Articles

Emotional Problems of Learning Disabled.

By Ms. Shoba Mary Jacob : Team Lead - Psychologist

“And report cards I was always afraid to show
Mama’d come to school
And as I’d sit there softly cryin’
Teacher’d say he’s just not tryin’
Got a good head if he’d apply it
But you know yourself
It’s always somewhere else

I’d build me a castle
With dragons and kings
And I’d ride off with them
As I stood by my window
And looked out on those
Brooklyn roads”

(Neil Diamond, “Brooklyn Roads”)
Neil Diamond’s “Brooklyn Roads” expresses the frustration often felt by the learning–disabled child.
Dealing with social and emotional challenges is part of every day, but it can be particularly challenging for any individual with learning disabilities (LD). Learning disabilities can affect many skills including listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, mathematics and reasoning – skills that individuals must use every day to fulfil their roles as students, family members, employees and citizens. Learning disabilities may occur with, and be complicated by problems in social skills. As a consequence of struggling day in and day out in the different roles life demands, many individuals with LD perceive themselves as less competent. The frustration of children with dyslexia often centres on their inability to meet expectations. Their parents and teachers see a bright, enthusiastic child who is not learning to read and write. Time and again, dyslexics (children with learning difficulties) and their parents hear, "He's such a bright child; if only he would try harder." Ironically, no one knows exactly how hard the dyslexic is trying.

What does the learning disabled person feel?

Anxiety

It is the most frequent emotional symptom reported by individuals with learning disabilities. Individual with LDs become fearful because of their constant frustration and confusion in school. These feelings are worsened by the inconsistencies of learning disabilities. Because they may anticipate failure, entering new situations provokes extreme levels of anxiety.

Frustration and anger

Many of the problems caused by learning disabilities occur out of frustration with school or social situations. The obvious target of the individual with LD's anger would be schools and teachers. It is also common for the individual with LD to vent his anger on his parents. Mothers are particularly likely to feel the individual with LD's fury. Ironically, it is the child's trust of the mother that allows him to vent his anger. However, this becomes very frustrating and confusing to the parent who is desperately trying to help her child.

Self Esteem

Self-esteem can be described as how we view ourselves in the context of our surroundings. It is dramatically impacted by academic struggles. Children’s sense of self-worth is tied to how successful and accepted they feel at school. They tend to have negative thoughts about themselves. Studies confirm that students with learning disabilities have poor self-concepts related to their school functioning, but not necessarily to their global self-concept. Emotional effects of learning disabilities make life in school more difficult for children with learning disabilities than for their peers without disabilities.

Depression

Depression is also a frequent complication in dyslexia. Although most dyslexics are not depressed, children with learning disability are at higher risk for intense feelings of sorrow and pain. Perhaps because of their low self–esteem, dyslexics are afraid to turn their anger toward their environment and instead turn it toward themselves. They tend to view the world negatively and are less likely to enjoy the positive experiences in life. This makes it difficult for them to have fun. Most depressed youngsters have great trouble imagining anything positive about the future. The depressed dyslexic not only experiences great pain in his present experiences, but also foresees a life of continuing failure.

Family problems

Dyslexia affects the family in a variety of ways. One of the most obvious is sibling rivalry. Non–dyslexic children often feel jealous of the dyslexic child, who gets the majority of the parents' attention, time, and money. Ironically, the dyslexic child does not want this attention. This increases the chances that he or she will act negatively against the achieving children in the family. Specific learning disabilities can run in families.

How can we help them?

Educate oneself about learning disabilities and their impact on day to day living.
1. Recognize and accept the children as they are.
2. Not assume that all individuals with histories of learning disabilities will experience emotional problems but recognize that all will be affected to some extent.
3. Identify and encourage the child’s strengths. Many individuals with LD use other strengths to compensate for their disabilities and develop a variety of coping strategies, allowing them to function in every day life.
4. Offer support and empathy
5. Provide counselling to help the individual accept and understand how their learning disability affects their life and teach strategies and techniques to work around their disability.
Healthcare professionals (Psychologist / Psychiatrist / Behaviour therapist) not only attempt to study the behaviour of a person, but also try to analyse and ascertain the reasons behind it. It is not merely enough to counsel and correct vagaries in behaviour, but also essential to eliminate the factors that trigger it. Parents and teachers often focus on the problematic behaviour of a child without trying to understand why the child behaves in such a manner. Through detailed, partially informal yet structured interactions with the child, the professionals get to the root of the problem. With proper identification and re mediation (intervention / counselling), they can help the child overcome his / her difficulties and thereby lead a better life.