The diagnosis and the treatment of learning problems in question

Abstract

Sara Paín, author of this book, is a clinical psychologist, psychopedagogue, and a PhD in philosophy and psychology. She develops work related to learning problems, as well as participating in training and research projects in France, Brazil and Argentina on this subject. Diagnosis and Treatment of learning problems, is a work that relates experiences of psycho-pedagogical work. In this work written in clear and objective language, the author highlights the need to alert us to how easily we marginalize those who do something other than the norm. The author is known both in the area of Psychology and in the area of Education, not only for the works they develop, which contributes greatly to the growth of these areas, but also for their bibliographies. Sara Paín brings in this book new contributions to the area of Psychopedagogy and similar areas. The work has a special value, even though it has a significant amount of publications aimed at the field of Psychopedagogy, in which the whole process of identification and treatment of learning problems is discussed. With extreme skill and competence, the author addresses the multiple audience by tracing an enveloping course based on the ideological, theoretical and technical adequacy character for the constitution of knowledge in the related area. Organized in seven chapters, the book begins with historical foundations of learning, including practical guidance on basic diagnostic return procedures. In the first chapter (Learning and Education), Paín postulates, initially, the theoretical foundations of the learning process and its interdependent functions, being that as a function of the complex nature of the educational function, learning is simultaneously seen as an alienating instance and as a possibility liberating Subsequently, the author speaks of psychopedagogy, as a technique of conducting the psychological process of learning, which has the purpose, with its exercise, of fulfillment of educational purposes. In addition to alerting us to the important difference between the psychopedagogical perspective and the strictly pedagogical perspective, it differentiates the specialist in Educational Sciences, who is concerned with constructing teaching situations that enable learning, of the psychologist, who is interested in the factors that determine the not to learn in the subject and by the meaning that cognitive activity has for him. Although part of the psychopedagogy is concerned with the strengthening of synthetic ego processes and facilitating the development of cognitive functions, Paín opts for a psychopedagogy that allows the subject who does not learn to take charge of his or her marginalization and learn from it , transforming itself to integrate into society, but within the perspective of the need to transform it. In the second chapter (Dimensions of the learning process), the vastness of the place of the learning process is described, through the description of its dimensions. In addition to providing us with the description of these dimensions (biological, cognitive, social), Paín relates the id, the ego and the superego to learning, considering that it combines education and thought in a single process, since both are possible, mutually, in compliance with the reality principle. Two conditions mark the analysis of the third chapter (Internal and external conditions of learning), where the author tells us that there are two types of conditions for learning: the external, that defines the field of the stimulus, and the internal ones, that define the subject , both can be studied in their dynamic aspect, as processes, and in their structural aspect as systems. The combinatorial of learning, because it determines the variables of its occurrence. The concept of learning problem and the history of the fundamental factors in the diagnosis of the same is the focus of the discussion in the fourth chapter (The learning problem: factors). The author points out her position regarding the definition of the term learning, in the context of its disturbance, that is, its pathology. Paín brings us, through this book, a retrospective-historical overview of the factors that can trigger a learning problem: organic factors, drawing attention to the disruption of the cognitive structure because of the body; specific factors, where the disorders that appear in the language are emphasized; psychogenic factors, marked by the differentiation of the terms inhibition and symptom; and environmental factors, such as the real possibilities the environment offers. With respect to learning problems, the concept of the term, a point already mentioned by the author, it is good to make clear that they can not be considered as "errors", Freud's opinion, because they are disturbances produced during the acquisition and not in the mechanisms of conservations is availability.Thus, with the exception of very precise disruptions, the meaning of the learning problem should not be sought with the content of the material on which it is operated, but preferably with respect to the operation as such. The fifth chapter (Diagnosis of the learning problem), consists of seven moments of the diagnosis - reason for the consultation, vital history of the game, psychometric tests, projective tests, specific tests and analysis of the environment - that seek to obtain all the necessary data to understand the meaning, causation and modality of disruption that in each case motivates the demand for care. The first moment is the key to the diagnostic understanding of the symptom; the following three moments seek to know the subject, such activities provide information about the schemas that organize and integrate knowledge at a representative level; the last two moments try to uncover which are the parts of the subject deposited in the objects that appear as supports of the identification, and seek to make the analysis of the environments where the patient lives. Paín presents in this chapter the topic of diagnosis. In chapter six (Diagnosis and therapeutic orientation), the author touches on three extremely relevant questions, where she presents "the diagnostic hypothesis", "diagnostic devolution" and "treatment and contract", which seek to assess the weight of each factor in the occurrence of the learning disorder. The psychopedagogical task begins here precisely in the sense that it is a question of teaching the diagnosis in order to be aware of the situation of providing for its transformation. The author claims, in the fifth and sixth chapter, a comprehensive psychodiagnosis, including the bias of the diagnosis itself, perverted by the ideology of the dominant "knowledge", which appearing as knowledge, is nothing more than a power full of stains and scams. These chapters contribute much to the verification of how frequently the difference of oligrofenia and oligotimia pass in white clouds before the eyes and intelligence of many psychologists, psychiatrists, educators, teachers, and especially, in the eyes of university professors. In the last chapter (Treatment), Paín holds us in waiting for more material on the treatment technique. Psychopedagogic treatment aims at the disappearance of the symptom and the possibility of the subject to learn normally. The author reports that in order to fulfill objectives and ensure the conservation of the framework, certain techniques (prior task organization, graduation, self-assessment, historicity, information, indication) must be applied as tools for transformation. In my opinion, the work reviewed here represents a great contribution to the areas of Psychopedagogy, Psychology and Education, being a reference, since it can deal with issues related to these three areas. Sara Paín makes the relation between psychoanalysis, Piagetian theory and historical materialism, collaborating for the tasks performed in children with learning problems. Therefore, it is extremely important to raise awareness among professionals working with learning, regarding the difficulties of psycho-pedagogical treatment. Moreover, it is indispensable to learn from the experiences so that the other can grow through them, which further increases the value of works like this, which articulate the knowledge of psychology and pedagogy, enabling an understanding of transformative treatment. Let us remember that from this articulation came the psychopedagogy, and if this exists it is because the pedagogy is flawed and does not account for the demand.