117 What learning disabilities have you heard about? Between 3 to 6% people in the world are affected by dyscalculia, while 5 to 10% suffer from dyslexia. LEARNING DISORDERS Learning disorders affect the brain s ability to receive, process, analyse, or store information, but they do not have anything to do with a person s intelligence. Most learning disorders belong to two categories: verbal and non-verbal. However, mixed disorders, a combination of the following disorders, is also common. Verbal learning disorders People with verbal learning disorders have difficulty with words, both spoken and written. Verbal learning disorders typically include: Dyslexia. It is the most common and best-known verbal learning disorder. It is a specific reading disability due to a defect in the brain s processing of graphic symbols which alters the way the brain processes written material; Dysgraphia. It causes trouble with the act of writing as the brain struggles to control the many things that go into writing from moving the hand to form letter shapes to remembering the correct grammar rules; Non-verbal learning disorders People with non-verbal learning disorders may have difficulty processing what they see. Research indicates that non-verbal learning disorders are associated with impairment in three broad areas, including motoric skills, visual-spatial organisational memory, and social abilities. Treatment Learning disorders usually first show up when a person has difficulty speaking, reading, writing, figuring out a maths problem, communicating with someone, or paying attention in class. Some are diagnosed in school when a teacher notices the child or student cannot follow directions for a game or is struggling to do work that should be done easily. However, some children develop sophisticated ways of covering up their learning issues, so the problem is not recognised or addressed until they are in their teens, when schoolwork and life gets more complicated. Currently, there are no medications to treat these disorders. However, educational interventions can teach effective compensatory strategies, new ways to learn, read, or complete a task, which can help individuals in practising new skills that will lessen the impact of their speech, language, and communication difficulty. Dyscalculia . Children have difficulties with their arithmetic ability along with deficits in visual spatial skill, quantitative reasoning, memory, and sequencing patterns. Dysorthography. It is a writing disorder that develops in children as a difficulty to write words correctly and follow grammatical rules. 240 diFFicUlties to figure out: capire to lessen: diminuire to struggle: sforzarsi