Many parents wonder whether Homeopathy can help in Learning Disorders as there are no medicines in a conventional line of treatment to address these issues. Conventionally, the line of treatment includes strengthening the skills and developing a learning strategy. So, can homeopathy help kids with a learning disorder? The answer is positive. Homeopathy helps in specific learning disorders. It has a definite role in bringing change in all parameters of learning disorder.

A learning disorder or learning disability is a difficulty in comprehending and processing the information in the brain because of atypical brain development. The unknown factor is responsible for affecting the brain’s ability to receive and process the provided information appropriately. Such a child may read very slowly, word by word, and, sometimes, or rather many times, make mistakes even then. They often get confused looking at the words, letters, and numbers. Often, you can also find them complaining to you that the words happen to jump from one page to another.

The DSM V Diagnostic & Statistical Manual, 5th Ed defines Specific learning disorders as a set of disorders that relate to having difficulty in learning and developing certain skills for more than or at least 6 months. First is Dyslexia that is difficulty in reading, then dysgraphia that is difficulty in writing, and then dyscalculia which is difficulty with mathematics. Children can have difficulty with one of these facets but they can also show the symptoms of all three learning disorders as mentioned above.

Commonly, all children make silly mistakes while reading and writing at some time or other. They do get confused while solving mathematical problems, and every child is disorganized and happens to forget things. All of this can be expected on random days, but if you have been noticing that these are not just occasional bouts but a consistent pattern and if you have been getting feedback from their school that they happen to daydream or they are slow in learning, it is probably time to give a thought to the fact that your child may be developing a learning disorder. It does not mean that the child is intellectually challenged; children with learning disorders are intelligent, and, sometimes, more intelligent than the average child of their age. The very important thing to keep in mind with learning disorders is that it is not due to a lack of intelligence or desire to learn.

Common Types of Learning Disabilities:

Here are some common types of learning disabilities.

1) Dyslexia:

Dyslexia affects written and oral communication adversely. These individuals often have trouble identifying letters or words that results in slow, inaccurate, and effortful reading. The reading difficulty is more obvious when one reads aloud; there is a hesitation and the kids keep on guessing the words. Dyslexia can also cause difficulty with spelling because children add or omit letters by mistake. All these efforts with reading mean that individuals might also have a hard time understanding what was read, sometimes missing the deeper meaning of the passage, forgetting the right sequence of events, or being unable to make inferences about what they have read.

2) Dysgraphia:

Dysgraphia describes having trouble with writing and making a lot of grammatical mistakes and writing incorrect spellings. Often, children also have poor handwriting even if they don’t have any trouble with fine motor skills. These children may misuse the upper-case and lower-case letters and may mix print and cursive writing. Their writing is often slow and labored. They have difficulty in putting thoughts on paper or thinking and writing at the same time.

3) Dyscalculia:

Dyscalculia is a poor understanding of numbers like their magnitude or the relationship to each other. The most common problem is trouble with number sense. Children with dyscalculia struggle to memorize mathematical facts such as formulas and equations. It makes them hard to manipulate numbers and solve math problems. The children with dyscalculia find it difficult to follow mathematical reasoning and fail to understand the logic behind the mathematical steps. Over time, it leads to related problems; for instance, feeling uncomfortable while reading graphs and charts. Learning disorders are usually diagnosed in school-going years when child skills can be assessed and fall below what he or she should be able to do at a certain age.

If learning disorders are not diagnosed on time, they can have a very bad effect on the child’s academic performance and, more importantly, affect the child’s self-esteem and confidence. They also affect the interpersonal relationships between the child and peers and parents. Once your child has been diagnosed with a learning disorder, make sure that you inform his/her teachers at school so that they will put in an additional effort to be more patient and attentive towards the child.

Homeopathy for Learning Disorder:

While there is a solution for learning disorders, it calls for more of a holistic approach in its management. Early intervention can lessen their adverse effects. The integrative approach that is combining homeopathic medicines along with special education or speech therapy, language therapy, and counseling to children can bring about a major difference in the development of the child. Homeopathic medicines mainly work on brain development, enhance brain functioning, and help to connect the child to the environment. Slow learners have a short attention span; and homeopathic medicines help to improve the attention span, thereby increasing the child’s concentration. There is an improvement in the emotional level too. The frustration associated with learning reduces, and, gradually, the child is more at ease to learn. Handwriting will be more legible and a child’s grade can improve. The child happens to start to enjoy reading, his/ her confidence level improves and, often, the child can be shifted from special school to mainstream school.

To see the initial positive changes with homeopathy, it takes at least 8-10 weeks and then the improvement continues and builds over time.

A few homeopathic medicines which are used in learning disorders are Lycopodium clavatum, Medorrhinum, Natrum group remedies, Aregnticum nitricum, Baryta carbonicum, Calcarea carbonicum, and Calcarea Phos. However, a well-qualified, experienced Homeopath can make a proper choice of remedy based on your child’s constitution.

At Life Force, we have a good number of cases of learning disorders that have shown significant results after long-term Homeopathic treatment. You can go through the link on the case study of a Dyslexic child:

https://www.askdrshah.com/casestudies.aspx?diseaseIndex=280

These children with learning disorders often benefit from small modifications. Kids with mild to moderate learning disorders might benefit from untimed tests, oral testing, or other alternatives to witness assignments such as video reports. Dyslexia can also be improved with a specific font and individuals with dysgraphia often benefit from the use of wide-ruled paper or following different pencil grips. Dyscalculia can be helped by involving maths-related games and physical objects for calculation. They should be given extra time for practice; one-on-one tutoring brings a major change in children.

There is an important role of parents in helping the child to overcome learning disorders. Parents and caregivers need to be very supportive; it is very important to sympathize and empathize with the children and help them develop their abilities. Reward your child’s little achievements, encourage your child, and praise their skills and strength because a small improvement every day is going to be a major accomplishment in a year.

• Written by Dr. Mithila K, Associate doctor to Dr. Rajesh Shah, MD (Hom)

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