Individuals with Learning Difficulties are vulnerable to many factors such as social, psychological, emotional and physical challenges. They can become excluded from services that an average person takes for granted. People with learning disabilities often live in housing with little or no personal interaction or support available.
At Contix, we have turned people’s lives around by giving tailored and diligent support. We do this by working closely with clients past medical professionals and supporting their ongoing needs through our strong team of support workers and volunteers.
Learning difficulties can dictate the way a person learns new things. Learning difficulties affect a person throughout their entire life. Read on to learn how having a learning disability can affect someone and where you can find help.
Having a learning disability can affect the way a person both understands and communicates information. This means that they may have difficulty understanding new or complex information or facts, learning new life skills and coping independently in the community.
In the United Kingdom, around 1.5 million people have a learning disability, with up to 350,000 individuals having a severe form of learning disability. This figure is steadily rising.
The severity of learning difficulties.
Learning difficulties can be either mild, moderate, or severe.
Some people who have mild learning difficulties can communicate easily and take care of themselves, but they may need a little longer than usual to learn new skills. Some people may not be able to talk at all, and they may also have other difficulties physical and mental.
Most people with learning difficulties can live independent lives, while others need assistance with typical day-to-day activities, such as washing and dressing. Residents may need this type of support for their entire lives. It all depends on the person’s abilities and the level of care and support that they require.
Children and young people with learning difficulties may also have special educational needs (SEN) requirements.
Support for people with learning disabilities and their families.
Some learning difficulties are identified at birth, such as Down’s Syndrome. Others may not be discovered till the child is old enough to speak or walk.
Once your child has been diagnosed with learning difficulties, your doctor will refer you to a specialist who can help you further. Once this is done, you will start to know the team of professionals involved in your or your child’s care.
With the right support from practitioners – such as GPs, paediatricians (doctors specialised in the treatment of children), speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, educational and clinical psychologists and social care – people with learning difficulties can live their lives as fully and as independently as possible.
What are the causes of learning difficulties?
A learning difficulty tends to occur when a person’s brain development is altered from the norm’ either before birth, after birth, or early childhood.
This can be triggered by things such as:
Mother becoming sick during pregnancy.
Problems during birth that inhibit the flow of oxygen getting to the brain.
An unborn child inheriting genes from their parents that make learning difficulties more likely. This is known as an inherited learning disability.
Viral infections, such as meningitis or early childhood injury.
There is often no known cause for a learning disorder developing.
Some learning difficulties are linked to developmental conditions since people with these problems are more likely to have had one.
For instance, someone with Down’s syndrome has some learning difficulties, and so do many people with cerebral palsy.
People with autism may also have learning difficulties, and about 30% of people who have epilepsy may have learning disabilities.
Profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD).
A profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) describes an individual who has severe learning difficulties and other disabilities that seriously impact their ability to interact and live independent lives.
Someone with PMLD can have significant problems seeing, hearing, talking and walking. They may well have complex healthcare and personal needs due to these and other factors.
People with PMLD may require parents or caregivers to assist them with the routine aspects of daily life, such as eating, cooking, washing and going to the bathroom.
With the right help, many people will begin to interact positively, become engaged in making decisions for themselves and doing things they like, thereby gaining more autonomy.
