12 Symptoms Of Learning Disabilities In Teens
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Does your teenager have special difficulties when it comes to learning? Are you worried your teen may be suffering from a learning disability?
As a parent, you can help your teen cope better with learning by preparing yourself. Read on to know more on learning disabilities in teens and how you can help them overcome the challenge.
What Is A Teenage Learning Disability?
A learning disability is a condition where your teen’s brain is unable to process information. On account of a learning disability, your teen may find it difficult to receive, process, analyze, and store information it (1). Your teen may face more difficulty in learning, reading, writing, spelling, studying and mathematics in comparison to her peers.
Before you start worrying about how it will affect your teen’s life and career, remember that many successful personalities like Walt Disney, Winston Churchill, and Alexander Graham Bell suffered from learning disabilities.
[ Read: How To Improve self Esteem In Teenagers ]
Signs Of Learning Disabilities In Teenagers?
Many symptoms of learning disability are part of normal child behavior. Therefore, it is a little difficult to spot a learning disability in your teen, early on. As your teen enters middle or high school, the sudden increase in academic pressure may make these signs more obvious.
1. Your teen may suffer from a learning disability if she displays any of the following:
2. Does not like to read at all.
3. Finds it very difficult to read and wants to avoid it.
4. Finds spelling simple words challenging.
5. Finds it difficult to understand common syllables or sounds in a word.
6. Finds it difficult to remember any list of numbers or words. She may have difficulty in remembering words that have a unique phonetic pattern, math tables, and formula.
7. Can answer verbally but finds it difficult to write and communicate.
8. Has a very bad handwriting.
9. If she is not keen to go to school or seems low on self-confidence.
10. If she cannot concentrate during classes.
11. Always gets confused between upper case and lower case letters. Faces difficulty in reverse writing, like while writing letters like R, P, and N.
12. Has problems in holding a pencil or pen properly. If she takes a lot of time to write something as short as a sentence.
Do remember that your teen may not have a learning disability even if she displays a few symptoms. On the other hand, your teen may have a learning disability even though she may not show many signs. So, do not jump to any conclusion before taking an expert’s opinion.
[ Read: How To Make Your Teenager Responsible ]
How To Help Teens With Learning Disabilities?
The first remedial step you should take as a parent is to give your teen time. Do not rush your teen into learning things fast. Schedule an appointment with your teen’s teacher and discuss her overall progress at school. It can help you identify any specific patterns that correspond to her symptoms. Sometimes, it could simply be a reaction to the increase in pressure at school. A little planning and organizing may help your teen.
If your teen does have a learning disability, you can schedule an appointment with a speech therapist or a student psychologist.
Your teen may be low on self-esteem because of her learning disability. Talk to her and tell her that a learning disability is not a sign her lack of intelligence or maturity. It is just a condition that can easily go away with time and practice.
[ Read: How To Motivate Your Teenager To Study ]
Your love, support, and a little professional assistance can help your teen overcome her disability and cope with learning.
Hope you liked this post on learning disabilities in teens. If you have a teen who suffers from a learning disability, please share your experience and advice with us here.
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