The work of academic therapy and the diagnostic testing that precedes it is beneficial in the lives of children and students who are having difficulties in a school or other learning setting. Many kids struggle without a specific diagnosis to work with, and they end up feeling as though the problems they face in school are an indication that they aren’t as smart as their peers. While it is easy to see why some children reach this conclusion, it couldn’t be further from the truth. In these instances, our goal and responsibility as therapists is to intervene and help provide the child with the tools they need and have been missing in order to be successful in a learning environment.
Some of the challenges children face that might cause a trusted adult, teacher, or parent to recommend diagnostic testing include dyslexia, behavioral disorders, fluency concerns, and even learning styles.
Dyslexia constitutes a difficulty reading and writing due to the tendency to mix up the order of either words or letters in a word. This sort of diagnosis can provide a lot of understanding to children and those who care for them because they can assign meaning to reading comprehension and speed issues.
Behavioral disorders can be just as big a learning barrier as anything else because they sabotage in the form of distraction. An individual who copes with either attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder might find it extremely taxing to remain still and focused on the specific topic of learning that they are presented with.
Fluency can lead to any number of learning issues because language is such a strong component of learning. If a child cannot comprehend what they are being taught due to their unfamiliarity with the language, they will not be able to retain knowledge as effectively as they should.
Many children simply need to have adjustments made to the method in which they learn to experience educational breakthroughs. Some students learn better visually, while others are more auditorily sensitive. Others need to learn from hands-on experiences in order to keep knowledge in their heads for any length of time.
