Learning Disabilities - Essay Example

Learning Disabilities Introduction Mental health problems are rarely seen in the early years of a person’s life. For some persons with a certain mental disorder, some feelings and behaviors change over time while others rarely do. Learning disability is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain. Although people with learning or intellectual disabilities are vulnerable to mental health problems and other psychiatric illnesses, the possibility and potential of living a happy and normal life is scientifically and socially entertained. It is understood that families cannot be there for them throughout their whole lives. However science has given hope that the intellectually disabled has every potential to learn certain limited non-complex behavior and actions and thought patterns. Personal relationships that would soon develop as part of normal living and sexuality as a human basic need soon determines how he is gradually introduced into the society. In turn society has studied the best techniques to approach the scenario that best supports the relevant services afforded to these individuals as they partake in normal day to day activities of social life. Children, adolescents, adults alike experience a daily cycle of failure that can bring an overwhelming frustration for the people living with them. Recognition of the possibilities for them to lead happy lives describes several options that provide treatment options, strategies for coping, and sources of information and support as provided for under the services devised by the government and society. Individuals with learning disabilities undergo a certain transition period like any normal human across the developmental stages in life. Several perspectives in relation to the transition phase of an individual from childhood to adulthood, the identification of possible problems and diagnosis is studied with analysis on the current relevant issues and impact on the quality of life afforded to them by their families, health representatives and society as a whole. . Early Diagnosis in Childhood One in seven people may be affected with Learning disability according to the National Institute of Health. It is always wise for parents to be familiar with the early indicators of a learning disability in order to get appropriate help as soon as possible. The earlier a disability is detected, the better chance a child will have the chance of succeeding in school and in life. Parents are therefore encouraged to understand its warning signs from as early as preschool as the especially crucial time for a young child. Often the earliest indicators of LD is the manifestation of a speech and language problem whereby language communication or understanding what other people say are not understood which is manifested in a person with LD. Articulation and expressive language is nil and most of these persons suffering the disorder would exhibit the difficulty to comprehend. In children with LD, telltale behavior is manifested through strange mannerisms and inappropriate attachment with a certain toy especially with inanimate objects and commonly showing a total disinterest on most things. Usually as the child reaches the pre-school stage, pronounced difficulty with articulation and expressing wants is observed. Tantrums as a result of not getting what the child wants are subjectively seen and a result mothers would complain of a difficulty in dealing with the child. Commonly there is an utter lack of interest in most things especially during story-telling session which is quite extraordinary among kids of the same age group. Clumsiness, awkwardness combined with poor physical balance and agility endangers the child for potential injuries which should be prevented. Most likely motor function develops at a lower rate compared to a child without LD as discussed by McGrother(2002). The difficulties that will be manifested would include according to Bergert(2000): trouble memorizing the alphabet; poor memory; difficulty with sequencing and constant repetition of ideas; playing alone; frustration and temper tantrums. Although kids learn highly in their own individual ways, children with LD simply process information in their own pace. Some are generally of normal or above-average intelligence while others are poor but the ability to read, write, speak and build social relationships pose as an apparent hindrance to the normal learning process. Family life for a person with LD is based on a concept of habitual correlation with persons who can best relate with him. Counseling for the members of the household can be very helpful to the individual himself and for the family as it helps the individual to develop self-control and a more positive attitude with their own abilities. Many parents of older children and young adults with LD who join support groups find amongst themselves a generous source of information with other families on how best to handle their child. Practical suggestions and mutual understanding is offered. Other self-help books and counseling materials provide a lot of help along with advice from health professionals and other parents. Behavioral modification methods seem to help hyperactivity in LD whereby rewards are offered for good or appropriate behavior. Counselors or school psychologists can help parents and other family members learn about behavioral modifications that are quite helpful in the young adult’s growing up process. According to Psychology Today, “not all learning problems are necessarily learning disabilities”. Many children are just slower in acquiring certain skills. Sometimes, what is seen as a learning disability may just be a delayed mental maturity. Yet unlike other disabilities, Learning Disability or LD is a hidden handicap that does not disfigure or leave visible signs that would invite support and understanding. Sound professional medical and neurological diagnosis is highly important for the over-all recognition and for its possible therapy and cure. The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders covers learning disabilities into three broad categories that include developmental speech and language disorders; academic skills disorder and other coordination disorders. In the 1950’s, psycho-social focus was limited to the maternal issues and reactions to birth defects and impairment. According to Olshansky (1962), “giving birth to a defective child, all these join together to produce the parent’s chronic sorrow”. Institutional care was aimed at protecting the family rather than the child himself. When society’s views on mental illness