Learning Disabilities Essay

Children that are dealing with learning disabilities have a difficult road ahead of them. If the disability is neglected or overlooked for too long, the probability of the child falling behind in school as well as social aspects in their life is very high. However, properly identifying the problem and determining the best steps to assist in managing the disability will be vital in their young lives in helping them to achieve their goals. Life can be difficult and sometimes cruel for children, let alone children that are dealing with learning disabilities. A learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process and respond to information. Cognitive theory and children with learning disabilities have a close relationship. When talking about children who have learning disabilities, it is safe to say that they are not always identified in its earliest stage, which then can lead to long term problems in an individual’s life. From physical, emotional, and social obstacles, all of which they will encounter at some point in their lives if the necessary measures are not taken to help these children. Not having the organizational abilities to acquire the knowledge as it may be taught, limits the ability to properly learn. From the articles I have selected, Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Processes and Outcomes Following Group Counseling, Analogical Problem Solving in Children With Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities, Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: does intelligence make a difference?, The Inhibition of Exogenous Distracting Information in Children with Learning Disabilities, and Cognitive functioning as measured by the WISC-R: Do children with learning disabilities have distinctive patterns of performance?, I will provide insight on how, why, and what the resolutions  are for these children. My chosen theory is relevant to my topic because a learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process and respond to information. A child with a learning disability may not have any major sensory problems yet they may still struggle to keep up with people of their age in functions of learning and regular daily activities. Through our development process, we become equipped with skills in order to grow, succeed, and evolve into our adult life. When a development stage, cognitive development stage, shows that the basic listening, comprehension, writing, reading, speaking, and the ability to reason are not present, someone needs to identify and address the situation as early on as possible in order for the child to have a chance to grow in all other stages of development. â€Å"Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Processes and Outcomes Following Group Counseling† article will help to shed some light on the events that occur during the counseling process. â€Å"Analogical Problem Solving in Children With Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities† will help me explain how the children struggle with problem solving when dealing with a learning disability. In the article â€Å"Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: does intelligence make a difference?† will identify the importance of having a good, functioning ability to memorize and how children that have learning disabilities usually lack this ability. Cognitive Theory and Learning Disabilities Cognitive theory and children with learning disabilities have a close relationship. When talking about children who have learning disabilities, it is safe to say that they are not always identified in its earliest stage, which then can lead to long term problems in an individual’s life. From physical, emotional, and social obstacles, all of which they will encounter at some point in their lives if the necessary measures are not taken to help these children. Not having the organizational abilities to acquire the knowledge as it may be taught, limits the ability to properly  learn. A learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to process and respond to information. A child with a learning disability may not have any major sensory problems yet they may still struggle to keep up with people of their age in functions of learning and regular daily activities. Through our development process, we become equipped with skills in order to grow, succeed, and evolve into our adult life. When a development stage, cognitive development stage, shows that the basic listening, comprehension, writing, reading, speaking, and the ability to reason are not present, someone needs to identify and address the situation as early on as possible in order for the child to have a chance to grow in all other stages of development. An example of the theory and condition where the two are intertwined would be when a child is in school and could be having difficulties with what other children take for granted as being simple skills that have been learned through development and interaction with parents, teachers, etc. In this child’s situation, he/she does not have the ability to understand the story that he had just read, and now has the task of answering questions about the story in writing. His cognitive development stage for some reason has not evolved the way it should have, which now has left him battling a learning disability that may have gone unnoticed by his parents. In this situation, it is now up to the teacher to be able to identify what is taking place and to make sure that the child receives the necessary attention and evaluation in order to help him/her overcome and cope with what they are struggling with. The difficult part in the whole process is identifying learning disabilities early on and being able to treat them appropriately and in a timely manner. With children, unless significant signs are present, the struggles early on could be attributed to just being a child if one isn’t familiar with the signs of a disability. Once the disability is diagnosed, many options and opportunities are present to help assist in the overcoming of the problems. However, if the disability goes undetected or ignored for too long, a life  of challenges lies ahead for the individual. Literature Review -Children With and Without Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Processes and Outcomes Following Group Counseling. Authors name: Leichtentritt, Judith; Shechtman, Zipora. Publication date: Mar/Apr 2010 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: This study compared outcomes and processes in counseling groups of an expressive-supportive modality for children with learning disabilities (LD) and without them (NLD). Article relevance: This article provides and inside look and results into determining what the best form of counseling is for children with learning disabilities. -Analogical Problem Solving in Children With Verbal and Nonverbal Learning Disabilities. Authors name: Schiff, Rachel; Bauminger, Nirit Publication date: Jan 2009 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: In this study, they investigated the analogical problem-solving differences between children with verbal learning disabilities (VLD), nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), or non-LD. Article relevance: This reference will help to show the struggles that LD children have in problem solving and the great disadvantage that they must overcome with this disability. Working memory functioning in children with learning disabilities: does intelligence make a difference? Authors name: Maehler, C; Schuchardt, K. Publication date: Jan 2009 Title of publication: Journal of Intellectual Disability Research Summary: The present study explored several functions of working memory. A working memory battery with tasks for the phonological loop, the visual-spatial sketchpad and central executive skills was presented in individual sessions to 27 children with learning disabilities and normal IQ (ICD-10: mixed disorders of scholastic skills), 27 children with learning disabilities and low IQ (intellectual disabilities), and a control group of 27 typically  developing children with regular school achievement levels and normal IQ. Article relevance: To show a comparison on how the functions of the brain are affected when dealing with a child with a learning disability. -The Inhibition of Exogenous Distracting Information in Children with Learning Disabilities. Authors name: Censabella, Sandrine; Marie-Pascale Noà «l Publication date: Sept/Oct 2005 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: This article reports on an experiment examining the capacities of children with LD to inhibit exogenous interference, such as automatic, prepotent responses and distractor interference. Article relevance: To support the fact that children with LD have interference with there working memory and to explain the possible solutions. -Cognitive functioning as measured by the WISC-R: Do children with learning disabilities have distinctive patterns of performance? Authors name: Amedeo D’ Angiulli; Siegel,Linda S. Publication date: Jan/Feb 2003 Title of publication: Journal of Learning Disabilities Summary: Patterns of performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) have been proposed as useful tools for the identification of children with learning disabilities (LD Article relevance: Support in the findings that children with an LD show a pattern in performance that can be determined in early stages in order to counteract the disability. Conclusion The reality of the situation is that learning disabilities in children will always be around. The hope is that someday, with improving knowledge and experimentation, we will have a solution in the process of treating the disability that will allow for the children that have the issues to not feel isolated. The fear alone of a child falling behind in school and in their social life is a stressful situation for that child. Identifying the  disability early and treating it properly is the key to a life without handcuffs.