Learn where a learning difficulties expert works in Mexico. The specialist in this field is a professional with particular and complex characteristics dedicated to improving the quality of life and the proper functioning of cognitive and emotional processes that influence the learning of children, adolescents, and adults.
In Mexico, learning difficulties specialists play an important role, especially in the early stages of schooling, as their intervention allows for the inclusion and interaction of the student with their peers and teachers in a regular learning environment that, however, considers their personal and particular aspects for learning.
For example, a learning difficulties specialist in a Mexican school can detect a learning problem in children early and design, together with parents and teachers, learning strategies adjusted to each child’s unique needs.
Schools, comprehensive care centers, and preventive and specialized health centers are the places where a learning difficulties specialist performs their function.
A learning difficulties specialist could lead or integrate work teams in Multiple Attention Centers (CAM) and the Regular Education Support Service Unit (USAER), which function as support for the integration of people with disabilities into schools in Mexico.
They could also join a multidisciplinary team of researchers, as well as work independently, providing personalized and itinerant care to children and adolescents with specific difficulties in learning language, reading, writing, and mathematics.
Importance of the Learning Difficulties Expert in Mexico
The task of the learning difficulties specialist gains importance as their role allows vulnerable and excluded groups of children to access knowledge and education.
In Mexico, according to INEGI figures from 2016, 80,628 Mexicans with disabilities aged 15-17 do not attend school, and almost 30% of the population with disabilities aged 18-29 is illiterate. This data takes on dramatic dimensions when considering that the illiteracy rate for people without disabilities aged 18-29 is 0.9%.
That is, the presence of a disability significantly and decisively diminishes participation in school and the exercise of the human right to education in Mexico. Added to this is that most of these people without access to school or knowledge live in poverty.
Considering these socioeconomic factors, professionals expert in learning difficulties are also sensitive to social issues and have a life purpose centered on advocating for the integration of all children and universal access to education for everyone.
An expert in learning difficulties intervention knows that they can influence civic development and the quality of life of people with different levels of ability and cognitive development.
What Does a Learning Difficulties Expert Do?
The learning difficulties expert in Mexico is a professional with a humanist and multidisciplinary background who, from pedagogy, psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, is able to detect, diagnose, and develop interventions aimed at helping the child improve and increase their abilities, thus achieving an adequate degree of autonomy that allows them to improve their quality of life and learn and experience the world naturally.
The peculiarity of addressing learning difficulties is not to consider either school or learning as mere instruction. In this way, it is not the school, nor the curriculum, but the child and their unique characteristics that are at the center of all intervention in therapeutic psychopedagogy, as this training is also known.
The learning difficulties specialist performs different approaches depending on the child’s age, the prevalence of the disability or difficulty (temporary or permanent), and the child’s attitudes and interactions with peers, teachers, and family members, in order to determine the most appropriate strategies to improve academic performance and the development of life skills.
Where Does a Learning Difficulties Expert Work?
- Schools (primary and secondary): Most learning difficulties experts are teachers whose professional careers have developed in educational services for childhood and adolescence. In Mexico, many of these professionals expert in learning problems are also educators. Therefore, a good workplace is where they can directly apply their knowledge and put it at the service of students. In this environment, they could work as an educational counselor, a specialized non-medical support professional for the early detection and intervention of learning disorders, as well as supporting their educator colleagues through the configuration of training programs and awareness courses for teachers, parents, and students.
- Government institutions and NGOs: Learning difficulties experts could work as advisors or public officials in governmental bodies related to education and social services, such as the Multiple Attention Centers (CAM) and the Regular Education Support Service Unit (USAER). Educational psychologists and social workers could assist vulnerable populations by participating in the design of public policies and educational curricula that consider this population in the school environment. Another interesting area of work for learning difficulties experts are NGOs that work for the integration of all children into the school system and the overcoming of disabling barriers.
- Public social services: At the level of social services, a specialized professional could attend to and guide cases of low-income children with learning difficulties and guide family members and teachers in teaching processes. Together with a multidisciplinary team, they could directly and personally address some misdiagnosed cases or those in complex socio-educational situations.
- Private specialized centers: Private specialized centers have teams of well-experienced and prepared psychopedagogues, therapists, pediatricians, social workers, teachers, and psychologists who provide multidimensional support to the child and their family. In this context, the learning difficulties expert could participate in the individual care of cases of children with learning disorders.
- Freelance: When it comes to psychologists, psychopedagogues, and nurses, they could develop their profession autonomously, establishing a private practice or providing home care to children with difficulties integrating into regular school and developing their cognitive skills.
- Remotely: Currently, international job boards offer positions for learning difficulties experts who provide support to one or a group of students to successfully continue their studies in the context of the pandemic. Offers generally seek specialists proficient in English.
Salary Expectation of a Learning Difficulties Expert
On average, a primary and secondary school teacher has a salary of 8,000-10,000 Mexican pesos per month.
The figure increases up to $15,000 Mexican pesos for teachers with master’s degrees, particularly for those with a credential in learning problem intervention or special education.
The average annual salary expectation is 180,000 pesos. That is, around 10,000 US dollars annually.
Other Roles Related to Learning Difficulties Care in Mexico
The learning difficulties intervention expert usually works hand-in-hand with other specialists, and the training proposes a multidisciplinary professional practice.
For example, Universidad ISEP offers an international double degree and the opportunity to obtain a master’s degree in therapeutic psychopedagogy for students who pursue special education training alongside the master’s in learning difficulties.
As you can see, a totally dynamic and transversal training to address cognitive disorders and disabilities.
For this reason, they could participate in different areas of the learning process for children with learning difficulties.
Thus providing help as:
- Homework helper or school/home tutor.
- Learning specialist or occupational therapist.
- School psychologist or school counselor.
- Social worker for the intervention of vulnerable groups, educational matters and services for people with disabilities.
- Home special education teacher.
- If they are a neuropsychologist, nurse, doctor, speech-language pathologist, or even a lawyer, they could direct their services with this specialization towards the population of children and adolescents with learning difficulties and become a true expert on the subject.