bordered on its pariah with mental disorders as a genetically adapted disease, families either tend to withdraw or withhold knowledge of a member with the disorder. Behaviors indicative of mental illness and disabilities were defined by the society in which the individual lives. It was reasonable to assume that disability in general was culturally defined or by a supernatural phenomena that has likely resulted to the punishment of an aberrant behavior. With the introduction of the of the systems theory in the 70’s, the family was seen as an interacting set of relationships with the society. The family ultimately became the cause for such conditions causing dysfunctional communication among critics. Such contemporary views although unacceptable now illustrates that most studies focused along the family lines of adaptation. Other relevant contributing factors were ignored as if society wanted to heap the blame on someone to erase feelings of guilt for failing to act and neglecting the problem. Development in the Elementary School Years As the child reaches grade school, learning problems start to become apparent as increasing and complex learning tasks are gradually introduced to a school child. Usually children with Learning disabilities would exhibit profound difficulties in learning academic subjects. Sometimes children tend to despise school and anything related with learning. Social and emotional problems develop as a result of the mental deficiency triggered by outward forces of other children in school. Notable signs would include avoidance of school works; poor reading comprehension; poor mathematical or language abilities. Usually grades remain consistently low and the child is usually withdrawn. Difficulty in staying organized; difficulty in resisting peer pressure and criticisms and understanding other people’s perspectives are common along this age range. Yet parents with large families tend to dismiss this attitude. With these signs common among children, the family and the society has a whole has a direct responsibility towards the individual. Undiagnosed cases of LD in children often lead to a “hidden handicap” that result to poor self esteem. The failures encountered in school would be mentally retained and thrive in the workplace. Early detection and intervention is again stressed so the children are given the necessary skills for coping and compensating the disability, an opportunity that was denied before. In 1999, the DOH revealed in an epidemiological study that there are around 160,000 working age adults with severe and profound learning disabilities. Most of there people are living with their families. Further studies suggested that the number would increase by 1% per annum. Research also suggests that between 0.45% and 0.6% of children will have a moderate to severe learning disability and that there are between 55,000 and 75,000 children with a moderate to severe learning disability. The British Journal on Special Education advised that the sooner LD is detected, the better the chance to avoid progressive failure to improve the chances for success in life. Parents and teachers upon recognition of such manifestations are encouraged to submit the child for professional evaluation to begin early intervention. Special education also helps identify the types of tasks an individual can do well that bypass disabilities. Teachers of individualized education programs outline specific skills that needs to be developed and appropriate learning activities that builds around the strengths of individuals in need. Where regular classroom instruction fails, specialized education and training is aimed at providing a stimulating and therapeutic environment for practicing language patterns. Non-standard teaching methods are provided that is free from other social forces that provided a hindrance for the effective learning of individuals who are slow to learning. Slow transition complements themes that develop and prepare individuals who desire to leave the family home and become semi-independent. To adulthood and beyond As the young adult progressively grows and approaches the teenage phase, severity of cases often occurs as a result of an actual life and bodily changes that are completely alien to him. Varying degrees of response have developed into a full range of mental health problems brought about by complex needs. “Cases of sexual abuse against individuals with LD and teenage pregnancies are usually very common under this stage” as reported by Mereness and self-harming behavior often results to suicidal tendencies. Substance use disorders are also prevalent along this age that goes beyond adulthood when individuals with LD find employment. Families would soon discover the lifelong commitment which continues even when the person is away from home. Social restrictions experienced by individuals with LD may endanger their mental health according to Bouras(1995). Rejection, lack of social acceptance, educational failure, lack of job opportunities, boredom and difficulties in finding acceptable sexual outlets despite normal sex drives are pointed by Reid(1995). As a direct result of such mental problems in LD, self; harming behavior may occur as a direct result of the disability especially when damage occurs to the area of the brain that control certain forms of deviant behavior. However many symptoms of mental distress also occurs directly in LD as a result of pain, frustration, difficulty in expressing oneself and emotional pain. For the same reasons that the rest of us do, people with LD are very prone to mental health problems. It is however difficult to find a suitable therapeutic intervention for them. Recent developments in the care and nurture of these individuals posed a challenge for health professionals and the society who has been heaped on with several participative techniques to provide persons with LD the utmost satisfactory environment. Even though most people don’t outgrow brain dysfunctions, people however learn to adapt and live their own fulfilling lives. Total cure is unheard of but developing adaptive behavior has found alternative ways to learn. Given the right types of training and education through worthwhile experience allows the person to develop the ability to learn. Delayed development in many children allows then the time to eventually catch up. Despite delays, it has been observed that children with articulation problems eventually catch up later in their childhood. A variety of literacy and adult education programs are provided and sponsored by schools, libraries and government agencies to help people with LD be reacquainted