CAUSES OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY by professional psychologist in Mumbai, India.

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Causes of Specific Learning Disability

In the last blog we discussed what a learning disability is. Let’s understand what may cause it.

The exact cause of a learning disability is not known. Unfortunately, it is not possible to speak of any single factor or group of factors as directly causing a specific learning disability.

There could be many different causes related to a specific learning disability.

Neurological Damage
Neurological damage may occur during prenatal, natal, and post natal periods resulting in learning disability. Factors such as prolonged labour, premature birth, birth complications, maternal age, use of drugs and alcohol, cigarette smoking and low birth weight are some variables that could be responsible for learning disability.

Maturational Delay
Sometimes within the neurological system, there may be a maturational delay, which is responsible for  a specific learning disability, like

  • Slow maturation of language skills
  • Delayed development of motor skills
  • Delayed speech
  • Visual motor problems.

Genetic Factors
The exact nature of the relationship between genetics and learning disability remains uncertain, but evidence does suggest that members within a family have a tendency towards learning disability. Studies have shown that 88% of the families of children having dyslexia show similar learning problems.

Biochemical Factors
Chemicals play an important role in brain activity, controlling and releasing nerve impulses between neurons. Absence or even excessive amounts of biochemical substances cause a biological imbalance thus leading to learning disability.

Nutritional Deficiencies
The developing child requires adequate nutrition. A poor diet and malnutrition can reduce the child’s ability to learn by damaging inter-sensory abilities and delaying development. 

The Role of the Environment
There are several factors in the child’s environment that may result in a specific learning disability. The child may not be exposed to adequate sensory, linguistic and cognitive activities. A poor teaching style; not giving enough time to acquire basic skills, moving too fast, failure to understand how best a child learns can result in learning difficulties. The use of inappropriate materials and curriculum are other factors one must be sensitive to.

Types of specific learning disabilities

Dyslexia
It is related to difficulty with language. People with dyslexia have difficulty with reading, spelling, and understanding the language they hear or an inability to express themselves clearly when speaking or writing.

Dysgraphia
It is related to writing where a person finds it difficult to put thoughts on paper. He has poor muscle control, and difficulty in forming letters; writing may vary at times small or large, writes with an unstable grip, spelling problems. 

Dyscalculia
It is related to difficulties in Mathematics such as counting numbers on fingers, reading 13 for 31, difficulties in learning tables, remembering telephone numbers, months of the year in sequence, mixing up symbols (+  – X ÷ ), and difficulty in abstract thinking and reasoning skills.

Learning disabilities in motor skills -Dyspraxia or sometimes referred to as Developmental Coordination Disorder (sensory integration disorder)

Motor difficulty refers to problems with movement and coordination whether it is with fine motor skills (cutting, writing) or gross motor skills (running, jumping). They may have problems with eye-hand coordination, balance, and dexterity.

Learning disabilities in language (aphasia/dysphasia)

It involves the ability to understand or produce verbal language. It requires organizing thoughts and calling upon the right words to verbally explain something or communicate. It involves problems with verbal language skills, such as the ability to retell a story as well as the ability to understand the meaning of words, parts of speech, reading comprehension and directions.

Auditory and visual processing problems: 
It is very important to clarify that this is different from having a hearing impairment like being deaf or dumb or having a visual impairment like total or partial blindness.

Auditory processing disorder
An ability to hear well as “auditory processing skills” or “receptive language.” The ability to hear things correctly greatly impacts the ability to read, write and spell. An inability to differentiate subtle differences in sound makes it difficult to sound out words and understand the basic concepts of reading, comprehension, language and writing.

Visual processing disorder
Problems in visual perception include missing subtle differences in shapes, reversing letters or numbers, skipping words, skipping lines, being unable to judge depth or distance, or having problems with eye-hand coordination. Visual perception can affect gross and fine motor skills, reading comprehension, math, maps, charts, symbols, and pictures.

To know about provisions provided at the board level or to understand how one can help, do read our next blog.

For further queries, connect with our team member Kashmira Kakalia.