UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSE

It is estimated that 15% to 20% of students in every classroom are not achieving as well as
they could. Some have been assessed as having Learning Difficulties (LD), ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia
while others have not been assessed but everyone knows they "should be doing better", even if
they are getting good passing grades.

Part of the complexity of the problem is that a child can be struggling for a number of reasons.
Some have undiagnosed problems with their eyes or ears, some are trying to focus when their
little bodies are already well and truly overloaded with allergic irritation and most have
underlying neurological immaturities that are slowing down their ability to receive and process
information.

LOOKING AT THE WHOLE CHILD - TREATMENT ORDER

In order to treat, we must look at the whole child.

The pyramid of learning from the book Help Your Class to Learn shows the order of the stages
for neurological development. Each is foundational for the following stage and must be in place
for learning to be accomplished successfully and enjoyably.
We also need the right professional at the right time. If a child is poor at concentration we start
at the bottom, the medical stage, and consult with a doctor and/or a chiropractor before we do
anything else.
It should be remembered to focus on the causes not the symptoms of Learning Difficulties.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVEMENT

Much preparation needs to occur before a child is ready for effective academic learning, and
most of it occurs through the natural movements and play common to all children. First we learn
to roll, then to creep on our tummies, then to rock on hands and knees, then to crawl - and all
the time we are learning and preparing ourselves to learn. We are progressing through
important developmental stages. Our muscles build strength and co-ordination, our eyes learn
to focus and we become integrated and ready to take on more complex tasks such as learning to
read and write.

But what if, for some reason, one or several of these developmental stages are missed? What if
a child doesn't spend enough time rolling or doesn’t crawl? What if a child reaches school age
and they do not have all the building blocks of learning readiness in place?

The bad news is that these skills build on each other, and if a foundational skill is not acquired,
the resulting ‘gap’ can compromise the entire learning structure. The child may struggle with
expected age appropriate physical skills and the conduction of messages in the brain and the
nervous system will usually be inefficient and slow, making academic learning more difficult.
Many struggle to keep up with their peers and most do not achieve to the level of their natural
capacity.

The good news is that these developmental stages can be addressed at any age. If a child is
having difficulty at school, sometimes simply guiding them through these developmental
milestones again (or perhaps for the first time) can help them fill in the missing gaps and
become ready to learn academically.

Move to Learn has developed a simple movement program for exactly this purpose. It is
designed to help children acquire the skills they need in the natural way and order that they
were originally intended to be acquired – through movement.
The program requires little in terms of training, space or equipment and takes only 15 minutes a
day, five days a week. It can be done with an individual, a small group or with a whole class,
and statistically significant results have been seen to occur within 2 to 3 months.

This program is demonstrated on the Move to Learn DVD and outlined in ‘Ten Gems for the Brain
– the Move to Learn Movement sequences’.
What Are Learning Disabilities?

Learning disabilities are problems that affect the brain's ability to receive, process, analyze, or
store information. These problems can make it difficult for a student to learn as quickly as
someone who isn't affected by learning disabilities.

There are many kinds of learning disabilities. Most students affected by learning disabilities
have more than one kind. Certain kinds of learning disabilities can interfere with a person's
ability to concentrate or focus and can cause someone's mind to wander too much. Other
learning disabilities can make it difficult for a student to read, write, spell, or solve math
problems.

The way our brains process information is extremely complex - it's no wonder things can get
messed up sometimes. Take the simple act of looking at a picture, for example: Our brains not
only have to form the lines into an image, they also have to recognize what the image stands
for, relate that image to other facts stored in our memories, and then store this new
information. It's the same thing with speech - we have to recognize the words, interpret the
meaning, and figure out the significance of the statement to us. Many of these activities take
place in separate parts of the brain, and it's up to our minds to link them all together.

What Are the Signs of Learning Disabilities?

You can't tell by looking that a person has a learning disability, which can make learning
disabilities hard to diagnose. Learning disabilities typically first show up when a person has
difficulty speaking, reading, writing, figuring out a math problem, communicating with a
parent, or paying attention in class.

Some kids' learning disabilities are diagnosed in grade school when a parent or a teacher
notices a kid can't follow directions for a game or is struggling to do work he or she should be
able to do easily. But other kids develop sophisticated ways of covering up their learning
issues, so learning disabilities don't show up until the teen years when schoolwork - and life -
gets more complicated.

