Counselling

Children with Dyslexia or Learning Disabilities may experience anger, frustration, anxiety, or sadness as a result of the difficulty they face in coping with their academics. These emotional issues can often cause a lot of stress in them and may lead to behaviour issues at home and in school.

Usually, children with Learning Disabilities are of average or above average intelligence, but their performance in academics does not match with their capability. Most often, they are able to express themselves well verbally, but struggle while reading or writing. They may have difficulty in organising their thoughts in their written work, may jumble the words and make spelling errors. They become frustrated when they put in a lot of effort to study, but do not get marks in proportion to their efforts.

Many of these children are constantly admonished by their parents and teachers for their poor academic performance and often compared to other children. They are sometimes misunderstood and accused of being lazy, retarded, or not trying hard enough. This may cause them to develop a low self-esteem.

A common comorbidity with Learning Disabilities is Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder or Attention Deficit Disorder. Some children also struggle with social skills and have difficulty in maintaining friendships.

Children with Learning Disabilities benefit from Counselling along with remediation to deal with these emotional and behaviour issues. In Counselling, the therapeutic relationship of the Counsellor with the client is characterized by empathy, consistency, warmth, and non-intrusive concern. Through a friendly, non-judgmental, and trusting relationship with the Counsellor the child learns to express his/her concerns in a safe environment. The Counsellor helps the child understand that although Learning Disabilities are life-long, many methods of help and support are available. The Counsellor may use activities, stories, games and art to help the child express himself/herself and to facilitate the learning of effective coping mechanisms. During the Counselling session children have the opportunity to practice alternate ways of expressing their emotions and learn more appropriate and adaptive behaviours.

The Counsellor can also help the child cope with the stigma attached to the diagnosis of Dyslexia or Learning Disability and provide guidance regarding the provisions offered by the educational board. Once the child avails appropriate provisions there is instant improvement in his/her academic scores.

As a Counsellor with over 25 years of experience, I have seen children blossom as the process of Counselling progresses. As they begin to understand their condition, their frustration and anxiety level reduces. Through Counselling they learn to focus on their strengths, become more aware of their feelings and learn appropriate skills to cope with and manage their emotions. A combination of skills learnt during Counselling and the learning strategies taught by the Special Educator help the child gain confidence in himself/herself, their self-esteem is raised and the behavioural and emotional issues decrease.
In addition to the benefits to a child, a few sessions of Counselling can also be of benefit to parents. It helps them understand the learning problems that their child faces and to accept the diagnosis of Dyslexia. The Counsellor can facilitate their understanding of the ensuing behavioural and emotional issues of their child and help the parents come up with appropriate strategies to deal with the child’s emotions and behaviours.