▶We know that children with developmental disorders can present interferences in their learning process, of different kinds as well as of different intensities. Autistic children, of course, fall into this category. The specialized literature points this out. We can review and we will find a wealth of references around these hypotheses: neurodevelopmental disorders and learning difficulties.

▶It is important to remember that learning difficulties appear, most of the time, during primary education. Cases of late onset have been documented; but in low percentages. That is why special attention should be paid to children in school at this stage, especially between the third level of preschool and first grade, since it is generally during these years that the learning of the first letters and the handling of the number as a concept appear.

▶Not all children appropriate the skills outlined in the school curriculum during this process in the same way. There are qualitative imbalances that some children face when dealing with these new, especially difficult skills, as they challenge their levels of attention, memory, concentration, planning, and the concretion of goals derived from objectives; what is referred to as executive functions. Let us remember that school learning is a filter that helps detect problems due to its complexity, novelty, and level of abstraction.

Not all children experience these qualitative imbalances. Not all children develop a learning disorder, which is why before pointing out and/or naming the manifestation of these interferences, we must take into account the child's age, level or grade in school and aptitudes for school dynamics. Experience teaches us that one of the aspects to which we must pay important attention is the characteristics of the child and how he or she copes with pressure and stress.

During this stage that you have been referring to, a large number of children correct, almost independently, the errors that we observe: inversions of letters and numbers; substitutions of letters and/or numbers; weaknesses in general spatial orientation; rotations of letters or numbers; levels of attention and memory are compromised, for example. These children, once they overcome the beginning of these complex learning processes, have a significant understanding of what is being proposed to them, they begin to notice, in an intentional way, these details and begin a process of self-correction. Some need more support; but the important thing is that they overcome it.

However, other children do not have the same course of overcoming their difficulties, even with more intense and time-consuming support. These are the ones who should attend psychopedagogical care where, individually, intensely and frequently, an intervention is applied specifically aimed at overcoming them and/or they receive metacognitive strategies so that they learn to perform and progress in their life project independently with the minimum of difficulties. Ultimately, these are the children who should have the greatest support, especially throughout the entire primary education stage.

Espero que esta información te haya parecido interesante y sobre todo útil. Si todo ayudamos a difundir información de este tipo, podríamos lograr que una cantidad más significativa de niños sean atendidos. Igualmente, que no se señalen problemas de aprendizaje, cuando es realidad son etapas que se el niño supera gracias a la cualificación de su desarrollo. Se manejarían mejor los sistemas de apoyo y en general habría mayor pertinencia en el manejo de los problemas del aprendizaje escolar.

Saludos y hasta el próximo viernes, en la columna Perspectivas Psicopedagógicas..