Know the Signs

Undetected Learning Disabilities can cause a Lifetime of Frustration

By Patti Richards

Published February 2005, Metro Parent Magazine, Detroit Michigan

In the United States it is estimated that about 13 percent of school age children have an LD diagnosis, or learning Disability. Learning disabilities, according to the American Association of Pediatrics, are conditions that make it difficult for a child to master specific skills such as reading or math. Diagnosing learning disabilities requires evaluations such as IQ and academic achievement tests.

Sometimes a child's learning differences can be easy to see, but for other children, those differences may be hidden. And while many children are able to take advantage of special services based on their diagnosis, there remains a growing group of students performing below their ability level that do not qualify for special education.

“Depending upon what state or county you live in, because learning disability is really a legal definition not a scientific definition, it’s an arbitrary cutoff,” said Terry Dunivin, educator and founder of Mind Works Learning in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“The discrepancy model between achievement and intellect is measured on a IQ test,” said Dunivin. “So there is a fifteen-point difference between those things. If you have a thirteen point difference, you’re still going to have problems, but the school is not obligated to do anything by law.”

The majority of children, between 6 and 13 percent, can have an LD label identified through their school. But according to Dunivin, the number of people that are working below their potential is somewhere around 30 –40 percent. It is these different learners that groups like Mind Works Learning in Ann Arbor, and the Eton Academy in Birmingham are designed to help.

“Our programs are based on activities that are more like games or puzzles. These things are loaded for a specific cognitive process, which has been determined by assessment,” said Mr. Dunivin. “We can measure planning, attention and simultaneous and successive processing. We’re assessing for how their minds process information.”

According to Mind Works, processing-based learning differences (PLDs) are the most common cause of underachievement. Children may be labeled dyslexic, ADHD, learning disabled, unmotivated, oppositional, or “different.”

Eton Academy in Birmingham, Michigan, is a school that serves students that learn differently. Some of them have diagnosed learning disabilities or differences. Some of them do not. “We provide them with a very secure, safe, environment to learn again. We provide the tools they need to understand how they learn differently, and what strategies they need to use throughout their lifetime. This probably will be something that will be with them for a while, even if it’s not diagnosed,” said Pete Pullen, Head Of School at Eton. ”

The important thing to remember is that if a child is struggling at school, it’s a learning style difference at the very least. If you suspect this is the case with your child, one of the first things to do is to talk directly to the teacher. Work closely with your child’s teacher and develop some strategies within the classroom first to see if it alleviates the learning challenge. In many cases it will. Specific strategies that allow the student a little more structure and repetition can go along way in improving a child’s performance.

“Unfortunately people don’t necessarily go directly to the teacher to begin with, so you have this additional time, important, crucial time that’s lost,” said Mr. Pullen.

If working with the teacher does not help, the next step is to ask for an evaluation. “Get a comprehensive, independent evaluation so that you really get an idea of where the child is socially and emotionally, psychologically and educationally, so you have the whole picture,” said Saralyn Lawn, Lower School Director at Eton. A good place to begin this process is with your child’s pediatrician.

After the evaluation, follow up on the recommendations given. The evaluation needs to be a multidisciplinary view from an MD, a psychologist and an educational specialist. When it comes to comprehensive evaluation, there are basically two choices: private, or through the public school system. By law, every child has a right to testing and services through the public school system, but that can be very time consuming. Often, school psychologists are so overloaded, and the child who is placed on the list for testing at the beginning of a school year, may not receive an evaluation until much later on, thereby delaying important intervention.

“It’s expensive privately, but so time consuming within the public school system,” said Mrs. Lawn, of Eton Academy. “Private will give results more quickly and more comprehensively. The valuable part of a psychological is not so much the score as the interpretation. Typically when you have something done privately you can determine how much detail you want. Sometimes that detail is very valuable but more expensive.”

As in every situation, whether physical or psychological it’s a good idea to get a second opinion. Mr. Pullen encourages parents to have “more willingness to not necessarily label, but to continue to look and to get more information. There is so much brain research that is being done. We don’t even understand yet how that’s going to help us diagnose and treat a different learner.”

Identifying children with learning disabilities early can be pretty challenging, but it is possible. The more that is known about the brain allows more of an understanding of signs that may be presented by the student. “I guess a basic rule is if a learning pattern that is a struggle gets worse, there is probably something there,” said Mr. Pullen

“It may not be a true learning disability, and it could be something that is not detectable or not testable,” continued Pullen. “That’s always a challenge in itself because you have federal and state guidelines as to how people qualify for being LD or learning disabled. So a student that clearly has a learning challenge needs an alternative when they don’t qualify.”

After a comprehensive evaluation, further testing might be needed to determine if a child’s learning difference is related to the auditory system. Often times this testing is a part of an evaluation, but if it isn’t included, ask for it. Because the speech language system is so crucial to a child’s ability to function and learn, the slightest amount of diminished hearing can greatly affect a child’s performance.

