In this article, we will be covering the following sub-topics on learning difficulty.

WHAT IS LEARNING DIFFICULTY?

The term learning difficulty is the hand grenade of education. It refers to a student who experiences difficulties in learning, inferring, questioning, memorizing, reading, critical thinking, tracking effects and classifying.

Most questions have been debated on does learning difficulty means the same thing as a learning disability?

Learning difficulty includes for instance; emotional, psychological, social difficulties, the concentration at school, visual and hearing impairment, cognitive or intellectual difficulties and many more.

Having a learning difficulty simply means that the person finds it hard to learn at certain stage in their life. Learning difficulty affects the individual ability to identify and process information, but Down’s syndrome is classified as a learning disability. When someone has a learning disability it simply means they find it hard to learn life skill more than anyone else. Reading difficulties include neurological deficits in decoding letter system, word or text recognition, misinterpretation and recognition of sound.

Learning disability has nothing to do with a student’s intelligence. Students with learning disabilities:

• Can occur across the range of intellectual ability.
• Have difficulties which are inherent to the child and are lifelong effect.
• Do not respond to intervened in some certain ways.
• Often have a family member with learning difficulties.

CAUSES OF LEARNING DIFFICULTY IN STUDENT

Learning difficulty is mostly caused by poor development of the brain, complication during or before birth or in early childhood.

The few causes of learning difficulty have been proven recorded among student of different age as observations can be made:

• The mother’s health during pregnancy can have a great effect on the child’s health.
• Contacts with radiation.
• Most children with learning difficulty have an additional physical disability or sensory impairment
• Premature birth.
• Children who do not receive the support they need for their intellectual growth may show signs of disability in learning.
• Other factors such as the child’s environmental development may affect him.
• Poor nutrition.
• Poor memory.

IDENTIFYING YOUR CHILDS LEARNING STYLES

   Let’s look at the different kinds of learning styles.

Learning style is the method students understand better than the other. It differs from one student to the other ranging from the way they see, hear and think on a subject matter. These are the 5 basic learning skills among students.

• Visual learners: This refers to the spatial learning method. Students who learn through this process understands information better when it is presented in pictures, diagram, shapes, charts, maps, drawing and illustrations. They love to draw and probably a good speller. The whiteboard or TV for kindergarten is your best assistance when teaching a visual learner. So, as a teacher understand to give students a little time and space to work through the information given to them.

• Auditory learners: They often go with the sound. These students rather learn by listening attentively to the teacher or lecturer than viewing pictures, written note. They often use their voice to reinforce new ideas, concepts and thoughts. They are not afraid to speak u in a class. The best way to go about with an auditory learner is to engage them deeply in lectures and extra lessons and study group.

• The reading and writing learners: These learners are drowned to reading and writing articles on the internet or any source of information. They are extreme researchers, readers and essay writers. This is probably the easiest of all skills.

• The tactile learners: They learn through radical experiencing things through practical, experiencing things. They benefit from hand-on activities, field trips. They struggle to sit still and are good at sports, arts and craft, dance and need a break when studying. They are also known as the kinesthetic learner. They study with music on the background. They prefer studying in a small group and takes break in-between studies.

TYPES OF LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

While recognizing the learning skills a student needs, it is very vital to acknowledge the learning difficulties that are common among student of any age. Types of learning difficulty differ hugely. These will help you in managing and dealing with his learning difficulties and disabilities.

The learning difficulties include:

1. Dyslexia: This is known as learning disabilities, it’s the most common amongst student. It is a learning disorder that impedes the students to ability to read and comprehend a text. Some people struggle with phonemic awareness that means the way words break down according to sound. Other issues are related generally to spelling, fluency and pronunciation. Dyslexia is not actually associated with lower IQ but language difficulty resulting in lower self-confidence.
2. Dyscalculia: this is a simple arithmetic difficulty. Mathematics is another major area of concern when it comes to learning disabilities. This is the disorder that especially affects a student’s math capabilities and inability to order numbers, calculation, measurement, time or estimation.
3. Dysphasia/Aphasia: This is a difficulty associated with language, poor reading comprehension.
4. ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder): has affected more than 4 million children at some point. A student who has this always have difficulty paying attention in the classroom, following instructions, staying organized and focusing on a given task. Exerts has linked ADHD with the structure of the brain and there’s evidence that ADHD may have a genetic component.
5. Dysgraphia: while reading difficulties receives the most attention, writing difficulties can be equally deal with. Writing difficulty is a called dysgraphic. A student with this difficulty has a hard time writing thereby producing unclear and illegible texts, organizing their thought and ideas coherently.
6. Autism: Children with autism spectrum disorder may have trouble communicating with people making eye contacts and making friends.
7. Processing deficits: when a student has this difficulty, they tend to have problems making sense of sensory data. This makes it hard for students to perform in traditional supports.

