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Feature Story:

Learning Disabilities and Your Child

 
 

By Dr. Cedric Dumont

The author is chief of the Office of Medical Services. Ann Weiss, director of Employee Consultation Services, assisted with the article.

 
 

My daughter is lazy. I know she's very bright, but she's failing English and math. If she set her mind to it, she could get all "A's."

My son seldom follows directions. I'll ask him to run upstairs to get something for me, and by the time he's climbed to the top step, he's forgotten what I've asked him to get. If he'd only listen, he wouldn't have trouble remembering.

My 4-year-old doesn't speak clearly and gets mad when people can't understand what she's saying. She's just a late bloomer, but it bothers me that her 3-year-old brother speaks more clearly than she does.

Besides frustrated parents, what do these children have in common? All have problems that will affect their self-esteem, and all may have undiagnosed learning disabilities. These are neurological-based developmental disorders found in children with average or above-average intelligence. The most common are reading disorders, called dyslexia; mathematics problems, called dyscalculia; problems involving written expression, called dysgraphia; and those involving oral communication.

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that nearly 4 million school-age children have learning disabilities. Of these, at least 20 percent also have attention deficit disorder.

Language-based disorders, ranging from obvious delays in speech to hidden language processing problems, affect the most learning disabled children and have the biggest negative impact on academic performance. Speech and language disabilities include articulation disorder, meaning a child has difficulty making speech sounds or controlling the rate of speech. Expressive language disorder denotes a child's difficulty in speaking or finding words or responding to simple questions. Receptive language disorder describes an auditory processing problem. A child hears what is said but has difficulty interpreting or making sense of what's been heard.

Auditory processing problems directly affect a child's performance in school, where learning depends on understanding what the teacher says. Some common auditory processing problem areas are recognizing different sounds in words or similarities between words; auditory memory, recalling information given verbally; and auditory sequencing, recognizing the order of sounds in a word or the order of words in a list.

Visual processing disorder describes difficulty in perceiving or interpreting visual information, which especially affects a child's ability to read and comprehend. With visual sequencing problems, children reverse letters and words and easily lose their place. With visual motor integration problems, a child has difficulty copying from a board or a book. Visual processing problems also complicate a child's ability to learn mathematics.

Children with learning disabilities have difficulty with organization, a problem also commonly seen in children with attention deficit disorder. Although this disorder is not considered a specific learning disability, the problem with focusing attention and the overactive and impulsive behavior seen in attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity have profound consequences for classroom performance. Developmental motor coordination problems may also challenge children learning to write and participate in playground activities.

While learning disabilities are frustrating for children and their parents, there are ways to help children compensate at home and school for learning disabilities.

The first step is to obtain an early and accurate assessment of your child's problems. Talk with your child's teacher about the specific difficulties you have observed and ask to have your child assessed for possible learning disabilities. If you are in the Foreign Service, request an assessment before you bid on overseas posts so you can include on your bid list only posts with the educational help your child needs.

If you are assigned abroad and your child can't be evaluated in the school, private evaluations can be arranged through the Employee Consultation Service--the Department's employee assistance program. Private diagnosticians will develop a list of recommendations to accommodate your child.

If your child is found to be learning disabled after a public school evaluation in the United States, an individualized education program will be developed specifying your child's needs, educational goals for the school year and the methods of measuring academic progress.

You can help your child with homework by setting up a regular study time in a quiet place. Be patient and praise your child's efforts. Remember that learning-disabled children learn best when material is presented in a variety of ways. Information gained from your child's assessment will guide you in helping your child with schoolwork.

Self-esteem is especially fragile in learning-disabled children who struggle in school and often face failure and discouragement. Tips for developing self-esteem in children are available from the Employee Consultation Service. The ECS will discuss your concerns about your child, assist in arranging evaluations and help you develop helping strategies. All consultations are confidential.

The ECS is in Washington, D.C., at State Annex l, Columbia Plaza, Room H246. The office also can be contacted by telephone at (202) 663-1815, by fax at (202) 663-1456 and by email at med_ecs@state.gov.

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