What is a learning disability anyway???

What is a learning disability (LD)?   Although no officially agreed upon definition of learning disabilities exist, there are signs to look out for.  I have copied the signs to look out for from the website LD Online (a fantastic website if you have never been there).  www.ldonline.org 

Another great website is the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada.  This site walks the walk in terms of how it has its site laid out.  When visiting the site, you can contrast the colours and increase the font size.  Great for LD people http://www.ldac-acta.ca/en/learn-more/ld-defined.html

Signs of a potential learning disability

Preschool

• Speaks later than most children
• Pronunciation problems
• Slow vocabulary growth, often unable to find the right word
• Difficulty rhyming words
• Trouble learning numbers, alphabet, days of the week, colors, shapes
• Extremely restless and easily distracted
• Trouble interacting with peers
• Difficulty following directions or routines
• Fine motor skills slow to develop

Grades K-4

• Slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
• Confuses basic words (run, eat, want)
• Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions (felt/left), and substitutions (house/home)
• Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs (+, -, x, /, =)
• Slow to remember facts
• Slow to learn new skills, relies heavily on memorization
• Impulsive, difficulty planning
• Unstable pencil grip
• Trouble learning about time
• Poor coordination, unaware of physical surroundings, prone to accidents

Grades 5-8

• Reverses letter sequences (soiled/solid, left/felt)
• Slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other spelling strategies
• Avoids reading aloud
• Trouble with word problems
• Difficulty with handwriting
• Awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip
• Avoids writing assignments
• Slow or poor recall of facts
• Difficulty making friends
• Trouble understanding body language and facial expressions

High School Students and Adults

• Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing
• Avoids reading and writing tasks
• Trouble summarizing
• Trouble with open-ended questions on tests
• Weak memory skills
• Difficulty adjusting to new settings
• Works slowly
• Poor grasp of abstract concepts
• Either pays too little attention to details or focuses on them too much
• Misreads information