2 MINOR DISORDERS Learning Disabilities Definition of learning disability affect the brain’s , but they do not have anything to do with a person’s intelligence. Most learning disabilities belong to two categories: verbal and non-verbal. Learning disabilities ability to receive, process, analyse or store information Verbal learning disabilities People with have difficulty with words, both spoken and written. The most common and best-known verbal learning disability is , which is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain’s and which alters the way the brain processes written material. Some people suffer from and have trouble with the , as their brain struggles to control the many things that go into writing – from moving their hand to form letter shapes to remembering the correct grammar rules. verbal learning disabilities dyslexia 1 processing of graphic symbols dysgraphia act of writing Non-verbal learning disabilities People with may have difficulty processing what they see. They may have trouble of visual details like numbers on a blackboard as in the case of . Someone with a non-verbal learning disability may confuse the sign with the sign for division, for example. Some abstract concepts like fractions may be difficult to master for people with such disabilities. non-verbal learning disabilities making sense dyscalculia 1 plus Discovering learning disabilities Learning disabilities usually first when a person has difficulty speaking, reading, writing, a maths problem, communicating with a parent or paying attention in class. Some learning disabilities are when a parent or a teacher notices the child or student cannot follow directions for a game or is to do work that should be done easily. However, , so the problem is not recognised or addressed until they are in their teens, when schoolwork – and life – gets more complicated. show up figuring out diagnosed in school struggling some children develop sophisticated ways of their learning covering up issues WARM UP In your opinion, learning disabilities ... a. can be cured. b. can be compensated for with learning strategies. c. become incurable if not treated in time. DO is a prefix used to make the opposite of a word. Do you know any examples? 1 Dys MORE Between 3 to 6% of people in the world are affected by dyscalculia, while 5 to 10% suffer from dyslexia. 1