Learning disabilities

Justice (retd) Nasira Javed Iqbal says “it’s a pity that people do not recognise the problem of learning disabilities in their children”, which afflict up to 10 per cent of the population. Historically, the common mentoring and learning method was apprentice model wherein an experienced worker interacts with and educates a less experienced person (apprentice) in order to facilitate skill development. Two historical events changed human civilisation: first the printing press, and second the Industrial Revolution. Both introduced a new economy demanding educated skilled workers for industries.

Education through textbooks haunted people with learning disabilities. Interactive heuristic approach to learning was gone. Courtesy the Amir Khan starrer Bollywood movie, Taare Zameen Par, the educators in our part of the world came to know about the learning disabilities (LDs) of students who are ruthlessly meted out the same treatment as to the other students. The movie depicts truthfully how teachers and parents fail to understand the “problematic behaviour” of students who internalise the external unaccommodating treatment of people around. Learning disorders are caused by genetic and/or neurobiological factors that modify brain functioning in a way that impacts one or more cognitive processes associated with learning.

These processing issues can impede the acquisition of fundamental abilities such as reading, writing, and/or arithmetics. They can also interfere with higher level skills such as organisation, time management, abstract reasoning, long or short term memory and attention span. The problem is the students afflicted with such LDs remain unevaluated, rather unidentified in our schools, even the sufferers themselves never knowing why they lag behind in their academics. The knowledge of learning disabilities can go a long way in identifying the disorders and devising pedagogical mechanics accordingly. Dyslexia is one such learning disability characterised by deficit in accurate and fluent recognition of letters of a word or alphabet. Dyslexic students find it hard to recognise, recall or spell the word correctly.

Reading a text is always a nightmare for them. When a teacher dictates a letter or a word, the dyslexic student cringes to differentiate between b’s and d’s, and q’s and g’s. Another telltale sign is he goes on repeating such mistakes even though pointed out by the teacher in routine. Teachers jump on disenfrenchising such students as hopeless cases, and dub them as dunces and dullards. A study shows 35% dropout students are dyslexics. Dyscalculia is an inability to understand numbers and process their arithmetic functions without physical counting i.e. mental math is their Achilles heel.

Number patterns, measurements and navigation for directions puzzle them. But hands-on activities and physical involvement of students help them overcome this difficulty. The next is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The victim has low and short attention span, and he finds it difficult to control this behaviour. The sufferer cannot stay focused to the lecture comprising forty minutes, hence he misses the major chunk of the lesson. He diverts his attention to other activities impulsively. However it’s not considered a major learning disability. Dysgraphia is a difficulty in turning one’s thoughts into writing or painting.

Poor handwriting is a symptom of dysgraphia, but not the only one. Its victims fail to express themselves out in writing, whether through spelling, grammar, vocabulary, critical thinking or memory. The students may struggle with letter spacing, and fail to think and write simultaneously. Spoon-feed of information, engaging activities and low frequency of spoken words by teachers can keep such students’ attention from going wayward. Giving them responsibility, involving them in problem solving and teaching them how to handle unexpected situations can rebuild their trust in themselves