Warning Signs For Language Issues

By Kimberly Hudson

Now that students have received their first report card, many parents are pleased.

But if your child is struggling in school, the following are warning signs that are related to language processing disorders, which always reveal their ugly head in reading comprehension, written expression and poor test taking.

Remember that your Twice Exception Learner, who has been identified as gifted yet still has some academic challenges, may benefit from intervention.

Preschool

• Delayed speech
• Mixing up sounds and syllables in long words
• Chronic ear infections
• Severe reactions to childhood illnesses
• Confusion between left and right
• Late establishing a dominant hand
• Difficulty learning to tie shoes
• Trouble memorizing the alphabet, his address or phone number
• Difficulty with rhyming

Elementary School

• Slow, labored handwriting that is hard to read
• Letter or number reversals persisting past first grade
• Extreme difficulty learning cursive
• Slow, choppy, inaccurate reading (ignores suffixes, guesses words, skips prepositions)
• Unable to sound out new words
• Poor spelling
• Can’t remember sight words
• Trouble with math (memorizing multiplication tables or sequence of steps)
• Difficulty telling time on a clock with hands
• When speaking, difficulty finding the correct word (lots of “thingies”)
• Extremely messy bedroom, backpack and desk
• Dreads going to school
• Letter confusion (b, d) (p, q)
• w Homework takes forever

High School

• Above symptoms
• Extremely poor written expression
• Unable to master a foreign language
• Hates to read.