My son is struggling with silent reading. How can I tell if he has a learning disability?

There are several symptoms that are common among children with learning disabilities or dyslexia. If you see a pattern of these symptoms in your child, you may want to seek help. I always recommend that you first set an appointment with the child's pediatrician in order to determine if a medical problem (hearing, vision, etc.) might be compromising his learning progress.

• Poor performance on group tests
• Difficulty copying from a model
• Slowness in completing work
• Confusion when dealing with instructions
• Difficulty with tasks that require sequencing
• Difficulty with activities that require understanding of time
• Problems with planning and prioritizing
• Chronic disorganization
• Obsessing on one topic or idea
• Poor memory
• Hyperactivity
• Awkwardness
• Distractibility
• Low tolerance for frustration
• Gullibility
• Inflexibility during transitions or changes
• Excitability or anxiety in social situations
• Peer difficulties

Remember:

• No child has ALL of the symptoms
• Among Learning Disabled populations, some symptoms are more common than others
• All children have two or three of the symptoms to some degree
• The number of symptoms observed in a child does not indicate if the problem is minor or severe. Rather, the frequency and severity of the symptoms are the most important indicators.