The diagnosis of a learning disability requires documentation of at least average intellectual functioning along with a deficit in one or more of the following areas:
There is no one sign that shows a person has a learning disability. Experts look for a noticeable difference between how well a child does in school and how well he or she could do, given his or her intelligence or ability. There are also certain clues that may mean a child has a learning disability. The following list is mostly related to elementary school tasks, because learning disabilities tend to be identified in elementary school. A child probably won’t show all of these signs, or even most of them. However, if a child shows a number of these problems, then parents and the teacher should consider the possibility that the child has a learning disability.
When a child has a learning disability, he or she:
may have trouble learning the alphabet, rhyming words, or connecting letters to their sounds
may make many mistakes when reading aloud, and repeat and pause often may not understand what he or she reads
may have real trouble with spelling
may have very messy handwriting or hold a pencil awkwardly
may struggle to express ideas in writing
may learn language late and have a limited vocabulary
may have trouble remembering the sounds that letters make or hearing slight differences between words
may have trouble understanding jokes, comic strips and sarcasm
may have trouble following directions;
may mispronounce words or use a wrong word that sounds similar
may have trouble organizing what he or she wants to say or not be able to think of the word he or she needs for writing or conversation
may not follow the social rules of conversation, such as taking turns, and may stand too close to the listener
may confuse math symbols and misread numbers
may not be able to retell a story in order (what happened first, second, third)
may not know where to begin a task or how to go on from there
