CHECKLISTFORLEARNINGDISABILITIES

TakenfromthebookLearningDisabilitiesAtoZwrittenbySmithandStrick

Therearetwotypesoflearningdisabilities:(1)NonverbalLearningDisabilities(NLD)and(2)Languagebased
LearningDisabilities.LearningDisabilitiessharemanysymptomswiththeautismspectrumdisorders.Inorderto
beconsideredatruelearningdisability,thesymptom(s)mustnotbebetteraccountedforbythepersonsprimary
diagnosissuchasautism,PDDNOS,orAspergersSyndrome.Manystudentswithlearningdisabilitieshave
difficultywithsocialskills,sensoryprocessing,andlanguageprocessing.

NonverbalLearningDisabilitiesaredisordersthatinterferewithtraditionallearningandcansometimesmimic
partsoftheautismspectrumdisorders.Someoftheseinclude:AttentionDeficitHyperactivityDisorder,visual
perceptiondisabilities(suchasreadingordyslexia,writingordysgraphia,andmathematicalordyscaluca),and
motordisabilities(fineorgrossmotorcoordination).IntheirbookLearningDisabilitiesAtoZ,SmithandStrick
createdthebelowchecklistsforlearningdisabilities.

VisualPerceptionDisabilityChecklist
Itisnormalforchildrentodisplayafewofthesymptomsonthislist.Alearningdisabilitymayberesponsibleif
manyofthesebehaviorsarepresent,andiftheypersistbeyondtheagewheresucherrorsaretypical

Writing

Dislikesandavoidswriting
Delaysinlearningtowrite
Papersaremessyandincomplete;manycrossoutsanderasures
Difficultyrememberingshapesoflettersandnumbers
Frequentletterandnumberreversals
Unevenspacingbetweenlettersandwords
Omitslettersfromwordsandwordsfromsentences
Inaccuratecopying
Poorspelling(spellsphonetically)
Cannotspoterrorsinownwork
Difficultypreparingoutlinesandorganizingwrittenwork

Reading

Confusessimilarlookingletters(bandd,pandq)
Difficultyrecognizingandrememberingsightwords(butcansoundswordsoutphonetically)
Frequentlylosesplacewhenreading
Confusessimilarlookingwords(breadandbeard)
Reverseswords(readswasforsaw)
Hastroublefindinglettersinwordsorwordsinsentences
Poormemoryforprintedwords(alsonumbersequences,diagrams,illustrations,andsoon)
Poorcomprehensionofmainideasandthemes

Math

Pooralignmentofproblemsresultsincomputationerrors,difficultymemorizingmathfacts,multiplication
tables,formulas,andequations

Troubleinterpretinggraphs,charts,anddiagrams
Difficultywithhigherlevelmathconcepts

RelatedProblems:

Confusesleftandright
Difficultyestimatingtime,beingontime
Poorsenseofdirection;slowtolearnhisorherwayaroundanewplace
Difficultyjudgingspeedanddistance(interfereswithmanygames;canbeaproblemwhendrivingacar)
Hastroublegettingtothepoint;becomesboggeddownindetails
Doesnotpickuponotherpeoplesmoodsandfeelings(resultsinoftensayingthewrongthingsatthewrong
time)
Poorplanningandorganizationalskills
Oftenlosesthings;cannotspotobjectsinplainsight
Distasteforpuzzles,mazes,orotheractivitieswithastrongvisualelement
Difficultyperceivingstrategiesforbeingsuccessfulingames(maynotunderstandthegoal)

FineMotor:

Athome:

Appearsawkwardandclumsy;oftendropsthings,spillsthings,knocksthingsover
HasdifficultypickingupandusingsmallobjectssuchaspuzzlepiecesorLegos
Hastroublewithbuttons,hooks,andzipperswhendressing;findsitverydifficulttotieshoes
Unsuccessfulingamesandactivitiesthatinvolvehandskills(catscradle,pianolessons,basketball)
Poorcoloringability;cannotkeepwithinlines
Artworklooksimmatureforage(drawingsfromimaginationareusuallybetterthaneffortsatcopying
designs)
Difficultyusingscissors
Awkwardpencilgrip(mayholdpenciltoolooselyortootightly)
Delaysinlearningtowrite;writingislargeandimmature,lettersandnumbersarepoorlyformed
Maybedelayedinlearningtospeakorhavearticulatingproblems

Atschool:

Poorhandwriting(sloppy,illegible,poorspacing,inconsistentlettersize,noconsistentstyle,straysfromlines

onpaper)
Papersaremessy(tornandcrumpledwithmanycrossouts,smudges,andincompleteerasures)
Markedslowness,exceptionaleffort,andfrustrationnotedduringwritingtasks
Dislikeandavoidanceofwritingordrawing
Content/styleofwrittenassignmentsIpoorprimaryfocusisonalignednumerals)
Inseverecases,difficultylearningkeyboardskills

