CHD and Learning Facts
- Young children with CHD are more likely to show speech and motor delays.
- Fine motor challenges often seen as kids enter school. Physical and occupational therapy can help
- Children with CHD have higher rates of learning disabilities in reading (dyslexia), math (dyscalculia) and writing (dysgraphia)
READING DEVELOPMENT
- Reading is a language based skill that has to be explicitly taught
- Need to learn sound symbol associations to be able to read
- Reading disabilities can impact basic word reading, decoding, fluency or comprehension
MATHEMATICS
- Number sense is seen even in infants
- Math difficulties often related to problems in visual perception
- Visual perceptual struggles are very common in CHD
- There is a lot of overlap between reading and math disabilities
- Cognitive processes such as speed and attention also related to math learning
WRITING
- Writing is a highly complex academic skill
- Children need fine motor skills, planning skills, as well as language and spelling to write
- Spelling needs to be taught. Kids don’t learn to spell by just reading
- Assistive technology can be very helpful to kids with learning disabilities
Parent Education Video on Learning and Learning Disabilities in CHD
