Steps in learning

[ Table Of Contents ]

To learn something a number of things need to happen. Problems at any level can lead to a learning disability. Here are the steps in the usual order. If the brain ins not functioning correctly at any of these steps, we call it a learning disability.

Step 1 Attention

If you can't pay attention to something, you are not going to be able to learn. This learning disability has special status. It is called Attention deficit disorder.

Step 2 Perception

We perceive things through our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. If we do not perceive them correctly, we can't learn. If you can not perceive the difference between a toothbrush and a comb, you can not learn to brush your teeth.

If you can not tell a "p" from a "q", it is very hard to read. If a "9" looks the same as a "6", math is very hard. These are examples of visual perception problems. Other types of visual perception problems are not being able to tell what is in front and what is in back. Another common one is not being able to figure out what is important and what is the background.

Step 3 - Integration

Once you perceive something correctly, you need to do three things to make sense of it. You must place it in the right order , understand what the context is (abstraction), and then join it with other perceptions and your old memories (organization). You can have a learning problem with any of these things.

Sequencing (ordering)

What is the difference between "god" and "dog"? The order of the letters. Reading requires constant attention to what direction you are going. Likewise many tasks such as math problems and computers require strict attention to ordering. A child might know the days of the week, but not be able to say them in order.

Abstraction (placing in context)

How do you tell the meaning of the word "run"? You need to know the rest of the sentence to know which of the many meanings apply. People with this problem have difficulty with all the concepts which they can not see or hear. Understanding geometry concepts is a good example.

Organization

To live and learn efficiently, different concepts need to be put in order or importance. They have to be related to things we already know or else we can not "retrieve" them from our minds when we need them. Without organization, the brain works like a messy room. That is, you can't find anything that you are looking for and you get sidetracked by what you do find.

Step 4 Memory

Long term memory is not effected in learning disabilities. Short term memory can be. Even if you finally understand how to measure the height of a tree using angles and a tape measure, it will do you no good if you can't recall it. We all recall better when we repeat something over and over. People with short term memory problems have to repeat things over and over until they finally have it stuck in their brain. However, once it is "stuck" in their mind, it stays there. Some people have auditory (hearing) memory problem. They can't recall what they hear. Others have visual (seeing) memory problems. They can't recall what they see.

Step 5 Output

Just as it may be hard to get information into the brain accurately and efficiently, it can also be hard to get information out of the brain. A common one is language problems where people can not speak is well as they should for their intelligence. Others have horrible problems with the coordination of the small muscles of their hands which can cause problems like a learning disability for writing. Others have trouble making their larger muscles coordinate. They would be clumsy and have trouble with sports.

The learning disorders are made up of each of the above elements. Sometimes one or two are present, sometimes five or six. Whereas two children both might have the same Reading disorder usually it is caused by a different combination of the learning disabilities. For example,

Kevin is 10 years old. He reads at a grade two level. An assessment shows that this Developmental Reading Disorder is made up of learning disabilities in visual perception (He can't tell "b" from "d"), Visual sequencing (He reads backwards sometimes), and Auditory perception ( He things "ch" and "sh" sound the same).

Laura is 10 years old. She also reads at a grade two level. This is due to very severe learning disability in visual short term memory. She can read fine, but in order to recall and comprehend, it takes ten readings of a passage.

To make things confusing, some people use the term learning disability for both learning disorders and learning disabilities.

[ Previous: What Is A Learning Disorder? ] [ Next: More About Learning Disorders ]

[ Table Of Contents ] [ Homepage ]