Learning disabilities (LD) are neurodevelopmental disorders that affect a person’s ability to learn new things, such as reading, writing, math, memory, attention, and organization. Early indicators of a child may have LD include delays in speech and language development, motor coordination, perception, reasoning, social interaction, prerequisites to academic achievement, and other areas relevant to meeting educational goals. These indicators may occur concomitantly with problems in self-regulation, attention, or social interaction.
To identify if your child has a learning disability, pay attention to early warning signs commonly associated with LD. Children who have trouble holding a crayon or using a fork may have issues with fine motor control, while trouble understanding or using language can be a sign of a language-based learning disorder. Speech and language issues can also be an early sign of autism.
Preschool children may exhibit preliminary symptoms in mathematics skills in early childhood, including number recognition, number counting, and speech and language issues. Problems understanding numbers, difficulty reading, writing, and spelling, trouble regulating emotions, frustration, avoidance of certain activities, or difficulty interacting with peers can all be early signs of learning challenges. The clearest signs of a learning difficulty are those that suggest your child is well behind their peers in their learning.
In addition to these early warning signs, children at risk of SLD may exhibit preliminary symptoms in mathematics skills in early childhood, such as number recognition, number counting, and speech and language issues. Understanding normal developmental milestones and recognizing early warning signs can help in early diagnosis and treatment.
📹 Early Signs of a Learning Disability or Learning Disorder
Most children will have challenges in their education; however, some may struggle to master concepts and learn new things.
What are the early symptoms of developmental disabilities?
A developmental delay is a condition where a child is slow to reach certain milestones compared to their peers, such as smiling for the first time, rolling over, pulling up to stand, waving “bye-bye”, taking a first step, and speaking a first word. These milestones include skills such as rolling over, sitting up, crawling, and walking. Children develop these skills at different rates, and if a child is a little behind, it doesn’t mean they have a developmental delay. Instead, it means they are continually behind in developing skills expected by a certain age.
What are the four D’s of learning disabilities?
Dyslexia is a learning disorder that affects the processing of language, and is observed in individuals of all intellectual abilities. Those with dyslexia may demonstrate high verbal intelligence, proficiency in articulation, expertise in computer skills, 3D design, architecture, and art. The symptoms of dyslexia may fluctuate with age and experience, yet the condition itself persists. Additionally, auditory processing, including difficulties with spelling, can be impacted by dyslexia.
How do I tell if my child has a learning disability?
Common signs of learning disabilities include reading and writing difficulties, math problems, poor memory, attention issues, difficulty following directions, clumsiness, timekeeping issues, and organizational issues. These signs may not necessarily indicate a learning disability, but they can vary from person to person and are not intended to screen for learning disabilities in general or specific types. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not intended to screen for learning disabilities in specific types.
What are the three most common disabilities in early childhood?
The most common developmental disability is intellectual disability, followed by cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorder. Other common disabilities include Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Angelman Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Down Syndrome, Expressive Language Disorder, Fragile X Syndrome, IsoDicentric 15, Landau-Kleᰀner Syndrome, Learning Disabilities, Neural Tube Defects, Phenylketonuria, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Seizure Disorders, Tourette Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Williams Syndrome.
Developmental disabilities are prevalent in people of all racial, ethnic, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds, with approximately one in six children affected. To diagnose a family member with a developmental disability, contact a respected behavioral healthcare organization and/or healthcare professional. The professional will administer standardized intelligence and skills tests, assess the family member’s strengths and weaknesses in intellectual and adaptive behavior skills, psychological and emotional considerations, physical health, and environmental factors, and meet with a trained interdisciplinary group to determine necessary supports.
What is the most common specific learning disorder in childhood?
Dyslexia is the most common learning disability (LD) affecting at least 80 percent of all LDs, resulting from deficits in phonologic processing. This includes reading decoding, phonics, sound production, and auditory capabilities. The progression often begins with dysfluent reading, dysfluent reading, and difficulty with reading comprehension. Dyscalculia is a weakness in performing arithmetic operations, affecting number sense, calculation, retrieval of facts, language, visual-spatial skills, and comprehension of word problems.
Dysgraphia is characterized by distorted writing despite thorough instruction and motor ability, producing inconsistent and illegible handwriting. Children with dysgraphia may also exhibit maladroit fine motor coordination, problems with spelling, grammar, syntax, or expressing ideas in writing.
What are 3 conditions associated with learning disabilities?
