Learning difficulties have always existed , and affect the majority of the population to some degree, covering a wide range that starts from the common negative attitude towards school, to biologically based learning problems, in need of professional attention.
These “problems” are known as specific learning disorders , and they are characterized by persistent and increasing difficulty in learning, which is more evident as the educational level and academic demands increase.
However, they are common, with 1 in 5 students having some form of learning disorder. To overcome them, it is necessary to have a team of specialized professionals and a great involvement of the school, family, and student .
Currently, thanks to advances in medicine, neuropsychology and pedagogical innovation, we can solve most cases , enabling an improvement in skills that allow developing good school performance, in practically all cases.
What exactly are they?
We are facing problems that affect the child, due to negative external factors , such as poor schooling, but they do not start from it.
However, there is 15% of the world population, who have their own learning difficulties , which cause a lower literacy ability compared to their peers, which is reflected in their grades. They have no medical, psychological, or schooling problems, and they have a normal or higher than average intelligence quotient. In principle there is no easy explanation.
Therefore, many adults and professionals, without finding reasons for poor academic performance , assume that children “are lazy, have little interest, do not pay attention”, unfair labels that further affect the child’s school performance, self-esteem and relationship with the school.
This vision causes many families to rebel against such considerations, because they know the extra effort that children make to be on the same level as their peers, the time they dedicate to reinforcement classes, doing homework. So, no, the child’s attitude to the study is not the problem .
Every person is a world. Many times, the difficulty is in the way you study, the strategies you use, and especially how you cognitively process learning. The educational system is aimed at obtaining and qualifying knowledge through literacy (reading books and taking written tests such as exams).
However, 15% of the population suffers from one of the following specific learning difficulties:
- Dyslexia : difficulty in reading (deciphering the letters) that limits the ability to understand the meaning of the phrase.
- Dyscalculia – Difficulty performing mental calculations.
- Dysgraphia : difficulty in the movement of the hand, when performing precision actions, such as writing.
- Dysorthography : difficulty converting oral language into writing (dictation, writing down ideas) and vice versa.
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What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is not a disease, but a way of processing information as valid as any other , only that it can make literacy difficult, which in a test-focused school, hinders educational success.
Dyslexic is born, as it is an innate biological and generally hereditary condition that appears in healthy people regardless of their good level of intelligence, schooling and emotional state. It is a common disorder, since it affects 10% of the population (700 million worldwide).
People with dyslexia have a slightly different brain processing of visual and auditory information , fundamental for literacy, than most people (in fact, they tend to be more creative people).
There are different degrees of dyslexia, in fact, the majority of the dyslexic population is unaware of their condition; However, when dyslexia due to its severity causes serious difficulties in reading and writing, it causes academic difficulties that make it difficult to succeed in school.
Therefore, if it is not treated on time, it causes a perpetual low school performance , even leading the student to school failure in higher education.
This is because the main vehicle for the transmission and deposit of knowledge that the student must memorize are books and texts, for which a good command of reading is essential.
For a while, the student and family can make an extra effort, because with the oral explanations of the parents and the attention to the teacher’s speech, the child can achieve proficiency.
As the courses go by, the amount of material to be learned and study time required increases, and there comes a time when the student, without reading support, cannot access such knowledge. This is the time when you start repeating a grade and develop low self-esteem.
Being a chronic disorder, it will also affect university study and future performance of highly qualified jobs.
Although dyslexia is not preventable or “curable”, its negative effects at school (and those related to other areas) can be eliminated or at least limited by appropriate treatment and follow-up to improve their abilities.
It is essential to get an early diagnosis , from the age of 7, as it maximizes the possibilities for improvement, taking advantage of the enormous neuroplasticity of the infant brain. The later treatment is started, the lower the benefits will be. However, even treating adults produces substantial results.
The treatment does not require medicines (in healthy children) but it does require coordination between the professional psychopedagogue, the teachers, the school and the family, with weekly continuity and governed by individualized planning.
