LD: Not so discouraging as it may seem
see Learning Despite Disability, Learning Post, front coverfrom Boon Boonprayoon
Learning Disabilities or LD has become a familiar term among parents and educators these days. What is a learning disability, anyway? The term sounds frightening and serious; but it is actually something that can often be overcome with a proper care and treatment.
The story tells you what causes LD, how parents and teachers can help prevent children from developing such disorders, and, if the disorder is developed, a guide for parents to notice the symptoms. It is also interesting to read about the causes of the disorder. You will find two major causes. Once you have finished reading, try to think of what else might be the cause of a learning disability. Could it partially be the pressure some parents feel to raise a perfect and fast-learning child?
Getting the main idea of this passage is quite an easy task. You can simply follow the comprehension questions at the end of this introduction to guide you. Read the questions prior to reading the story. Then try to scan the story for particular words, orother clues that are used in the questions. The ability to quickly relate words, phrases, or sentences from the reading to the comprehension questions helps you understand the major points and find the correct answers.
Reading comprehension questions:
1. What is a learning disability?
2. What are the causes of learning disabilities?
3. What is the critical period that parents should pay much attention to in the child's development?
4. Can an LD be cured? If not, is there any hope left for children having an LD?
5. What are the three most common learning disabilities?
6. If a child academic performance is poor, has poor reading comprehension and writing skills, does it necessarily mean that the child has a learning disability?
7. What are the signs of LD at different stages of life?
8. What are the treatments for children with a LD?
Vocabulary from introduction
term - a word or phrase used as the name of something, especially one connected with a particular type of language
overcome - to succeed in dealing with or controlling a problem that has been preventing you from achieving something
develop - to begin to have something such as a disease or a problem; to start to affect somebody/something
disorder - an illness that causes a part of the body to stop functioning correctly
Vocabulary from the story
to be suffered from - to be badly affected by a disease, pain, sadness, etc
bear - to be able to accept and deal with something unpleasant
affect - to attack somebody or a part of body; to make somebody become ill/sick
to have a disease/illness - to suffer from an illness or a disease
conduct - to organise and/or do a particular activity such as survey, research, etc.
reveal - to make something known to somebody
diagnosed with - found to have a particular illness or to have found the cause of a problem
neurological disorder - an illness that causes the brain /or nervous system to stop functioning correctly
interfere - to prevent something from succeeding or from being done or happening as planned
paediatrician - a doctor who studies and treats the diseases of children
contribute - to be one of the causes of something
stage - a period or state that something passes through while developing or making progress
associated with - to make a connection between things in your mind
jump right to - to leave out something and pass to a further point or stage
cure - to make an illness go away
detection - the process of discovering or noticing something; the fact of being detected
prevention - the act of stopping something bad from happening
albeit - although
arithmetic - the type of mathematics that deals with adding, multiplying, etc. of numbers
opposed to - disagreeing strongly with something and trying to stop it
converse - to have a conversation with somebody
distinguish - to recognise the difference between two people or things
visual - of or connected with seeing or sight
consult - to go to somebody for information or advice
extreme - very great in degree
treatment - something that is done to cure an illness
remedial teaching - teaching that is aimed at solving a problem, especially when this involves correcting or improving something that has been done wrong
unattended - not being watched or cared for
leave very little room - to have only a very limited possibility of something existing or happening; to provide a very limited opportunity to do something
degree - the amount or level of something
motor development - the development of the movement of the body that is produced by muscles, or of the nerves that control movement
socialisation - the process by which somebody, especially a child, learns to behave in a way that is acceptable in their society
interactively - in a way that involves people working together and having an influence on each other
apparent - obvious; easy to see or understand
umbrella term - a term that contains or includes many different parts or elements
illegibility - the state of being difficult or impossible to read
sensory integration - the act or process of combining two or more of your physical sense so that they work together
cues - actions or signals for somebody to do something
Terms on illness and disease
It is not unusual for language learners to get confused with the words 'illness', 'disease', 'sickness', etc. In order to help you understand the differences between these words and then be able to use them as correctly as the native speakers do, I have listed definitions, collocations (the way words combine in a language to produce natural sounding speech and writing) and the usage of such terms here. Study them and work on the extra exercise here. You can check your answer for the exercise here. (Save the pdf files by right-clicking and using either "save target as" or "save link as" depending on your browser.)