Assistant Professor

Department of Psychology

Arya Mahila P.G. College

 Varanasi, U.P., India 

Counselor

Department of Psychology

Vandrevala Foundation

Varanasi, U.P., India

Introduction

In the modern society mastery of basic academic skill-reading, writing and arithmetic is a necessary pre-requisite for success in both school and employment setting and in society at large. A large number of children suffer from learning disabilities or learning difficulties and therefore do not master or partially master-these required academic skills. Not surprisingly, each one learn differently. Most of us have our own learning difficulties, to cope with. Some people don’t do well with numbers, others have difficulty in writing. Some people feel they have to discuss a new idea before they understand it; others need to mull it over in privacy.

Learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to receive process, store and respond to the information. These problems can make it difficult for a student to learn as quickly as other students who are not affected by learning disability. There is much kind of learning disabilities and most students affected by it have more than one kind. These skills are essential for success at school and work, and for coping with life in general. “LD” does not stand for single disorder. It is a term that refers to a group of disorders. For someone diagnosed with a learning disability it may see scary first but it has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence after all. A few successful people like Walt Disney and Alexander Graham Bell had learning disability. A learning disability can cause a person to have trouble learning and using certain skills. The skills most often affected are reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and doing math. Learning disabilities vary from person to person. One person with LD may not have the same kind of learning problem as another person with LD. One person may have difficulty with reading and writing. Another person with LD may have problems understanding math. Still another person may have trouble in each of these areas, as well as with understanding what people are saying.

Today many children undergo a lot of stress related to academics from a very early age. Coping with the activities, curriculum and relation to the school environment is an everyday challenge. These children have difficulty in following instructions, reading, writing, doing mathematics or doing any other task which is related to academics, which hampers their overall development and eventually become a arget of peer rejection, leading to low self-confidence and shame of oneself. Children undergoing such situation are the ones having “Learning Disability”. Sometimes a learning disability is called as learning difficulty, intellectual impairment,and intellectualdisability. A learning disability is not an illness. Some people with a learning disability also experience mental health problem such as depression , but they are not the same thing. People usually have a learning disability from birth or sometimes from early childhood. Although it is a permanent condition, people with learning disability can and do learn and develop with the right sorts of support from other people.

Signs of Learning Disabilities

Learning disability typically first show up when a person has difficulty in speaking, reading, writing, figuring out a math problem, communicating with a parent, or paying attention in class. Some kid’s LD are diagnosed in the school when a parent or teacher notices that a child can’t follow directions for a game or is struggling to do work as he or she should be able to do easily. Bit other kids develop sophisticated ways covering up their learning issues so usually child’s learning disability is difficult to get noticed and then in later years it gets more complicated. Most learning disabilities fall in to two categories: verbal and non- verbal. The most common verbal learning disability is dyslexia the child has difficulty in recognizing and processing letters or sounds associated with them. For this reason people with dyslexia have difficulty in writing and reading tasks. Also some people may not have trouble in reading or writing but may have difficulty in other aspects such as language. For example, they may be ableto read the sentences or paragraphs properly which makes them a good reader but they may not make any sense with what they are reading. They are not able to picture what they read. Some people on the other hand have difficulty in writing as their brain struggles to control their hand to form shapes of the alphabets to remembering the correct grammar rules involved in writing down the sentences. People with non-verbal learning disability have difficulty in what they see. They have trouble in making visual sense like what letter or number is being writtenon the board. Someone with non-verbal disability can confuse the mathematics symbol like addition and multiplication.

The onset of learning disability is in the development period. The age and the characteristics of learning disability depend upon the etiology and severity of brain dysfunction. Sometimes the learning disability of the child can be identified within the first two years if the disability is severe otherwise the mild learning disability is unidentifiable until school age when difficulty with academics learning become more apparent. When LD is associated with genetic syndrome, there may be characteristics of physical appearance as in Down syndrome. A behavioral condition called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often associated with LD because people who have ADHD also have hard time focusing at one thing or to learn or to study.

Manifestations of children with learning disabilities Tuttle and Paquette (1993:5) state that learners with learning disabilities commonly manifest the following:

i. Difficulty with academics skills including reading, writing, speech and mathematics.

ii. Difficulty with fine-motor skills such as handwriting and copying.

iii. Difficulty with long and short- term memory.

iv. Difficulty with attention (short attention spans, distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsivity).

v. Difficulty with sensory integration.

vi. Difficulty with organizational skills.

vii. Extreme gaps in section on IQ tests (for example, high verbal scores but poor performance scores).

viii. Difficulty in making and keeping friends.

ix. A low self-esteem.

x. These learners expect to fail. They are then likely to avoid failure rather than to go for success.

