Is your child suffering from learning disabilities? And is it killing you inwardly? Yes, we know how it feels when parents face such problems.
Do not get panicked because things have changed nowadays. You can easily handle the issue if you are aware of it.
While working on how to overcome learning disabilities, you must keep in mind that you are not here to cure your kid’s problem, rather you are here to assist him/her solving the issues by him/herself.
So, in today’s blog, we will discuss how you can ensure all the social and emotional tools your child requires to go through the challenges. Your behaviour and action will create hope for your child and s/he will gradually overcome all the obstacles.
Let’s dive deeper into the main discussion points!
What is Learning Disability?
The term ‘learning disabilities’ refers to a wide range of thinking and learning problems. It seriously affects the normal functioning of the brain in receiving, processing, storing, and transmitting information.
Some people think that learning disabilities are the problems with intelligence or motivation but studies have proved it wrong. Children who are suffering from this issue are not entraordinarily dumb or lazy. On the other hand, most of them tend to be as smart as normal children.
But the vital difference is that their brian just works wiredly and differently in receiving and processing information. Therefore, they see, hear, and understand from different perspectives. As a result, you will notice abnormalities in their learning process.
This creates a huge problem when they try to learn new skills and tend to use them. Normally, children with learning disabilities face challenges while reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and solving equations.
But one thing you should know is that inability to learn a new skill for the first time can not be considered as learning disabilities. Children generally face troubles doing homework. But if s/he continuously encounters this sort of problem, it can be considered as learning disabilities.
5 Different Types of Learning Difficulties
1. Dyslexia- Phonological or Reading Difficulties
Children with dyslexia can not break words into smaller syllables. As a result, they fear reading aloud and stumbles with spelling while writing.
Consequently, they lag behind in comparison to other children as they can not properly take notes, write assignments, do homework, etc.
Most importantly, you have to remember that dyslexia is not related to lower intelligence rather it is concerned with language difficulties.
Some common symptoms of dyslexia are: spelling inconsistency, letter reversals, poor phonics, etc.
2. Attention Difficulties
Attention difficulties is simply termed as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Children under this umbrella can not retain their focus on a specific subject for an extended period of time.
Students with ADHD can simply be identified in a classroom as they can not control their impulse and become fidgety. Besides, their written works are extremely messy.
However, those who are suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), seem to pay full attention in the classroom. Consequently, the teachers can hardly recognize them. But their performance both in the classroom and exams show their disabilities.
Sometimes, they are charged on the excuse that they do not pay full attention to their learning. The situation worsens in such situations.
3. Dysgraphia- Writing Difficulties
Have you ever seen a child or a student who toil hard while writing? Yes, we are talking about the children having dysgraphia. They consume a long time to complete a writing task and it creates stress and frustration.
The common challenges they face are: Spatial orientation, using punctuations, staying in margins, capitalization and lowercase letters usage, etc. In addition, maintaining a straight line while writing in white pages and space management between letters and words seem to be problematic.
Students or children with this type of learning disability, try heart and soul to escape handwriting in front of others. They write less words than required in explaining any answers and show reluctance writing on the board in the classroom.
4. Dyscalculia- Difficulties in Processing Numbers
While dyslexia and dysgraphia are learning disabilities related to language, dyscalculia deals with the number processing difficulties. Children residing in this group, face problems in solving simple arithmetic.
They struggle with grouping numbers, arranging them in the right order, balancing equations, recognizing mathematical symbols, and even counting.
5. Dyspraxia- Motor Skill Difficulties
If dyspraxia develops in a child, the planning and coordination of muscles, especially the muscles of their face, mouth, throat, and hands are greatly affected.
An abnormal and funny gail is also noticed when they walk. Besides, they hassle with gripping a pen or a pencil, holding paint brushes, playing musical instruments, coordinated movements while playing, etc.
What are the Causes of Learning Disabilities?
Here, we have enlisted some major causes of learning disabilities. They adversely affect the development of the children. Let’s have a look at them.
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Heredity.
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Mother’s illness during pregnancy.
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Drinking alcohol or taking drugs at the time of pregnancy.
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Injury during the delivery time of the baby.
