Please do not mistake Learning Disability with Lack of Intelligence
Please do not mistake Learning Disability with Lack of Intelligence
‘Learning Disability means Lack of Intelligence. The child will not be able to succeed in anything in life’ - there are many such false notions among us today. Therefore, there are many people who even shame a child who is backward in studies itself. These negative voices can even be from within one’s own family. ‘The child is not paying attention to what he studies at all. How many answers in the examination that were revised so many times were left without writing them, saying that he forgot them. What will become of the future of this child? See how well the other children are studying. He is a child who was born after deeply wishing for a child for a long time.’ The mother who came crying with these worries was one who was in a lot of anxiety thinking about the child’s future. The mother panicked when she was told by the school to show the child to a Clinical Psychologist and conduct tests to find out if the child has Learning Disability. ‘Is my child lacking brains? Won’t everyone make fun of my child? Am I the reason that my child has these problems? Is it because I did not teach him or bring him up properly?’. Due to many misunderstandings like these, the mother of such a child goes through a lot of stress.
'Learning Disability' and 'Low Intelligence level' are different.
‘Learning Disability means Lack of Intelligence. The child will not be able to succeed in anything in life’. There are many such false notions among us today. Thus, if a child is backward in his studies, there are those who see the child mockingly. These people can be from one's own home itself. But the reality is very different. Learning Disability and Lack of Knowledge are different aspects. For a child who has learning disability, as the name itself suggests, he will have difficulty only in certain aspects of learning like writing, reading, writing without spelling mistakes, or in mathematics, etc. Their intelligence will either be normal or more than that. And because of that itself, they will have many skills outside of studies. Take the example of Chacko Mash and Aadu Thoma (from the Malayalam movie Spadikam). Chacko Mash throws off the radio and says, 'No need for this soapbox for us. First studies, only then need we go behind inventions'. Must not only pass in mathematics but will also be compared with the child who got 100 on 100. Even when Chacko Mash proclaims that each pulse of the universe is in mathematics, the students who are poor in mathematics (Dyscalculia) must be encouraged by finding out their other skills. Thomas Chacko was bad in studies especially in mathematics but had many other extraordinary talents, but he was unnecessarily punished by Chacko Mash and made into an Aadu Thoma. And we must be careful not to become such parents like Chacko Mash. It is essential not to break the confidence of the child in the name of studies (in situations where the child tries hard and still cannot) and to turn him into a person with behavioral disabilities who goes against everyone because he was misunderstood. Parents and teachers can prevent such mental stress, devaluing of oneself, and depression among students because they are backward in studies.
Learning disability is corrected by psychologists
There still exists the misunderstanding in society that those who go see psychologists are serious mental patients. Because of this, it is seen that many people have difficulty bringing children with Learning Disability for a check-up or for giving them training. But it is time to overcome such false opinions and notions in these times when the tension of people regarding children having problems of lack of concentration in studies has become common. When many parents desire to show their child to a psychologist and make the child better through training, those around them normally discourage them. There are many parents who are undergoing huge mental stress not being able to treat the children. The first step is to consult a psychologist and conduct the examination of lack of Intelligence (IQ test) of the child, and the examination of Learning disability (Learning Disability Test) of the child. After that what is to be done is to start training to teach the child by simpler methods than normal ways in which they are taught. There are chances that lack of concentration, difficulty to sit still, impulsiveness, disobedience (ADHD, Conduct Disorder), will be seen in some children along with Learning Disability. It is necessary to do find these through a psychological examination of the child and try to correct them, so that the child can be successful not only in studies but in life itself. The training for Learning Disability is given for one or one-and-a-half hours once or twice every week. This can be done directly or in students who are able to focus it can be done online.
Written by Priya Varghese, Chief Clinical Psychologist, Breathe Medical Care.
