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Dr Sacrifice Chirisa- Mental Health Matters
A learning disability affects the way a person understands information as well as how they communicate. This means they can have difficulty understanding new or complex information, learning new skills and coping independently.A learning disability can be mild, moderate or severe. Some people with a mild learning disability can talk easily and look after themselves, but take a bit longer than usual to learn new skills.

Others may not be able to communicate at all and have more than one disability. Learning disability is not the same as a learning difficulty or mental illness.

Some children with learning disabilities grow up to be quite independent, while others need help with everyday tasks, such as washing or getting dressed, for their whole lives. It depends on their abilities. Children with a learning disability may also have special educational needs.

Some learning disabilities are diagnosed at birth, such as Down’s syndrome, while others might not be discovered until the child is old enough to walk or talk.

Once your child is diagnosed with a learning disability, your GP or nurse must refer you to a specialist psychiatrist and psychologist for proper assessment. Some will need a multi-disciplinary approach from the following; GPs, paediatricians, speech therapists, physiotherapists, educational and clinical psychologists to help individuals live a full and independent a life as possible.

A learning disability happens when a person’s brain development is affected, either before they are born, during their birth or in early childhood. Several factors can affect brain development, including:

• The mother becoming ill in pregnancy

• Problems during the birth that stop enough oxygen getting to the brain (foetal distress)

• The unborn baby developing certain genes

• The parents passing certain genes to the unborn baby that make having a learning disability more likely (known as inherited learning disability)

• Illness, such as meningitis, or injury in early childhood

• Use of alcohol and other drugs

Sometimes there is no known cause for a learning disability.

There are also several conditions associated with learning disability, such as:

• Cerebral palsy.

• Autism

• Epilepsy.

I will now look at one common learning difficulty that is poorly managed in our part of the world – dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling. Unlike a learning disability, intelligence isn’t affected. It’s estimated that up to one in every 10 to 20 people has some degree of dyslexia.

Signs of dyslexia usually become apparent when a child starts school and begins to focus more on learning how to read and write.

A person with dyslexia may:

• Read and write very slowly

• Confuse the order of letters in words

• Put letters the wrong way round such as writing “b” instead of “d”

• Have poor or inconsistent spelling

• Understand information when told verbally, but have difficulty with information that’s written down

• Find it hard to carry out a sequence of directions

• Struggle with planning and organisation

These signs help to identify this common learning difficulty before condemning a child as intellectually disabled. Let the child be assessed first for proper diagnosis of the learning disorder as this will determine the input processes needed for the best outcome of the child.

DISCLAIMER: This column contains information about mental health related issues. However, the information is not advice, and should not be treated as such. The writer accepts no responsibility for misuse and misrepresentation caused by the use or misunderstanding of this article. No warranties or assurances are made in relation to the safety and content of this article and attachments. Sender accepts no liability for any damage caused by or contained in any attachments. No liability is accepted for any consequences arising from this article.

Dr S.M. Chirisa is a passionate mental health specialist who holds an undergraduate medical degree and postgraduate Master’s degree in psychiatry, both from the University of Zimbabwe. He is currently working as a Senior Registrar in the Department of Psychiatry at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals and is also the current national treasurer of the Zimbabwe Medical association (ZiMA). He can be reached at [email protected]