and her parents believe that she will outgrow her problems.  After all, she is able to deal with the other challenges she faces in school, and has a healthy set of friends. 

            From this story, there is a strong likelihood that Linda might have a condition called a learning disability.  This condition is characterized by a difficulty to learn a particular skill set that is usually acquired through one’s school attendance.  It is often limited to a particular skill area, such as, reading words and texts, understanding what is read, speaking, understanding language, writing and spelling, and dealing with numbers and math concepts. 

            There are many names that specific learning disabilities are called.  Some people refer to them as “learning disorders,” and others call them “learning discrepancies.”  Still some use the words “learning problem.”  There are also specific names to certain learning difficulties.  Some of the more common names include the following:  “dyslexia” for a reading problem, “acalculia” for a math difficulty, and “dysgraphia” for a writing problem.      

            Of course, children learn many of the skills taught in school over time.  Many children typically fumble with language, reading, writing, and math and master the various levels of competency and fluency required over the years.  Nevertheless, teachers often have a sense of a particular student’s difficulties when most of the children in the same class have already mastered a skill that had been taught, and this one (or two) student(s) still struggle with past lessons.  This is often the time when a student may get referred to consult a specialist. 

            Children with specific learning disabilities are also quite intelligent, and they wonder how it is that their classmates are already able to master certain skills, whereas they are still struggling.  Although specific learning disabilities are fairly limited in scope to the lags in the particular learning area, this often has emotional and social repercussions for the child.  As children develop their sense of competence and self-concept, unaddressed lags can cause persistent feelings of frustration.  This can affect a child’s emotional life and peer relationships. 

            Specific learning discrepancies are said to be conditions rather than an illness.  That means that it is not something one develops.  It may really be caused by the way a child’s brain is wired.  Because of this, there are currently no medications or quick fixes that will address these problems.  Interventions are often long term, as it entails teaching the child habits that would help them cope and deal with their difficulties. 

            As such, there are many specialists who can help children with specific learning problems.  The primary interventions are educational, usually conducted by specialists trained in addressing each specific learning disorder.  A reading specialist might be one of these professionals.  Another is a teacher trained in special education.  Speech and language pathologists are also involved in language deficits (both listening and speaking).  Psychologists, counselors, psychiatrists and developmental pediatricians are often support professionals who help identify and address issues that may accompany the learning disability. 

            In time, Linda was referred to a psychologist, and is now undergoing daily educational interventions.  She is beginning to learn to read, and is coping better with the demands of her school.