Most learning disabilities fall into one of two categories: verbal and nonverbal.

People with verbal learning disabilities have difficulty with words, both spoken and written.
The most common and best-known verbal learning disability is dyslexia, which causes people
to have trouble recognizing or processing letters and the sounds associated with them. For this
reason, people with dyslexia have trouble with reading and writing tasks or assignments.
Some people with verbal learning disabilities may be able to read or write just fine but they
have trouble with other aspects of language. For example, they may be able to sound out a
sentence or paragraph perfectly, making them good readers, but they can't relate to the
words in ways that will allow them to make sense of what they're reading (such as forming a
picture of a thing or situation). And some people have trouble with the act of writing as their
brains struggle to control the many things that go into it - from moving their hand to form
letter shapes to remembering the correct grammar rules involved in writing down a sentence.

People with nonverbal learning disabilities may have difficulty processing what they see. They
may have trouble making sense of visual details like numbers on a blackboard. Someone with
a nonverbal learning disability may confuse the plus sign with the sign for division, for
example. Some abstract concepts like fractions may be difficult to master for people with
nonverbal learning disabilities.

A behavioral condition called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often

associated with learning disabilities because people with ADHD may also have a hard time
focusing enough to learn and study. Students with ADHD are often easily distracted and have
trouble concentrating. They may also be excessively active or have trouble controlling their
impulses.

What Causes Them?

No one's exactly sure what causes learning disabilities. But researchers do have some theories
as to why they develop. They include:

• Genetic influences. Experts have noticed that learning disabilities tend to run in
families and they think that heredity may play a role. However, researchers are still
debating whether learning disabilities are, in fact, genetic, or if they show up in
families because kids learn and model what their parents do.

• Brain development. Some experts think that learning disabilities can be traced to
brain development, both before and after birth. For this reason, problems such as low
birth weight, lack of oxygen, or premature birth may have something to do with
learning disabilities. Young children who receive head injuries may also be at risk of
developing learning disabilities.

• Environmental impacts. Infants and young children are susceptible to

environmental toxins (poisons). For example, you may have heard how lead (which
may be found in some old homes in the form of lead paint or lead water pipes) is
 sometimes thought to contribute to learning disabilities. Poor nutrition early in life may
also lead to learning disabilities later in life.

Coping With a Learning Disability

Although a diagnosis of a learning disability can feel upsetting, it's actually the first step in
resolving the condition. Once an expert has pinpointed a person's particular problem, he or
she can then follow strategies or take medicines to help cope with the disability. And taking
steps to manage the disability can often help restore a student's self-esteem and confidence.

Some students who have been diagnosed with a learning disability work with a special teacher
or tutor for a few hours a week to learn special study skills, note-taking strategies, or
organizational techniques that can help them compensate for their learning disability. If you've
been diagnosed with a learning disability, you may need support just for the subjects that give
you the most trouble. Your school may have a special classroom with a teacher who is trained
to help students overcome learning problems.

Some schools develop what is called an Individualized Education Program (or IEP), which
helps define a person's learning strengths and weaknesses and make a plan for the learning
activities that will help the student do his or her best in school. A student's IEP might include
some regular time with a tutor or in a specialized classroom for a certain subject, or the use of
some special equipment to help with learning, such as books on tape or laptop computers for
students who have dyslexia.

Medication is often prescribed to help students with ADHD. There are several medicines on the
market today to help improve a student's attention span and ability to focus and to help
control impulses and other hyperactive behavior.

There's no cure for a learning disability. And you don't outgrow it. But it's never too late to get
help. Most people with learning disabilities learn to adapt to their learning differences, and
they learn strategies that help them accomplish their goals and dreams.
WHAT IS A LEARNING DISABILITY?

"He has the ability, if he just tried harder, he could do it. He chooses not to do the work."
"If she would just pay attention, she would get it."
"After I give the instructions, he sits there and stares at his paper. He is not motivated."

These are common statements made about children with learning disabilities .

