The most common learning disability for children is a reading disorder known as dyslexia. Kids Health explains that dyslexia occurs when the brain's language regions have problems processing information. These problems typically cause the affected child to have trouble understanding words, sentences and paragraphs. Signs of dyslexia in younger children might include having trouble learning to talk, rhyming, sounding out simple words and learning sequences, such as letters of the alphabet, days of the week or numbers. Older children might read and write slowly, read below grade level or have trouble learning a foreign language.
Undiagnosed dyslexia might cause a child to have low self esteem because they feel slow or stupid next to their classmates. Treatment includes working with a specially-trained tutor or a reading specialist to develop reading strategies. With the proper help, many dyslexic children go on to become successful readers and good students.
Dyscalculia, sometimes spelled dyscalcula, is a learning disability that affects a child's ability to perform mathematical calculations. West Virginia University explains that dyscalculia has various causes, including problems in visual processing and sequencing. Symptoms might include reading numbers out of sequence, executing mathematical operations backwards and confusing similar numbers, such as the numbers 8 and 3. Other signs might include difficulty with abstract concepts, such as direction and time, problems remembering names and poor physical coordination.
Children with dyscalculia often find it useful to draw pictures, graphs or charts to help them visualize math problems. Many students with this learning disability have excellent auditory skills and find it helps to read math problems aloud. The use of music or rhythm often helps affected children memorize mathematical formulas and facts.
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that causes problems with communicating thoughts in writing. The National Center for Learning Disabilities explains that dysgraphia is generally caused by the brain having problems with sequencing and processing rational information. Dysgraphia symptoms might include a child having poor writing skills but strong verbal skills, spelling errors, random punctuation and omitting syllables. Many children with this learning disability have illegible handwriting and often mix upper and lower case letters or combine printing and cursive.
The criteria for diagnosing dysgraphia vary according to state and no specific treatments currently exist. Many children with this condition find it helpful to use computers while doing their homework. Teachers and parents should encourage dysgraphic children to continue practicing their handwriting skills, however, to make their writing as legible as possible.
Children with learning disabilities typically possess above-average or average intelligence, so learning disabilities should never be equated with stupidity. Although learning disabilities tend to last for a lifetime, early identification often helps an affected child to succeed in school and develop strategies that later help him function in the real world.