Learning Disabilities in Children

It's something most of us don't want to think about, our child having a learning disability. We don't want our child to go through life with any sort of disability or medical aliment, but the fact is an upwards of 10 percent of children have a learning disability. If your child shows symptoms of a learning disorder it's important to address the problem immediately.

Symptoms of Learning Disabilities?

• Delays in speaking. Signs of language-based learning disorders involve problems with verbal language skills. Your child may have issues retelling a story, following directions and understanding the meaning of words.
• Written language difficulties. Your child may have issues with writing neatly and consistently, accurately copying letters, spelling consistently and writing organization and coherence.
• Reasoning difficulties. They may have problems organizing their thoughts or expressing their feelings. They also may have difficulty in discriminating between different things such as size, shape and color.
• Memory loss. Your child may not be able to remember the specific steps he/she must take in solving a specific math problem or indentifying words and letters.
• Motor difficulty. Your child may have issues with movement and coordination with fine motor skills or gross motor skills. This could include problems with hand-eye coordination like holding a pencil or buttoning up a shirt.
• Additional symptoms; poor performance on group tasks, difficulty understanding time, distorted concept of body image, reversals in writing and reading, impulsive behavior, easily confused, excessive sleep movement, issues with forming peer relationships, difficulty copying from a model, excessive mood swings, indecisive and difficulty with sequencing tasks.

This list is not mean to scare you or to get you to jump to any conclusions about your child having a learning disability. It's meant to inform you and make you aware of specific symptoms that one might have when experiencing learning difficulties. All people experience some things on the above list and in varying degrees. If you believe your child could have a learning disability you should contact your child's school teacher, a counselor, or pediatrician and arrange for testing.