The effects of treatment are slow, beneficial and harmless (no risk to the child) and permanent.
What is dysgraphia?
Dysgraphia is perhaps the most widespread learning disability. Approximately 6-10% of the population suffers from it to some degree. It happens more in boys than girls and has no known cause.
It appears in healthy children with a normal level of intelligence, who read correctly (although they may have dyslexia) know the spelling rules and understand the phrase to write, and yet have difficulty in writing , specifically in the execution of the act of writing itself: the stroke of the pencil.
This is because the brain has difficulty processing the information from the movement of the arm and hand (motor skills) necessary to make the stroke. Result: illegible handwriting.
These people, despite their efforts, cannot automate good writing like their peers, despite their efforts, which is a disadvantage in school. (highlight!)
However, when writing, the spelling and sense of the phrase are normal, as they are not altered.
Otherwise, you could be affected by dysorthography, since both conditions are related to each other.
However, they can write, but in an incorrect way, so it is necessary to re-learn the writing.
These motor difficulties are also observed in daily life, when performing activities that require precise movements, such as threading the needle and thread, and in school it is shown as a difficulty in coordinating the muscles of the hand and arm to write.
In practice, dysgraphia consists of a difficulty in coordinating, organizing sequences and mentally planning the most delicate movements of the line , often accompanied by postural and balance problems (they may write with unusual postures).
There are cases in which there are also problems in the coordination of simple movements (lack of fine and gross motor skills).
In short, they lack a rhythmic and fluid movement when making precise manipulations, which is reflected in daily life and in school, when writing.
As in the rest of learning difficulties, it can be improved through treatment, although there are a large number of people who, suffering from this condition, are not treated, but are labeled “clumsy”.
Many times, children can become frustrated and immature when faced with activities that require manual dexterity.
This lack of coordination could eventually also affect the muscles of the throat and lips , which can lead to speech difficulties.
The earlier it is diagnosed and treated, the better the results will be, through corrective therapy according to each case.
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What is Dysorthography?
Dysorthography is a difficulty to write correctly, characterized by constant spelling errors , which do not disappear despite good cognitive development and practice.
It is because the child does not relate well the letters and syllables he hears with their written equivalent, that is, he knows the sound of a letter, such as A, but he does not correctly associate it with the letter (image) that identifies it.
By not being able to clearly recognize the letters and their equivalent in oral language, you do not have a basis for deciding which spelling rules to apply , even knowing the grammar and spelling rules fully.
It appears alone or associated with other learning difficulties, commonly dysgraphia and dyslexia, in children with good schooling and normal intelligence. (highlight!)
It is often observed when they confuse the orientation of the letters (pq), add, remove or replace letters and vowels with similar ones, although the errors vary according to the severity in each case.
Dysorthography does not affect the ability to understand the meaning of the phrase and words .
It is usually diagnosed when the child, unlike his classmates, accumulates a delay in learning to write, starting at the age of 7.
What is dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia consists of a difficulty in the elaboration and understanding of mathematical language . That is, the child does not understand the number concept, the differences between quantities and the abstraction of the mathematical process (performing mental calculations).
Its incidence is not exactly known, it is estimated at least between 6 – 7%.
It can present as a single learning disorder or in conjunction with dyslexia , in fact, they are jointly diagnosed in 56% of cases.
It is an innate, hereditary condition that can be treated to improve a person’s quality of life and academic performance.
The student is able to know the order of execution of accounts, performed mechanically, but does not understand the reason, it seems to them a meaningless activity, beyond the addition and subtraction roughly used in daily life.
Dyscalculia has several degrees , and appears in children with a normal level of intelligence, schooling and without emotional problems, focused on the subject of mathematics. It is common for the child to develop rejection of the stone.
It is normally a condition from birth, but it can be acquired by a stroke (by someone who did not have it).
An extreme case is acalculia : the total loss of mathematical processing due to a traumatic accident.
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