On Learning Difficulties

[Deezinageorge]

On Learning Difficulties:

I bring to attention what I believe is a lesser understood facet of the largely speaking, Learning Disabilities.

Some problems that people with learning difficulties may face (these symptoms belong to me):

difficulty playing instruments
difficulty learning languages
mimic signature
learn dance steps
may not have a uniform handwriting style
posture problems
May learn the hold the squash/tennis the wrong way
find it difficult to imitate the rhythm of a song
find it difficult to imitate gym exercises
speaking style may vary, especially when learning a new language.
Cannot Learn a batting or bowling style
Following are my ideas, or collection of thoughts, in this area:

Physical learning difficulties: It is an unlearning problem. Once a task is learnt, it may be not possible to unlearn it (using conventional thinking).

I am defining the learning difficulty gauge (a thought experiment):

As an example, every time, someone (while learning) holds a squash raquet grip slightly differently (probably)— the brain gauges the action to be similar (despite the error). That is how learning takes place. However, for learning to take place, the brain has to read actions as similar, while they are never 100 percent similar. If the racket is held differently ‘enough’, then the brain gauges the action as distinct and new learning takes place. That is, there is a gauge or a filter which enables a person to learn a task in the physical sense. Since every time a learner cannot hold the racket 100 percent same way, by deduction we can reason that there is an error or filter there (otherwise there would be no learning!).

When a person has Learning difficulties, this error is larger, that is, the body reads quite distinct actions as similar. So, unless initial learning is right, people with learning difficulties would make bad habits and because of the error wouldn’t be able to unlearn them. For instance, if a person with learning difficulties learns to hold the squash racket grip the wrong way-- attempts to rectify it would be in vain as the error is bigger and the right grip is being read by the brain as the wrong grip. So, that person would have to beat the error and hold the raquet in a very different way so as to beat the error and learn the squash racket grip the completely wrong way. Once that is done, the person will have to beat the error again to hold the racket grip the right way. In a sense, once wrong habits have been acquired, the way to reform them is to go outside the error range to form an unwanted habit in order to learn the right habit.

Unlearning problem. The wrong alphabet (verbally) or racket grip has been learnt. The idea is to teach in a way that ensures that the initial raquet grip is right, especially for fast learners. This is why (I think) fast learners are more prone to learning difficulties

Right signature may not be learnt because the signee cannot mimic the signature again and again (unless there is conscious effort to do it the same way while early learning).

With a squash racket grip the person can learn the wrong grip by holding the racket the same way again and again (the wrong way), but with a signature it is hard to to mimic the same style even for the first few times, and hence there is no learning.

Unless the person is extra cautious while learning the signature right when he learns to sign.

Everyone has this error and people with learning difficulties have a larger error (hence they have learning difficulties)

Everybody has different error ranges. A new action might fall within the error range despite being seemingly different and in this way people with learning difficulties might be fortifying old, bad habits without learning new ones. The idea is to go outside the error range to reform habits as the body will then gauge it as a distinct action. So, to unlearn, say, with a squash racket, the person might have to change the habit in a way that it holds the grip of the racket much outside the error range (not necessarily the right way). In this manner he'll unlearn the old habit and learn the new one (albeit wrong). Then he has to learn to hold the grip of the racket the right way by going outside the error range and hold the racket the right way.

In other words to unlearn a habit (for someone with learning difficulties) means to find a distinct way to learn an unwanted habit so that he can revert and learn the right habit.

The speaking styles and the writing styles of the learning disabled population may not be terse.

Learning difficulty: Fast learners with learning difficulty will have acute problems learning the right habits as they would learn the wrong one's fast. On the contrary, if taught precisely the right way initially, they will have no problems learning.

Speaking the letters the wrong way: To learn to speak the right way is to first unlearn the wrong way (if a letter is being pronounced incorrectly). This can be done by speaking the letter in a very different way. Then once that is learned, speak the letter the correct way and correct learning will happen

Stepwise Learning:

The error repeats itself in step-wise learning, that is, say, the first dance step has been learnt right-- then the error is again there in learning the second step, third step, 4th step, and so on. Wrong learning at any place in this sequence can take place for people with LD. Hence, it may not be possible to learn dance steps for such a population (Unless taught the precise way initially. or, by using this remedy to unlearn the wrong steps and then learn them again).

[Deezinageorge]

I would appreciate some input as I think it is a cure. 

[Sensei]

I know other learning difficulties such as:

- problems with concentration on the one thing at a time (which might be in very extreme case symptom of mental illness. I know such people with bipolar disorder, and their brains are all-the-time bombarded with impulses, hyperactivity of brain, which can be observed as can't stop talking and dreaming on loud about everything what comes to their mind. One minute can't concentrate on talking, thinking and doing only one thing. Changing subjects of monologue without any obvious direction).

- abuse of psychoactive drugs and substances can cause damage of brain, change of personality, change of personal aims, change of what is important in person life (no more get decent degree, no more get to university, then get decent job, etc. etc.)

- depression

- lack of enthusiasm and motivation learning new things. Learning should be fun. A lot depends on teacher.

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by Sensei