Realizing a child has a learning disability as early as possible is key to their education.
SAN ANTONIO — Now that we are a few weeks into the school year, some parents may be recognizing their kids may be a little behind the rest of the class. Learning disabilities may be the cause.
Reading, writing and math doesn’t come easy for all school children.
Learning disabilities can slow kids down and recognizing your child may have a one is the first step in helping them keep up.
“I always check in with the teacher and talk with my kids grades. they they’ll usually identify a dislike for school when they’re not doing very well academically,” said Dr. Gabriela Nunez, a pediatric psychologist with CHRISTUS Children’s.
Some of the signs of a learning disability include being disorganized, difficulty completing tasks, interrupting school activities, struggle with executive functioning skills and attention disorders like ADHD.
“If your kids are a student already, then you would have detected some learning struggles already. They’re not able they’re behind grade level. They’re not keeping up with their standardized testing scores,” Nunez added.
The Pew Research Center says in the U.S. public K-12 schools educate 7.3 million students with disabilities. That makes up about 15% of the national school enrollment. And the most common type of disability for students in Pre K through 12th grade involved “specific learning disabilities,” such as dyslexia.
If you think your child may have a learning disability, Dr. Nunez says parents can have a pediatric psychologist test them, and also treat the child if necessary.
“Their behavior, strategies that you can learn with a therapist, to have a therapist or a psychologist like me, in helping you manage your child’s behavior and thinking strategies for how to remember to stay organized,” Nunez said.