Children are often seen as a special gift from God to their families. They bring a bundle of joy and happiness into every family. A child’s birth is a joyous occasion for both the immediate family and society as a whole. As the days pass and the weeks grow into months, the kid is expected to exhibit age-appropriate behaviors such as neck control, sitting, crawling, standing, walking, and talking. The child’s expectations rise when he or she enrolls in school, from kindergarten to nursery, primary, and then any level of choosing. Most parents take advantage of the chance to photograph their child’s first day of school, when the school and lunch bags are typically taller than the child. At this point, parents and caregivers are overjoyed when their children return home and can duplicate what they learned in school, whether by singing, reciting, counting, calculating, reading, or writing age-appropriate materials.

Unfortunately, some parents or caregivers must wait for their children or wards to acquire important learning abilities that their peers take for granted. These difficulties are referred to as learning disorders, which indicate difficulty in one or more areas of learning, even if overall IQ or motivation is unaffected. It means that the child is bright or literally “smart” and has a strong desire to study, but finds it difficult. It can also be viewed as an information-processing issue that prevents a child from learning and applying academic skills efficiently, resulting in school underachievement.

Learning disorders are characterized by difficulties in reading, writing, and math. The child may struggle to remember things or have a bad memory. He or she may struggle to pay attention, understand, and follow directions. There may also be problems understanding time. The youngster may refuse to attend school, complete homework, or participate in any school-related activities. He or she may also demonstrate poor coordination in general and fine motor activities such as walking, athletics, or pencil holding. Furthermore, there may be concerns with frequent loss of school materials or homework, as well as acting out or exhibiting excessive emotional reactions at school or during academic tasks.

Common learning disorders include dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia. Dyslexia occurs when a youngster struggles with reading, figuring out letter-sound correlations, spelling, and word recognition. It is suspected in a child who reads slowly or expends a lot of effort reading basic things. He or she may lose interest in reading longer content. Some have difficulties reading aloud, understanding, and recalling what was read. They also have challenges pronouncing words. 

Dysgraphia happens when a youngster struggles with writing or has very poor handwriting. It can cause him or her to become apprehensive when writing. It appears when a child has a bad grasp on a pen or pencil, or when they experience pain or soreness after writing for a short period of time. The child has bad handwriting that is difficult to read, writes very slowly, and expends a lot of energy when writing. He/she frequently erases words or sentences from their books, leaving them disorganized. Writing or sketching can elicit intense feelings of hatred or dislike. In addition, the youngster may write with irregular letter and word spacing, make major errors in syntax, spelling, and punctuation, miss words, or leave sentences unfinished while writing. Some people can utter words loudly  while writing or have difficulty writing their ideas down.

Furthermore, dyscalculia refers to difficulty grasping basic arithmetic ideas and numbers. It occurs when a youngster has difficulty comprehending how numbers function and relate to one another, such as value, carrying, or borrowing numbers. He or she may have difficulty understanding word problems and the use of mathematical symbols. Furthermore, some youngsters may struggle with cash transactions, donating or receiving balances, or understanding the timing of events.

Finally, dyspraxia refers to both fine and gross motor skills. Typically, this is due to challenges with balance and coordination. Many children exhibit dyspraxia symptoms yet are misdiagnosed as lazy or weak. It is present when a youngster has poor balance, as demonstrated in difficulty riding a bicycle, going up and down hills or stairs.

He or she may struggle to stand for an extended period of time or have flat feet. Some children have poor hand-eye coordination, which causes difficulty catching a ball, writing in a line, or lacing a shoe. They may also be unable to dance in time with the music. Some of them may fall frequently while walking, running, or changing directions, and have a tendency to trip or bump into objects and people.

Learning problems, like other neurodevelopmental or childhood illnesses, have no definitive or single origin, however some factors have been identified as influencing their development. To begin, a kid is more likely to have a learning disability if they have a family member with a comparable disorder, such as a parent, sibling, uncle, aunty, grandparent, or cousin. This is due to the condition being genetically transmitted. Second, negative occurrences during pregnancy and delivery, such as poor fetal growth, the mother’s alcohol or substance use during pregnancy, premature birth, and extremely low birth weight, can predispose a kid to developing a learning disability. Furthermore, a child may be at risk if he or she is subjected to physical trauma, such as head injuries and nervous system diseases, or psychological trauma, such as emotional abuse and neglect, during early childhood. Additionally, exposure to high amounts of pollutants such as lead might raise a child’s risk of developing a learning disability.

Unfortunately, many children have been physically abused or deprived by their parents or instructors as a result of their poor academic performance. . Many of them have been given various titles by their significant others and peers, such as “olodo”, “onuku”, “block head”, “Iberibe”, and so on. It is also usual for parents to deny their child a birthday or Christmas gift since he or she did not pass tests. These unhealthy reactions fuel a lot of psychological distress in a child, such as anxiety – fear of trying and failing again, depression – sad or unhappy feelings for not performing optimally, low self-esteem – belief that one is not good enough or worthless, chronic fatigue or loss of motivation – resulting from unfruitful efforts or lack of improvement in their academic ability despite putting in a lot of effort.

These distresses do not only affect children, but also parents and teachers who strive and wait for the child to improve.

Obviously, early intervention has proven to be quite successful in the treatment of learning and other developmental issues. If you notice that your child, ward, or pupil/student is having any of the aforementioned symptoms, he or she will require professional evaluation to determine the type of disorder and rule out other potential reasons. The youngster will therefore require particular attention from his or her teachers at school because he will not be able to learn as effectively as his peers. Individualised education programs that are tailored to the child’s needs can also be used to teach him or her. For example, if the youngster has problems writing, his education should emphasize speaking over writing. Furthermore, audiovisual materials can help students study more effectively.

Furthermore, it may be necessary to hire a specialized teacher or enroll the child in a school that provides special education. In some situations, he or she may require occupational therapy to enhance his or her motor and verbal abilities. Finally, if the child has developed any psychological discomfort, behavioural therapy might be used to help manage it.

To summarize, learning disorders are obstacles linked with academic activities that are caused by genetic or environmental causes beyond the child’s control, rather than low IQ. As a result, such children require extra care and support from their parents, schools, communities, and peers to navigate this challenge and reach their goals.