A learning assessment is the first step in the right direction to help your child overcome common learning disabilities. Since learning struggles manifest themselves in many different ways, a quality learning assessment should start with that in mind. Struggles can range from trouble paying attention in class to difficulty sounding out words or struggling to comprehend reading materials. Quality assessments will identify the specific cause and give you an idea of how to fix the issue.
There are a variety of causes for learning disabilities, but most people have false misconceptions of what truly causes them. Many people point to genetics, poor teaching, or even a lack of motivation, but these are false theories that usually only address the symptoms of a problem, not the underlying cause. In fact, almost anyone can improve their current situation with the proper testing and training programs that address the issue. Students who lack motivation typically are not struggling because they don't care but because they are frustrated from past, repeated failures resulting from a learning struggle.
The true cause of learning difficulties come from weak underlying cognitive skills; skills that enable you to learn. That means they must function well for you to efficiently and easily read, think, prioritize, understand, plan, remember, and solve problems. Strong cognitive skills lead to fast, academic learning and make life much easier.
There are many examples of how weak cognitive skills can lead to many common learning disabilities seen today. Poor concentration and attention skills can cause a student to be easily distracted and miss instructions. For children who can't segment or blend sounds, weak underlying cognitive skills lead to listening, reading, and spelling challenges. If a learning assessment is done correctly, these weak cognitive skills should be identified and plans made to help the individual overcome the disability.
Once weak cognitive skills are identified, they can be improved with the proper training. A unique plan of action for strengthening the weak cognitive skills will follow a good learning assessment. It is important for a learning center to take a cognitive-based approach to testing and training, but it is also important that they develop a plan of action unique to your child so he or she can achieve the best results possible. Everyone is slightly different, so it is essential to make sure the plan of action is a personalized approach—not one size fits all.
