What are learning difficulties? Its causes and treatment?
Learning disabilities include
all areas of life, not just school learning, and can affect the way basic
skills such as reading, writing, and math are learned, and the way higher-level
skills such as organization are learned. and time planning, abstract thinking,
and the development of long or short-term memory and interest. What are
learning difficulties? Causes and methods of treatment?
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| What are learning difficulties |
1- What are learning difficulties?
Learning difficulties are considered an ongoing condition, and are assumed to be caused by neurological factors that interfere with the development of verbal and non-verbal skills.
Learning difficulties exist as a clear disability condition with normal to superior mental capacity, integrated sensorimotor systems, and adequate learning opportunities. This situation varies in the degree of appearance and the degree of severity.
It affects, throughout an individual's life,
self-esteem, education, occupation, social adaptation, and all activities of
daily life.
2- The appearance of learning difficulties
Interest in learning disabilities began primarily in the field of medicine, especially by scientists interested in what is now known as speech disorders.
As for the role of educators in the development and development of the field of learning difficulties, it did not appear noticeably until the beginning of the 20th century, especially in the sixties of the last century.
when the term Learning
difficulties appeared When, In 1962, the American psychologist Samuel A. Kirk,
prepared a university book on special education in which the first definitions
of learning difficulties appeared.
And in the same year, it was
also the beginning of science when both Kirk and Bethman used this term to describe
a group of children in the classroom who have difficulty learning to read,
spell, or do arithmetic.
In 1963 a conference was held,
attended by educators, psychologists, and those interested in the subject of
learning difficulties, to discuss and discover the problems of children with
cognitive disabilities.
In 1975, the term
"learning disability" was accepted into Federal Law (Education for
all disabled children) and this was the last step to stabilize the term at the
national level after significant efforts to develop a more specific definition
of it. and related standards in the Federal Register in 1977.
The era of the seventies was also characterized by the emergence of Public Law 94/142, considered by educators as one of the most important laws that guaranteed people with special needs in general their rights in education and other support services .
and defined the roles of specialists and the rights of their families, and the field of learning difficulties had large participation as well as other areas of disability.
in the text, This law is based on this law, and the name of this
law has changed and is now known as the Education Law. Law of Persons with
Disabilities.
Learning disabilities were
officially recognized under US Public Law 91/230 of 1969 for Children with
Learning Disabilities.
4- Classification and patterns of learning
difficulties
Specialists in the field of
learning difficulties classify the latter into two large groups:
1- Developmental learning difficulties
These difficulties are related to brain functions, and the mental and cognitive processes that the child needs in his academic achievement, and the reason for their appearance may be functional disorders of the central nervous system, and these difficulties affect pre-academic processes, such as attention. .
perception, memory,
thought, and language, on which academic performance depends, and constitutes
the most important foundation on which the mental and cognitive activity of the
individual is based.
2- Academic learning difficulties
It stands for cognitive
academic performance difficulties, found in reading, writing, spelling,
writing, and arithmetic, and these difficulties are largely related to
developmental learning difficulties.
The following is an inventory
of the most important academic learning difficulties and an overview of each of
them, provided that we dedicate individual articles that address each
difficulty separately:
A- Dyslexia (reading difficulties)
It is a term known as
"dyslexia", which means the inability of the student to read, and it
is divided into two types:
Reading difficulties: Students who suffer from this difficulty show a low ability to acquire reading and writing, and these difficulties often make them avoid reading and writing and try to Recite material, to hide the reading difficulty. difficulties. Among the manifestations of reading difficulties:
lack of precision in reading, slow
reading, difficulties in reading comprehension, difficulty in spelling, reverse
writing of words and letters, and sometimes even linguistic difficulties in
organizing sentences and distinguishing sounds.
Understanding difficulties: We
talk about this concept when the student cannot understand the meaning of
words, phrases, and sentences.
b- Difficulty writing (dysgraphia)
This term refers to the
student's inability to write, or that she is unable to think while writing.
C - attention and concentration
disorders
Attention and concentration
disorders (ADD) manifest in difficulty in maintaining attention, distraction,
and greater sensitivity to external stimuli. When disturbances in attention and
concentration are accompanied by hyperactivity (ADHD), these symptoms are
accompanied by hyperactivity, impulsivity (impulsivity), emotional instability,
and difficulty delaying satiety.
