Early intervention is best practice in whenever problems crop up and it’s especially so with regards to kids’ success at school. The longer your child goes with an undetected learning disability (maybe better to think of it as a learning difficulty than a disability) the more time and energy that will be needed to get them back on track.

As a child moves up through the school system with a learning disability that goes undetected, they continue to fall further and further behind the other children.  Teachers with large class sizes will have a harder time to give each child the individual attention required to pick up on these issues.  Therefore the earlier you are able to identify potential challenges that your child faces, the better off your child will be.  Early detection can allow you to put in place the necessary strategy and tools to allow him to continue to learn and grow alongside his peers.

Here are a few tips from Dr Arnie Gotfryd, Maxi Mind’s Educational Director, to provide parents with some early warning signs that you can look out for to detect issues early.

  1. Children that don’t crawl properly. There are several ways that children find as they gain mobility.  If your child is crawling in what appears to be a non-conventional way then it could be caused by a neuro-connection issue in the brain.
  2. Premature children are more likely to have a learning disability. If your child was premature than you should keep a closer eye on their development.
  3. Ear infections early on or children that need tubes inserted will have a higher probability in language learning delay later on
  4. While we do live in a world of Velcro, children that can’t learn how to tie a bow or a know are known to have more problems with reading and writing. Typically children begin to learn to tie between 4-5 years of age but don’t master it until 6-7.
  5. Most toddlers have poor balance and coordination as they are just starting to develop these skills. As he moves beyond this stage, if balance and coordination continue to be a problem then it may be caused by deficits in sensory and motor development.
  6. Other sensory issues to watch for include being excessively disturbed by sudden, loud noises, being overly or under sensitive to gentle touch, or getting overwhelmed in crowds or at busy road intersections.
  7. Poor rote memory for letters and difficulty with decoding or sounding out words.

While these signs are good indicators, they are not foolproof. Many factors need to be assessed to get a clear picture.

Have personal questions about a potential learning disability with your child? Get a free assessment today and discover how our program can help.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net