It is a common practice in India to estimate a child’s intellectual capacities on the basis of academic performance. When children do poorly in academics, they are often isolated, labelled and ridiculed by teachers, parents and peers.
Parents burden these children with tuitions or extra classes. The children end up having to sacrifice their play or leisure time, or both, in order to “catch up” with their high-achieving counterparts. Constantly being under pressure and experiencing rejection from parents and teachers brings about several emotional and behavioural disturbances in children, which can have long-lasting effects.
Research indicates that almost two-thirds of children with learning disorders suffer from secondary depression, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders. Many of them have poor social skills which further damage their self-image. As a result, they grow up feeling inferior as adults.
However, many parents and teachers are not aware that the children, who lag behind in school, could have learning disorders such as dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. Intelligence or motivation may not have anything to do with underperformance in most children. Such children, surrounded by supportive parents and positive attitudes, are capable of achieving great heights in any sphere despite their learning disorder.
Here are some steps for creating a supportive environment:
Diagnostic and cognitive evaluation
If your child is not doing well in academics despite the best efforts of all concerned, seek a diagnostic and cognitive assessment from a clinical psychologist who can diagnose the learning disorder in your child. This will help you understand the cognitive deficits, like working memory, logical thinking, auditory and visual processing problems. These skills are the basis for learning any subject, so it’s critical to identify any such deficits to ensure that remedial education programme makes an impact.
Special education and cognitive programme
Based on the evaluation, a remedial education and cognitive programme should be initiated to ensure appropriate learning at school and home. The remedial education programme helps the child learn language and mathematics with individualised attention from special educators. The cognitive programme helps them build their skills to learn and retain information. An integrated special education and cognitive programme helps in definitive progress in learning.
Children with learning disorders are often overwhelmed by huge amounts of information, so it is important to set realistic and achievable goals that can build their confidence in their ability to learn. New concepts can be broken down into small chunks of information.
It is also very important to repeat new concepts several times for them to master the concepts properly. Being consistent with the special education and cognitive programme is key to retaining learned concepts.
Exposure to sports, art, theatre and life skills
No matter what the assessment indicates, do not give your child an impression that he or she is useless because of poor academic performance. Children with learning disorders are very talented in many fields, so give them wide exposure to sports, art, music, dance, theatre and life skills so that they can identify their inherent talent. Excellence in any field helps reinforce confidence in ability to learn.
Board examination exemptions
As you get closer to the board exams, seek the support of the respective education board (State, CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE) and obtain exemptions. It is important to maintain diagnostic evaluation records to prove to the board that the child has been facing significant learning challenges for a long period of time and is eligible for exemptions.
Positive strokes and relaxation
Last but not least, it is important for the family to spend quality time and relax. This helps you to feel rejuvenated and inspired to work. Creating a supportive environment brings out the best in your child.
(This is the second of a two- part series on learning disorders in children. The author is a child neuropsychologist)