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Neurologic injury in utero or after birth
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Birth before the due date.
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If the baby weighs below the minimum standard at the time of birth.
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Absence of caring environment.
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Deficiency of nutrition.
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Side effects of medications like treatment of cancer or leukemia.
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Inconsistencies in any of the five senses. For example, low hearing power or poor eye vision of a child.
How Can I Understand My Child Is Suffering From Learning Difficulties
Do you want to know how to overcome learning disabilities? If you say ‘yes’, then you must understand them first. The signs and symptoms of learning disabilities vary from age to age. So, you must be aware of your children’s development. Always keep an eye on their physical and mental growth.
However, after a thorough research, we have found out the signs and symptoms of learning disabilities and categorized them based on their age. Let’s see.
Some Signs and Symptoms of Learning Disabilities Noticed in the Preschool age
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Difficulties while pronouncing words.
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Struggle sorting out the right word.
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Problems in rhyming.
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Issues in recognizing the alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors, or days of the week.
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Challenges in following directions.
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Complications in holding pencils, pens, paint brushes, scissors, etc.
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Can not deal with the zippers, buttons, snaps, tieing a tie, lacing shoes, etc.
Some Signs and Symptoms of Learning Disabilities Noticed Between the Age 5-9
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Fail to establish the connection between letters and sounds.
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Can not use the sounds to generate words.
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At the time of reading, get confused with the basic words.
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Resist to learn something new.
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Make huge spelling mistakes while writing.
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Face difficulties in solving basic mathematics.
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Struggle in ordering and arranging things and telling the time.
Some Signs and Symptoms of Learning Disabilities Noticed Between the Age 10-13
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Reluctant to reading and writing.
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Fear reading loudly in front of others.
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Write less words than required.
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Messy handwriting and massive spelling errors.
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Tend to escape tests and exams.
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Problems following classroom instructions.
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Can not keep things organized.
Problems Occurred Due to Learning Disabilities
Numerous problems may happen with your child if s/he has learning disabilities. Here, we are going to shed light on some of the vital problems. Stay with us to know more.
1. Emergence of Low Self-esteem
Children with learning disabilities can not cope up with their academic procedure and consequently show lower performance than the others . As a result, they lose self confidence.
In most cases, the situation worsens because our society creates pressure on them to complete school and college degrees. But the tragic fact is that society has failed to provide them the magical self-improvement ideas that can change life.
Besides, sometimes it happens, their parents compare them with others. It mentally hurts them and compels them to believe that they are really inferior to others.
2. Difficulty in Maintaining Social Interaction
As learning disabilities bar children from establishing smooth communication with others, they become socially isolated. Moreover, a school authority shifts them to different classes depending on their learning difficulties.
What happens as a result of this action? The result is: the children are cut off from the mainstream. They are detached from the normal set of children. Therefore, it causes ‘Dissociation’.
Reasons that Cause Dissociation
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Experiencing physical and mental abuse in a past life.
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Stressful environment.
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Panic attacks in certain situations.
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Anxiety or anxiety disorder.
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Natural disastrous circumstances.
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Drug addiction.
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Major vehicle accidents.
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After organ transplant.
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Meditation.
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Hypnotic state.
Ways to Stop Dissociating
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Practice Self-Soothing Techniques for Dissociation Treatment.
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A Collective Dissociation Reducer Method.
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Prioritize Grounding Movements.
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Increase Self-Awareness.
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Modify Your House Accordingly.
If you are more interested to know the ins and outs of dissociation, read the below article.
A Complete Guide on How to Stop Dissociation
3. Creation of Fear of Failure
We all get stressed worrying about our future such as ‘Can I complete my graduation?’, ‘May I secure a good job?’, ‘Will I be able enough to support my family?’ ‘May I make myself happy?’
Questions like these always haunt us. But it becomes more complicated for those who are suffering from learning disabilities. Fear of failure engulfs them.
The Best Ways to Overcome Fear of Failure
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Identify The Source of Your Fear
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Restructure Your Goals
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Develop a Positive Attitude
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Envision The Outcomes of Your Decision
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Don’t Lose Hope at the Worst-Case Scenario
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Always Think of a Backup Plan
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Learn From The Past
To learn more about your fear of failure, you can read the following article.
