By Amita Quenim

 Some talk well, some write well, some sing well and so on. Some have a combination of two talents and some have more. The question is how does one categorise? Would it be fair to call some one intelligent only because he writes well, or has the capacity to memorise and recall in writing where he can score cent percent.

Or what about that boy who has just won a debate competition but lacks interest in academics and classroom situations.

Are you thinking what most would be thinking? Yes, that is true normally the marks scored in written work, places that student as the best and that normally is the criteria for any kind of selection to represent. Unfortunately, that may not be the right attitude towards that student and others. It is unfair to label some one as good or bad only because of the marks he scores.

I remember with the release of a recent movie, an amazing number of parents and students began identifying themselves with the characters in the movie, and the worst part of this was that only one per cent were right about it, where as the others were only using this as a reason to seek pity or to get away with the nagging attitude of their parents who expected them to do extremely well in academics. It was a sad situation to see the parents and students so helpless; however, that was a matter of great concern. Let us see what the problem was with most of them and let us also understand what learning disorders are and what we can do about that.

There are specific learning disorders, which may occur in children who are otherwise normal or even gifted in their overall functioning. This inadequate development may be manifested in language, speech, mathematical or motor skills areas and this is not due to any reliably demonstrable physical or neurological defect. Out of these problems, the most researched one is that of the reading and writing difficulties known collectively as dyslexia. In dyslexia, the individual manifests problems in word recognition and reading comprehension and is weak with spellings. They normally omit, add and distort words and their reading is painful, slow and halting. With reference to academic performance it is noticed that these children are identified because of an apparent disparity between their expected academic achievement and their actual academic performance in one or more school subjects such as math, spelling, writing or reading. The level of frustration is extremely high for the victims if the pressure is forced upon with high expectations by people around.

These children have to be understood and dealt with in a specific way to help them to focus on their positive skills and by motivating them to accept reality and change focus.

Learning disinterest is caused by many factors; it could be dislike towards that teacher dealing with that subject or lack of understanding, or even high expectations from others. However, the cause of specific learning disabilities is that they are the products of subtle central nervous system impairments. In particular these disabilities are thought to result from some sort of immaturity, deficiency or dysregulation limited to those brain functions supposedly mediating, for normal children, and cognitive skills that children with learning disorders cannot efficiently acquire.

Treatment is such cases is an on going process, short-term gains are obvious but a constant follow up and an update at regular intervals is important.

This disorder creates great turmoil and frustration in the victims, parents and teachers, but when handled with care and understanding it takes care of the problem to a great extent. The child can develop low-self-esteem and reflects later on in life and leaves a scar which obstructs maturity at the right stage.

However, the brighter side to this is the high level of general talent and motivation to overcome the obstacles of learning disorder, which can sometimes produce a life of extraordinary achievements. Some such examples are Sir Winston Churchill and Nelson Rockefekker.

Some speak well, some write well, some sing well and so on. Some have a combination of two talents and some have more. The question is how does one categorise? Would it be fair to call some one intelligent only because he writes well, or has the capacity to memorise and recall in writing where he can score cent percent. Tap the specific talent in your child and make him feel special with what he is gifted with.