Theodora Papadopoulou, PhD
Linguist, Program Manager of Special Education Courses at New York College
When we talk about Learning Difficulties, we often refer to dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia since these ones are the most frequently diagnosed by specialists (psychologists/neurologists/special educators).
It is worth pointing out that Learning Difficulties should not be confused with learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps. Specific Learning Difficulties are not associated with mental retardation and/or neurological or emotional disturbances. They are not the result of family or social deprivation although they are highly associated with both of them.
The most frequently displayed symptoms of children with learning difficulties are the following
- Short attention span
- Poor memory
- Difficulty following directions
- Inability to discriminate between/among letters, numerals, or sounds
- Poor reading and/or writing ability
- Eye-hand coordination problems
- Difficulties with sequencing
- General disorganization
To be more specific some of the warning signs of dyslexia are the following:
· Reading and Spelling difficulties
- Handwriting issues ( Dysgraphia )
- Quality of written work
- Directionality issues
· Rote memory of non-meaningful facts
- Spatial organization
People with dyslexia do not make random reading errors. They make very specific types of errors. For example, when reading aloud, they read slow, often ignore punctuation, reverse, invert or transpose letters.
They become visibly tired after reading for only a short time.
Their reading comprehension may be low due to spending so much effort trying to read the words. They substitute similar-looking words even if it changes the meaning of the sentence. When reading a story or a sentence, they may substitute a word that means the same thing but doesn't look at all similar. They omit, misread or add small words as well. In addition, their written work shows signs of spelling uncertainty and cross outs.
Every individual with a learning disability is unique and shows a different combination and degree of difficulties. A common characteristic among people with learning disabilities is uneven areas of ability. For instance, a child with dyslexia who struggles with reading, writing and spelling may be very capable in maths
and science.
Generally speaking, people with learning difficulties are of average or above average intelligence. There often appears to be a gap between the individual’s potential and actual achievement. The child with learning difficulties is often a smart individual who comes to school eager to learn and participate. He/she might be a little over-excited but this is due to the fact that he/she strongly feels the need to be accepted and loved by his/her teachers and peers in a specific social environment. Soon enough, he realises that although he tries hard, he can’t reach the level of his classmates and always encounters failure. This is one of the main reasons why this child stops trying and develops a very low self-esteem. He accepts failure as a burden that he is doomed to carry throughout his school life. He tries to find ways to deal with it. He either becomes passive and depressed or even becomes aggressive in a vain effort to persuade everyone around him that he is not interested in school success. He builds a high wall
around him in order to protect himself from pain. The constant pain of failure!
This is when the main concern of educators arises. How do we handle these children who refuse to be helped? How do we make them be interested in the subject we teach?
The answer is simple. We firstly make them feel needed and approved.
By telling them that they can become good students we don’t provide them with the tools to handle their difficulties. The next step is
the creation of an individualised lesson plan based on their needs.
A trap for all educators is to focus on their students’ weaknesses and
put aside their students’ strengths. We should not forget that our students’ strengths, which always act as motivating sources,
are the ones that will help us make them interested in learning. Their self-esteem will be reconstructed on solid foundations since they will be trained to develop a different opinion about themselves.
On the other hand, a well-informed teacher is able to understand his/her students’ problems and adjust his/her lesson plan to satisfy all his/her students’ needs. The lesson should become interesting, exciting and easy to follow. Everybody should be involved and leave the classroom feeling that he/she had an active and important role in it. In other words, the lesson should be turned into an unforgettable experience, a new but at the same time approachable world ready to be explored.
Students with learning difficulties need multi-sensory teaching methods. They need strong associations, involvement and constant motivation.
That makes me wonder though!
Is there a student who doesn’t need all these things in order to excel?
Are traditional teaching methods able enough to make our mixed-ability classrooms look appeal to all students? Isn’t it time we tried something new, something that would give us excitement, joy, satisfaction and after all a reason to try harder?
Teaching ‘different’ students has always been a challenge for every teacher. The biggest challenge of all though, is to try new things in the classroom, evaluate new teaching methods and be ready to face the results of your changes.
A learning difficulty cannot be cured or fixed; it is a lifelong challenge. However, with appropriate support and intervention, people with learning difficulties can achieve success in school, in relationships, and in the community.
Guided by our desire to help all students experience success and armed with knowledge that derives from lifelong learning, we can certainly help all our students, with or without learning difficulties cope with their problems and never allow them to act as an obstacle to their difficult but unbelievably exciting trip to knowledge.