These Manifestations impact on the learner’s ability to perform adequately in a classroom situation. It is important that these factors are treated. If a learner is only referred for educational institution and these factors are not dealt with it is likely that the learner will continue to exhibit a poor response to instruction (Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs & Barnes, 2007:82).

Causes of learning disabilities

Somelearning disabilitiesappear to be passed down from generation to generation. Occasionally certain medical conditions, such as neurological illness or chronic childhood ear infections, may also alter the neurological development or structure of the brain as well, creating a learning disability. Environmental factors such as cultural deprivation or parenting and teaching styles may heighten the impact of a neurological deficit, but they are not the cause.

In most cases, the cause etiology of a child’s learning disability is unknown. Many causes have been proposed, a situation that probably reflects the highly diverse nature of students with learning disabilities. Just as there are different types of learning disabilities (e.g. dyslexia, language disabilities, math disabilities), there are likely to be different causes. Three suspected casual factors are brain damage, heredity, and environmental causes.

Brain damage or dysfunction

Currently most professionals subscribe to a viewpoint that LD emanate from some kinds of differences in brain structure or functioning, and the most widely used definition suggests that the causes are neurological rather than the environmental. Also, experts are of the opinion that learning disability can be traced to brain developmentboth, before and after the birth. Science has made great stride in understanding the inner working of the brain and discovering new hope for learning disability and disorder called Neuroplasticity. It refers the brain’s natural, lifelong ability to change and form new cells in response to experience and learning. This knowledge has led to ground breaking new treatment for learning disabilities that harness the power of neuroplasticity to retain the brain. Neurobiological investigations suggest that there are subtle structural differences in several regions of the brain among children who are learning to read normally and children with reading disabilities. The neurobiological correlates believed to underlie these deficits are centered on the left-temporal-parietal region.

As a result, professionals in the field feel fairly confident that there are strong relationships between brain dysfunction and learning disabilities.

Genetics

 Familiar transmission of learning disabilities has shown that if there is a family history of reading disabilities, the probability of having a reading disability is significantly increased. Several modes of transmission have been investigated. Although there are, as yet, no definitive conclusions, a possible linkage to chromosomes6 and 15 has been identified. It is not surprising to find that children with learning disabilities haveparents or other relatives with similar difficulties. However a parent’s learning disability may appeardifferent from a child’s disability. For instance, a parent who has difficulty reading may have a child who has a writing disorder. For this reason, scientists infer that specific learning disabilities are unlikely to be passed down directly from parent to child.

The facts that learning disabilities tend to run in families indicates that there may be a genetic link. Researchers have found that about (35-45) % of the first degree relatives (parents and siblings) of persons with reading disabilities also have reading disabilities. Children who lack some of the skills needed for reading, such as hearing the separate sounds of word, are likely to have a parent with a related problem. However, a parent’s learning disability may take a slightly different form in the child. A parent who has a writing disorder may have a child with an expressive language disorder. For this reason, it seems unlikely that specific LD is inherited directly. Possibly, what is inherited is a subtle brain dysfunction that can in turn lead to a learning disability. Similar evidence has been found in the area of speech and language disorders and spelling disabilities.

Environmental Impacts

Infants and young children are susceptible to environmental toxins. For example, lead is sometimes thought to contribute to learning disability. Poor nutrition early in life may also lead to learning disability in later life. The reverse is also possible : Social problems progress into alearning disability. If a child is seriously struggling with continuing problems at school and hardly, if at all, has time for social activities, it is time for parents and teachers to take a closer look. Besides that, a learning disability also can develop from a physical impairment. A child does not know what is normal and what it has to tell his parents. Sometimes children fear that there is something wrong with them and therefore don’t say anything. For example, visual or audible difficulties can cause the child not to hear the teacher correctly or respectively can’t read what’s written on the black board or books.

Types of learning disabilities

 “The majority of learning disabilities are language-based and difficulties using oral and written language remain the single most significant deterrent to educational growth” (Wallach 2005, 294). Understanding the types of learning disabilities and their possible impact on a child gives parents more tools in their quest for support for themselves and for their child. Various types of learning disabilities are discussed below. Each one of them can hinder a learner when it comes to keeping up with the class in day to day activities.

Auditory Processing Disorder

Otherwise called Central Auditory Processing Disorder, this is a condition that unfavorably influences how solid that ventures unobstructed through the ear is handled or translated by the cerebrum. People with APD don’t perceive inconspicuous contrasts between sounds in words, notwithstanding when the sounds are boisterous and sufficiently clear to be listened. They can likewise think that it’s hard to tell where sounds are originating from, to understand the request of sounds, or to shut out contending foundation commotions.

