What are the Indicators of Learning Disabilities in kids?
Every child is unique, and their journey of learning is different. How your child learns depends on their personality, age, and learning style. It’s essential to recognize how your child learns and whether they express any learning disability symptoms.
Learning disabilities affect children’s ability to acquire and organize verbal or nonverbal information. They may find it difficult to read, spell, write, recall, or organize information. Learning disabilities affect a student’s academic success, and if they go undiagnosed, children suffer from stress and low self-esteem.
This blog explores the symptoms of learning disability and provides tips for academic excellence.
What are the learning disabilities in children?
Learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects a child’s ability to acquire, process, and use information effectively. Children with learning disabilities find listening, thinking, speaking, reading, or doing mathematical calculations challenging.
What are the causes of learning disability?
The exact causes of learning disability are unknown and differ from child to child. However, some of the common causes are,
- Injury or illness after or during birth
- Having poor nutrition after birth, head injury, or high fever
- Lead exposure
- Neurological conditions such as ADHD
- A parent with learning disabilities
What are the learning disability symptoms?
These common signs are indicators of learning disabilities in children. A child with learning disabilities has several signs that persist over time. Moreover, the symptoms vary from one child to another.
The learning disability symptoms include,
- Problems with mathematical calculations
- Difficulty in writing or reading
- Difficult to remember
- Poor coordination
- Difficult to pay attention
- Difficult to organize
Some of the additional learning disability symptoms in children include,
- Inappropriate responses to social situations or school activities
- Impulsive behavior
- Difficult to listen
- Challenging to deal with new things
- Challenging to understand concepts or words
- Getting distracted easily
Apart from the above-given signs, getting advice from a medical expert will help you diagnose a learning disability.
What are the types of learning disabilities in children?
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a learning disability that impacts a child’s reading, speaking, writing, and spelling ability. Some children have trouble connecting letters and sounds. They also have extreme challenges handling complex language, such as grammar, writing essays, or comprehending textbook material. These difficulties can hamper a person’s self-image and make them feel less capable.
Dyslexia learning disability symptoms.
- Difficulty in reading single words
- Confusion with letters q and p, b and d, m and w, etc
- Writing backward
- Avoid language tasks such as reading aloud or reading books
- Trouble recalling alphabets
- Difficult to distinguish from left to right
Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that impacts handwriting. The child may experience difficulty with grammar, spelling, letter formation, spacing, decreased speed of writing, and fine motor coordination. As children learn to write, making mistakes is common, but dysgraphia distorts the child’s handwriting, making it worse than that of other kids. Children struggle with the cognitive-linguistic aspects of writing, finding it hard to express their thoughts on paper.
The typical indicators of dysgraphia learning disability in children,
- Having an awkward pencil grip
- Uneven spacing between words and sentences
- Inverted or poorly formed letter
- Having an incorrect writing procedure
- Difficulty in writing their ideas
- Avoid writing or drawing
- Leaving the words unfinished or writing sentences
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia, or number blindness, is a long-term learning disability that affects children’s ability to understand and grasp mathematical concepts. Most children struggle with math concepts, but they overcome them with necessary guidance; however, children with dyscalculia have severe difficulties compared to other children. Children with dyscalculia experience distress, mental confusion, phobia, math anxiety, and number-related tasks.
The common signs of dyscalculia
- It is challenging to learn math-related word problems
- Trouble in counting in the correct order
- It is hard to understand basic number concepts
- Trouble with mental calculations
- It is hard to recognize the time sequence of events
- Trouble to interpret charts and graphs
- Inaccuracy in navigating directions (right/left)
Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia affects a child’s motor skills, such as hand-eye coordination. It’s a neurological disorder that impacts the balance and coordination in children. They need help processing the information and performing tasks accordingly.
The common dyspraxia learning disability symptoms,
- Difficulty with fine motor skills
- Poor balance and coordination
- Trouble with hand-eye coordination tasks
- Sensitivity to touch
- Sensitivity to loud noises
How do we overcome learning disabilities in children?
A pediatric neurologist will help you diagnose the learning disabilities in children. A neurologist will evaluate the symptoms and carefully make personalized assessments to create an effective treatment plan.
Here are a few tips to overcome learning disabilities in children,
- Following an individualized education plan
- Engage in multiple senses to promote learning
- Create a calm and organized learning space
- Divide complex learning into small tasks
- Use assistive technology like speech-to-speech software
- Occupational therapy to improve sensory processing and fine motor skills
- Speech therapy to overcome language difficulties
- Cognitive behavioral therapy to devise strategies and positive thinking
Say Goodbye to learning disabilities - tailor-made treatments at Kids Neuro Clinic.
We understand every child is unique and learning disabilities can affect them differently. Following the same treatment strategies will never provide excellent results. Therefore, at Kids Neuro Clinic, we offer personalized treatment to nurture children and help them overcome their learning difficulties.
Our expert team of pediatric neurologists ensures early intervention and addresses specific disabilities according to your child’s strengths and needs.
So, achieve your child’s full potential with expert treatments at Kids Neuro Clinic. Call us or Book an appointment today!