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CNN Live Today
Doctors Answer Viewer E-mail About Learning Disabilities
Aired August 29, 2002 - 11:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: As kids head back to school, we are talking about learning disabilities and how can you may be able to recognize that your child has a learning disability and needs some help. We had some problems earlier. Now we want to continue this conversation.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in New York along with Dr. Sheldon Horowitz and accepting and answering some of the e-mails that we have.
Dr. Horowitz, I want to begin with you, with the e-mail that I read earlier and will read to you again: "My 17-year-old son is dyslexic and every year I have to educate his teachers. Why is the educational profession so resistant to applying new information about how the brain works?"
SHELDON HOROWITZ, NATIONAL CENTER FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES: I don't think that the education profession is resistant to applying brain-related information and importing some of the research practice into classrooms. I think there is a huge challenge to the education profession to know how to do that in a dramatic way. I think the answer to this question is really that every year both in school and throughout a child's career, the child needs to be better able, with the family's help, of course, to be able to self-inform the people around him or her to know what his or her learning issues and challenges and needs are. That child should be able to go and say to a teacher or to an employer or to a colleague or friend that here are my learning issues, this is what I need to be able to succeed and let's just move on.
WHITFIELD: Dr. Gupta, how does the brain work, so to speak, when pertaining to that very question that that one e-mailer had?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are a lot of theories about why learning disabilities occur. And there's no question that it is probably due to a lot of different factors. There are some things that we know for sure -- for instance, alcohol exposure early in the fetus even. But it appears to some structural and functional parts to the brain that don't seem to be working as well. That's good news and bad news. The bad news is that it exists. The good news is it can be probably be tested and checked early. A lot of things probably happen even before the child is even born. So as Dr. Horowitz was mentioning earlier, a lot of these things can actually be found pretty early on.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to the next one. The next one's from Sanjeeta: "My son is 2 1/2 and has not started to talk yet. He's hyperactive and does not sit and play. He's always busy doing something. Does it mean that he is a slow learner and needs some special education?"
Dr. Howowitz?
HOROWITZ: At 2 1/2, it is premature to ask the educational community to comment as to whether or not the child is even at risk for learning disabilities. It is a pediatric question. But it's too early to look at that child, follow his or her developmental course and provide the child with kinds of educational opportunities that will provide them with the kinds of practice and instructional opportunities that will emphasize the kinds of skills they need to be able to succeed in school.
At 2 1/2, it is too soon it say whether or not a child is even at risk for learning disabilities. Lots of children are overactive. Many children develop language skills at different rates. Certainly, there are differences between boys and girls. I would stay in very close in contact with your pediatricians.
HARRIS: Keep that in mind.
Let's see if we can squeeze another one in here: "Our 8-year-old son has some of the symptoms of a learning disorder and is attending Sylvan Learning Centers with much success. However, it is getting very expensive. What other recourses would you recommend for learning disorders for children and adults? This is coming from Reggie in Florida."
HOROWITZ: Many families look outside of school for assistance in knowing how to work with children with learning disabilities. The kinds of things that the organizations and some of the associations that work with children on the outside offer are targeted, well- thought-out, focussed instruction. Those are the kinds of things that you can import at home and do also with your child.
WHITFIELD: Dr. Horowitz, Sherry in Hillsborough, North Carolina, asks, "Are there tests for adults for learning disabilities? I cannot spell. I've had trouble all my life. I'm 57. I put letters in the wrong place."
HOROWITZ: Learning disabilities are a life-long condition. It is not something you grow out of. It is not something that disappears over time. The kinds of questions that we ask of young children and of school-age children are precisely the same kinds of issues that we look at in adults. So the evaluation protocol looks very much the same.
HARRIS: We are going to have to leave it there, gentlemen. But thank you for bearing with us through all the technical problems this morning. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, you should be used to it by now -- you've been with us enough to know that. And Dr. Sheldon Horowitz, thank you very much. We appreciate the patience. Good luck to you. We hope to talk with you later on down the road.
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