December 2021 www.womanthismonth.com 68 LIFESTYLE | opinion DOES MY CHILD HAVE A LEARNING ISSUE? Ouiam El Hassani tells you what steps to take to find out if your child has a learning issue. If you're wondering whether learning and attention issues may be the reason why your child is struggling in school or at home, you're not alone. One in five kids have dyslexia, ADHD, or other learning and attention issues, and with the proper support, they can thrive both inside and outside the classroom. The dilemma is when you are trying to figure out whether there is an issue or not, because there is a thin line between kids taking time to go through certain milestones and kids having difficulties in certain areas. Here are some steps to guide you: KNOW WHAT LEARNING AND ATTENTION ISSUES ARE AND AREN'T. Learning and attention issues are not a sign of laziness, bad parenting, or lack of intelligence. In fact, kids with such issues are often just as smart as their peers. Although all kids develop skills at different rates, kids with learning and attention issues have PERSISTENT difficulty in certain areas due to different "wiring" in the brain. You may see struggles with reading, writing, math, organisation, focus, listening, comprehension, social skills, motor skills, or some combination of these skills. LEARN ABOUT TYPICAL DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES. It can be hard to know whether you're seeing signs of learning and attention issues in your child if you're unsure what skills are typical for the age. There are specific physical, cognitive, and social-emotional milestones to look for at each age. For example, a preschooler should be able to rhyme words, while a first grader should be able to start sounding out words and understand the relationship between letters and sounds. Knowing what to look for can help you determine if your child isn't meeting milestones as expected.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==