Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, August 6 (Reporters Gong Wen, Zhang Mengjie, Cen Zhilian) Recently, the "Learning Difficulty" clinic of the Pediatric Hospital of Fudan University has become a hot topic.
The clinic opened in September 2020 and opens every Thursday afternoon. In the past two years, it has seen and helped more than 1,500 children.
"There is actually no diagnostic category 'learning difficulties'"
Zhu Daqian, director of the Department of Psychology at the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, told reporters that "learning difficulties" is a result of children's poor learning status and poor grades under the influence of many factors.
Children with "learning difficulties" are generally divided into two situations: one is related to the development of the nervous system, including reading, writing, math disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental retardation, autism spectrum disorder (autism), etc. .
Among them, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are the most common cases in outpatient clinics. Because of their imperfect neurodevelopment, these children have difficulty concentrating themselves, and are easily distracted, dazed, and afraid of difficulties when studying.
The other is that there are some emotional and mental and psychological disorders, such as school adjustment disorder, anxiety and depression, etc. Under the influence of anxiety, tension and depression, these children lose energy, cannot concentrate, easily give up when encountering difficulties, and lack self-confidence .
After being hit by emotional problems and learning regression, some children even become addicted to the Internet, lose interest in learning, and confront adults, which are misunderstood by parents and teachers as "adolescent rebellion".
"Actually, there was no diagnostic category of 'learning difficulties'. The reason why the clinic was opened with this name is that when some parents and teachers found that their children had some problems, non-medical professionals could not distinguish whether the source was physiological or psychological. For this reason, I hope that through this relatively common name of the clinic, the physical and mental health of children can be paid attention to earlier and better." Zhu Daqian said that after bringing such children to this clinic to understand the reasons, they will be divided into different fields. doctor treatment.
It is reported that the "Learning Difficulty" outpatient clinic opens at 1:30 pm every Thursday. Due to the need for doctors to communicate patiently with children and parents, the outpatient clinic is limited to 20 people.
The reporter saw on the public account of the "Pediatric Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University" that as of press time, the appointment status of the "Learning Difficulty" outpatient clinic on August 11, 18 and 25 showed that it was full.
"Learning difficulties" should distinguish between "can't learn" or "unwilling to learn"
The reporter learned from the hospital that after the "learning difficulties" outpatient clinic accepts children, the doctor will conduct detailed interviews with family members to understand the child's learning and living conditions, as well as the child's own emotions and development status, etc. possible problems.
According to the interview results, the doctor prescribes some standardized assessments and examinations, including psychological tests and various types of physical examinations, to identify the child's difficulties in detail and obtain some quantitative indicators.
After completing the examination, the doctor will help parents interpret the examination results, distinguish whether the child "can't study well" or "unwilling to study well", and find out why the child "can't learn" and why "unwilling" to help parents understand Where the problem lies, work with parents to choose the most appropriate treatment.
"My grandson was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old, and now he is 10 years old. Although he is still reluctant to communicate with strangers, refuses to sing, and does not write very well, he solves math problems very well. , after becoming interested in the piano, I even won an award..." At the door of the clinic, Ms. Zhang, a citizen of Shanghai, told reporters that her child was willing to "speak quietly" with Dr. Zhu, and her abilities in all aspects were getting better and better.
It is understood that in the past two years, the clinic has received and helped more than 1,500 children.
"We will evaluate each child's specific situation to determine the difficulties, and gradually improve their status through relevant treatment and training adjustments." Zhu Daqian said that to measure whether children's "learning difficulties" have improved, grades are not the only criteria, doctors are more What matters is the parent-child relationship and mental state of the child in the process of growing up.
The "Learning Difficulty" outpatient clinic did not have the magical effect of turning "student scum" into "student master"
Zhu Daqian said that people often ask her if her child's poor learning is because the old saying is "not enlightened", and when the child grows up, many skills will be mastered naturally. ?
In this regard, Zhu Daqian said frankly that some children's situation will improve when they grow up, but the premise is to scientifically identify the cause. Ignore the scientific guidance and companionship of children in the process of growing up.
Zhu Daqian said that the "Learning Difficulty" clinic is not a "learning myth", nor does it have the magical effect of turning "learning scumbags" into "learning masters", and it is worth mentioning that we have encountered some children with "learning difficulties". In fact, there is not much difficulty in itself, but under the influence of parents' inappropriate education methods or inappropriate learning environment, the ideal learning state has not been achieved.
For example, some families arrange their children with a heavy learning burden and have no time for exercise and play; some families change the parents who guide their children to study, and the children are not quite used to the new tutoring methods; It's hard to get into studying, etc. quietly.
"In this case, we will patiently guide parents to adjust their educational methods, provide children with a good learning environment, and help children develop their best learning potential." Zhu Daqian said.
Wang Zhen, president of the Shanghai Mental Health Service Industry Association, said that behind the "difficulty in finding No. 1" is the shortage of psychiatrists in my country, especially those who provide psychological services for children and adolescents. Perfection and policy guarantee.
Due to the limited number of child psychologists, it is temporarily impossible to open more outpatient clinics to provide services for children in need. For this reason, the hospital has come up with a way to start from the most common attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in outpatient clinics to carry out "combination of medicine and education" , that is, the Department of Psychology of the Pediatric Hospital cooperates with many schools in Shanghai, not only for parents to popularize attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and children's psychological related knowledge, but also for primary school teachers to set up targeted children's psychological training content to help teachers learn to conduct psychological training in school. Behavioral intervention to improve the mental health of students with behavioral problems.