with reading, writing and math skills. Societal issues relevant to the care and support for these individuals would often drive the family to consternation despite outgrowing the actual difficulties of physical care. Social security benefit rules and employment results to disincentives to work for some people with LD. Sometimes they are excluded outright from services if found difficult to handle or present with challenging behavior. In particular, minority ethnic communities are at risk of discrimination in gaining access to health care. McGrother et al observed “that Asian communities made significantly lower use of psychiatric services, residential care and respite care”. Mir(2002) added “that negative stereotypes and attitudes held by service professionals contribute to the disadvantage they felt”. Although there is a wealth of information readily available about the needs of individual from minority communities, gaps remain particularly with individuals and families of people with learning difficulties. The availability of services to address the needs of these people is more important. In the General Systems Theory which evolved to increasing recognition of the individual and the areas around him including the family and other families of adults with the same disability. The concept and model of stress was developed in other Psychiatric institutions and adapted by Mereness “in which it sees stress as a result of a series of major life events, such as divorce or the birth of a child with disability”. The focus was on the event rather than the response that may affect the family. Stress was perceived as variables to fulfill care-giving functions alongside its other family functions. Comparisons of families with and without an existing disorder revealed that families with a disability have a higher degree of stress compared with a family who has none. Selligman (1989) pointed out that care was seen as the most stressful indicator directly related with stress. The stress model actually focuses on the dysfunction rather than how families would adapt to it. The positive aspects of having a disability was neglected in favor of a more crushing blow to the helpless condition. Although a point of gratification may have been injected, identification of the family stress does not give the complete picture of the effects of the disability. The rewards noted were based on coping mechanisms to alleviate the stress upon the family. Overcoming adversity was seen as a major source of reward and was the recurrent point often discussed in interviews. In a matter of social justice for the mentally disabled, such inquiries drove an insight on how society treated them in relation to their socio-economic status. With primary care, the least satisfactory allocation of services was provided around remote areas that are in dire need of the service. Effective health care became inversely proportional to less favored areas which eventually evolved to a series of recommendatory acts to correct the mistakes commonly practiced by the government health care system. Marmot’s (2005) social castigation on the health care system spelled out that individuals and patients were hard to treat but society needs a “social approach to reducing inequalities in health between and within countries”. This stemmed from recognition of a social distinction among social classes for the susceptibility and sickness. Conclusion With the advent of the provisions in the system, the burden of care is no longer heaped on the family but on the society as formerly the chief aggressor of the disorder. More recently it has been corrected that learning disability cannot be equated with mental disorders. With early intervention, there is a cause for hope in the delayed development of children experiencing expressive language disorder and articulation. Sophisticated brain imaging is now making it possible to observe the brain at work and detect minute malfunctions to allow scientists to study the points of contact that are transmitted from cell to cell. Research of this kind may eventually find certain associations that would aim to point a cure for the problem in learning and its underlying causes. Animal research also is adding up certain knowledge in the field with the testing of barbiturates and other drugs prescribed during pregnancy that may affect the incidence of the disorder. Another study discovered that certain prenatal viruses can affect future learning. Research of this kind certainly leads us on how the best preventive technique is observed. It can be concluded that human beings have been concerned about learning disabilities since the beginning of time throughout the lifespan. Although the definition and delineation of its causes has significantly changed over age, interest and understanding of the condition has allowed the careful study of determinants to effectively approach the condition at the best interest of the individual with the love and support of the family and the supportive acceptance of the society. Despite the plethora and interest in this disorder, a lot of unanswered questions still remain. Illness should be approached in a supportive manner across the lifespan of an individual rather than discriminated most especially in cases of mental dysfunction origin. References Steele, Linda. Revolutionary learning disability white paper launched. April 17, 2006. from the World Wide Web: http://society.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4155856-106986,00.html Bergert, Susan (2000) The Warning Signs of Learning Disability. http://ericec.org/digests/e603.html Olshansky S. (1962). Chronic sorrow: a response to having a mentally defective child. Social Casework; 43: 190-3. Seligman M., Darling, R. (1989).Ordinary Families, Special Children: A Systems Approach to Childhood Disability. New York: Guilford. Mereness, Dorothy and Taylor, Cecelia Monat(1986). Mereness’ Essentials of Psychiatric Nursing. USA: C.V. Mosby, p.205 - 220. McGrother et al(2002). Prevalence, morbidity and service need among South Asian and White Adults with Intellectual Disability in Leicestershire, UK. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. May 2002, 46: 299-309. Mir, G. et al(2002).Learning Difficulties and Ethnicity. Department of Health. Bouras, N., Holt, G. and Gravestock, S.(1995). Community Care for People with Learning Disabilities: Deficits and future Plans. Psychiatric Bulletin 19:137-137. Wilkinson, Stephen (2005, December).What’s so special about being special? 18 April, 2006. From the www. http://www.nursing-tandard.co.uk/learningdisabilitypractice/v08/n10/p3031full.asp Read More