Understanding these difficulties is a gateway to understanding students learning a skill so that every student can excel in class and succeed in life.

SIGNS OF LEARNING DIFFICULTY

• Trouble with the connection between letters and sound.
• Difficulty  following instructions from teachers
• Difficulty learning alphabets, numbers, time, shapes and so on
• Slow to learn new skill
• Consistently misspell words
• Difficulty learning arithmetic
• Difficulty remembering sequence and time
• Difficulty with reading comprehension
• Poor handwriting
• Poor organization skills.
• Poor memory

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CHILD’S LANGUAGE PROCESSING SKILLS

          Parents play a vital role in their child’s language development.  Children who used to spoken language during their early childhood have better grammar and vocabulary.

The following are ways to improve your child’s language development.

• Read and keep ready to your child
• Talk and keep talking to your child
• Tell stories to them
• Follow your child’s lead
• Never criticize your child
• Never laugh them when they mispronounce a word
• Use word searchers and TV learning channels to seed u their learning.
• Give them passage of a book to memorize and let them read it to you.

HOW LEARNING DIFFICULTY CAN AFFECT THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Children with a learning difficulty may feel inferior and not as clever as their friends or age mates. This lack of understanding may lead to the feeling of anger, hatred, bitterness, stress or anxiety in the child’s life. They may feel less confident and less motivated. In further life endeavours,’ it may affect their life after school, work-life, relation massively if not look upon.

Therefore, extra support is needed most times, this gives the child the opportunity to talk to the therapist and share how they feel when they can’t share it with anyone.

What about the parent of the child who has a learning difficulty, it affects them too, the parental reaction is more pronounced than in any other area. However, the child’s preschool development of a disabled child is uneventful and most aren’t the first reaction is denying the existence which is unproductive and discouraging.

LISTS OF SPECIALISTS WHO CAN DIAGNOSE LEARNING DISABILITIES

They include:

• School psychologist.
• Professional therapist.
• Educational psychologists.
• Child psychiatrists.
• Psychometrist.

HOW TO DEAL WITH A CHILD WITH A LEARNING DIFFICULTY

A learning difficulty is not a problem associated with the child’s intelligence. Children with learning disabilities aren’t dummy or lazy; it’s just that their brains are differently wired in a unique way than the others. This difference affects the way they process information and analyze things. They are the smartest student ever so, embrace your child and help him improve with the following:

1. Self awareness and confidence, most children struggle in classroom this causes a child doubt his abilities and question his strength. Take a step by asking him to list out his weakness and strength and talk about those things listed with him. Engage your child to talk about their challenges as well as their strength with you. Work with them in their capabilities.
2. Identify how you child learn fast and his skill of learning, everyone has his unique way of learning. Once you have figured out your child’s skill, you can take a step by making sure that type of learning is reinforced in school and home study.
3. Take charge of your child’s education, the role of child’s education is more important than ever, take responsibility by providing your child with adequate tools for learning. Embrace the role as proactive aren’t or guardians and work on your communication skills. Remember you influence outweighs others. If you approach learning challenges with optimism, joy, great sense of humor and hard work you work is more likely to embrace your perspective rather than a difficulty. Focus on your energy on your child. Become your child coach and therapist.
4. Become your own expert and an advocate to your child. Do your own research. So, lay your art in finding the perfect learning tool for child.
5. Be a good listener, allow school teachers to say their ideas and opinion.  Being a vocal advocate for your child can be challenging, you need a negotiation skill for your child proper education. Stay calm, collected, focused and positive. Don’t give easily on your child.
6. Have them share their books with you and take them to library.
7. Insist that they cooperate socially with their mate and family
8. Help them develop strong self esteem not to compete with others but to improve them.
9. Reward them with arise, smiles, hugging and gratitude as often as you can.
10. Accept them for what they are. Be realistic in your expectations.

Conclusion:

These professional tips can help in developing a child and identifying a special learning plan and strategy for the well being of your child. Don’t give up on your child; it’s just that their brains are differently wired in a unique way than the others. This difference affects the way they reason and process information.