Learning Disability: What is Learning Disability?

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Learning Disability: What is Learning Disability?

Learning Disability: What is Learning Disability?

October 19, 2011 at 21:25

Learning Disability: What is Learning Disability?

A learning disability involves problems with brain function and effective processing of information. This can interfere with a person’s ability to learn, reason, read, write, spell, do math, organize information, interpret spatial information, communicate with language, or understand and interpret social cues. Additionally, it can severely impair a person’s functioning at school and/or work, and in family and social situations. Academic achievement and overall success in life are often far below actual potential for individuals with learning disabilities, who often feel frustrated and “dumb” because they fail to achieve up to their potential.

Learning Disability: Click here for Case Study

Learning Disability and Common Symptoms:

The following is a checklist of common symptoms that may point to learning disabilities. Most people will, from time to time, see one or more of these warning signs in their children. This is normal. If, however, you see several of these characteristics over a long period of time, consider that this is a possibility.

Preschool

Speaks later than most children
Pronunciation problems
Slow vocabulary growth, often unable to find the right word
Difficulty rhyming words
Trouble learning numbers, alphabet, days of the week, colors, shapes
Extremely restless and easily distracted
Trouble interacting with peers
Difficulty following directions or routines
Fine motor skills slow to develop

Grades K-4

Slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
Confuses basic words (run, eat, want)
Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions (felt/left), and substitutions (house/home)
Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs (+, -, x, /, =)
Slow to remember facts
Slow to learn new skills, relies heavily on memorization
Impulsive, difficulty planning
Unstable pencil grip
Trouble learning about time
Poor coordination, unaware of physical surroundings, prone to accidents

Grades 5-8

Reverses letter sequences (soiled/solid, left/felt)
Slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other spelling strategies
Avoids reading aloud
Trouble with word problems
Difficulty with handwriting
Awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip
Avoids writing assignments
Slow or poor recall of facts
Difficulty making friends
Trouble understanding body language and facial expressions

High School Students and Adults

Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing
Avoids reading and writing tasks
Trouble summarizing
Trouble with open-ended questions on tests
Weak memory skills
Difficulty adjusting to new settings
Works slowly
Poor grasp of abstract concepts
Either pays too little attention to details or focuses on them too much
Misreads information

Click here for a more comprehensive list of learning disabilities

Click here for a checklist of signs and symptoms regarding a specific learning disability

Learning Disability and Brain Function:

Neuro imaging techniques as well as the qEEG or Brain Map reveal under-activity in certain parts of the brain in learning disabled children as compared to peers. There have also been studies that show less electrical activity in certain parts of the brain. Researchers have been able to connect a lack of right and left brain function to a deficiency in the development of those corresponding hemispheres of the brain. Due to these and other research studies, many scientists have concluded that learning disabilities have a neurobiological basis.

With the qEEG or Brain Map as an assessment tool, we can see the electrical activity of the brain. We can then determine where and how the dysregulation occurs allowing us to develop treatment protocols to put the brain back into balance without medication.