Inclusive Education & Children with Special Needs • Topic 3 of 5

Learning Difficulties: Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia

Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) are the most frequently tested item in this chapter, and the single most important fact is that they are NOT a sign of low intelligence. A child with an SLD has average or above-average intelligence but a specific difficulty in one area of learning, caused by differences in how the brain processes information. Get the three apart precisely. Dyslexia is a difficulty with READING, the child struggles to decode words, may reverse letters such as b and d, reads slowly, and spells poorly, despite normal vision and intelligence. Dyscalculia is a difficulty with MATHEMATICS, the child confuses number symbols, struggles to count, line up digits, or grasp arithmetic operations. Dysgraphia is a difficulty with WRITING, mainly the physical act, the child has poor and laboured handwriting, inconsistent letter sizing and spacing, and finds writing tiring. (A memory hook: lexia sounds like lexicon and words, so reading; calc is calculation, so maths; graph is to write, so writing.) Signs appear as a gap between the child's clear ability in discussion and their poor performance in the affected skill. The inclusive response is remedial support, not punishment: extra time, oral tests, audiobooks or readers for dyslexia, concrete manipulatives and number lines for dyscalculia, allowing typing or a scribe and not penalising messy handwriting for dysgraphia. The RPwD Act 2016 recognises specific learning disabilities as a disability.

✅ Solved examples

1. A bright Class 4 student talks fluently in class but reads far below grade level, reverses b and d, and spells poorly. This pattern indicates:
Dyslexia, a specific learning disability affecting reading and spelling. His fluent speech shows normal intelligence, the difficulty is specific to reading.
2. A student understands stories and reasons well but cannot line up digits, confuses number symbols, and struggles badly with simple arithmetic. This is most likely:
Dyscalculia, a specific learning disability in mathematics. It is not a sign of low overall intelligence.
3. A child forms letters with great effort, has very poor and uneven handwriting, and tires quickly when writing, though his ideas expressed orally are excellent. This suggests:
Dysgraphia, a specific learning disability affecting the written form. The teacher may allow typing or a scribe and should not penalise the handwriting itself.
4. The most important thing a teacher must understand about a child with a specific learning disability is that the child:
Has normal or above-average intelligence, the difficulty is specific to one skill (reading, maths or writing), not a general lack of ability, and must never be treated as slow or lazy.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. A specific learning disability that mainly affects reading and word decoding is:
Lexicon, words.
Letter reversals like b and d.
Dyslexia
2. Difficulty specifically with numbers, counting and calculation is called:
Calc, calculation.
Maths, not reading.
Dyscalculia
3. A child with very poor, effortful handwriting and uneven letter spacing likely has:
Graph, to write.
The physical act of writing.
Dysgraphia
4. Specific learning disabilities are associated with what level of intelligence?
NOT below average.
A key, often-tested fact.
Average or above-average intelligence
5. The correct teacher response to a child with dyslexia in a test is to:
Do not punish slow reading.
Accommodate, e.g. extra time or a reader.
Provide remedial support and accommodations such as extra time, oral testing or a reader

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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