How to Tell if Your Child Has a Learning Disability

When it comes to raising teenagers, there are times when all of us feel like our teens may have an elective learning disability—that is, they choose to not understand what we’re saying. And there are other times when, after a long tirade, we find them staring off into space. But how can you tell if your child has a learning disability or not?

Here are a few signs for you to look for.

Signs and Symptoms

Lazy Demeanor or Bravado
Parents often complain that their kid is lazy, but be more observant. If your teen avoids homework like the plague or protests against reading in general, this could be a way out of not confronting the difficulty. Alternatively, if they profess to be so good at something that they don’t need to practice, this too could be a bluff to avoid embarrassment.

Memorizing Information
We tend to focus on the fact that kids who have memorized large reams of information (like pi to the hundredth digit) are exhibiting super-genius skills (and they are); however, memorizing information can also help them avoid having to read it or work it out in their minds.

Pattern Recognition
Your teen may leverage pattern recognition and context to get the right answers while not understanding the question or its answer. Admittedly, this could be a good skill for scoring high on certain types of tests, but it’s not good for dealing with new challenges out of a recognized context — such as everything that life throws at us.

Sloppy Handwriting
They aren’t just poor artists. Teens sometimes use sloppy handwriting to cover up spelling problems.

Street Smarts
If your kid picks up the majority of what they know from their friends or YouTube, they may be avoiding having to learn about it while at school. For some kids, turning on the TV is a whole lot easier than picking up a book.  

Withdrawal and Frustration
Teens who find school a frustrating experience will be apathetic (at best) towards the classroom experience, and (at worst) might start acting out with behavioral problems. This can be because they’re bored, want attention, or both.

Inconsistency
If your teen flies high one week and crashes down the next, it could be that a shift in learning material has triggered some difficulties. Conversely, if they’re stellar in one subject but have subpar performance in others, this may indicate problems processing certain types of information.

What to Do Next