LanguageBasedLearningDisabilitieseffecteitherverbaloutput(meaningspeech)orprocessing(meaningwords
areunderstoodclearlybutthemeaningislost).Manystudentswithlanguagebasedlearningdisabilitiesmayhave
difficultywithlanguageacquisitioncausingthemtospeaklaterindevelopmentorwithdelayedwordretrieval.
Mostpeoplehaveexperiencedwordretrievalissuesatonepointoranotherthisoccurswhenyouaretryingto
thinkoftheitemsnameorinthegrocerystoreyoujustcantrememberwhatyouvegoneinforbutforpeople
withwordretrievalissuesthisisaneverydayoccurrenceand,forsome,occurseverytimetheyspeak.

Otherstudentshavedifficultywithfluency,verbalmemory(suchasmemorizingastringofverbaldirections),or
auditoryprocessing,meaningthestudentunderstandseachwordthatisbeingsaidtohim/her,buts/hecant
interpretthemeaningfromasentence.IntheirbookLearningDisabilitiesAtoZ,SmithandStrickalsocreatedthe
belowchecklistsforLanguageBasedlearningdisabilities.

LanguageProcessingDisabilityChecklist
Itisnormalforchildrentodisplayafewbehaviorsonthislist.Apersistentpatternofmanyofthesesymptoms,
however,manyindicatealearningdisability.

SpeechandLanguageComprehension

Delaysinlearningtospeak
Doesnotmodulatetoneofvoiceappropriately;speaksinmonotone,ortooloud
Hasproblemsnamingobjectsorpeople
Usesvague,impreciselanguage;hasasmallvocabulary
Speechissloworhalting;usesverbalstallingmechanism(uh,um,youknow)
Usespoorgrammar
Frequentlymispronounceswords
Confuseswordswithsimilarsounds(suchasfrustrateandfluctuate;mayproducehybridssuchasflustrate)
Oftenuseshandgesturesandbodylanguagetohelpconveymessage
Avoidstalking(especiallyinfrontofstrangers,authorityfigures,orgroups)
Insensitivetorhymes
Littleinterestinbooksorstories
Doesnotrespondappropriatelytoquestions(repliesMondaywhenaskedWheredoyougotoschool?)
Frequentlydoesnotunderstandorrememberinstructions

Reading

Significantdelaysinlearningtoread
Difficultynamingletters
Problemsassociatingletterswithsounds,discriminatingbetweensoundsinwords,blendingsoundsinto
words

Difficultyanalyzingsoundsequences;frequentsequencingerrors(suchasreadingsnugforsung)
Guessesatunfamiliarwordsratherthanusingwordanalysisskills
Readsveryslowly;oralreadingdeteriorateswithinafewsentences(duetodecliningabilitytoretrievesounds
rapidlyfrommemory)

Comprehensionforwhathasbeenreadisconsistentlypoor,ordeteriorateswhensentencesbecomelonger
andmorecomplex

Poorretentionofnewvocabularywords
Dislikesandavoidsreading

Writing
Writtenassignmentsareshortorincomplete;oftencharacterizedbybriefsentences,limitedvocabulary
Problemswithgrammarpersist
Bizarrespellingerrors(notphonetic);studentsmaybeunabletodecipherownspelling
Ideasinwrittenassignmentsarepoorlyorganized,notlogicallypresented
Littlethemedevelopment;studentsaremorelikelytowritebarelistsofpointsoreventsthanprovidedetails
ordevelopideas,characters,orplot
Ontests,consistentlydoesbetterwithmultiplechoicequestionsthanessaysorfillinginblanks

Math

Slowresponseduringmathfactdrillsduetoproblemswithnumberretrieval
Difficultywithwordproblemsduetopoorlanguagecomprehension
Problemswithhigherlevelmathduetodifficultieswithanalysisandlogicalreasoning

RelatedProblems

garblestelephonemessages;misunderstandswhatisheardonradioorTV
difficultywithverbalreasoning;mayunderstandallthewordsintheproverbArollingstonegathersno

mossbutbeunabletoexplainwhatitmeans;mayfindithardtodrawlogicalconclusions
problemsunderstandingpunsandjokes;maynotdetectteasing
difficultymakingcomparisonsandclassifyingobjectsorideas
difficultyrememberinginformationorproducingfactsorideasondemand
difficultypresentingastoryordirectionsinlogicalorder
typesofproblemsencounteredlearningEnglisharelikelytoberepeatedwhenstudyingaforeignlanguage
difficultyjoiningormaintainingconversations