“The speech language systems operate on two channels, the input and the output. If you have problems with the output channel you have to look at the input channel as to causes for that breakdown, causes for that misrepresentation,” said Diane Nancarrow, a Speech and Language Pathologist based in West Bloomfield. “As a speech language pathologist, as I do evaluations and assessments, I’m going to look for the input and output channels to see where it occurs.”

“Frequently we’re hearing more and more often about the break down of the auditory system. The auditory system is going to look at the perception, attention, and discrimination of sound: How your sound becomes a word; the word has meaning; and what you do with that word, that phrase, that sentence, that direction.”

Auditory processing needs to be evaluated in two ways. The audiologist will look at the acoustical signal and the anatomy, and make sure that it’s all working properly. The speech language pathologist will be looking at how the child is handling language and where the breakdown is.

“The child who has an auditory processing disorder may have difficulties listening to a person speaking when there’s background noise, and they just can’t hear what is being said,” said Ms. Nancarrow.

The general standard is that most children should be reading by third grade. At that point students become much more independent, and the ability to read becomes a crucial tool. Homework increases during these years, and the more the student is asked to rely on their reading skills, the more frustration will present itself. This frustration will spill over into all academic areas, which can result in behavioral changes. Often times children will begin to act out due to an inability to process what is begin asked of them.

According to Mr.Pullen, the time to begin is “anytime you get to the point where you see a two-year delay. Typically you’re going to see challenges across the board if there’s some kind of learning challenge or interference.”

Success in dealing with learning disabilities or learning differences depends largely on the partnership between the family and the child’s school. Children who are diagnosed Learning Disabled will have an Individualized Education Program or IEP. This IEP will outline steps to help the child become successful in the classroom. Goals and objectives will be set up, and meetings with parents, guidance counselors, teachers and administrators will follow to discuss how best to implement the program. It is crucial that parents take an active role in making sure that their child’s IEP is being followed, that they are following up on recommendations at home, and that their child understands their learning difference, and is working toward the goals that have been set.

“Learning Disabilities are neurological,” said JoEllen Schwartz, the mother of an Eton student. “When looking at a typical brain vs. an ADD or a Learning Disabled brain, the brains look different.”

“It is not bad parenting,” continued Mrs. Schwartz. “Some current research is looking into causes like food additives or environmental toxins, and there is also a large genetic component. If you just think about the brain; it’s such a complicated organ with so many different places where something could be, that’s really all it is. So for parents who ask why, it is exactly that.”

The most important thing to understand is what a Learning Disability isn’t. It isn’t because of bad parenting, or because of lack of intelligence on the part of the child. It has nothing to do with a child being more active than other children. When a family is able to accept that it is who the child is and how they learn, then they can really start addressing and helping that child.

Current legislation regarding learning disabilities is being reauthorized right now so many things could change. It is possible that students who currently do not qualify for special services based on the discrepancy model could in the future get some help. Until then, those children who do not meet the criteria but still struggle need a plan of action to meet their needs at home and in the classroom

The following list of 12 types of behavior can help a parent or an educator recognize children with special needs. If your child or a child in your class has any of these characteristics, ask yourself..."Is his/her behavior making things so hard for him/her that they are not progressing?"

Short attention span; unable to concentrate: not able to pay attention long enough to finish an activity.

Restless or hyperactive: moves around constantly; fidgets; doesn't seem to move with a purpose in mind; picks on other children.

Does not complete tasks; careless, unorganized approach to activities: does not finish what is started; does not seem to plan to get work done.

Listening difficulties; does not seem to understand: has trouble following directions; turns away while others are talking; does not seem interested.

Avoids participation with other children or only knows how to play by hurting others: stays away from other children; always plays alone; leaves a group of children when an activity is going on; bites, hits, or bullies.

Repetitive behavior: repeats unusual movement or words over and over; cannot stop activity himself.

Resistant to discipline or direction (impertinent, defiant, resentful, destructive, or negative): does not accept directions or training; disagreeable; hard to manage; destroys materials or toys deliberately; temper tantrums.

Speech problems:

rate: speech is unusually fast or slow
articulation: difficulty making clear speech sounds.
stuttering: difficulty with flow of speech; repeating sounds, words, or phrases; blocking words or sounds.
voice: unusually loud, soft, high or low; scratchy or hoarse quality.
no speech: chooses not to talk or does not know how to talk so that others can understand.

Physical complaints: talks of being sick or hurt; seems tired or without energy.

Echoes other's speech: repeats another person's words without intending for the words to mean anything.

Lack of self-help skills: unable to feed self, unable to dress self, unable to conduct toilet activities unaided, or to carry out health practices such as washing hands, brushing teeth, etc.

Temperamental, overly sensitive, sad, irritable: moody, easily depressed, unhappy, shows extreme emotions and feelings.

Taken from www.ldonline.org.

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