Treatment of Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities constitute the most prevalent and urgent medical problem afflicting children not only in the United States but in most countries of the world. The number of children involved is staggering when one considers that 5 percent of the nonretarded children population is affected. Physicians must be made aware that a child suffering from learning disabilities will not "outgrow it," that his condition is not "a phase he is passing through." If adequate intervention is not made into these disabilities, the child's potential will never be realized and the effects on his life will be more devastating than those of most other childhood disorders with which he might be afflicted. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the more rewarding will be the response to Orthomolecular therapy or to pharmacotherapy and hence the more successful the results of remedial effort. Delayed diagnosis or treatment exposes the child to improper assessment by school personnel, his peers, and his parents, increasing the probability of permanent psychological damage. Recent research suggests that learning disabilities are associated with minimal brain dysfunction. This term refers to children of nearor above-average intelligence, with certain learning or behavioral disabilities, ranging from mild to severe, which are associated with