D- Difficulty in arithmetic (Dyscalculia)
It affects the ability to
acquire arithmetic skills, and students who suffer from this difficulty are
characterized by a lack of understanding of the relationship between numbers,
difficulties in visual or auditory perception of numbers, and also suffer from
difficulty in performing arithmetic operations and of another kind...
C- Difficulty moving (dyspraxia)
This term expresses a sensory
integration disorder and includes problems with "balance between the
performance of the hand and the sight", that is, the inability of the
student to coordinate and control simple movements such as writing and cutting,
or more complex movements such as running and jump.
5- What are the signs of learning difficulties?
It is difficult to detect
learning difficulties due to their complexity and overlap with other symptoms,
but experts usually explore them by measuring what the child achieves compared
to what is expected of him according to his level of intelligence and age, and
in general, some indicators indicate a learning difficulty, which we summarize
below:
Four years ago:
- Difficulty pronouncing words.
- Difficulty maintaining tone when singing or singing.
- The hassle of learning letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and dates Week Difficulty understanding and following instructions, as well as following routines.
- Difficulty holding a pen, chalk, or scissors.
- Difficulty manipulating buttons and shoelaces ...
From four to nine years:
- Difficult to connect letters and the way they are pronounced
- Difficulty linking letter sounds to pronounce a word.
- Confuses the words when reading them.
- He constantly writes badly and always loses reading.
- Difficulty learning basic arithmetic concepts such as addition and subtraction.
- Difficulty reading the time and remembering the agenda and time.
- Slow to learn new skills.
From nine to fifteen years:
- Difficulty reading texts and performing arithmetic operations.
- Difficulty answering the questions you need to write.
- Avoid reading and writing.
- Write a word in more than one way on a topic.
- Bad disposition and organization.
- You cannot participate in class discussions and express your thoughts.
- bad line.
- The following diagram summarizes the most important learning difficulties and the characteristics of each difficulty separately.
6- Causes of learning difficulties
Recent studies have shown the
existence of multiple and overlapping causes of learning difficulties, which we
summarize below:
- defects in brain development
During the stages of fetal
development, some defects and errors can occur that can affect the formation
and communication of neurons with each other, and scientists believe that these
errors or defects in the development of neurons are what lead to the appearance
of difficulties learning in children...
- genetic defects
Learning difficulties are often
seen in certain families, and this is believed to be due to a genetic basis.
For example, children who lack some necessary reading skills, such as listening
to the distinct and detailed sounds of words, one of the parents may have a
similar problem.
- Problems during pregnancy and childbirth.
The appearance of learning
difficulties in a child may be related to the stages before its birth. In some
cases, the mother's immune system interacts with the fetus as if it were an
attacking foreign body, and this interaction leads to an imbalance in the
development of the latter's nervous system.
In other cases, the umbilical
cord can twist during childbirth, leading to a sudden lack of oxygen reaching
the fetus, leading to impaired brain work and learning difficulties in old age.
Smoking, drinking alcohol, or
some dangerous medicines during pregnancy can also cause a child to have
learning difficulties.
- Pollution and environmental problems
Research has shown that environmental pollution can lead to learning difficulties due to its deleterious effect on the growth of neurons. Studies have shown that lead, which is one of the polluting materials in the environment, results from burning gasoline and is also found in drinking water pipes. , it can lead to many learning difficulties.
7- Treatment of learning difficulties
We saw in the previous section of this article that learning difficulties have multiple causes, and it is normal that the treatment is proportional to the nature of the difficulty that the child suffers and to the degree of its severity, and it is also natural to combine efforts between the children.
diverse that intervene in the child's
education, including parents, teachers, and psychiatrists. In general, the
potential effects of learning disabilities can be mitigated by activating the
following directives:
A- Parents' understanding of
the problem
Parents should understand the
nature of their children's problems and help the school create a treatment
program for these children away from psychological stresses.
b- special educational program
A special educational program
should be planned for each child according to the type of educational
difficulty that he or she suffers, and this should be done in cooperation
between the psychologist, the teacher, and the family.
C- Early diagnosis and intervention
The diagnosis of the injured
child should be made under the supervision of psychologists, and the earlier
the diagnosis is made, the better we can deal with the child and avoid any
misunderstandings.
D- Collaboration between school
and family
Learning difficulties affect life as a whole, so the treatment program must be comprehensive in all aspects of learning and full coordination between the family and the school.
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