APD is hearing issues that affect around 5% of school matured youngsters. Kids with this condition can’t handle what they hear similarly different children do in light of the fact that their ears and cerebrum don’t completely facilitate. Something meddles with the way the cerebrum perceives and deciphers sounds, particularly discourse. With the correct treatment, kids with APD can be effective in school and life. Early determination is essential, since when the condition isn’t gotten and treated early, a youngster can have discourse and dialect postponements or issues learning in school.

Dyslexia

These troubles in single word unraveling are regularly startling in connection to age and other subjective and scholarly capacities; they are not the consequence of summed up formative inability or tangible disability. Dyslexia is show by factor trouble with various types of dialect, regularly including notwithstanding issues with perusing, a prominent issue with gaining capability in composing and spelling. This shortfall prompts to a significant aggravation of perusing capacity that overruns distinctive spaces of scholarly accomplishment. Understanding is reliant upon one’s capacity to disentangle quickly and to perceive single words in a programmed familiar way. A spelling shortage likewise happens in dyslexia- in separation or in setting. Moderate perusing familiarity rises as a focal scholastic ability deficiency not withstanding when spelling is sufficient. It is a particular dialect based turmoil of established root described by challenges in single word translating, typically reflecting lacking phonological handling.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a brain based condition in which the child or the individual have difficulty with numbers and math concepts. Dyscalculia goes by many name.

es, some public schools refer to it as a “mathematics learning disability”. Doctors sometimes call it a “mathematics disorder”. Many kids and parents call it “math dyslexia”. Children who suffer from dyscalculia can have anxiety and stress. Dyscalculia can affectmany different areas of math learning and performance. Different kids have different challenges. The most common problem is with “number sense”. This is an intuitive understanding according to children of how number works, and how to compare and estimate quantities on a number line.

Most researchers agree that number sense is at the core of math learning. If children don’t understand the basics about how number works, learning math and using it every day can be very frustrating. In order to solve a problem a learner must “ be able to master the rules for problem solving, develop categories for sorting problems thatrequire similar solutions, and be aware that novel problems are related to previously solved problems”.

Dysgraphia

The word Dysgraphia is composed of two Greek words. The word “dys” means difficult & “graphia” means writing.  This simply means difficulty in writing or in other words we can say messy writing that is often illegible & in comprehensible. Children who have dysgraphia have difficulty in understanding upper case and lower case letters and also they have overly tight or too lose pensil grip. The inconsistent letter shape, size, spacing between letters/word/ sentences make the child slow in writing and understanding of what is written. Dysgraphia may occur singularly or along with dyslexia and or with oral written learning disability i.e. OWLLD, also referred to as selective language impairment, SLI.

Some expert may utilize diverse terms to portray child’s battle with composed expression. This is the term utilized by most specialists and therapists. “Some school analysts and instructors utilize the term dysgraphia as a kind of shorthand to signify confusion in composed expression”.

Language Processing Disorder

A Language Processing Disorder is regularly portrayed reciprocally with a sound related handling issue. The youngster demonstrates troubles with both open and expressive dialect, & for instance indicates challenges with taking in the letter in order, their physical address and telephone number. It ought to be noticed that individuals with dialect handling troubles are at- hazard peruses, as perusing is a dialect expertise. Essential vocabulary learning is required before one can connect more top to bottom intending to words. A Language Processing Disorder (LPD) can be portrayed as having outrageous trouble understanding what you hear and communicating what you need to say. These issues influence the territory of the mind that controls dialect handling. Dialect handling issues are here and there called sound related preparing issues. They are described by trouble comprehension and preparing what is being listened. This does not really imply that the kid has a hearing misfortune; rather their cerebrum does not prepare or translate sound related data appropriately.

Non Verbal Learning Disability

Nonverbal learning inabilities (NLD) affect the capacity to gain from and utilize nonverbal data. Kids with NLD experience difficulty understanding the “master plan”. They may likewise have issues with perusing perception, math and inferred meaning. As social cooperation depends vigorously on nonverbal signs (outward appearance, tone, non-verbal communication) these youngsters might be socially clumsy. They have a tendency to be excessively exacting in their elucidation of expressive gestures, missing the subtleties others naturally get it.  They likewise have a tendency to experience issues understanding circumstances and end results connection and envisioning the outcomes of their activity.

Diagnosis of Learning Disabilities                                                                                     

The most traditional discrepancy model is discussed, followed by assessment alternatives and the need for a holistic interpretation of a learner’s learning disability.

