Does My Child Have a Learning Disability?

Does your child seem to constantly struggle with school work? Does your toddler only seem to know a few words? If your child has trouble with reading, math, writing, or forming sentences they may have a learning disability. This is often difficult to identify in young children because they are constantly growing and learning, but it is better to get tested then wait.

When I was in kindergarten, I was diagnosed with Dyslexia. This was during the early 1980s and since no one really knew much about the disease at the time I was sort of lost. Instead of receiving help I was placed in Pre-first. During the 1980s this was a popular choice for many public schools that didn't want, or couldn't afford to put children in special education. Although I didn't know at the time I was in a special class, I was later embarrassed when my little sister was in my class the next year.

This just frustrated me, and I ended up having behavioral problems in school. My teachers said that I was too imaginative, and that I had too much energy. I thought they were crazy because I felt just fine. My reasoning was "that's the way God made me". But my parents had a slew of tests run on me. Brain scans, blood tests and the like. After all the tests I was notified that I had dyslexia but that was pretty much it.

My parents couldn't afford to have me tutored, or go to special school. Ignoring the disorder did not make it non-existent. By the time I reached high school I was having serious problems with math and reading comprehension. In fifth grade I was tested at a ninth grade reading level. Even though I could read the words, I didn't understand them. I was failing tests on which I clearly knew the information for. My SAT scores were so low I had to retake them before applying to college.