ld vs. developmentally delayed

I’ll be very interested to see what answers you get to this good question. To my understanding, there is no way to distinguish between a ‘permanent’ learning disability and a developmental delay in children.

I have seen children completely unable to read in the 1st grade who go on to become proficient readers in the 3rd. I do try to help my parents figure out if their child is simply on a differerent trajectory or if the issue we’re seeing will plague the child throughout school but I don’t know any sure way of knowing.

Be cautious at this age to suggest LD. An LD kid has average intelligence and delayed achievement. However, with todays kids getting an education before starting a formal education, those without those opportunities may appear to have learning problems. Consider a delay to be just that and work to remediate, it isn’t necessary to label at this age and testing is generally inconclusive anyway.

I’m a parent, not an educator, but I am forever grateful to my son’s kindergarten teacher for suggesting he may have a LD. I don’t know where he would be today except for her.

At the end of the school year she took me aside and suggeted I keep an eye on him. She said that because of his wide interest and general attitude/personality, she knew he was a very smart little cookie yet his writing lagged. He hadn’t gone to preschool and she acknowledged that it might be a simple developmental delay but if he wasn’t doing well in a year or two we should test him. First grade went okay. His teacher gave him lots of extra help “off the record” but said he was fine. Second grade was a mess! The teacher called him lazy and said he just wasn’t trying. He began to hate school. I asked the school to test for LD but the principal said she had 30 years of experience and would recognize it if he was LD. Relaying on her experience I let it pass. Third grade was a repeat of second only his behavior deteriorated to the point where none of the teacher wanted him in their class and he was losing his school friends. I was in shock as he was a different child at home. At this point I insisted he be tested. The principal again pooh-poohed the idea but finally gave in. After the testing the principal stated she had never seen such a large discrepancy between verbal and performance scores and between IQ and classroom performance. She had the gull to ask, rhetorically, why no one had seen it coming!

Now, after just six months of extra help in the resource room and some simple accommodations in the classroom, his confidence is coming back, he again loves school, and had made great gains in reading and writing.

If the K teacher hadn’t told me to keep an eye out, school would still be miserable for him, no doubt!

So, to recap, I agree with what others have said: It may be too early to label but please explain to the parents that it may indict an issue.

Sincerely,
Barb Bloom

My son’s 3 year old daycare teacher encouraged us to get his speech tested. She helped us through the process with the school district, including giving the class a task when he was being observed that all the students but him could do (it involved following directions). She told me later that her son was identified as LD in 4th grade but they would have all been spared a lot of anguish had it been earlier.

There is a lot of variation in K. My older daughter really did not read. However, she could identify sounds and letters. My LD son could not. On the surface they did not look that different but major differences in reading readiness.

Beth

A little over a year ago, I went through sped data for my county - just looking, not sure for what. I made a matrix in excel that listed disabilities in 15 categories by age. The number of students with “specific learning disabilities” increased in direct ratio to the decrease in “developmentally delayed” children. So I would assume (from my limited data) that almost all developmentally delayed students end up having specific LDs - at least where I live.

Now, if you want to discuss the CAUSE of these specific LD identifications - improper or no remediation, only accommodations; teachers who haven’t had proper training for specific needs; trying to fit all sped students into the same round hole …

My apologies to all the wonderful teachers here for my negative comments regarding my school system. Unfortunately, this is the ONLY thing I have seen my school system do … wish we had a lot of you here! :-)

Lil