All over the world and in our country, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, formal education has been suspended and distance education has been started. In this process, the fact that children were deprived of formal school environment and peer interaction brought about the necessity of monitoring their physical, mental and academic developments more closely. Language skills show parallelism with academic success. The ability to use verbal, nonverbal and written language directly affects academic skills. Therefore, children with developmental language disorders are at risk for learning difficulties in mathematics, reading and writing.
Math Disorders
Math is considered a universal language. When dealing with mathematics, many mental skills (comprehension, recording information, distinguishing the correct information from the recorded information, grouping, memory, audio-visual attention, sequencing, etc.) come into play at the same time. Children who have difficulties in one, more or all of these skills have difficulties in math and mathematical areas (including linguistic areas). There are many scientific studies that show that the development of mathematical skills is directly related to language development. Mathematics and linguistic skills include a system in which many mental fields are used together. For example, it is related to verbal language skills of number coding, counting and arithmetic operations. While solving problems, the child needs to integrate the phonological, morphosyntactic and semantic components of verbal expressions in order to be able to understand and respond to the problem. While individuals with language disorders may have mathematical difficulties, some implicit linguistic and cognitive problems may be seen in individuals who have difficulties in mathematics skills. Problems in executive functions such as attention and working memory can negatively affect the development of mathematics skills.
Easily observable signs of mathematical difficulty are (Each child is unique, evaluated individually, does not have to show all symptoms):
- Failure in mathematics, the presence of a negative attitude towards mathematics, despite having a normal or above-normal intelligence
- The child's lack of attention or limited attention during the activity,
- Having difficulties in finding and determining directions, Difficulty in memorizing the multiplication tables,
- Difficulty learning times,
- Don't make counting mistakes,
- Failure in hand calculations,
- Failure in decimal calculations,
- Too much movement or too slow,
- Add or subtract one of the columns in double-digit jobs,
- To be messy, not to be organized,
- Inability to describe and draw simple geometric shapes (triangle, square, etc.),
- Have difficulty making money calculations,
- Mixing and not understanding mathematical terms, concepts, operations,
- Inability to infer and describe the problem while reading,
- Can't use measuring tools (ruler, compass, miter etc.),
- Difficulty in recognizing and reading numbers,
- Inability to grasp the order of numbers, their meaning, what they represent.
Reading Skill
- If they are behind their peers in reading speed,
- If you have trouble in letter-sound harmony and learning letters,
- If he has trouble spelling or breaking words,
Writing Skill
- If you have difficulty in dictating or writing on the board,
- As you type
Work Habit
- If she doesn't grade her homework, she misses it
- Can't do homework alone; If you take frequent breaks while doing it, get bored quickly, slow and inefficient,
Quetting Skill
- Even if he counts the days of the week, months, and seasons correctly, he has difficulty answering or misorders when asked (which day comes before Friday, which month comes after March, which is the fourth day of the week, etc.) ;
- If it confuses the order of things to be done in a certain order;
Motor Skills
- Has difficulty in grasping the pen properly, Has difficulty using cutlery, tying shoes,
- He has difficulty playing games such as jumping rope, catching the ball; often clumsy, falling and injuring himself;