My friends son has been an average student. He is 9 years old. This year he failed in all the subjects except for math. The teachers got concerned and had a parent meeting. They think it could be a learning disability. My friends son said that he was unable to understand what the teacher is teaching or goes blank but when his tutor at home teaches he can follow. The parents are concerned too and want to consult him to a psychologist and the school is arranging counselling. My concerns are could it really be LD? Can it be developed in a later age since my friends kid is 9yrs old now? I was talking to to another friend n she was thinking it could be Attention Deficiet Disorder? Can anyone please comment and share their knowledge and experiences with me. I will really appreciate it.
THANX
Re: could it really be ld
Yes, it could be a learning disability. As school progresses, it gets harder. Coping mechanisms that a child has developed along the way may stop working well as writing, reading and even math demands increase. We went through years with teachers telling us our child was just lazy, he clearly could understand the work if he tried. It wasn’t until 5th grade that a teacher understood that it was taking him 3 times as long to do a homework assignment than she expected…and had him evaluated. He did indeed have identified learning disabilities…and also tested with a high IQ. Essentially, the high IQ was masking the disabilities, and enabled him to get by as just average. Getting the school to do an evaluation may be in order for your friend’s child. Since he’s only 9, there’s still lots of time to get him the help he needs.
KayR
I have no clue, but did want to share my experience with you. My daughter is also 9. Last year, she was failing math. Since it was a gateway year, they had to find a way to get her grades up. They took her out of the classroom for an hour a day and put her into a special math class with only 5 other students. She went from a “D” student to an “A” student! She has difficulty paying attention in the larger structure, and apparently does not ask for help, posssibly for fear of embarrassment.
In the smaller environment, she had no fears and she excelled. This year, she remains in her classroom for math, but is still an “A” student in math. Whatever they did for her last year has continued to help her!
For the record, she was a quick learner up until the first grade. She started kindergarten reading, but then just kind of leveled off. She was evaluated for ADHD at the age of 6, but it was inconclusive at the time and we chose not to pursue it. She has since been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder.
I don’t know if any of this helps, but like I said, I wanted to share because it sounded similar to my daughter’s struggles.