THE outpatient service to help children overcome “spatial and mathematics learning difficulties” at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center officially opened on Tuesday, the first of its kind in that city.

The service, a collaborative project between the center and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, targets students experiencing challenges in mathematics, physics, and chemistry, along with those facing issues in spatial perception, visual-spatial disorders, or calculation difficulties.

The opening day, along with the following two open days on Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, each accommodating eight patients per day, are already fully booked. The hospital charges a registration fee of 316 yuan (US$44.81) for each visit. On Tuesday morning, six families with children sought assistance at the clinic, with some traveling from neighboring Jiangsu Province for the opportunity. All children were over 10 years old, and some were diagnosed with ADHD or “spatial and mathematics learning difficulties” following an initial assessment.

“We will conduct an assessment to determine the reasons behind the challenges in spatial and mathematics learning. Attention deficiency or psychological issues can be addressed,” said Ma Xiquan, associate chief physician in the department of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the center. However, Ma cautioned that if the assessment indicates developmental issues as the trigger, interventions may not be effective. Depending on the assessment results, the team will create personalized intervention plans.

Following a 30-minute consultation involving both parents and the child to discuss academic performance and personal hurdles, the doctors will provide the patient with psychological evaluations, intelligence tests, and attention assessments, which typically take an additional one to two hours. Subsequently, visual-spatial training and other methods will be prescribed to enhance the child’s spatial cognitive abilities.

In recent years, specialized outpatient services for learning difficulties have been established in children’s psychiatric departments in various regions across China. According to Ma, about 9% of primary school students on the Chinese mainland struggle with math learning difficulties.

(SD News)