Learning Disabilities: It is not what you really think it is!

For someone diagnosed with a learning disability, it can seem scary at first. But a learning disability doesn't have anything to do with a person's intelligence — after all, successful people such as Walt Disney, Alexander Graham Bell, and Winston Churchill all had learning disabilities.

Learning disabilities are not the same as intellectual disabilities (formerly known as mental retardation), sensory impairments (vision or hearing loss) or autism spectrum disorders. People with LD are of average or above-average intelligence but still struggle to acquire skills that impact their performance in school, at home, in the community and in the workplace. 

LDs affect the brain's ability to receive, process, store, respond to and communicate information. 

The way our brains process information is extremely complex — it's no wonder things can get messed up sometimes. Take the simple act of looking at a picture, for example: Our brains not only have to form the lines into an image, they also have to recognize what the image stands for, relate that image to other facts stored in our memories, and then store this new information.  

What are Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities (LD) are a group of varying disorders, not a single disorder, that have a negative impact on learning. They may affect one’s ability to speak, listen, think, read, write, spell or compute. The most prevalent LD is in the area of reading, known as dyslexia. 

Certain kinds of learning disabilities also can interfere with a person's ability to concentrate or focus and can cause someone's mind to wander too much. Children who are often called naughty, troublesome or lazy actually have needs to be addressed.

Learning disabilities can affect a person’s ability in the areas of

• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing
• Spelling
• Reasoning
• Mathematics

Learning disabilities are lifelong, and the sooner they are recognized and identified, the sooner steps can be taken to circumvent or overcome the challenges they present.

Prevalence of Learning Disability

In India, around 13 to 14 per cent of all school children suffer from learning disorders. Unfortunately, most schools fail to lend a sympathetic ear to their problems. As a result, these children are branded as failures.

 The LD movement in India is of a recent origin and is today comparable with that of its Western counterpart.

(A still from movie: "Taare zameen par") 

Bollywood movie "Taare zameen par" first in time introduced learning disability (dyslexia) to most of us. But even now incidences of LD seems to be less and this is seen as the general lack of awareness and sensitivity among educationists to the specific difficulties faced by children learning to read in overcrowded classrooms. 

Teachers and parents either ignore the deficiency or blame it on the child's personality branding it as laziness, attitude or aggression. The child continues to graduate from one class to the other totally inept at handling the pressure of the higher classes. This leads to behavioural problems. 

How Can You Tell If Someone Has a Learning Disability?

The hallmark sign of a learning disability is a distinct and unexplained gap between a person's level of expected achievement and their performance. Learning disabilities affect every person differently and they present differently at various stages of development. LDs can range from mild to severe and it is not uncommon for people to have more than one learning disability. In addition, about one-third of individuals with LD also have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While LD and ADHD can share common features, such as difficulties with concentration, memory, and organizational skills, they are not the same types of disorder. Unfortunately, LD is often confused with ADHD and is frequently mistaken as laziness or associated with disorders of emotion and behavior. A careful and thorough review of concerns, with input from multiple sources (including parents, educators, physicians, psychologists, speech-language providers and, of course, the person themselves) is the only way to rule in or rule out a learning disability.

Is there any cure for Learning Disability?

There's no cure for a learning disability. And you don't outgrow it. But it's never too late to get help. Most people with these disabilities adapt to their learning differences and find strategies that help them accomplish their goals and dreams.

How to cope with Learning Disability?

• Although a diagnosis of a learning disability can feel upsetting, it's actually the first step in resolving the condition. Many professionals are involved in the diagnosis of LD. They include psychologists, educational specialists, and other professionals who work in specialized fields such as speech and language.
• Some students who have been diagnosed with a learning disability work with a special teacher or tutor for a few hours a week to learn certain study skills, note-taking strategies, or organizational techniques that can help them compensate for their learning disability. General and special educators working creatively, sharing ideas and strategies, tapping related services providers and others including speech-language therapists, psychologists and occupational therapists, implementing progress-monitoring activities and sharing responsibility for needed adjustment in teaching.
• If you've been diagnosed with a learning disability, you may need support just for the subjects that give you the most trouble. Your school might have a special classroom with a teacher who is trained to help students overcome learning problems.
• Some schools develop what is called an Individualized Education Program (or IEP), which helps define a person's learning strengths and weaknesses and make a plan for the learning activities that will help the student do his or her best in school. A student's IEP might include sessions with a tutor or time in a specialized classroom for a certain subject, or the use of special equipment to help with learning, such as books on tape or laptop computers for students who have dyslexia.
• Medication is often prescribed to help students with ADHD which help improve a student's attention span and ability to focus.
• Once a person starts following  these strategies or take medicines to help cope with the disability, it can often help restore a student's self-esteem and confidence.