The discrepancy model

To be diagnosed with a learning disability in the United States, there has to be a larger than expected difference (discrepancy)between a person’s intelligence quotient and his ability to carry outfunctions required for reading, writing and/or math’s ( Rodis, Garrod & Boscardin,2001).

The discrepancy model looks at the difference between a learner’s academic achievement and his obtained intelligence quotient score. This procedure is criticized, as a learner is removed from his natural learning environment and tested with material that might not be relevant to his learning experience. Identification of learning disabilities should occurs at classroom level (Klassen, Neufeld & Munro, 2005). In thelight of this criticism, the field is ready to discard the discrepancy model, after four decades of use, for purposes of diagnosing a learning disability. But it still needs to be 23 resolved how to define a diagnose learning disabilities.

Dynamic Assessment

Dynamic Assessment is put forward as an alternative to the discrepancy model (IQ assessment related to achievement) for learning disabilities. Dynamic Assessment is an interactive assessment process in a test-teach-retest format. This means that a learner is assessed at his current level of achievement. Once his ability is assessed an intense period of teaching the learner on that specific task is undertaken. After this he is retested. If there is an improvement the learner is not considered to have a learning disability. The test (and retest) portion of the assessment process consists of the measurement of the targeted area.

Any assessment that hopes to be relevant in the educational context should not occur in isolation, since learners do not learn in isolation. It is important to evaluate the broader context of the individual learner who is failing. This is the fundamental difference to the discrepancy model. Assessment stimuli within the learner centered deficit model are likely not to be relevant to daily activities in the classroom. Dynamic assessment makes assessment relevant to what is happening in the classroom. It is related to tasks that teachers and parents may understand better whereby possibly enhancing the support to the child and the parent.

Impact of behavior problems on parents

Amerogen and Mishna (2004) found out that the behavior of children with learning disabilities often leads the parents to feelings of helpless and shame towards themselves. Parents believe that their child’s disability is a result of their own parenting and they may often are blamed by teachers and other people. They feel guilty for no reason and this may create negative feeling towards other people.

Parent’s reaction to the diagnosis of learning disabilities

Parents of children with disabilities have many reactions to their children’s special needs and these reactions may be positive or even negative. Parents experience many emotions when they are told that their child has some learning disabilities. For some, the reactions may be minor and their approach realistic. For others, their child’s disability might affect their entire family structure and life.

Phase of Parent’s Reactions

Grief experienced by parent’s whose child is diagnosed by disability as there is sorrow for pain or discomfort. They have feelings of sadness for themselves because of the stress that they have from their family members. Grief may be temporary or it may be chronic, as it will affect their everyday life and a realization of how their lives are different from those of families with children who do not have disabilities.

Shock is the first reaction on hearing the news that their child has learning disability. The parent’s dream for their child’s future are shattered. With shock comes denial. It is commonly known as the first reaction in a grieving process

Lessing and Strydom (2001) outline four common forms of denial:

i. Refusing to recognize the child’s disability.

ii. Rationalizing the child’s disability.

iii. Seeking professional confirmation that there is nothing wrong with the child.

iv. Quickly becoming too cooperative with professionals.

Ambivalence is another reaction parents may have toward their child. This feeling may occur as parents attempt to confirm that the child’s disability is not temporary or fixable, as they try to determine what the best educational options are available for their child, and as they think about how their child will live as an adult. The decisions that parents of children with disabilities have to make are often difficult, and they continue throughout childhood and adolescence and sometimes through adulthood.

Optimism is usually a positive emotion that parents experiences as they are positive about their child’s future and does not differentiate them with any other children. Parents may work conscientiously with educators to optimize their child’s education, and they are hopeful about their child’s future. They work closely with educators and others to ensure that the child’s life is the best one possible.

Differences in the parent’s reaction

Mothers and fathers generally deals with the news that their child has a learning difficulty in different ways (Hastings, Beck & Hill 2005). However, according to Rump (2002:19), both parents go through four phases:

