26/07/2021
In our counselling sessions, we are often asked about educational questions and we are asked about learning difficulties. There are a various range of learning difficulties which children and adults can suffer from.
As we are experiencing unprecedented times, many children are having to undertake home schooling 📚. Many of us are also having to work from home and away from normal supports that we can be used to in the pre-COVID world, making normal daily tasks more challenging.
This is an incredibly stressful time for everyone, teachers, parents, and children. But this can be an even harder time for children who are suffering from learning difficulties 📝.
Sometimes these learning difficulties are undiagnosed or not recognised. Often there are children who have been diagnosed with a specific disability, but there is a lack of support available in an isolated environment, presenting the risk of ever-increasing struggles with the child’s learning in this difficult time.
There are a range of learning difficulties children can experience, and these can be things such as:
🖇 Dysgraphia – This specific disability is related to the abilities of a person’s spelling and written expressions.
Individuals who suffer from Dysgraphia often have to work much harder and longer to produce written work to the same standard as another individual without this condition.
People who are suffering from Dysgraphia often experience symptoms such as:
⭕️ Cramped grip
⭕️ Sore hands
⭕️ Poor spelling
⭕ Missing words and/or letters
⭕️ Inconsistency in letter and word spacing
⭕️ Frequent erasing
⭕️ Difficulties with spelling
⭕️ Poor handwriting
⭕️ Trouble putting thoughts on paper
⭕️ Poor organisation of writing on the page
⭕️ Getting ideas on paper
⭕️ Body awareness or feedback in the hands
⭕️ Less than age-appropriate written communication output
⭕️ Poor endurance for handwriting
⭕️ Limited motivation for written academic tasks due to their known difficulties with such tasks
🖇 Dyslexia – A learning difficulty which is specifically related to reading and writing.
This is a particularly common learning disability which is diagnosed more than 500,000 times a year in Australia alone.
Dyslexia is not an easy to diagnose learning disability but is diagnosed using several assessments conducted over a period of time. Popular to contrary belief it is not related to just reading, but it also includes writing and particular aspects of a person’s spelling.
Some of the symptoms of dyslexia could include but are not limited to:
⭕️ Delayed speech
⭕️ Problems with pronunciation
⭕️ Problems with rhyming words and learning rhymes
⭕️ Difficulty with learning shapes, colours and how to write their own name
⭕️ Difficulty with retelling a story in the right order of events.
⭕️ Problems with reading a single word
⭕️ Problems with grammar, such as learning prefixes or suffixes
⭕️ Tries to avoid reading aloud in class
⭕️ Doesn’t like reading books
⭕️ Reads below their expected level
⭕️ Poor reading and spelling
⭕️ Bad spelling, including different misspellings of the same word in one writing assignment
🖇 Dyscalculia – A learning difficulty which is specific to calculations or mathematics. Individuals can struggle or find simple mathematics complex.
Most people will struggle with a number of major key concepts of the standard educational curriculum in regard to mathematics. Unfortunately, children don’t outgrow dyscalculia and sadly will continue to struggle with it into their adult life.
There are strategies which can help improve math's skills and ensure that people are able to feel comfortable going about daily tasks using math's.
Symptoms can be things such as:
⭕️ Uses fingers or marks to calculate consistently
⭕️ Struggles with mathematical symbols and can mix up symbols easily
⭕️ Avoids telling time or even attempting to learn times by using a digital clock
⭕️ Experience’s confusion during math's tasks
⭕️ Difficulty identifying numerical patterns
⭕️ Struggles to use steps in mathematical operation
⭕️ Difficulty understanding and identifying number patterns
🖇 Dyspraxia – Due to this learning disability stemming from a neurological disorder, it impacts an individual’s ability to plan and process standard motor tasks.
People who suffer from dyspraxia aren’t affected in an intellectual capacity, although living with the disability can make it harder on the person to learn and socialise for a number of reasons such as:
⭕️ Difficulty learning new skills
⭕️ Low self esteem
⭕️ Short attention span for difficult tasks
⭕️ Difficulty following or remembering instructions
⭕️ Lack of organisational skills
⭕️ Immature behaviour
⭕️ Struggles to make friends
⭕️ Difference in speech
⭕️ Perception issues
⭕️ Poor balance and posture
If you or your child is suffering at all from any learning difficulty, please reach out and one of our counsellors can help and assist.
Our counsellors are experienced in the education fields and are able to assist with placing supports for you or your child to offer them the best chance at full development, and a quality life.
Please either call 0482 996399 or alternatively email enquiries@onelifewellness.com.au for an appointment.
There are no wait times or referrals needed!
