If no further investigation is undertaken a number of assumptions may be made about Aisha. However with assessment the following was discovered:

Aisha has a learning difficulty.

This article explores what this term may mean and the origins of learning difficulties. It also considers whose responsibility, if anyones learning difficulties fall under and what help parents or young people can seek.

There are many phrases in present use to describe an individual with a learning difficulty. Phrases you may be familiar with include 'learning disability', 'dyslexia' and 'attention deficit disorder'. Jerome Rosner in his book "Helping Children Overcome Learning Difficulties" describes these different terms as follows:

• Learning Disability - describes a child who, for no apparent reason, experiences difficulty in one or more of the basic school subjects (reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic).
• Dyslexia - describes a difficulty in learning to read.
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) - describes some of the child's general classroom behaviour and indicates that in addition to not making satisfactory progress, he does not pay adequate attention to instruction and is too easily distracted.

Whatever the best definition, what is clear is that learning disabilities effect a great deal of children and adults throughout society. Just as the type of learning disability or difficulty varies from individual to individual so to does the degree of the disability. Those individuals with severe learning difficulties are usually readily identified.

It is those individuals whose difficulties are not as pronounced that can often be neglected or overlooked.

In my own experience, I have met at least four individuals who have had various forms of learning difficulties none of which were initially identified at school. Here are two of those accounts:

One young woman who I met at college in the USA had reached 20 years of age without anyone discovering she had a learning difficulty. She would sit in college lectures and be unable to make notes about the lecture subject because she found it almost impossible to listen to the lecture and then write it down at the same time. Instead she would bring in a small audio tape recorder and record the lecture and then at home at her own pace she would decipher the contents of the class. This would take at least an extra 2-3 hours per day.

Finally as a senior at college, she had her learning difficulty recognized and was given the extra assistance she required. Sarah was by far one of the brightest, wittiest people I have ever come across and due to her own hard work and devotion managed to succeed. Surely however, it should not have come to this. Someone, somewhere should have spotted this difficulty sooner.

The second account involves an 8 year old boy, Brian, whose mother I worked with. She asked me to tutor Brian because of the difficulties he was having at school. Specifically she had asked me to sit with him and read for one hour each week. Within the first few classes, I was sure that Brian had some form of learning difficulty. I was no expert in the field but there were a few telling signs.

Firstly Brian would do anything to avoid reading. He would talk, not sit still and more often than not, misbehave. He would rather me spend my time telling him off than actually read. Secondly when I did get Brian to read, he rarely actually read words. There were some common words which he remembered, everything else he would guess at saying the first word that came into his head which started with the correct letter. Thirdly, Brian was not of low intelligence, he used many strategies to assist him deal with his problems. He would look closely at pictures so he could guess what he was reading. He would talk about a subject that he had read so not having to read the next page. He would give me books that he had already read at school so he remembered most of the book.

In school Brian was always in trouble with the teacher for being disruptive, distracting others, and generally misbehaving. No surprise there. Anyone who had that much difficulty reading would have behaved the same way to avoid the everyday frustration, embarrassment and humiliation. I told Brian's mother that I thought she should speak to the school because I was certain that he had some kind of learning difficulty. Finally three years on from when the behaviour initially started and due to the persistence of Brian's mother, Brian was assessed & diagnosed as having a learning difficulty.

This lack of identification of learning difficulties is one of the major areas that needs to be addressed particularly in the primary school. The early a difficulty is detected the easier it is to help the individual devise strategies to overcome the difficulty.

Another area which needs addressing is the assumption that individuals with learning difficulties are below average intelligence. In many instances this could not be further from the truth and in fact they are some of the most gifted people in our society today. For instance the following people all suffered from some form of learning disability:

• Winston Churchill
• Albert Einstein
• Agatha Christie
• Thomas Edison
• Tom Cruise
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Michael Heseltine
• Sir Stephen Redgrave
• Sir Anthony Hopkins
• Tommy Hilfiger
• Robbie Williams

The causes of learning difficulties may be still being understood, however the effects on a person are much clearer. The most common of these include frustration, low academic achievement, misbehaviour, isolation, humiliation, depression and low self-esteem. With these in mind it therefore seems vital that there are clear guidelines of responsibility and accessible information for schools, caregivers, guardians and parents.

Firstly warning signs of things to look for need to be readily available to parents on request and it should be compulsory for teachers to have undertaken at least some training in identifying the symptoms of a child with learning difficulties, particularly for primary school teachers. Out of the teacher training prospectus programmes in the U.K. studied, none mentioned a compulsory focus on working with children or identifying children with any sort of learning difficulties. This does not mean that it is not in the studies of training teachers but it does mean that it is not emphasized at least to prospective teachers and may in fact be an elective area of study. If a research study was orchestrated on how many students with learning difficulties were not diagnosed in primary school, I am convinced it would be a depressingly high figure. It is not the role of the teacher to assess the child in depth, that is for a professionally trained educational psychologist, but it is paramount that they can identify potential symptoms.

With the role of the teacher becoming increasingly stretched, stressed and pressurized, it is crucial for parents to take an active role in their child's development and learning. A parent has to keep an eye on their child or children, a teacher has at least 10 times as many children to observe. Parents, without paranoia, can greatly assist teachers and schools by taking an interest in their child's homework, reading with their child, and talking to their child about various aspects of school life. It is possible for parents to identify areas where they believe their child may be struggling to learn.

Parents with concerns about their child's learning or behaviour could be issued with guidelines from schools highlighting possible behaviours to be aware of. Parents who after initial investigation have cause for further concern can find help at the following locations in the U.K.:

• British Institute of Learning Disabilities
  
• British Dyslexia Association
  
• The Dyslexia Institute
  
• The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities
  
• The Dyscovery Center

Sources/Further Information