The term is an overaching label for a variety of neurological conditions that interfere with a person’s ability to store, process or produce information. A learning disability cannot be cured, but with the right resources and support it’s possible to make sure the child overcomes the barriers, gains confidence and achieves success.
Dyslexia is a reading-based learning disability, which results in children having difficulty with word recognition and decoding print. Common signs: reads painfully slow, difficulty with basic letter sounds, has trouble decoding, order of letters become mixed up, cannot recall known words.
Dysgraphia is a writing disability, which means a child may not have the complex set of motor and information processing skills to be able to write his or her own thoughts down on a piece of paper. Common signs: awkward pencil grip, Illegible handwriting, frustration with writing thoughts on paper, can talk about an idea, but cannot write it down on paper.
Dyscalculia is a math-based learning disability, which results in your child having trouble recognizing numbers and symbols and understanding basic math concepts. Common signs: difficulty recalling number sequences, cannot retain patterns when adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing, difficulty with handling money or estimating cost.
Central Auditory Process Disorder means a child has difficulty processing information he or she hears and interpreting speech. A child with CAPD does not necessarily suffer from hearing loss, instead he or she has a hearing problem where the brain does not interpret information heard. Common signs: distracted by background noises, has difficulty following directions, misspells or mispronounces similar sounding words, has trouble following conversations.
Nonverbal Learning Disorders can be very difficult to diagnose, as children who have it are often very articulate and do well academically. They lack motor coordination, common social skills and interpreting nonverbal communication. Common signs: does not perceive nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, can be very disruptive in conversation; asking too many questions, poor fine and gross motor skills.
Visual Processing Disorder occurs when a child cannot receive, process, sequence, recall or express information in an accurate and timely way. This does not mean the child has poor eyesight, but that his or her brain has trouble processing visual information. Common signs: often mistake letters and numbers that look similar in shape; misreads words; remembering the spelling of familiar words incorrectly; cannot copy words accurately; spacing letters or words poorly; writing outside lines, margins; loses place while reading; cannot find numbers or details on a page easily.
Aphasia, Dysphasia or Global Aphasia: children have a hard time expressing themselves using words as well as understanding spoken or written language. Common signs: difficulty expressing thoughts verbally, poor reading comprehension, frustrated when speaking, has trouble labeling objects.
Lilian Itzicovitch Leventhal é autora de livros de referência para professores: Inglês é 10!, Inglês é teen! e co-autora de Inglês é 11! e co-autora de coleção didática para Fundamental 1. Trabalha como teacher trainer no Brasil todo, coordena inglês em Colégio de São Paulo e dirige a Potential Consultoria especializada em Institutos de Idiomas (www.potential.com.br). Compartilhar experiências com professores e ler são seus momentos favoritos, mas nada se compara à sala de aula!!! lilian@potential.com.br.
