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, the learning difficulties specialist in a Mexican school will be able to detect a learning problem in children in time and design, together with parents and teachers, learning strategies adjusted to the singularities of each child.
Schools, comprehensive care centers, and preventive and specialized health centers are the places where the 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 integrate a multidisciplinary team of researchers, as well as work independently, providing personalized and itinerant care to children and adolescents with specific difficulties in language, reading, writing, and mathematics learning.
Significance of the learning difficulties expert in Mexico
The task of the learning difficulties specialist gains significance 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 between 15-17 years old do not attend school, and almost 30% of the population with disabilities aged 18 to 29 is illiterate. This data takes on dramatic dimensions if one considers that the illiteracy rate in people without disabilities aged 18 to 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. To this is added that most of these people without access to school or knowledge live in poverty.
Considering these socioeconomic factors, professionals who are experts in learning difficulties are also sensitive to social issues and have a sense of purpose centered on defending the integration of all children and universal access to education for all.
An expert in intervention in learning difficulties knows that they can influence civic development and the quality of life of people with different levels of capacity and cognitive development.
What does a learning difficulties expert do?
The learning difficulties expert in Mexico is a professional with humanistic and multidisciplinary training who, from pedagogy, psychology, neuroscience, and medicine, is able to detect, diagnose, and develop interventions aimed at helping the child improve and increase their capacities, 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 attention to learning difficulties is not to consider either the school or learning as mere instruction. In this way, it is not the school, nor the curriculum, but the child and their singularities that are 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), the child’s attitudes and interactions with their 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 been developed in educational services for childhood and adolescence. In Mexico, many of these professionals who are experts 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 fellow educators through the development 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 government agencies related to education and social service, such as the Multiple Attention Centers (CAM) and the Regular Education Support Service Unit (USAER). Educational psychologists and social workers could serve vulnerable populations by participating in the design of public policies and educational curricula that take this population into account in the school environment. Another interesting area of work for learning difficulties experts is 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 experienced and well-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 independently, 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 to 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 earns a salary of 8,000-10,000 Mexican pesos per month.
The figure increases to $15,000 Mexican pesos for teachers with master’s degrees, particularly for those who hold a qualification in intervention in learning problems 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 expert in intervention in learning difficulties generally works hand-in-hand with other specialists, and the training proposes a multidisciplinary professional practice.
For example, ISEP University offers an international dual 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.
In this way, they can provide 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-based special education teacher.
- If it is 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.