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Co-occurring Difficulties

May 16 2014
Patricia Fitzgerald
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Co-occurring Difficulties

Specific Learning Difficulties(SpLD's) are a family of related conditions with significant overlap and co-occurrence, with dyslexia being the most common. The specific learning difficulties include Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and ADHD/ADD and all effect the way information is learned and processed. They are of  neurological origin, more often hereditary and all are unrelated to intelligence.

A plausible cause of co-occurrence is the proximity between brain regions that serve different cognitive functions and in particular their shared neural networks. Much research continues into developmental disorders and there are real signs that genetics, brain imaging, computational modelling and experimental cognitive techniques are coming together to improve our understanding of the causal pathways.

Dyspraxia / Developmental Co-ordination Disorder(DCD)

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), also known as Dyspraxia, is a common disorder affecting fine and/or gross motor coordination in children and adults. Children may present with difficulties in , for example, self-care, writing, riding a bike, throwing and catching, as well as other educational and recreational activities. In adulthood, new skills such as learning to drive or DIY tasks may be difficult to master. There may be a range of co-occurring difficulties such as problems with time management, planning and organisation.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia refers to the inability to understand simple number concepts and to master basic numeracy skills. There are likely to be difficulties dealing with numbers at very basic levels, such as learning number facts and procedures, telling the time, time keeping, understanding quantity, prices and money.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD)/ Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder affects an individual's ability to control attention and behaviour in an optimal and adaptive manner. The disorder often occurs together with the tendency to be overactive and impulsive. Behaviour may be erratic, unpredictable and inappropriate, often  blurting out inappropriate comments or interrupting excessively.

What is Dyslexia?

Apr 19 2014
Patricia Fitzgerald
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Key Facts and characteristics.

Definition produced by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA)

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterised by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding difficulties. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction.

  • Dyslexia is a specific rather than a generalised learning difficulty.
  • Dyslexia is one of a family of related specific learning difficulties(SpLD’s) which have significant overlap and co-occurrence. The other SpLD’s include Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Attention Deficit Disorder.
  • Weakness in Literacy is often the most visible sign of dyslexia. However, Dyslexia is an information processing difficulty which involves the way information is processed, stored and retrieved.
  • Vulnerabilities in Phonological Awareness, verbal working memory and in an individual’s speed of processing are considered key indicators of dyslexia.
  • Dyslexics can also display difficulties with personal organisation, time management, sequencing number or letter strings or events and direction. These are not by themselves markers of dyslexia.
  • Dyslexia exists as a continuum, from mild to severe.
  • Dyslexia has a hereditary basis: it tends to run in families. Children with at least one dyslexic parent are more likely to develop reading difficulties than other children.
  • Advances in brain imaging reveal the different workings of the dyslexic reader compared to a typically developing reader.
  • Dyslexia is not related to intelligence, though most dyslexics are at least of average intelligence, many reach a higher level.