Learning Detours

Early Signs
As the Lundgrens discovered with Luke, spotting a learning disability can be tricky even for the most attentive parents—especially when a child’s learning problems seem to be symptomatic of a separate condition.

The red flags are many and varied—difficulty labeling sizes, shapes, and colors; reversals in reading and writing; slowness in completing work; poor short-term or long-term memory; difficulty with tasks requiring sequencing; and a reluctance or frustration with doing schoolwork. Muddying the waters further is the fact that many accepted symptoms of learning disabilities—such as poor organizational skills and impulsive behavior—are widely seen as a normal part of childhood.

But experts say there are some signs that should be watched more closely. “The most crucial early signs are a delay in language acquisition, knowing colors, recognizing letters, knowing how to rhyme, knowing seasons—that kind of thing,” says John Alexander, head of school at Groves Academy, a St. Louis Park–based school that specializes in learning disabilities. “At four or five years old, if there are difficulties in those areas, there’s a good chance of a learning disability.”

Bonnie Carlson-Green, a pediatric neuropsychologist for Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, says behavior that seems benign might actually be masking a learning disorder.

“If a child has a language learning disability, it may show itself as a tendency to miss sequence sounds,” she says. “They might say ‘ephelant’ instead of elephant, or ‘pasghetti’ instead of spaghetti. That might indicate difficulty articulating or difficulty organizing language elements.”

Learning difficulties can also show up as a diminished ability to stay focused. “Early on you might see that they have trouble staying with one toy,” says Carlson-Green. “There might be a trail of unfinished tasks. Or they might seem impulsive—they might start into the street even though they’ve been told numerous times to wait for you to cross with them.”

Since so many learning disabilities are manifested in difficulty with processing and conveying data, one way kids struggle is when they have the answer, but just aren’t able to “spit it out” in a fast-paced classroom setting.

“The teacher may ask a question of the child, and even if the student knows the answer, the teacher will move on to another child because it’s taking too long for him to answer,” says Virginia Richardson, manager of parent training  at PACER Center, a statewide information center for parents of children with disabilities.

While the list of symptoms are  lengthy, the most powerful tool in getting a child the early help he or she needs might be plain old parental instinct. “Parents know when something isn’t right,” says Carlson-Green. “A lot of parents tell me a pediatrician or a teacher told them to wait to have an evaluation done, but they knew better. Nine times out of ten, parents have a good instinct.”

Critical Time
Usually around third grade, as the saying goes, students stop learning to read and start reading to learn. This is when a previously undetected learning disability can make itself conspicuous and also when a diagnosed one can become more cumbersome than ever, leading to a nightmare scenario for both the child and parents.

“Third grade was the worst,” says Leslie Lundgren. “Luke would get so stressed [in the classroom] that he pulled out a three-inch patch of hair.”

Taking action at that age is crucial. According to the National Institute of Health, children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability and are receiving proper intervention by third grade have a better chance of maintaining grade-level reading skills throughout their school career, which translates to success in every other subject.

“At that point, students are expected not just to read, but to produce written language in their science classes, social studies, and so on,” Alexander says. “So they really can hit a brick wall.”

It’s at this age that intervention becomes most focused as standardized skills tests and other metrics that can determine a student’s future become more commonplace. It’s also at this age that kids who fall between learning-disabled and special ed–eligible need the most acute attention.

“We [professionals who assess children for learning disabilities] try to fit the middle of the road for those kids,” says Carlson-Green. “We should provide parents with ideas for things they can do at home, resources such as tutors and software programs, and sometimes psychopharmacological intervention. A lot of teachers are more than happy to meet children halfway because it’s a stage where you have to be a little more creative and flexible.”