An infant or a toddler with a learning disability may begin speaking later than other children his age. He has problems remembering words and cannot pronounce certain words or sounds correctly. As he reaches preschool age, he may have difficulty listening, paying attention or following instructions. Children with learning disabilities are often overly active, and you may notice that your child has trouble staying focused on an activity without quickly becoming distracted. He may also have problems interacting with other children his own age. As he nears school age, he may have problems retaining information such as identifying shapes, colors or letters of the alphabet, or demonstrating a lack of fine motor skills.
A child's learning disability becomes more evident as she begins her school career. A child with learning disabilities between kindergarten and the fourth grade may show a lack of physical coordination and have frequent accidents. She may not always think about her actions before speaking or acting, and may get into trouble at school for her impulsive behaviors. In kindergarten and first grade, she may have trouble associating letters with sounds, and she doesn't hold her pencil correctly. She reverses the letters in words and substitutes similar words when reading. She has trouble learning new information and remembering facts.
Older elementary school children between the fifth and eighth grades may become frustrated as the class assignments increase in complexity. A child with a learning disability may have problems remembering the steps to math operations. Word problems are particularly challenging for students and he may have problems with place value or regularly transpose number sequences. He has poor handwriting and avoids completing writing tasks. He reverses letters when reading and writing and has poor spelling skills. He also has problems focusing and staying on task, and cannot follow multi-step directions. His social skills may also suffer; he doesn't always understand body language, and has problems making and keeping friends.
A high school student with a learning disability may work slowly and cannot always complete tasks because she pays too much attention to small details, or she might race through assignments without putting out her best effort. She often avoids completing reading and writing assignments. She may have difficulty understanding abstract concepts and cannot summarize information. She has problems keeping her belongings organized. As her academic frustration increases, she may become depressed, demonstrate behavior or discipline problems, or have problems keeping friends because of her lack of social skills.