Education Plus
Kerala
Learning about learning disorders
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Learning disorders are often mistaken for mental retardation. There is a need to distinguish between the two and take quick remedial action, writes G. Mahadevan.
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HELPING HAND: At a school for children with learning disabilities.
Every child who excels in studies is the pride of every home or school but there are some children whose performance does not match their potential. They are termed under-achievers or under-performers. But medical researches and clinical experiences go on to show that these children may have conditions now termed as learning disorders.
Though western countries long ago recognised LD - caused by the defective functioning of those areas of the brain that deal with the development of academic skills, including reading, writing and arithmetic skills - as a medical condition in children that needs special attention and treatment, the Persons with Disabilities Act passed by the Parliament in 1995 does not recognise this medical condition that is thought to be prevalent among 10 out of every 100 schoolchildren in the country today.
This has resulted in hundreds of schoolchildren in Kerala and elsewhere getting branded as `lazy' or even worse, `stupid' while actually such children may be inherently different in their academic capabilities due to the different way their brains function.
Disorder or retardation
The very first thing that student counsellors and doctors say about this disorder is that it is not mental retardation at all. "Mental retardation is a universal backwardness of the brain, where the child may be 10 years old having the mental age of a two-year-old. Children with LD are radically different. Their IQ is normal. In some areas they may even be much smarter than the rest of their peers. LD happens when specific areas of the brain do not develop to the extent needed or when they do not function in the way they ought to," explains Susha Janardhanan, head of the family counselling service of the Loyola College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Pointers to LD
Gita (not the real name) a student of standard five is a very smart girl, widely appreciated for her leadership qualities. Whenever Gita is asked questions orally, pat comes the reply. But this smartness is absent in her written work that is replete with spelling mistakes and totally disorganised. Gita is a very slow reader too...
According to medical experts this may be a classic case of a child with LD, a classic mismatch between the apparent potential of a child and her evident inability to translate that into action. There are also other classic pointers to early detection of LD in children. In fact it is most often the class teacher who is able to first detect the incidence of LD in a child.
Children with learning disabilities are very slow to read and often make elementary errors. Actually their reading ability may be two grades below their actual standard. They may be able to write very neatly - only if they write very slowly.
Also a child with LD may reverse certain alphabets while writing. For instance a `d' may become a `b' or a `p' may be written as `q'. Further such children may also tend to write phonetic spellings of words `inuf' for `enough' or `fest' for first. Ignoring punctuation marks and failing to use capital letters are also said to be LD pointers.
As the child with LD finds it difficult to think in abstraction, he or she may find it difficult to apply mathematical principles to solve problems. Though this child understands shapes and diagrams, he or she may have trouble drawing them. Similarly, an LD child would have difficulty in conceptualising time, directions, speed and distance. A typical problem would be finding it difficult to read the time from a clock. All the while the LD child may prove himself to be of exceptional talent in music, sports and games and in dealing with machines or motors.
According to Philip John, an LD-specialist and consultant psychiatrist who runs a Kochi-based clinic for diagnosing and treating learning disorders, such children may end up being what is called `negative children' who get addicted to computers or TV as an escape from their frustrating academic shortcomings.
Dr. John points out that if a very young child cheats in test papers or forges progress reports, LD can be reasonably suspected.
Both Dr. John and Ms. Susha hasten to add, however, that all or any of the above symptoms may be exhibited by almost all normal children some time or the other. But that should not lead anyone to jump to the conclusion that all these children have LD, they caution.
The causes
Learning Disorders, say doctors, is predominantly thought to be hereditary. Doctors also insist that LD is not primarily caused by academic stress or by overbearing parents and teachers or by a generally stress-filled environment. These factors can, however, heighten the symptoms of a child who already has LD. According to Dr. Philip John, 88 per cent of LD children have immediate relatives with the same disorder. In the handbook on LD prepared for the Central Board of Secondary Education, Dr. Philip John points out that studies across the world show that boys with LD outnumber girls three to one.
Some types of LD may be caused by changes that occur in the brain as a result of illness such as a severe viral fever or similar problems before, during or after birth. Use of certain drugs, malnutrition during pregnancy, a delayed and/or difficult labour can cause LD without leading to mental retardation.
A neglected lot
The CBSE today has put in place systems and practices to provide help to children with Special Education Needs. Specially trained teachers, resource rooms for giving special instruction to LD children, Individual Education Programmes (IEP) for each LD child and special provisions to assist LD children write examinations form part of this special system.
However in Kerala in the SSLC stream, neither is LD recognised as a specific disability (as distinguished from Mental Retardation) nor is there a system to help such children. Even the so-called special schools or special teachers are those trained to handle mental retardation and not LD. Parents too are often confused about what their child is going through and not many are even aware about LD.
This, say doctors, sometimes results in LD children being mistaken to be mentally retarded. Counsellors who spoke to The Hindu-Educationplus said some children in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi were made to undergo treatment for mental retardation before it was found that they had LD. "Children with LD should never ever be taken out of regular school. Only thing, the teachers and parents should be aware that a child has some shortcomings and they should deal with it accordingly. First thing that we need in Kerala is the recognition of LD as a distinct disability and we should have at least two or three teachers in each school trained to handle such children. Parents should be made aware of what LD is so that they stop feeling ashamed of their child's condition or try to hush it up. The teacher-parent combination is the best support an LD child can get," explains Ms. Susha, who says she has counselled about 200 LD children in Thiruvananthapuram during the last two years.
Moreover, the treatment of LD is essentially a multi-disciplinary one involving the paediatrician, the psychiatrist, the social worker/counsellor, the teacher and the parents. Such a multi-disciplinary support-remedial system, however, does exist in the State save in a handful of clinics and counselling centres.
Remedial action
LD being a development disorder cannot be completely cured, at least for now. According to doctors and counsellors, pharmacotherapy only enhances the learning process of a child and thus helps him realise his full potential. However, medicines are helpful only when combined with psycho-social remedial work at home and at school.
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