What Are Some Common Signs of LD's in Grades K-4 Children

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), inversion (m/w), transposition (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, poor printing, writing
Trouble learning about the concept of or telling time
Poor coordination, unaware of physical surroundings, prone to accidents
Difficulty cutting with scissors, colouring and printing inside the lines
Cannot tie laces, button clothes, or get dressed
Reads but does not comprehend
Difficulty playing with more then one child at a time, may prefer to play alone
Difficulty remembering the names of things:  the seasons, the months, streets, etc.
Does not understand the difference between 'up and down'; 'top and bottom', 'in and out', 'front of and behind', etc

Common Signs of Learning Disabilities in Preschool Children

• Speaks later than most children and has immature speech patterns
• Slow vocabulary growth, often unable to find the right words, pronunciation problems
• Difficulty rhyming words
• Trouble learning numbers, alphabet, days of the week, colours, shapes
• Extremely restless and easily distracted
• Trouble interacting with peers
• Difficulty following directions or routines
• Difficulty with dressing
• Fine motor skills slow to develop
• Exaggerated response to excitement or frustration
• Tendency to trip, or bump into things
• Cannot skip, has trouble bouncing and catching a ball

Signs In Infancy

• Trouble with nursing, sucking or digesting
• Resistance to cuddling and body contact
• Lack of, or excessive response to sounds or other stimulus
• Trouble following movements with eyes
• Unusual sleep patterns
• Delays in sitting, standing, walking
• Absence of creeping and crawling
• Little or no vocalization
• Irritability

Tomorrow we will look at the signs of Preschool aged children

What Are Some Common Signs Of Learning Disabilities

Over then next number of days we will be taking a look at some of the common signs of Learning Disabilities.

It is estimated that 10% of Canadians have learning disabilities.  Because of the very nature of the disability and because most children spend at least ten years of their lives in school, the most frequently noted signs are related to school performance.  However, it is important to remember that the disability is not confined to school hours and may be identified during the preschool years.

In most cases, parents rarely realize that anything is amiss until the child enters school.  In the case of children with more severe learning disabilities, the parents may have suspected for some time that something was different about this child.  If parents, teachers, and other professionals discover a child's learning disability early and provide the right kind of help, it can give the child a chance to develop skills needed to lead a successful and productive life.  A recent US Nation Institutes of Health study showed that 67% of young students who were at risk for reading difficulties became average or above average readers after receiving help in the early grades.  All children exhibit some of the following behaviours at times. 

The presence of one or two of these signs may not be significant, but a cluster of these behaviours requires further assessment.

We will look at the signs in separate blogs daily.  Keep Posted.

Should people with dysgraphia use cursive writing instead of printing?

For many children with dysgraphia, cursive writing has several advantages.  It eleminates the necessity of picking up a pencil and deciding where to replace it after each letter.  Each letter starts on the line, thus eliminating anther potencially confusing decision for the writer.  Cursive also has very few reversible letters, a typical source of trouble for people with dysgraphia.  It eliminates word-spacing problems and gives words a flow and rhythm that enhances learning.  For children who find it difficult to remember the motor patterns of letter forms, starting with cursive eliminates the traumatic transition from manuscript to cursive writing.  Writers in cursive also have more opportunity to distinguish b, d, p, and q because the cursive letter formations for writing each of these letters is so different.

Reprinted with permission

What is the treatment for dysgraphia?

Prevention, remediation and accommodation are all important elements in the treatment of dysgraphia.  Many problems can be prevented by early training.  Young children in kindergarten and grade one should learn to form letters correctly; kinesthetic memory is powerful and incorrect habits are very difficult to eradicate.

Muscle training and over-learning good techniques are both critical for the remediation of dysgraphia.  Specifically designed exercises are needed to increase strength and dexterity.  A specialist can recommend the most appropriate plan of exercises.  For all students, kinesthetic writing, that is writing with eyes closed or averted, is a powerful reinforcer.  Work needs always to begin with the formation of individual letters written in isolation.  Alphabets need to be practiced daily, often for months.

Finally, individuals can benefit from a variety of modifications and accommodations.  One effective method is to teach the use of a word processor, by passing the complex motor demands of handwriting.  Many students may find learning the keyboard by the alphabet method easier than beginning with the home keys.  For many, touch typing offers a whole new opportunity to learn to spell through a different kinesthetic mode.  Students should also experiment with different writing tools; some people with dysgraphia may find pencil grips helpful.  Other bypass methods include allowing a student to answer questions orally or into a tape recorder instead of writing, modifying written assignments so that less writing is required, and allowing extended time to complete tests and assignments.  Copying from the board is an especially difficult task.  Teachers need to provide notes.  Photocopying the notes of anther student is one possibility.  Providing an outline, with spaces left for the student to fill in information, is another.  Writing on a slightly inclined plane may be helpful.

Reprinted with permission

Who is qualified to diagnose dysgraphia

Dysgraphia cannot be diagnosed solely by looking at a handwriting sample.  A qualified clinician must directly test the individual.  Such a test includes writing self-generated sentences and paragraphs and copying age-appropriate text.  The examiner assesses not only the finished product, but also the process, including posture, position, pencil grip, fatigue, cramping or tremor of the writing hand, eyedness and handedness, and other factors.  The examiner may assess fine-motor speed with finger-tapping and wrist turning.

Reprinted with permission