SLD – Remedial Therapy
In a child’s life, education takes a pivotal role. We know that school places a great deal of both formal and informal expectations on children from junior school to higher classes. Sometimes children face extreme difficulties trying to meet those expectations. Largely, we assume that a poor grade is the result of less study time, poor motivation and lack of perseverance. Reality is not always that simple. Sometimes children perform poorly even after considerable efforts despite having an intellectual capacity to do better.
Learning is a process which requires: underlying abilities of planning, reasoning, attention, self-monitoring and awareness of strategies. To overcome any hindrance in learning, systematic intervention is required. Remedial therapy is one such process, which is used to deal with scholastic difficulties.
Remedial therapy, as the name suggests, is an intervention aimed at assisting an individual to achieve a normal or increased level of functioning when performance is below expectations in a particular area. Remedial programs are generally designed in ways through which a gap between child’s expected performance and current performance can be bridged. It focuses on imparting the core skills. It is also known as Developmental education or Basic Skill Education or 3R’s Education (Reading, writing and Arithmetic). It is a basic catch-up education for typical students of a certain age who have fallen below minimum standards in the areas of literacy and numeracy skills.
Now the next relevant question is when to seek remedial therapy? It is mostly provided to children with learning disorder such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, attention deficit and hyperactivity, Autism Spectrum Disorder, slow learners, children with intellectual deficit, also children suffering with spasticity. Sometimes children suffering from Depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder also requires remedial therapy to catch up with scholastic difficulties. Many a times it is also provided to gifted and talented children who need aided assistance with analytical and logical thinking that is not part of school curriculum.