What are mild disabilities?

Mild disabilities include learning disability, high-functioning autism, Asperger syndrome, emotional disturbances, and ADHD. Individuals with mild disabilities have difficulty with cognition, language, social skills, physical abilities, and so forth.

Learning Disability

Learning disability includes reading disability, writing disability, expressive language disability, dyslexia, listening disorder, speech disorder, math disorder, and dyscalculia. Students with learning disability have average or above normal intelligence and may excel in some academic areas. This is why it is difficult to identify them without specialized knowledge in learning disability. They may be misunderstood as "not studying hard," or "being lazy."

主な特徴

  • Takes time to learn alphabet letters, Japanese characters, or other letters in the native language
  • Makes frequent mistakes and pauses in reading aloud
  • Does not understand the contents of reading
  • Frequent misspelling
  • Holds pen or pencils awkwardly
  • Difficult to express thoughts in a written form
  • Language delay or limited vocabulary
  • Pronunciation is not clear
  • Difficult to understand jokes and cynicism
  • Difficulty with following directions given in a group setting
  • Difficulty with distinguishing words of similar pronunciation or shapes
  • Summarizing difficulty
  • Difficulty in understanding indirect instructions
  • Confused with math symbols
  • Struggles to plan concrete steps to accomplish a task
  • Difficulty with organizing speech in a meaningful way

Expected developmental stages differ by age.
The attributes above are the features compared to same age peers.

Home tips

Give specific complements
Praise the child when he/she tried hard or performed better than before. In general, individuals with learning disability have less opportunities to get complements than others, so do not miss the opportunity to praise them. Remember to give specific complements such as "This part of your essay was very descriptive and easy to understand," instead of simply saying "good job."
Encourage area of interest
If children have any areas of interest, encourage them to develop their interest. For instance, if a child is interested in dinosaur, parents may take the child to dinosaur museum or buy some books about dinosaur. By encouraging their area of interest, students can feel confident in the area and are less likely to develop negative feeling toward all subjects.
Create optimal learning environment
All students can benefit from optimal learning environment, but students with learning disability particularly needs it. Pay attention to the sizes and heights of desk and chair, room temparature, the types of stationery they use. If they are uncomfortable with any of these, they have more difficulties concentrating on studies.
Involve children in house chores
By helping others, children can be proud of themselves and develop high self-esteem. Break a task into smaller steps and teach them one step at a time.
Understand how children are doing in school
Even teachers and specialists sometimes have difficulty identifying learning disability at an early stage. Keep in touch with the child's teacher and find out what he/she is struggling with.

Message from Educational Therapist

Students with learning disability can be easily misunderstood as "lazy" or "unmotivated" even if they are doing their best. If they are misunderstood at all times, they may lose confidence and motivation to study. It is crucial to understand exactly what they are struggling with and acknowledge their efforts. Educational Therapist apply already-acquired skills to learn new skills and help them succeeed at tasks.