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If your child had low birth weight or was born premature, he or she is a higher risk to have learning challenges or sensory processing problems. Great progress has been made in medical science to help these children as neonates or infants, but some parents feel "on their own" when their kids head into elementary school.
For most kids, the outlook for the future is good (here), nevertheless, many children can struggle in their K-12 years, and understanding what your child may be experiencing can help you understand how to help.
Common issues of school-age / preemie birth kids might include:
(most will have only a few of these problems)
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Working Memory Overload - Needing to do 1 thing at a time
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Attentional Problems
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Auditory Processing Impairment
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Emotional Regulation Problems, "Explosive Child"
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Reading and / or Language Problems
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Sensory Processing Symptoms - Including Low Tone & Fatigue
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Visual Processing Problems
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Writing Problems
Working Memory Overload -
Because working memory is a type of short term memory
that allows a student to keep information in mind,
children with working memory overload struggle if
too much information is presented at once. These
children might be quite bright and have a strong
fund of knowledge (long term memory may be just fine),
but they may struggle with conceptually new topics, or
fast-moving classes that present too much information at
once.
Attention Problems
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Attentional problems may result from early life effects
on brain maturation. This may mean a preference to learn
in selective ways - like through reading or through
listening, or with frequent breaks.
Auditory Processing Problems
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This may be the most common neurological disability
in NICU grads. In some cases it is due to prematurity,
others, the sound exposure in the NICUs years ago.
Auditory processing problems present with sound
sensitivities, sound discrimination problems, reading
problems (problems with phonics), and difficulty with
writing (phonics).
Emotional Regulation
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Emotional regulation problems often accompany premature
birth and mild cerebellar injury. Children may have
trouble with shifting between tasks, controlling sensory
overload-related fight-or-flight reactions, and
regulating the highs and lows of emotions.
Reading and Language - These problems may follow
from auditory processing issues. Children may not
discriminate the sounds that make up words - as a result
it may be hard to learn how to pronounce words and spell
them. Sometimes an early birth injury may affect
language pathways - either with receptive understanding
or expressive output.
Sensory
Processing - Sensory processing difficulties and
cerebellar troubles (low tone, exhaustion, poor
coordination and multi-tasking) are among the most
common neurological problems seen with school-age
prematurely-born children. Often improvement comes with
sensory adjustments, accommodations, condition, and
sometimes therapy.
Visual Processing - Because visual pathways
travel the whole course of the brain from front to back,
visual processing difficulties, mild lazy eye, and
focusing problems are common among school-age preemie
kids. Visual processing problems may include focusing
issues, eye movement coordination, or perceptual
disorders or organization or recognition.
Writing Problems - Writing problems are most
acute in the early elementary school years. Children may
have trouble with fine motor coordination, sound-based
spelling, and sensory feedback in the fingers.
Accommodations are often very important, with early
transitioning to keyboarding.
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