Does your son or daughter seem to have trouble with school, even though he or she seems to be trying her best? Have you noticed consistent problems with his or her homework, such as essay-writing, answering math problems, or reading aloud? Indeed, every child is bound to go through homework troubles once in a while, but if you notice a disturbing consistency, it might be an indication of a learning disorder.

A learning disability or disorder is an inherent learning problem that has nothing to do with motivation or intelligence. Children with learning disabilities are not stubborn or dumb, although this is usually the misconception before the disorder is recognized. As such, before you shy away from the condition, it is best that you understand the role of intervention in the case of such disabilities: with the correct training and support, kids who are diagnosed with learning disabilities become equipped with what they need for facing up to obstacles not only in the classroom but also in other aspects of life.

Interestingly, most children with learning disabilities are just as smart as the average person. The problem lies in their brains being wired differently, which affects the way they receive and eventually process stimuli and information. In simple terms, people with learning disorders hear, see, and perceive things differently, which can lead to issues in terms of learning new skills, and applying these new skills. The most common kinds of learning disabilities have to do with reading skills, writing skills, math and calculation skills, listening, reasoning, as well as speaking.

Indeed, it is always tough for a parent to face up to the possibility of a learning disorder in his or her child. Nobody would want his child to be labelled slow, so many parents hesitate to call attention to the learning problems. The important thing to remember is that kids with learning disorders actually only need to be taught in a unique way that meets their learning styles.

So how do you know if your child indeed has a learning disability? If your child is in preschool, the following signs may be good gauges of a problem:

1. He has trouble pronouncing words or finding the word to use;
2. He has difficulty giving rhyming words;
3. He has trouble learning letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and days of the week;
4. He has trouble learning routines or following directions;
5. He has trouble having control of pencils, crayons, scissors, or coloring inside the lines;
6. He has trouble working with zippers, buttons, snaps, and tying shoes.

If your child is in kindergarten all the way up to fourth grade, you should watch for the following signs:

1. He has trouble making connections between sounds and letters;
2. He has trouble blending sounds to make words;
3. He tends to confuse basic words when he reads;
4. He makes consistent misspellings and also makes regular errors in reading;
5. He has problems learning basic concepts in math;
6. He has trouble telling time and keeping sequences in memory;
7. He seems slow in learning new skills.

If your child is in the 5th to 8th grade, the following symptoms can give you a strong indication of a learning disability:

1. He has difficulty with math skills or reading comprehension;
2. He has trouble with word problems and open-ended test questions ;
3. He does not like writing and reading, and avoids being asked to read aloud;
4. He makes different misspellings of the same word in the same document;
5. He has poor skills of organization, such as a messy desk or bedroom;
6. He has trouble with following discussions in the classroom as well as with expressing his thoughts out loud;
7. He has poor handwriting.

When you pay attention to normal milestones in the development of a toddler and preschooler, you already have an edge in terms of early detection strategies. Early signals of a learning disability allow you to spot the problem early, so that they may be corrected much more easily. Remember, the earlier you intervene, the better the child will cope with his problem, and rise up even to the point of being able to go along with the level of his classmates who do not have the disability.