Learning disabilities are problems that affect the brain's ability to process or store information, making it difficult for students to learn as quickly as others. Common learning disabilities include dyslexia, affecting reading, writing and spelling; dyscalculia, affecting math skills; and dysgraphia, affecting writing abilities. Signs of learning disabilities vary by age but may include trouble with reading, writing, spelling, organizing ideas, math skills, and following instructions. While learning disabilities are lifelong, accommodations like structured learning, technology tools, and modifying assignments can help students succeed.

1. Learning Problems

2. Learning Disorders
Learning disabilities are problems
that affect the brain's ability to
receive, process, analyze, or store
information. These problems can
make it difficult for a student to
learn as quickly as someone who
isn't affected by learning disabilities.
For someone diagnosed with a learning
disability, it can seem scary at first. But a
learning disorder doesn't have anything to do
with a person's intelligence — kids with
learning disabilities aren’t lazy or dumb. In
fact, most are just as smart as everyone else.
Their brains are simply wired differently. After
all, successful people such as Walt
Disney, Alexander Graham Bell, and Winston
Churchill all had learning disabilities.

3. Preschool (4-5 years old)
•Problems pronouncing words
Signs and •Trouble finding the right word
•Difficulty rhyming
symptoms of •Trouble learning the
alphabet, numbers, colors, shapes, days of the
learning week
•Difficulty following directions or learning routines
disabilities •Difficulty controlling crayons, pencils, and scissors
or coloring within the lines
•Trouble with buttons, zippers, snaps, learning to
tie shoes
Grades K-4 (5-10 years old)
•Trouble learning the connection between letters
and sounds
•Unable to blend sounds to make words
•Confuses basic words when reading
•Consistently misspells words and makes frequent
It’s not always easy to identify reading errors
•Trouble learning basic math concepts
learning disabilities. Because of the •Difficulty telling time and remembering sequences
wide variations, there is no single •Slow to learn new skills
symptom or profile that you can look Grades 5-8 (10-14 years old)
•Difficulty with reading comprehension or math
to as proof of a problem. However, skills
some warning signs are more •Trouble with open-ended test questions and word
problems
common than others at different •Dislikes reading and writing; avoids reading aloud
ages. •Spells the same word differently in a single
document
•Poor organizational skills
(bedroom, homework, desk is messy and
disorganized)
•Trouble following classroom discussions and

4. Reading
disorder
(dyslexia)
Types of learning
Writing disorders
disorder
(dysgraphia)
Math disability
(dyscalculia)
Learning There are many kinds of
Disorders Dyspraxia (Sensory learning disabilities.
Integration Most students affected
Disorder)
by them have more than
Dysphasia/ one kind
Aphasia
Auditory
Processing
Disorder
Visual
Processing
Disorder

5. Common Types of Learning Disabilities
Dyslexia Difficulty reading Problems reading, writing, spelling,
speaking
Dyscalculia Difficulty with math Problems doing math problems,
understanding time, using money
Dysgraphia Difficulty with writing Problems with handwriting, spelling,
organizing ideas
Dyspraxia (Sensory Difficulty with fine motor Problems with hand–eye coordination,
Integration skills balance, manual dexterity
Disorder)
Dysphasia/Aphasia Difficulty with language Problems understanding spoken language,
poor reading comprehension
Auditory Processing Difficulty hearing differences Problems with reading, comprehension,
Disorder between sounds language
Visual Processing Difficulty interpreting visual Problems with reading, math, maps, charts,
Disorder information symbols, pictures

6. Dyslexia
Dyslexia can affect people differently. Some with
dyslexia can have trouble with reading and
spelling, while others struggle to write, or to tell
left from right. Some children show few signs of
difficulty with early reading and writing. But later
on, they may have trouble with complex language
skills, such as grammar, reading
comprehension, and more in-depth writing.
Dyslexia can also make it difficult for people to
express themselves clearly. It can be hard for
them to use vocabulary and to structure their
thoughts during conversation. Others struggle
to understand when people speak to them.
This isn't due to hearing problems. Instead, it's
from trouble processing verbal information. It
becomes even harder with abstract thoughts
and non-literal language, such as jokes and
proverbs.

7. Learning styles for people with dyslexia
 Learning should be structured and multisensory
(use sight, sound, and touch)
 Practice till automatic (people with dyslexia have short-term
memory difficulties)
 Work on one problem at a time.
 Use right brain skills: like imagination, patterns, colour and
visualisation to augment learning.
Make sure there is nothing disturbing in the room you are
studying in - dyslexics need to concentrate much more than other
students
 Use technology e.g. spelling dictionaries, movies, computer
programs

8. Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia makes the act What Can Help?
of writing difficult. It can
lead to problems with
spelling, poor •Use paper with raised lines for a
handwriting, and putting sensory guide to staying within the
thoughts on paper. lines.
People with dysgraphia •Try different pens and pencils to find
can have trouble one that's most comfortable.
organizing •Begin writing assignments creatively
letters, numbers, and with drawing, or speaking ideas into
words on a line or page. a tape recorder
•Create a step-by-step plan that
breaks writing assignments into small
tasks
• When organizing writing
projects, create a list of keywords
that will be useful

9. Dyscalculia What Can Help?
•Use graph paper for
Dyscalculia refers to a wide range of students who have difficulty
lifelong learning disabilities involving math. organizing ideas on paper.
There is no single type of math disability. •Work on finding different
Dyscalculia can vary from person to person. ways to approach math facts.
And, it can affect people differently at •Introduce new skills
different stages of life. beginning with concrete
examples and later moving
to more abstract
Two major areas of weakness can contribute applications.
to math learning disabilities: •For language
difficulties, explain ideas and
•Visual-spatial difficulties, which result in a problems clearly and
person having trouble processing what the encourage students to ask
eye sees questions as they work.
•Language processing difficulties, which •Provide a place to work with
result in a person having trouble processing few distractions and have
and making sense of what the ear hears pencils, erasers and other
tools on hand as needed.

10. ADHD (attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder) is a
ADHD/ADD
medical condition that
affects how well someone Sometimes the symptoms of ADHD become
can sit still, focus, and pay less severe as a person grows older. For
attention. People with example, experts believe that the
ADHD have differences in hyperactivity part of the disorder can
the parts of their brains diminish with age, although the problems
that control attention and with organization and attention often remain.
activity. This means that Although some people may "grow out of"
they may have trouble their symptoms, more than half of all kids
focusing on certain tasks who have ADHD will continue to show signs
and subjects, or they may of the condition as young adults.
seem "wired," act
impulsively, and get into
trouble.
No one knows exactly
what causes ADHD. It
ADD (attention deficit runs in families, so
disorder) is a type of ADHD genetics may be a
that doesn't involve factor.
hyperactivity.

11. Bibliography
http://www.helpguide.org
http://www.nlm.nih.gov
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_disability#Typ
es_of_learning_disabilities
http://kidshealth.org
http://www.ncld.org

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