Learning disabilities are frequently attributable to conditions and neurological disorders such as Down syndrome, autism, meningitis, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy. Such disabilities are not physical in nature; rather, they are the result of factors that impact the brain’s development at any point during the prenatal period, during the neonatal period, or in early childhood.
Does my 4 year old have a learning disability?
Children between 3 and 4 years old should be able to recognize 10 or more letters and spot their own first name or a few words. If a child falls behind in these areas, it could indicate a language-processing disorder or dyslexia, a learning disability causing difficulties in reading, writing, and spelling. Additionally, children with ADHD may be three years behind their peers in certain aspects of brain development.
Social and emotional skills are crucial for transitioning to kindergarten, as they help children cooperate with peers and manage their frustration without hitting or throwing tantrums. By age 5, a child should be able to regulate their emotions in an age-appropriate way, such as persisting through obstacles or challenges.
How to tell if your child has a learning disability?
Common signs of learning disabilities include reading and writing difficulties, math problems, poor memory, attention issues, difficulty following directions, clumsiness, timekeeping issues, and organizational issues. These signs may not necessarily indicate a learning disability, but they can vary from person to person and are not intended to screen for learning disabilities in general or specific types. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not intended to screen for learning disabilities in specific types.
What are at least 5 indicators or characteristics that a child may have a learning disability?
A learning disorder in a child can manifest as difficulties in mastering reading, spelling, writing, or math skills, difficulty understanding instructions, memory problems, coordination issues, easy loss of homework, difficulty completing assignments on time, and emotional reactions. Early treatment is crucial as the problem can grow. For example, a child who doesn’t learn to add numbers in elementary school won’t be able to do algebra in high school.
Additionally, children with learning disorders may experience anxiety about their grades, depression, low self-esteem, fatigue, and less motivation. Seeking help is crucial to address these symptoms and ensure a successful academic journey.
What behavior may indicate a learning disability?
Learning disabilities are characterized by a constellation of behavioral issues, including poor academic performance, attention difficulties, memory problems, impulse control issues, social skills deficits, and decreased self-esteem.
📹 Symptoms and Signs of Dyslexia (Ages 1-7)
These symptoms and signs of dyslexia will help you identify whether your child has dyslexia or not. Unrecognized dyslexia can be …
My son (now 25) has very profound dyslexia. I noticed several things he struggled with as a preschooler. His spoken language was not delayed but there were some odd issues. He could not remember color names. He’d ask for the crayon “the color of grass” but could not say “green.” This persisted well into elementary. Have you ever encountered that? Our state, at that time, did not recognize dyslexia as an ‘eligible disability’ meaning the schools did not have to address it and we could not even use the term in his IEP meetings. We continued to fight the same battles with every new school and every new teacher through high school. The PTSD is very real. Teachers and peers can say things that cut so indelibly. He has forged a very successful career as a scenic artist (without college!) but still struggles with self confidence. Thanks for your articles. It is interesting to hear you discuss what we lived for so many years.
Problem for me, I learned a lot about these learning differences late in life. My daughter is dyslexic I didn’t know what it was I just took her out of the public school system enrolled her into a private school. She has obvious and writing, verbal linguistic issues. But she wasn’t beaten down like I was in the Neurotypical school educational system. She runs her own business married as a child does quite well for herself and she has an opinion and not afraid to express it.
My 6 year old is struggling with her phonics her teacher said she is showing signs of dixlexia lots of b and d mixed up just small signs. But what struck me the most was the shame part, she has completely withdrawn from reading writing & anything school related she has even told her teacher she hates her & she never acts out like this but i can now see the pressure she is under not doing as well as the others! its constantly being pointed out in front of the other children when the teacher pulls us aside in front of her friends in the playground. Now I feel just awful for her she is so intelligent so imaginative great story teller huge personality, Thankyou for this insight I will be handling it so much differently than before
Your articles are extremely helpful. Just found out I have dyslexia along with other learning difficulties. Wishing that I knew sooner so I could’ve tried harder at finding a better way of learning. School was a nightmare. Hoping your articles will help others out and have better experience at school and learning.
I value this information. I have never been diagnosed with dyslexia. Though my parents were instructed to give me similar treatment as someone with dyslexia. My family has a history of struggling with language (speaking, reading and writing) and had to work extra hard to be a similar level of the standard. Now I have an understanding what to look out for in my child. Thanks.
