Bethanny Alpino is a recent graduate from the University of South Florida. She volunteers her time by working as a special education teacher’s assistant in Tampa, Florida.

The brain relies on the information it gathers from the five senses to learn. Consequently, disorders that affect how it processes that information contribute to learning disabilities in children.

Three common disorders of the senses that affect learning are dyspraxia (sensory integration disorder), auditory discrimination disorder, and visual processing disorder.
Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia, also called sensory integration disorder, is a disorder that affects a child’s dexterity, balance, hand-eye coordination, and motor skills. Children with dyspraxia have problems with writing and using tools such as scissors. Dyspraxia affects about 2 percent of American children, mostly boys. It frequently occurs with dyslexia and dyscalculia. Dyslexia affects reading and writing while dyscalculia affects math ability.

Auditory Discrimination Disorder

In auditory discrimination disorder, children have trouble telling apart discrete sounds. They may also hear sounds too fast or too slow. Although it results in hearing difficulties, it is not a hearing problem: children with this disorder have fully functional ears. The problem lies in how the brain interprets the sounds that the ears transmit. Children with auditory discrimination disorder often have trouble grasping the basics of language. They struggle to sound out words and have difficulties with reading and writing. Go to theapdfoundation.org to get more information about the disorder.

Visual Processing Disorder

Visual processing disorder involves visual perception. Like auditory discrimination disorder and the ears, visual processing disorder is related to the eyes, while not directly affecting them. Children with this problem often have 20/20 vision. They have problems telling apart shapes with only slight differences between them. They may also reverse letters and numbers, and skip words or lines. A child with this disorder will have problems in reading and math.
How Tablet Tech and Apps Can Help

Children with learning disabilities already have a hard time with school and often are reluctant to try learning tools because they are just that: learning tools. For them, learning is frustrating, and sometimes even humiliating. Fortunately, there are applications for a tablet or smart phone that make learning easier while remaining fun to play. The following are examples of such applications.

The Sound Match app is a memory game based on sounds rather than pictures. The goal of the game is to remember sound pairs and correctly put them together. Longer sequences are available, too. Since it challenges the child’s brain to recognize particular sounds and put them in their proper sequence, it works well for children with auditory discrimination disorder to practice distinguishing sounds. It’s also a great memory tool.

A jigsaw puzzle game, the aNEckEN app features tiled images that, when arranged correctly, form a cohesive whole. Players must figure out how to re-arrange them to reveal the final image. There are three tile sets included: sports, animals, and colors. It is helpful for children with visual processing disorders because it helps them to learn to distinguish different shapes and colors.

Blobs Attack is a colorful and exciting mobile game set in outer-space. The player drags a target across the screen and shoots the attacking blobs. There are multiple targets to hit. Blobs Attack is a good app for children with dyspraxia because it lets them practice their hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and improves dexterity. In addition to dyspraxia, it also works well for children with visual processing disorder because players must keep track of several moving targets.

In Doodle Jump, the player must guide the Doodler up a page of graph paper, maneuvering around obstacles and avoiding/shooting enemies. The platforms that Doodler has to land on, as well as the obstacles and enemies move around. This means that the player’s eyes are constantly moving. Like Blobs Attack, this app is useful for children with dyspraxia and visual processing disorder. It helps train visual tracking skills, an important element in reading and improves hand-eye coordination.

Some children have a hard time processing the apparent gibberish their brains get from their senses, which makes learning difficult. For these youngsters, learning tools disguised as fun games for their tablets or smartphones is an exciting way to make learning easier for them.