China News Service, Beijing, August 13 (Liu Huan) Recently, the "learning difficulties" clinics opened by many hospitals have caused heated discussions.
Poor academic performance, low interest in learning, and lack of concentration have always been problems that plagued students and parents.
Are there any specialists out there who can treat these problems?
How should parents deal with their children's learning difficulties?
10 hours, 37 children, 37 families
At 7 o'clock in the evening, the last mother who came for consultation left with her child, and Zhang Lili finally could rest for a while.
She adjusted her mask, revealing a shallow streak on the bridge of her nose.
She has been working 10 hours since 8am, seeing 37 children.
Chinanews.com observed that Zhang Lili often let her children enter the consultation room alone first, "Baby sit first, tell aunt where you have been in the summer vacation?" Talk about interests and homework, and then take out the stethoscope to listen to the heart and lungs.
Some children are lively, and after sitting down, their fingers can't stop beating on the table; some children are shy, holding their hands behind their backs.
No matter what she said, Zhang Lili would lean forward slightly and listen patiently.
Then the parents came in, and the same question was written on their frowning faces: what happened to my child?
The topics they communicated most with the doctor were nothing more than incomplete homework, poor test scores, and lack of concentration.
All 37 families faced the same problem - learning difficulties.
Photo by Liu Huan of "Learning Difficulty" Clinic
According to the paper "Mental Health Status of Self-Reported Learning Difficulties in Junior High School Students in Beijing" by Hu Zhen, Zhu Guangrong and others, School of Public Health, Peking University, learning difficulties refer to one or more basic mental process disorders, including language use, speaking, writing etc., making people show incomplete ability in activities such as listening, reading, writing or mathematical calculation.
The Health Department of the Children's Hospital Affiliated to the Capital Institute of Pediatrics opened a learning difficulty clinic in early May this year. Zhang Lili, who has worked in the field of children's mental health for many years, is the attending doctor.
Learning difficulties range widely, she said. "It's a syndrome with ADHD, emotional disturbances, intellectual structural problems, and more."
Academic performance has always been a top concern for parents, and the resulting competition and anxiety pervade all aspects of life.
Not only Beijing, but also Shanghai, Wuhan, Nanjing and other places have opened outpatient clinics for learning difficulties.
Many parents bring their children thousands of miles, hoping to find the password for learning in this small clinic.
"I didn't expect this to be a hindrance"
Bao Ying walked in with a file bag and spread out a stack of test results in front of Zhang Lili.
"Look, doctor, I feel that he has obvious dyslexia, and the pen seems to weigh thousands of pounds in his hand." Bao Ying's tone could not hide the anxiety.
Zhang Lili saw that her son is 9 years old this year, and his intelligence level test reached 121 points, but the previous test values such as concentration were low, and he has been taking related drugs for one and a half years.
Bao Ying told Chinanews.com that before the first grade, the child was returned from the summer care class because he was too restless. After school, the teacher repeatedly reported that he was unable to concentrate and had difficulty writing.
After taking the medicine, the child's concentration improved, but it was still difficult to read and write.
The homework requires me to write a word four times. My son spends half an hour and still can't write well.
Bao Ying wondered that her son was much better than his peers in speaking and walking since he was a child, and he was very interested in programming and photography.
She, who is engaged in writing, admits frankly: "I really did not expect this to be a hindrance."
After listening to Zhang Lili, she asked Bao Ying how her child was born, whether there was a family history of mental illness, and her parents' childhood learning.
Bao Ying recalled that the child's father also had a problem with writing, so he could only reluctantly write his name, and try to ask someone else to sign the signature, "I thought he was joking, but now I understand that he said that he also had this problem when he was a child. , I have a headache when I write."
Zhang Lili is auscultating her child Photo by Liu Huan
Zhang Lili said that learning difficulties are common in school-aged children, and there are many reasons for them, so the outpatient department should first check the intelligence level, attention deficit, etc., and then make a diagnosis based on the specific performance of the child. "Some are neurodevelopmental problems, and some are There are deviations in the intellectual structure, and then there are educational environment or emotional problems.”
Zhu Guangrong, a professor at the School of Public Health at Peking University, added: "Learning difficulty is a complex problem, and domestic and foreign studies have not yet identified its causes. However, some studies have found that this problem is hereditary."
Can you become a scholar with medicine? Doctor recommends more intensive training
Wu Wei's son is 10 years old this year, and his grades are barely passing, so he often needs to sit by himself for tutoring.
After completing the assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other scales, Zhang Lili integrated daily performance and assessment results, and told him that the child may have problems with neurodevelopment, and thus lack of concentration.
Because their grades have been affected, she suggested that the parents can try medication first, but it is not a short-term effect. Decisions on medication intervention are based on years.”
Hearing that they were going to take long-term medication, Wu Wei and his wife hesitated.
"Is it addictive? Will my grades improve after taking medicine?"
"I won't be addicted," Zhang Lili explained. The drug is aimed at children's concentration problems, not academic performance. "For children with normal or high intelligence levels, after the concentration problem is solved, their grades can be improved, while children with low levels of intelligence can improve their performance. There will be progress, but it may not be as ideal."
Zhang Lili is explaining the treatment plan to parents Photo by Liu Huan
Chinanews.com has learned that drug treatment is relatively rare for learning difficulties.
For lack of concentration, it can also be strengthened through behavior training, time management, etc., while maintaining a certain amount of exercise, and medication is mainly based on the wishes of both parties.
Zhang Lili said: "The main point of the child is to be in charge of the parents, and it is up to them to decide whether to treat the disease or not."
And if these, along with other barriers, are addressed, the child will still have learning difficulties.
For example, Bao Ying's children still have dyslexia after improving their concentration.
Zhang Lili reminded her: "The problem of concentration should insist on taking medicine, and reading and writing is indeed relatively weak, but I believe that the child is also working hard, and we must see his other advantages."
Zhu Guangrong told Chinanews.com that the current domestic research on learning difficulties has not started long, and there is no recognized effective treatment plan for learning disabilities such as reading and writing, but it can be improved through some targeted intensive training.
"For such problems, parents should raise their awareness, find and correct them early, because children's nerves are constantly developing and have plasticity. For example, if a child is not good at mathematics, he can pass the intensive training of number sense as soon as possible to strengthen his understanding of numbers and numbers. For older children, we must make use of our strengths and circumvent weaknesses, and give full play to the advantages of other subjects.” (At the request of the interviewee, some characters in the text are pseudonyms) (End)