I wish my dyslexia had been diagnosed much earlier than it was. I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 18yrs old. I struggled throughout school. Granted, my dyslexia was fairly mild but it affected how I learned and socialized. I struggled with language skills early on. I had delayed speach. Which, at the time, was brushed off as “she’s a second child, she’ll pick up language when she’s ready” This was partly true, I did pick up spoken language eventually, but not until I was about two. I also had trouble with identifying colors. My eye sight was checked for colorblindness, which I didn’t have so my parents were completely frustrated. My mother being a writer, an editor, and an educator took my delay in language skills as a personal attack, rather than something in me that needed to be addressed. She, like many of my teachers, chalked my delays up to being “lazy” or “not applying” myself. I would spend HOURS crying over school textbooks and any reading assignments. I managed to find ways around having to read by talking to my friends, taking mental notes on what they would say about assignments. By the time I graduated high school (yes, I actually managed to graduate) I actually only had a fifth grade reading level. The astonishing thing was that I attended college. I actually remember going in for my English assessment test and that is where it was discovered that I was infact dyslexic. Once my mother realized that my delay in reading and writing wasn’t a result of my being lazy or not applying myself, she put forth a great deal of effort to help “retrain” how I learned to read.
My lil brother showed all these symptoms since very small, so we made sure he would always be supported in every aspect. He wants to become an architect and I’m sure he will accomplish great things. Do you have any tips for neurodivergent/dyslexic young adults starting their careers and work life? Beautiful Nature!
My son is 10, today when l discussed with a friend about his learning in school, she told me he could be ” dyslexia ” this is the first time l heard this word in my life, then l started to look into it, the more l learn the more l feel he might be the case . As he is definitely smart boy showing a lot ability and skill in some area, but not interested in school learning and hard to concentrate
I am so thankful my youngest had an early intervention to help him with his delayed speech and langauge for preschool. Signs of speech delay was noticable around 1yr, then again at 15 and 16 months, then it became more clear at 18 months where testing first began. By age 2 we began trying different things to encourage him to speak, not just whine or point to things he wanted. His hearing was a concern but I knew it was fine. The proof when they believed me that his hearing was just fine happened when I opened something in the kitchen that had a specific sound and he know just what that sound was and would come running down the hallway from his bedroom. 😄 In Kindergarten into 2nd grade, he was in what is called the Pinoccio program, to help his speech, language and social skills (still struggled with noticable anxiety issues that created shut downs). We thought he might need back in Pinoccio for social again this school year but seeing how he did it for K-2nd, I wanted to try something different, and it’s working oddly enough. One day, well more like for over a week, he did not want to do anymore cursive handwritting in class, or for homework. His teacher extended the due date for that 1 piece of paper he needed to do. The day came where it was due and he had a shut down in class and wouldn’t speak, keeping his head down. She was at the point she didn’t know what to try and contacted me right away. I said how I didn’t have any luck at home but I had a new idea that was given to me by my step mother.
Really grateful for this having been shared. I homeschool and have had a suspicion my youngest son is dyslexic recently but had no way of knowing for sure. Now I have a concrete enough idea of the signs that I am going to have him tested so he can receive supports. I also took the test you posted that is used to test for it. I definitely scored a 6/9, though I have always been far ahead in my reading skills, having read my first book at age 3. I do have to reread things often to grasp and remember details in material I read, as well as often seeing words in a sentence that aren’t actually there but the letters, that make up the word are within the paragraph I am reading. I find this fascinating and am curious as to why this did not manifest as a struggle for me in most ways.
