Learning disability are affecting how a person learns to speak, write, read and do math. Learning disabilities are caused by differences in the brain, most often how it functions but also there can be cases in which there are differences in its structure. These differences can affect the way in which the brain is processing information.
These types of disabilities are often discovered when a child starts going at school and he or she has learning disabilities which do not improve over time. A single person can have more than one learning disability. These disabilities can last a person’s entire life but the affected person can be still successful with the right educational support. The learning disability is not an indication of a person’s intelligence. Learning disabilities are different from the learning problems due to developmental and intellectual disabilities or motor skills, hearing, vision or emotional problems.
There are many children who have problems with writing, reading or performing other learning – related tasks at some point of their lives but this does not mean that they have learning disability. Child who has learning disability often has several related signs and they do not go away or get better as the time passes. The signs of learning disabilities can vary from one person to another. Here are the most common signs which a person with learning disability can have:
- Problems staying organized
- Trouble telling time
- Trouble following directions
- Problems paying attention
- Poor memory
- Problems with math
- Problems reading and/or writing
A child who has learning disability also can have one or more of the following symptoms:
- Problems understanding words or concepts
- Problems dealing with changes in schedule or situations
- Having a hard time listening
- Speaking like a younger child; using short, simple phrases; or leaving put words in sentences
- Problems with school performance from week to week or day to day
- Difficulty saying a word correctly our loud or expressing thoughts
- Difficulty staying focused; being easily distracted
- “Acting out” in school or social situations
- Acting without really thinking about possible outcomes (impulsiveness)
If someone has some sign of the previous mentioned signs, this does not mean that this person surely has learning disability. A professional can diagnose if someone has learning disability.
Experts do not know all possible causes for learning disabilities but they have found a range of risk factors which could lead to these problems. It has been found that risk factors can be present from birth and they tend to run in families. Those children who have a parent with learning disability have increased chances of getting it. Alcohol and drug use are affecting the fetus developing in the womb and these factors are increasing the risk of children for learning disability.
The exposure to lead in water, or in paint, or poor nutrition are increasing the risk for learning disability. Those young children who did not receive the support which they need for their intellectual development can show signs of learning disabilities when they have started their school. Also, there are some cases when a person can get learning disability due to injury in its life. Possible causes in these cases include traumatic brain injury or dementia.
Here are the most common types of learning disabilities
Dyslexia: Those people with dyslexia have problems with reading words accurately and with ease. Also, they can have a hard time spelling, recognizing words they already know and understanding sentences.
Dysgraphia: Those people who have this type of learning disability can have problems with their handwriting.
Dyscalculia: Those people with dyscalculia are having problems with arithmetic concepts and doing measuring, multiplication and addition.
Apraxia of speech: This type of learning disability includes problems with speaking. People can have problems with saying what they want to say.
Central auditory processing disorder: People can have problems with understanding and remembering language – related tasks. They can have difficulties with following directions, understanding jokes and explaining things.
Nonverbal learning disorders: People who have this type of learning disability have strong verbal skills but they have difficulty understanding facial expression and body language.