Learning disabilities

What is a learning disability, and how do you treat it?

Under the term “learning disability”, there is a wide group of disorders that include substantial difficulties in attention abilities, reading and writing skills, mathematics abilities, abstract thinking, and in some cases even the speech and phrasing ability. These disorders stem from disorders in the center neurological functioning and may appear throughout the entire life.

Even though a learning disability may often be accompanied with other situations, such as developmental, communication, emotional and cognitive disabilities, the learning disability is not cause directly by them. 

Learning disabilities can appear in several different severty levels and take on many forms. They effect strongly on the ability to study, so they would be discovered only when the child arrives to a school age. However, in some cases, the disabilities will only be identified in a much older age, when the academic load and demands are higher than what the person can handle.

The disorder is more common now than ever, and despite the variety of difficulties it includes, it will mostly not influence other life areas, and you can still reach a very high level in other areas that do not require academical skills. Having said that, the more related situations there are, kids may show an array of other difficulties. In fact, in most cases, the learning disability will be but a mere symptom and related to a much significant and wider situation. 

Since the disorder is often expressed at the school age, the experience of studying may be extremely hard for a child that is facing the disorder, and often be demonstrated by avoiding school activities- avoiding answering questions in class, submitting papers or even attending school. Kids may often take on the moniker of the class clown or disrupting the classroom, as a coping strategy with their difficulty. 

When this situation lasts for a long period of time, a feeling of failure could from. If there is no intervention from the educational staff, it can make the kid’s entire school time to a very rough period in his life, one that may be too hard to bear. The feeling of frustration and fear that is felt in the studying experience may have an irreversible influence on the self-esteem and the professional choices made in the future.

To unsure that the child will have equal opportunities in order to achieve, it is important to diagnose the disorder at an early age and look for the suitable therapeutic solutions for the child.

Diagnosing and treating learning disabilities

The QEEG test provides reliable and accurate information about the essence of the difficulty, an so we can treat in the best way, using the Neurofeedback technology and alter the brain’s activity in the right direction. Towards the end of the therapy course, we recommend turning to remedial education in order to “catch up” on the gaps made along the way in school. 

Learning disabilities therapy in the BrainGames institute brings about a permanent change in the brain’s activity and a lack of dependence on outside factors.

Mayrav Shaked – Toledano

Clinical social worker M.S.W, years of treating children and adults with ADD/ADHD, attention disorders, anxiety and personal difficulties.
Mentoring parents, groups and professionals, with a vast experience in social services and mental health.
B.A and M.A in social work from Bar Ilan university.

B.A in criminology and informal education from Bar Ilan University.