I knew my son had dyslexia before he started school, I would love a article on early interventions, we use boxes font, multi sensory (writing in salt, play doh to form the letters, playing games running to the words) He’s now 8 I have asked school for a laptop and for him to speak out what he wants to write, is this the right direction? Also having the book read to him and more working on comprehension rather than reading it. I have dyslexia so my reading up how to help is hard work, I often cry at his parents evening because I don’t want history repeating itself Thank you auto correct on my ipad you can read his 🤩 diagnosed at 16 with dyslexia and dyscalculia
Just found out my 3rd grader is dyslexic. Sadly she was in kindergarten during Covid and 1st grade so I think a lot of the issues were missed. In 2nd grade the teachers were still trying to catch up on teaching kids social issues. Now she’s in 3rd grade and her teacher is like uh oh there is an issue. Oddly tho, all her state testing the school uses for reading and math is well above average. She consistently scores in 80th or higher percentile. During her dyslexia testing with neuropsych, she scored well above average in problem solving skills which I think has helped her keep her dyslexia under wraps for so long. Some things I did notice as a preschooler-2nd grade was writing letters and numbers backwards. She still does it to a degree but is able to catch herself more now. She also would repeat numbers backwards when reading them. 63 would be read back as 36. This is something she still struggles with. She had a hard time decoding words, spelling words and her handwriting is absolutely horrid. A lot of this was dismissed early on as “age appropriate”. I knew in my heart something was off but it wasn’t extreme enough to warrant major concerns since she was still young. She did receive speech services starting at 3-8 years old for articulation. She would talk a lot as a toddler but you couldn’t understand a word she was saying. I’m so thankful her 3rd grade teacher identified the issue. My daughter also has been diagnosed as adhd inactive type.
My mum suspected that I had dyslexia, but the school denied it. First time she tried it, as she has mentioned to me, was when I was in third grade. My dad is quite possibly dyslectic, without having a diagnosis. I went through school hearing the teachers praise me for my reading, while I felt quite dumb. I even had to fight for a test in upper secondary, but that was also where I got the diagnosis. After that I could start working on methods to learn. I can`t recall, and mum has never told me, if I had any delays in my development, but I do recall a few words I felt were difficult in the first years of school. I never went to kindergarten.
My mom is dyslexic and so I am. I found out in 4th grade. I have mild dyslexia, I didn’t have too much trouble learning to read it was my eyes drop from one line to the next so I would read the beginning of one sentence and then the end of another so it didn’t make sense and I didn’t understand. I did have some issues with B and D in their lowercase form since they look the same just flipped. I had some other issues as well but it didn’t seem too bad, what was bad was not knowing how I learned. Just being put in a class where you’re expected to learn just like everyone else was the hard part. I learn by perusal and copying what I see more than reading about something or hearing instructions. I also could have used a tutor but that wasn’t offered to me. I did better in college than elementary and high school but by then I knew how I learned. I’m scared for my son. He’s 2 and everyone told me, don’t worry he’s a covid baby, boys speak later than girls. He babbled quite early on but then didn’t really say many words consistently so by a year and a half I took him to speech therapy. That and I had surgery around the same time he went to day care so he’s been hearing other voices and is learning a lot. He’s speaking better now but I’m still worried. I don’t want him to go through the difficult time I had, my teacher saw the signs early on in 4th grade but didn’t say anything until the end of the year and I had to repeat the grade. my mom was angry and put me in a different school and I was bullied a lot.
I don’t know if I’m dyslexic, I am a teen. I have a hard time writing the correct words, and I have a hard time keeping track of numbers when counting like if I learn division, I forget how to do that so I end up starting from the beginning. And also I have a hard time reading I end up mixing up words or just skips over it. So am I dyslexic?
I. Dont understand how so many people share their experiences of their struggles with dyslexia because they have written in to this site and to me most of the time it is quite well written . I believe them but it just makes it hard for me to understand exactly what dyslexia is. Maybe someone can relate to my confusion.🤔
These symptoms do not fit my now 17 year old daughter…. Please address STELTH DYSLEXIA!!!! She knew ALL letters and numbers by 18 months old and was speaking 4word sentences and reading by 4/5 years old Homeschool!!! Was very social! And highly imaginative! Never had a problem with any writing!!! But her MATH!! And following directions, stability on level ground, processing emotions, and understanding was not right and STILL isn’t!!! We were having a conversation the other day and SHE TOLD ME “ITS HARD TO READ CAUSE THE WORLD LIKE COME TO LIFE ON THE PAGE AND KEEP WIGGLING AROUND!!! THATS WHY IT TAKES HER SO LONG TO FINISH HER READING BOOKS(History ect….)!” I was like WHAAAAAAT!!!!! 😨😰🤯😳😱😩🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME THIS YEARS AGO!!!!! My son had similar issues but not with writing or numbers but with reading he would just protest… but when he worked on it he read fine! He is 15!!! No other symptoms besides listening skills, and understanding things! He says the words get super blurry!!! 🥺😪 but never said anything previously!!!! I was looking out for these classic symptoms you described here in this article!!! My mother had it her sister and her sister’s grandson!!! I even asked my pediatrician several times!!!! 😡🤦♀️🤷♀️