The concept of learning disorders is important to delimit. The first term “disorders” already implies an alteration, a problem that has an impact on academic performance.
These learning disorders are included or are framed within what we call a more generic concept, minimal brain dysfunction; this means that there is a structure, a specific, specific neuronal network that does not work properly for the child to acquire the desired academic learning normally.
We have differentiated this from learning delays or learning disabilities, which are either children who are more delayed or retarded in acquiring certain school learning, or children who have fewer skills, fewer resources to be able to acquire such learning normally.
Therefore, a learning disorder should be understood as a difficulty, a problem in the functioning of a cerebral neuronal network involved in the normal acquisition of learning.
The most frequent learning disorders, within the clinical care field, are:
- Dyslexias, understood as difficulties or alterations in the ability to understand written language.
- Dysgraphia, understood as an alteration in the ability to express written language.
- Dysorthography as an alteration in the spelling control of written language, either arbitrary or natural.
Generally, dyslexia, dysgraphia and dysorthography go together, that is to say, they are manifested as a set of learning disorders in the child within the learning of written language.
The second most frequent type or block of learning disorders is dyscalculia, understood as an inability on the part of the child to learn everything related to reasoning and mathematical operations.
A third block, less frequent but no less important, are the so-called non-verbal learning disorders, which is a type of children with a type of alterations that affect the visuoperceptive, visuospatial and social interaction functions, in fact they are confused in some cases with infantile autism or autism spectrum disorders, but they are usually diagnosed at an age not less than 12 years old.
How do I know my child has a learning disorder?
We cannot forget that learning disorders are problems in the development of learning in the academic period, therefore, the main symptom or sign is that the child does not acquire normally, with respect to his/her class/normative group, that manifest learning.
However, the diagnosis cannot be made until certain ages, in the case of dyslexias, dysgraphias and dysorthographias it is not advisable and cannot be made before the age of 8 years. The same occurred with dyscalculias and in the case of non-verbal learning disorders it is not advisable to make the diagnosis before the age of 11/12 years. In any case, before these ages, children may show symptoms or signs, usually detected by teachers in the classroom, which may lead us to suspect the disorder.
It should not be forgotten that there are other disorders classified as minimal brain dysfunctions, such as attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, which can also lead to problems in the normal development of learning. In other words, there is a joint diagnosis between the two types of disorders: an attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity or without hyperactivity plus a learning disorder.
Therefore, in some cases some symptoms appear more as an attentional problem than as a learning problem.
Study tactics for children with learning disorders
Study tactics are an important element in establishing within the child’s normal study habit.
- First of all what is important is to motivate the child to be able to study since he/she has difficulties and his/her motivation capacity and interest in studying may decrease.
- Secondly, it is important to generate study habits, that is to say, to dedicate some hours after school so that the child knows that he/she has to work on homework, activities and other school activities.
- Thirdly, it is important to eliminate distractions at their desk, in the room where they are going to study.
- Therefore, fourthly, what the child must have is a generally routine environment, which is always the same, where he/she knows that the activity that is going to be carried out there is a study activity.
- Fifthly, it is also important to take into account the luminosity; there are studies that show that blue lights are able to improve and maintain sustained attention or concentration and reduce fatigue.
- And finally, in sixth and last place, it is important that the school, many of these minors are given what we call an access of curricular adaptation: that is to say, not to lower their grades, not to lower their level of demand but to adapt their skills to the pertinent exams that evaluate the content of their acquired learning.
Finally, we must not forget the emotional component, some learning disorders, both in childhood and in adulthood, can lead to emotional problems: low self-esteem, alteration of the affective state, which will not necessarily be depression. When these symptoms, these unique signs are detected, the intervention has to be a psychological intervention, an intervention in the clinical therapeutic field, that is to say, to use techniques that improve their self-esteem, improve their self-esteem and compensate for the emotional alteration secondary to the learning disorder.
Learning disorders in adults What therapy is needed?
The learning disorder in adults should not be forgotten that it implies that the diagnosis, if the adult has it, has been made in the childhood stage. Let us not forget that learning disorders are a neurodevelopmental problem, i.e., that the child does not acquire learning normally during his or her developmental stage and academic functioning.
Consequently, these learning disorders are chronic, which is what we detect in adults. What happens is that the infantile stage can interfere in its procedure of academic performance of school learning and be a reason of school failure whereas in the adult depending on the labor activity that exercises there is not a real interference in its functional capacity.
If we are in the university environment the adult is going to have, it is clear a functional interference and what is generally done at the level of intervention, it is not training, it is not neuropsychological rehabilitation, it is not logopedic rehabilitation if not that they are compensation techniques; generally of curricular adaptation that allow the adult, in spite of their learning problems to be able to have a normal academic performance, in this case university, normal.
If these adult learning disorders are already at a stage when the adult is in the work environment, generally interventions are used, not directly, but compensatory techniques such as through records, in the case of learning problems in reading and writing, computers that correct their written expression, that correct their mistakes or through calculating machines that allow, in the case of dyscalculia, to compensate for these deficits. In non-verbal learning disorders, unless it is an adult who is working in the field of visuoperceptive, visuospatial functions, for example, an architect, generally do not require specific intervention in this area.