Specific learning disabilities are usually diagnosed when a child starts school and realizes that he/she has difficulty in acquiring the academic skills expected of him/her.
Specific learning disabilities are divided into three categories.
Dyslexia; It can be expressed as difficulty in reading, regardless of intelligence level. These children usually do not read the end of words at all or make them up. Their reading speed is quite slow compared to their peers.
Dyscalculia is defined as difficulty in acquiring skills related to mathematics and arithmetic. They have difficulty in learning the symbols of the four operations and it is very difficult for them to perform mental operations or solve problems.
Dysgraphia is defined as difficulty in writing. Children have difficulty using letters appropriately capitalized or lowercase. They write very slowly and cannot write in accordance with the lines.
Another sub-heading that is not yet included in the diagnostic criteria is non-verbal learning disabilities. These children have difficulty organizing in a visual and spatial context. They have difficulty in temporal perception and handwriting.
What are the Symptoms of Specific Learning Disabilities?
Early symptoms of specific learning disabilities manifest themselves in five different areas:
Social and Emotional Skills: They are quieter than their peers. Since they often have difficulty communicating with their peers, they tend to communicate with those younger than them. They have trouble participating in games organized by their friends or playing the game according to the rules.
Attention: They are unable to direct or sustain their attention to the subject of interest. They often make mistakes due to inattention. They have difficulty noticing details. It is very difficult for many of them to finish what they have started.
Language and Communication Skills: They start speaking later than their peers. They cannot adjust their tone of voice according to events or emotions. Their speech is often slow and intermittent. Their vocabulary is not large. They have difficulty starting conversations with other children or cannot maintain the communication they have started. In their speech, they cannot use the language according to the rules.
Visual - Auditory Perception and Processing: They constantly confuse colors with each other. They confuse lines in the text they read and have difficulty in acquiring reading comprehension skills. They have difficulty in categorizing objects or objects. For example, they have difficulty distinguishing between fruits and vegetables in instructions such as which one is a vegetable.
Gross and Fine Motor Skills: There is a delay in developmentally expected gains in jumping, hopping and running. They have difficulty buttoning buttons or pulling zippers. They have difficulty using scissors and actively using the adhesive materials they use to glue what they cut. They show incompatibility in movements with rhythm.
Specific Learning Disabilities Treatment
By academically supporting children diagnosed with specific learning disabilities, it is ensured that they reach the expected performance level of their peers. Specific learning disabilities are not an area to be treated with medication or various methods. Specific learning disability is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The diagnosed child needs to be supported in the five areas above at the most basic level.