Learning Disability is a term used to describe a condition in which an individual is not able to learn or function like normal people. People with learning disabilities are not able to perform daily tasks like normal people. Similarly, kids with learning disabilities cannot perform their school tasks.

People with learning disabilities find it difficult to socialise and learn new skills and often struggle their whole lives due to this condition. Here is everything you need to know about learning disabilities.

How do You Define Learning Disabilities?

Learning Disabilities are defined as difficulty learning new skills and performing daily tasks like normal people. They can make life harder for people suffering from them.

The severity of a learning disability can vary from person to person. People with mild learning disability need a little bit of support, but people with severe learning disability require full-time support and care to function.

How Common are Learning Disabilities?

Learning Disabilities are not as uncommon as you might think. Every one out of ten people faces a learning disability globally. The percentage of people with a learning disability is 10-15%. So, learning disabilities are there and there and are treated as any other disability, and people with learning disabilities have special rights.

What are the Different Terms Associated with Learning Disabilities?

You might have heard people use these terms to refer to people with learning disabilities:

• Learning Disability
• Learning Disorders
• Learning Difficulties

Although overall, the terms are used in the same context, technically, they have different meanings.

Learning Disability is a legal term used by schools or institutes to refer to people with learning disorders. People with learning disabilities have legal rights and are given special treatment, support, and care in educational institutes.

Learning disorder is a professional term used by a professional such as a psychologist when diagnosing an individual.

Learning difficulty is a term for when an individual has difficulty learning. This can be due to learning disorders, poor habits or routines, or an improper learning environment.

What are the Specific Learning Disorders?

Medically, there are three main types of learning disorders, referred to as specific learning disorders. One is related to the inability to read, the other to the failure to write, and the last to the inability to perform mathematical calculations. The proper terming of these disorders is as follows:

• Dyslexia
• Dysgraphia
• Dyscalculia

Let’s discuss each of them one by one.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is the inability to read texts and comprehend their content. It can lead to a lot of difficulty in learning and is caused by the brain’s failure to understand words. Generally, people with dyslexia have difficulty spelling, rhyming, and reading words.

Dysgraphia

This is the inability of an individual to write. It is difficult for these individuals to write down their thoughts. People with this type of disorder face difficulty writing down and have trouble understanding the meaning of words, rhyming, spelling words, bad handwriting, slow writing rate, and bad grammar.

Dyscalculia

This disorder is the inability to work with numbers, solve math problems, learn numbers such as multiplication tables, and count numbers.

Non-Verbal Learning Disorders

These are also a common issue among people with learning disorders. Non-verbal learning disorders hinder the normal functioning of the said individual. This includes:

• Inability to learn Social Language and comprehend it.
• Failure to perform execution tasks such as managing and organising.
• Inability to perform visual-spatial tasks.

These are also disorders but are not included in specific learning disorders yet.

What are the Causes of Learning Disabilities?

Several reasons among individuals can cause learning disability. Most of the learning disability is developed in childhood or before birth. The major causes of learning disabilities are as follows:

• Premature Birth
• Fetal exposure to drugs and harmful substances during pregnancy.
• Exposure to harmful toxins.
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
• History of Learning Disability in Family

Malnutrition

These are the major causes of learning disabilities. Most of the learning disabilities manifest at an early age. In addition to the above causes, learning disabilities can also occur due to the following psychological issues:

• Autism
• Depression
• Bipolar Disorder
• Anxiety

All these mental health disorders may or may not cause learning disabilities to manifest.

What are the Symptoms of Learning Disabilities?

The symptoms of learning disabilities are quite obvious. The following are the tell-tale signs of learning disabilities:

• Short or long-term memory loss
• Difficulty in recognising numbers, characters, and alphabets.
• Difficulty in grasping simple mathematical concepts.
• Difficulty remembering things.
• Inability to tell how events occurred sequentially.
• Difficulty in organising things.
• Difficulty in socialising.
• Difficulty in holding a pencil correctly.
• Difficulty in remembering spellings.
• Difficulty in writing things.
• Difficulty in coordinating with others.
• Difficulty to follow tasks.
• Difficulty in sounding words while reading text.

How to Diagnose Learning Disabilities?

Learning Disabilities are easy to recognise. If you pay close attention to your child who is having academic difficulty in school, you can recognise that your child has learning difficulties. You can share this with your child’s teacher, who can assess your child in the following ways:

• Assessments
• Academic Progress
• Interviews
• Observations

With the help of the following, the teacher can assess whether the child has a learning disability or not.

On the other hand, you can also get your child diagnosed professionally by an educational psychologist for learning disorders and help treat your child. The psychologist you choose should be adept and expert in dealing with kids with learning disorders.

The psychologist will have a thorough assessment of your child and his behaviour in therapy sessions that will help him to identify the type of learning disorder and the mental health of your child.

How to Deal with People with Learning Disabilities?

Learning Disabilities can not be prevented or eliminated. However, treatments can be performed, and the learning disability can be managed.

The following people can help to manage the learning disabilities:

• Parents
• Educators
• Health Professionals

Children with learning disabilities are provided with special care at educational institutes and extra care in the special curriculum. The school mends the teaching method to accommodate the learning and goals of a child with a learning disability.

As a parent, you can understand your child’s condition and go easy on them, supporting and helping them learn. Also, don’t set high expectations, and don’t let your kid feel pressured so that they can perform their best and don’t get depressed due to high expectations.

The Role of Counselling to Help Treat People With Learning Disabilities

A counsellor can help provide therapy for people with learning disabilities, which teaches them coping mechanisms to deal with their emotions. A counsellor can also recommend a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications to help people with learning disabilities have better focus and concentration. The counsellor can also help teach the parents how to deal with their kid with a learning disability.

Conclusion

People with learning disabilities have trouble performing like normal individuals and should be provided with special care. Although a cure to end learning disabilities is not present, these disabilities can be managed through special care by parents, educators, and health professionals.