How to Recognize a Learning Disability in Your Child

Learning disabilities take many different forms, though they all involve some type of information processing difficulty. If your child is struggling at school, knowing how to identify the diverse signs of a learning disability (LD) can help you seek the support your child needs. Testing for a learning disability can also verify or rule out the presence of other conditions that may be affecting your child’s academic performance. When it comes to learning disorders, it is critical to get an early diagnosis. Classroom accommodations, tailored to the specific needs of children with learning disabilities, can prevent your child from falling behind in her studies.

What are Learning Disabilities?

Learning disabilities differ from neurodevelopmental disorders in the fact that they only affect specific skills, not everything about the way a child thinks and behaves. While a neurodevelopmental disorder (like Autism or ADHD) will be apparent in the way a child acts at home, at school, and around his peers, learning disabilities are generally only evident when a child attempts to hone certain aptitudes. Neurodevelopmental disorders and LDs have a high rate of overlap, however, so it’s important to examine both possibilities when you have your child assessed. Between 30-50% of all children with a LD have ADHD, for example, and vice versa.

Learning disabilities can affect the way a child receives, stores, or expresses new information. LDs can manifest as auditory processing disorders that make it difficult for children to understand verbal input, for instance, or visual processing disorders that affect their ability to interpret visual information. Learning disabilities can also interfere with the way a child sequences, organizes, retrieves, or contextualizes information, making it difficult for the child to retain items in her working memory or infer meaning from what she’s learned.

In some cases, LDs impact information output rather than (or in addition to) information input. Output-based LDs include graphomotor problems that affect a child’s ability to master fine motor skills (like handwriting) and language processing problems, which make it hard for a child to organize her thoughts or find the correct words to express them. Children with output-based language processing issues also typically lag behind their peers when learning spelling, grammar, and punctuation skills.

Though some children with a LD experience challenges in only one area, many struggle in multiple related areas. A child with a language processing problem will usually have difficulty understanding verbal input and expressing verbal output, for instance.

What Are the Signs Your Child May Have a Learning Disability?

The signs of learning disabilities vary depending on a child’s specific processing issues and her (or his) age. Sometimes, the presence of a LD is hardly noticeable in preschool, but becomes a significant hindrance by middle school. By then, the child has already fallen behind; she may also have developed a feeling of antipathy towards school that undermines her ability to excel, even when she receives support. Identifying LDs early is therefore the best way to ensure that children with processing challenges adapt and thrive.

In preschool-aged children, some signs of a learning disability include:

• Language development that occurs more slowly than normal. The child may have problems with speech or understanding what is being said; in many cases, this will cause social delays, e.g., the child is slow to make friends.
• Poor motor skills. The child may not learn to sit up or walk at an age-appropriate rate, and she may have difficulty learning to draw, tie her shoelaces, and correctly form letters or numbers.
• Inadequate information retention or organization. Your child may not be able to complete simple sequential tasks or remember her basic daily routine.

In school-aged children, parents and educators should look for some of the following traits:

• Problems with phonetics, i.e., the child cannot “sound out” words in order to learn how to spell them. The child may struggle to connect sounds to specific letters or groups of letters.
• Problems working with letters or numbers, remembering familiar words automatically, and understanding written text. These issues will usually hinder the child’s reading comprehension, spelling, and grammar skills.
• Very poor mathematical ability.
• Issues remembering and organizing information. The child’s notebooks and school supplies may be in constant disarray, or she may not be able to recall basic facts that she has attempted to memorize.
• The child struggles to understand oral instructions despite otherwise showing a normal level of comprehension.

Sometimes, LDs do not become apparent until middle school. This is more common with certain types of LD, or when the affected child is also intellectually gifted (students who exhibit both conditions are called “twice exceptional”). To identify a learning disability in a preteen, pay close attention to the following signs:

• The child often loses or forgets learning materials or fails to complete assignments on time, despite being bright.
• The child displays poor time management and organization skills. She often underestimates how much time projects will take, and she has difficulty breaking large projects down into steps.
• The child has difficulties with public speaking or composing written projects, and these difficulties do not appear to align with her overall level of intellectual ability.

If you suspect that your child has a learning disability, you should contact her school principal as soon as possible to discuss a formal assessment. Learning disabilities are diagnosed through a set of standardized tests known as a psychoeducational assessment, which must be conducted under the direct supervision of a licensed psychologist.

Your child’s psycho-educational evaluation will assess her overall IQ, as well as her processing abilities and a broad range of specific skills (e.g., reading, writing, and math skills). When you receive the results of your child’s evaluation, you will gain a better understanding of her strengths and weaknesses, along with confirmation regarding the presence of a LD. If a LD diagnosis has been established, she will likely qualify for support services at school. She may also receive special accommodations when she needs them, such as being allowed extra time to complete exams or large projects. If the psychologist who administered your child’s evaluation also suspects a neurodevelopmental disorder, your child will receive professional guidance outside the classroom as well. With the right assistance, she’ll be able to enjoy a balanced, enriching learning environment.