Interestingly, the acquisition of knowledge is not a passive process, as a person may have thought.

A child must sustain attention, practice information that has been taught, then store it into their memory, and finally, be able to recall information on demand.

This process is done simultaneously, and humans do it seemingly unknowingly.

Additionally, knowledge, memory, and attention require a person to use specific strategies to assist in their learning process.

Learning Strategies Often Overlooked;

A preschooler can identify strategies to use when reciting the alphabet or recognizing numbers but rarely uses the strategy. As a child grows older, they will acquire multiple strategies to use, and by age ten, they actually begin to use these strategies in their problem-solving. (Smith 219)

Metacognition

Metacognition is a term used to describe the process of knowing how to learn and the process of going about it.

Students identified as learning disabled often struggle in the ability to use learning strategies. Many students with learning disabilities for example study at a constant rate rather than adjusting their study habits to fit the task at hand.

For example, they may have ten words on a spelling list one week and twenty on the next, they will typically choose to study the same length of time, because they are unaware that it should take longer to learn more words.

In addition, learning-disabled students have difficulty monitoring their understanding of new information. Teachers can assist learning-disabled students by helping them identify their deficits and provide them with learning strategies and when to use them.

Some learning strategies include;

• Mnemonic Devices
• Self-Monitoring
• Self-Prompt Cards

Information Processing Development

Interestingly, since students with learning disabilities can improve their attention and learning through metacognition training, it is believed those students do not suffer from information-processing deficits but suffer from strategy impairments.

Of course, not all children progress at the same rate, and brain development comes grows in spurts throughout their development.

It is important to recognize that children’s information-processing abilities don’t develop in a smooth, linear fashion, whether they’re average learners or learning disabled.

Visual Processing

Visual processing information begins at a young age, and it is essential to understand the order of development to better ensure a child’s success.

For example, they begin to recognize shapes and space long before they are able to recognize letters and numbers.

So, the order of teaching should guide the abilities constant to their age. Therefore, students are able to reach a status where they will be successful in school even if their development is slow.

Motor Skills

Many children with learning disabilities suffer from motor deficits. Fine motor skills refer to the use of muscles in a hand.

The progression of fine motor skills begins to develop from the ages of two until a child is in sixth grade. A fine motor deficit can improve with age, and fortunately, the technology exists to support these students.

A gross motor discrepancy is one of the earliest to detect and assess. Although a gross motor deficit does not cause a learning disability, it truly can make a child’s education frustrating and furthermore make their social interactions suffer.

A gross motor deficit can be influenced through teaching and therefore the gains made in remediation services can positively affect the information a child is able to convey to teachers and parents.

Language

Typically, when a child struggles with language development, it sticks with them throughout their education career and into adulthood.

Language consists of symbols (words), and when a child is unable to decode them, it affects their;

• Ability To Problem Solve
• Listening Comprehension
• Speaking
• Social Interactions

Students with learning disabilities tend to struggle with reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Finally, a language disability does affect not only their language arts but also mathematics and social skills. Typically, these difficulties manifest into lower level functioning adults.

Relation

If a child displays deficits in language, motor skills, and visual processing, they will likely have difficulties processing incoming information.

Luckily, these deficits do not cause a learning disability but do contribute to the slow development. These students may require remedial services and specific strategies to assist them in their education.

One effective avenue to consider would be one-on-one special education tutoring from a special education expert. This individualized approach will help speed up the learning process considerably.

Conclusion

There are a lot of factors which play a significant role in your child’s education.

These include;

• Attention
• Memory
• Recognition
• Knowledge
• Motor Skills
• visual Perception
• Language

If a child has a deficit in any of these areas, they may suffer academically and socially.

Each is linked together because each area depends on one another. If a child is caught early, interventions and services may be put in place to allow the child to experience success.

~Laura