1. Denial of the problem;

2. Resistance to seeking help;

3. Exploration of needs and resources;

4. Commitment to the child’s future and care.

These are broadly similar to the phases indicates by (Kubler-Ross & Kessler, 2005). Support given to parents at this time needs to beer in mind that, although fathers and mothers may be reacting differently, they may in fact be going through the same stages. Most mothers eventually come to accept the diagnosis. They believe that the diagnosis would finally bring their child the help that is needed. It is more difficult for fathers to accept the diagnosis. There may be a variety of reasons why fathers tend not to accept their child’s learning disability. Included in these is the fact that fathers still seems to have less to do with the school then mothers do. Because fathers are less involved with the daily life at school than mothers they have less opportunity to develop a relationship with the teachers. A father’s denial has to be treated before a child can receive help. It is important to involve the father during the process of accepting that his child has a learning disability. The majority of fathers, whether they live in the same household as their child or not, wants to and needs to be involved with the decisions affecting their child ( Rump, 2002). Findings in Hastings and Beck’s research (2004) show that fathers seem to benefit from involvement in support groups. Parents often differ with regards to their level of concern about the nature and extent of their child’s learning problem and the best way to approach it. Mothers and fathers have different perceptions of the positive contributions of their child with a learning disability. These contributions include personal growth for the parents and the child, increased family closeness as they come to acceptance, and a greater sensitivity. In general, mothers reported more positive perceptions than fathers of their child’s contribution to the familyand themselves ( Hastings et al., 2005).

Relationship between parents and professionals/teachers

The relationship between teachers and parents and how they communicate is important in the process of diagnosing a learning disability and in relating the news to the parents.

Parents often view school problem, such as difficulty with studies or behavior problems that their children experience, as negative reflections on their parenting skills. Generally schools contact parents when their child is experiencing academic difficulty with behavior. On the other hand, a positive parental interaction style with teachers is directly related to significant positive development outcomes of the child. It takes huge effort to establish positive relationship between parents of children with learning disabilities and teachers. It is important for teachers and parents to communicate to each other and discuss their goals for expectations of the children. In this way they can create the best possible environment and facilitate the learning process.

The stage of diagnosis of impairment is often very traumatic for parents. Parents are inevitably shocked when they hear that their child has a disability, and this is compounded by the way they are told and the treatment they receive from professionals at the time. It is crucial that the professionals involves with the parents be sensitive, accepting and non-judgmental. Furthermore, when professional speaks to parents about their child’s learning disability parents may experience problemsunderstanding the scientific language that is being used. These discussions may alienate parents from a collaborative process.

Oeckerman (2001) sets out five ways in which teachers can improve the interaction between themselves and the parents of the child when a learning disability has been diagnosed. The following needs have to be understood:

i. The grief process should be accepted as natural and good.

ii. Teachers should acknowledge that not all parents go through the same grief process.

iii. They should understand that grief may reoccur.

iv. Teachers should be prepared with the information the parents may need.

v. They should help parents celebrate the success of their child.

Creating an environment conducive to communication

As the parents go through various emotional phases at the time of the diagnosis of their child’s learning disability, the creation of an environment that leads to constructive communication is important. Robinson & Fine (1994:16) mention six important points:

i. The parties should be introduced to the purpose of the meeting. It is important to create an atmosphere which is open and non-defensive.

ii. The teachers should use accurate listening skills to explore the parents- view of the situation.

iii. The objective of the meeting is for the teacher and parent to reach a common understanding of both the problem and the solution.

iv. The option should be reviewed.

v. Agreement on a specific plan should be attained.

vi. The success of the plan should be evaluated.

vii. The involved person should discuss what has worked and what not.

Professionals who facilitate supporting networks for parents of children with learning disabilities may be creating effective support for parents (Hasting & Beck, 2004:1340). In terms of successful outcomes, parents identified four key characteristics supporting parents and their relationship:

i. Perceived sameness of  the child’s situation and parent personalities;

ii. Being in a comparable situation as a means of learning directly applicable skills;

iii. Being available at any time on the telephone;

iv. The mutuality of support.

Support groups should be easily accessible to parents. It is important that support to parents is offered early in the process in an effort to alleviate distress.

In view of the child

Although this study focuses on what support a parent would need at the time of the diagnosis of their child’s learning problem. It has not considered the needs of the child. It seems imperative, however to take note of the views of the child in the ability to support the parent.

It is important that parents explain to their childrenand help them understand the reasons why they need help, and the importance of its relevance to their academics work. Tuttle & Paquette (1993:14) maintain that as the children’s academic skills improve, so will their social skills. What may initially be thought of as harmful to the child is in fact beneficial to ultimately building up their self-esteem. “The most important thing a parent can give a child is love”. The child with a learning disability may need the parents love demonstrated more than do most children. Discuss your child’s problem with him. He has a right to know what causes his difficulties in school. He is usually quite relieved to know that he is not ‘stupid’ or ‘dumb’ ( Pickering, 2002:7).

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43. https://www.coursehero.com/file/59692488/Specific-Learning-Disorderpptx//

44. https://www.naset.org/fileadmin/user_upload/LD_Report/Issue__2_LD_Report_Theoretical_Perspectives_Causes.pdf 

45. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-canton-echd250/chapter/the-family-reactions-to-children-with-developmental-delays/ ,