A child with a learning disability cannot try harder, pay closer attention, or improve motivation
on their own; they need help to learn how to do those things. A learning disability is caused by a
problem in the nervous system that affects how information is received, processed or
communicated. There are a variety of disorders that affect the way verbal and non-verbal
information is acquired, understood, organized, remembered and expressed.

TYPES OF LEARNING DISABILITIES

There are a variety of skills impacted by learning disabilities. They cover the gamut from
language and reasoning to calculation and motor skills. Learning disorders cause havoc in a
child’s life on a daily basis. If left untreated, the frustration and difficulties caused by the
learning problems, both at home and in school, creates stress and hardship resulting in the child
feeling bad about themselves.
Here is a list of the different types of learning disabilities frequently identified:
Language

• Reading Disorder
• Disorder of Written Expression

Calculation

• Mathematics Disorder

Problems with Motor Skills

• Developmental Coordination Disorder

Communication Disorders

• Expressive Language Disorder

• Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder
• Phonological Disorder
• Stuttering

Skills impacted by learning disorders

Oral Language — listening, speaking, and understanding
Reading — decoding and comprehension
Written Language — spelling and written expression
Mathematics — computation and problem solving
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF LEARNING DISABILITIES
Some signs of learning disabilities present themselves in early childhood which is beneficial
because the earlier a problem is recognized, the sooner an intervention can be made, allowing
for a better prognosis. Often a developmental lag is not considered a symptom of a learning
disability until the child is much older and attending school, which wastes precious treatment
time. By noticing if your toddler or preschooler is not meeting normal developmental milestones
you can get ahead of the game by having your child evaluated further. You know your child
better than anyone else does, so if you think there is a problem, even though a professional tells
you there isn't one, it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion. Parents have a sixth sense about
these things, especially if this is not your first child.

When the learning disability is not diagnosed early-on, parents are often surprised to find out
that their bright and imaginative child is struggling in school. They are shocked when their child
receives a low score on a standardized test or a progress report comes home indicating their
child is "underachieving" or "not working up to their full potential."
FREQUENT SIGNALS OF LEARNING DISABILITIES

Signs that appear in preschool

• Delay in understanding or using spoken language

• Difficulty understanding simple instructions
• Lengthy pause before naming objects and colors
• Limited awareness or interest in books
• Difficulty coloring or drawing
• Problems with motor coordination
• Short attention span (won't sit through one storybook)

Symptoms in school-age children

• Difficulty understanding and following instructions

• Trouble remembering what someone just told them
• Failing to master reading, spelling, writing, and/or math skills and therefore fails
schoolwork
• Difficulty telling the difference between "right" and "left," problems identifying
words or a tendency to reverse letters, numbers or words (e.g., confusing "b" with
"d," 18 with 81, or "on" with "no.")
• Lacking motor coordination when walking, playing sports, holding a pencil or
trying to tie a shoelace
• Frequently loses or misplaces homework, schoolbooks or other items
 • Unable to understand the concept of time, confused by the difference between
"yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow."

TIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

Here are a few common interventions and accommodations that can be used with children in
their regular classrooms. Talk to your child's teacher about creative ways to make learning more
fun.

Visual problems

• For problems with reading - try enlarged print for books, papers, worksheets or
other materials which makes tasks more manageable
• Improving tracking and focus - using colored construction paper, cut a window
out of a rectangle to create a frame that is placed on top of the worksheet, it helps
keep the relevant numbers, words, or sentences, in clear focus while blocking out
much of the peripheral material which can be distracting. As the child's tracking
improves, the prompt can be reduced. For example, after a period of time, you can
replace the "window" with a ruler which still provides additional structure. This
can be reduced further by having the child point to the word they are reading with
their finger or pencil
• For problems with writing - adding more structure to the lined paper they write
on can be helpful. For example, lines can be made darker and more distinct; paper
with raised lines provides kinesthetic feedback; worksheets can be simplified and
less material can be placed on each worksheet; using paper which is divided into
large and distinct sections can help to improve penmanship when doing math
problems

Auditory problems

• When giving verbal instructions - try to supplement with written materials or

other visual cues
• Simplify verbal directions - give two commands instead of three, slow the rate
of speech, and minimize distractions
• Help build auditory processing skills - rhyming games build phonics awareness
and improve discrimination skills between similar and different sounds; sorting
games involving verbal commands help to improve memory