Learning Problems

Learning problems and the adolescent behavior that causes learning problems could, in fact, be learning disabilities. Learning problems that remain untreated or unexamined can affect personal growth and the future development of how a person lives and perceives the rest of their adult life. Parents might have a commonsense diagnosis of learning problems, and the chances are that they are probably right, but what if their present interventions haven’t helped very much? How does substance abuse contribute to adolescent learning problems? How can an evaluation help to determine the difference between learning problems and learning disabilities?

The substance abuse that leads to impaired intellectual and academic development goes without saying. Declining school performance is frequently a key indicator of progression from social to habitual substance use. A significant proportion of substance abusing adolescents, however, had learning problems prior to their abuse. Not uncommon is a history of attention deficit and hyper activity disorder or generic learning disabilities. Damaged self-esteem may also be a factor.

Substance abuse appears to impair the individual’s ability to learn. It undermines the capacity to concentrate, as well to retain information. Therefore any treatment approach must account for the individuals educational needs, and provide for or at least monitor that dimension of recovery.

An evaluation can help if you have accurately identified your child’s learning problems but missed underlying causes that are equally important. A good example is the misdiagnosis of learning disabilities. Considering the amount of information and publicity given to learning problems in the past twenty years, it’s surprising that they still go undetected, but the young adolescent who regularly disrupts class, insults teachers, and rebels at home in order to hide certain learning problems is still among us.

In some cases it may be nearly impossible to make sound decisions concerning your child’s future without some of the information that an evaluation yields. A psychological evaluation may be able to settle some of the “chicken and egg” issues about learning problems therefore making it easier to make decisions about treatment. Is depression causing the learning problems, or is the other way around? If depression is the primary problem, medication or psychotherapy may be in order. If grades are the primary problem perhaps a qualified tutor could be the solution.

Finally, an evaluation can help if you are right about what’s wrong about your child but wrong about what’s right. Parents sometimes have a tendency to focus only on the child’s weak points. After all, that’s where the learning problems exist, that’s what needs to be changed. But by concentrating on the weaknesses, they overlook the strengths. The kid who can’t sit still may, in fact, be very bright. The one with poor verbal skills may have outstanding hand-eye coordination. The one who processes information slowly and painfully may have almost infinite patience and persistence. Psychologists, therapists, and counselors are interested in how the young people they evaluate compare with other kids the same age, and their objective - it’s not their kid. Unusual strength or skill in an area will negate their attention just as quickly as a weakness.

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