WARNING SIGNS OF

SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY (SLD)

Poor Scholastic Performance Program

IAP Action Plan 2011

When could you diagnose/ suspect SLD?

• School age

• Preschool and before – profile.

‘Warning Signs’

• Behavior

• Language skills

• Cognitive skills

• Preacademic skills

• Motor Co-ordination

‘Warning Signs’

DCDSLD

CD

‘Warning Signs’

Common Observation

Language Delay

Missing the stage of crawling

1. Behaviour

Easily distracted

Forgets Directions.Forgets Directions.

The child may seem reckless and The child may seem reckless and exercise poor judgment.exercise poor judgment.

He has difficulty concentrating on one He has difficulty concentrating on one activity long enough to produce activity long enough to produce satisfying results.satisfying results.

Behaviour (contd…)

Awkward & ClumsyPoor communication skill.Poor communication skill.

Moves about constantly and talk rapidly Moves about constantly and talk rapidly and frequently. and frequently.

May appear listless and move more May appear listless and move more slowly than other children.slowly than other children.

May repeat an activity again and again May repeat an activity again and again until someone stops him, and then have until someone stops him, and then have trouble focusing on a new task.trouble focusing on a new task.

2. Language Skills

Confuses words

Does not understand preposition of positions

Language Skills (contd…)

Does not enjoy listening to stories

Trouble remembering wordsTrouble remembering words

May find it hard making sentencesMay find it hard making sentences May omit words or May omit words or

MayMay communicate in single words.communicate in single words.

3. Cognitive Skills

Has trouble classifying

categoriesTrouble solving simple problems.Trouble solving simple problems.

May not enjoy pretend play as much as May not enjoy pretend play as much as other children doother children do

May begin a task and forget how to do May begin a task and forget how to do it in the middle of his workit in the middle of his work

May need to do a simple task or project May need to do a simple task or project many times before he gets it rightmany times before he gets it right

Cognitive (contd…)

Difficulty with puzzles

May have trouble organizing ideas or May have trouble organizing ideas or stories in order to convey them to stories in order to convey them to othersothers

Asked how to play a game, he may Asked how to play a game, he may know the steps but have trouble know the steps but have trouble ordering them correctlyordering them correctly

4. Pre-academic skills

Difficulty with rhymes

Trouble with countingTrouble with counting

May not understand the concepts of May not understand the concepts of “first”, “next” and “last”“first”, “next” and “last”

May have trouble with language May have trouble with language associated with quantity, space and associated with quantity, space and timetime

Pre-academic skills (cont…)

Difficulty with size

Difficulty with reading the clockDifficulty with reading the clock

May not recognize likenesses and May not recognize likenesses and differences among letters or words.differences among letters or words.

May be able to distinguish shapes but May be able to distinguish shapes but have trouble drawing them.have trouble drawing them.

Pre-academic skills (cont…)

• Because of difficulty with abstract words such as “length”, “distance” and “speed”, may not be able to understand the language of mathematics

• She may be confused by some math words that have more than one meaning such as “set”, “times” or “borrow”.

5. Motor Coordination

Trouble with visual-spatial coordination

Handedness problemHandedness problem

May have trouble continuing an action May have trouble continuing an action from one side of his body to the other. from one side of his body to the other. For example, he may switch hands to For example, he may switch hands to draw a straight horizontal linedraw a straight horizontal line

Motor Coordination (cont…)

Trouble judging spatial relationship

Eye hand co-ordination problem.Eye hand co-ordination problem.

May have problems copying shapes or May have problems copying shapes or doing a puzzle.doing a puzzle.

Identification of warning signs

A. Teacher’s observation of student activities / performance inside and out side classroom situations

B. Informal testing and evaluation – question and answer technique, providing activities / tasks to children i.e., using behavioral checklists.

Key Messages

1. Early identification of learning disability is of utmost importance as far as future educational prospects of the affected child is concerned

2. Even though a firm diagnoses of LD can be made only at school level, many Learning Disabled children can be identified at the preschool level, if parents and teachers are alert to the early symptoms

3. The early symptoms may be in the form of unusual behavior or lag in skill development in various domains.

Key Messages (cont…)

4 Since the nature of Learning Difficulties differ, the pointers in different children may also differ

5 All suspected cases should be followed up and professional help sought for confirmation and early intervention

6 Early intervention gives excellent results in most cases.

• “If the child can’t learn the way you teach, teach him the way he can learn”

Thank you