النهار

Depression, frustration, insecurities, self-hate, failure, bullying, hopelessness, and hate for learning may be the effects of learning disabilities. So, what are learning disabilities? How can they affect daily life? Are they easy to notice? What are the signs of learning disabilities?

Children and adults with learning disabilities may struggle in all areas of school. Language processing disabilities can make reading and writing slow and challenging. Memory issues can result in a student having to reread a piece of text or listen to spoken instructions many times.

These students may also need more time to process information before answering questions or replying when spoken to, which can result in difficulties contributing to classroom or group discussions. Someone with attention deficit disorder may also find it difficult to maintain focus, and paying attention is critical to learning. Organization and planning can also be impaired, resulting in difficulty keeping track of assignments or supplies and submitting work on time. Reading, writing, and math are the building blocks of learning. Mastering these subjects early on can affect many areas of life, including school, work, and overall health. It’s normal to make mistakes and struggle a little when learning new things. But repeated, long-lasting problems may be a sign of a learning disability.

Learning disabilities aren’t related to how smart a child is. They’re caused by differences in the brain that are present from birth or shortly after. These differences affect how the brain handles information and can create issues with reading, writing, and math.

In general, the earlier a learning disability is recognized and addressed, the greater the likelihood for success in school and later in life. “Initial screening and ongoing monitoring of children’s performance is important for being able to tell quickly when they start to struggle,” explains Dr. Brett Miller, a reading and writing disabilities expert at NIH. “If you’re not actively looking for it, you can miss opportunities to intervene early.”

Each learning disability has its own signs. A child with a reading disability may be a poor speller or have trouble reading quickly or recognizing common words. A child with a writing disability may write very slowly, have poor handwriting, or have trouble expressing ideas in writing and organizing text. A math disability can make it hard for a child to understand basic math concepts (like multiplication), make change in cash transactions, or do math-related word problems.

Learning difficulties can affect more than school performance. If not addressed, they can also affect health. A learning disability can make it hard to understand written health information, follow a doctor’s directions, or take the proper amount of medication at the right times. Learning disabilities can also lead to a poor understanding of the benefits of healthy behaviors, such as exercise, and of health risks, such as obesity. This lack of knowledge can result in unhealthy behaviors and increased chances for disease.

Learning disabilities are a real, serious issue. It's time schools start taking them seriously and help people who have them. To this day, a lot of people still think of them as weaknesses, which is not true at all!