Tips and Tricks to Overcome Your Fear of Failure
5 Steps Need to Be Taken to Overcome Learning Disabilities of Your Child
Step 1: Directly Engage Yourself in Your Child’s Education
Onone can take the best care of your child’s education than yourself. After identifying your kid’s learning disabilities, you must play an active role in his/her educational development.
Never blindly depend on the schools. Contact the administration of the school and tell them about your child. Ask them to ensure an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) if required. To avail the best support for your child, know more about the special education laws.
Apart from this, always help your child in completing homework. Explain everything in detail where s/he struggles. As they can not maintain a todo list, help them make a funny todo list to make the learning process interesting. Inspire and motivate him/her never to give up.
Some Effective Tips for Reaching Out Your Kid’s School
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Schedule a meeting with the concerned authority of the school.
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Make a detailed plan and note down your goals clearly before going to the school.
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Present your request in front of them in a very convincing way. Here, to get your work done, you can study on how to convince someone to do something for you.
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Carefully and patiently listen to what the authority says.
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Help them finalize a solution by offering new ideas to them.
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If the authority does not show any positive responses, do not give up.
Step 2: Find Out the Best Learning Process that Your Child Enjoys and Grabs Fast
Every single child possesses his/her own unique learning style. It is not an exception with the children having learning disabilities. They respond best in that particular technique. For example, some children learn fast and effectively by reading and seeing. On the other hand, listening can be the best way to learn for others. Similarly, some children prefer and enjoy learning by doing and practicing.
Now, it is your turn to identify whether your kid is an auditory, a visual, or a kinesthetic learner. Once you have found out the right type, take proper actions to stimulate your child’s learning procedure.
Step 3: Value the Life Success of Your Child, Not His/her School Success
Have you ever questioned yourself: What is the point of living? Here, is the answer: Life does not mean running after success. It has a greater purpose. So, do not spoil your children’s life only by pushing them towards material success.
Do not judge them through their report cards of exams. As your child suffers from learning disabilities, do not expect more than their ability. It will adversely affect both parties.
Therefore, instruct your child to develop discipline, to improve social skills and relationships, and above all to be happy with what they have.
Infallible Ways to Achieve Life Success for Your Children with Learning Disabilities
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Make them aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
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Teach them the ways to be productive in schools and colleges.
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Advise them to develop the habit of perseverance.
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Help them in identifying and setting short-term and long-term goals.
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Tell the children how to seek help from family and friends.
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Educate them on stress management.
Step 4: Motivate Your Child to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
Without maintaining a healthy lifestyle, none can sync body and mind together. In the same vein, a healthy lifestyle holds a greater significance for the children with learning disabilities. If they eat, sleep, and exercise properly, they will be able to stay more focused, pay full attention, and work hard.
A healthy diet will provide them all the energy required for the proper functioning of the body. Sleep you help to refresh the mind and eradicate all sorts of anxiety and stress. Similarly, regular physical exercise will keep the body fit and healthy. Besides, a healthy lifestyle will keep them free from diseases.
However, if you can not maintain a healthy living at your home, read this article.
8 Easy Ways for Healthy Living at Home
Step 5: Do not Forget to Watch Yourself Too
If you ask us how to overcome learning disabilities for your children, without a second thought, we will advise you to take care of yourself too. Because self care will prevent you from burning out in the long run.
Sometimes, you should seek the ways to change your state of mind. If you are tired dealing with your children, without any hesitation, tell your friends and other family members about your child and seek help from them. It will reduce your stress and make you mentally happy.
Wrapping Up: How To Overcome Learning Disabilities
To overcome the learning disabilities of your child, try to understand what is happening with your child. Carefully observe their activities and keep records of his/her development. If you find any inconsistency, consult with the teachers and see a doctor as soon as possible.
Love can heal the things which can not be even imagined. So, love your baby from the core of your heart instead of ignoring them. And follow the techniques that we have highlighted for better results.
However, if you have any questions regarding how to overcome learning disabilities, feel free to leave a comment. We will reach out to you.
Have a nice day!
