Learning Support
If your child has already been diagnosed with a specific learning difficulty and you are looking for support, we’re here to help. On the other hand, we are also able to diagnose learning difficulties using our programme of assessments and testing. In every case our approach is to help the child, and also to work with the child’s family and school as well.
Learning difficulties include several disorders in which a person has trouble learning in the usual way, though their intelligence isn’t necessarily impaired. The cause is usually unknown, but the effect is that the brain’s ability to receive and process information is affected, leading to problems in certain types of skill or in completing tasks.
Learning difficulties are also associated with developmental disorders including attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder.
Neither learning difficulties nor developmental disorders can be “cured” and they may lead to unique challenges throughout a person’s life. However, there are strategies that can be learned to help foster success. Some of these are quite simple, while others are intricate and complex.
Some examples of learning difficulties are:
Information processing difficulties
There are four stages of information processing in the learning process: input, integration, storage and output. Disabilities can occur in any of these stages.
Dyslexia
Difficulties with reading are the most common learning disability.
Dysgraphia
Difficulties with handwriting, possibly also including problems with spelling, organising ideas and composing written work.
Dyscalculia
Difficulty in learning mathematical concepts (e.g. quantity, time, place value etc), mathematical facts, and problems with organising numbers and setting out mathematical problems on the page.
Non-verbal learning difficulty
Children with this problem often have excellent verbal skills while having difficulties in other academic and social areas.
Disorders of speaking and listening
This includes a variety of impediments to clear speech as well as hearing losses and auditory memory disorder.
Auditory processing disorder
This includes problems with understanding more than one task at a time in combination with relatively better visual learning skills.
ADD/ADHD
Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurobevavioural disorder that includes difficulties with concentration in combination with hyperactivity, or more rarely either of these symptoms alone. It is believed to affect up to 5% of children globally
Autism Spectrum Disorder
This is a range of psychological conditions that include abnormal social interactions and communications, tightly focused interests and highly repetitive behaviours.
