Early Signs of a Learning Disability or Learning Disorder

Summary

Andrea Heavener, a pediatric neuropsychologist, discusses learning disabilities in children. She emphasizes the importance of early identification and intervention to support children who struggle academically despite good efforts and support. Early signs include delayed speech, difficulty with motor skills, and challenges in basic learning concepts.

Takeaways

• 👶 Children will face challenges in their education, which is necessary for their development.
• 📚 A subset of children struggle more than their peers despite good effort and support, indicating a possible learning disability or disorder.
• 😟 Parents often worry about their children's academic struggles, linking them to future career opportunities and life success.
• 💡 Early identification and intervention can significantly help children with learning disabilities, reducing years of struggle.
• 🗣️ Delayed speech and language development can be an early sign of a learning disability.
• ✋ Difficulty in fine and gross motor skill development is another potential indicator.
• 🚸 Trouble following directions or understanding basic learning concepts may signal a learning disorder.
• 🔤 Preschool children who have trouble remembering the names of letters and numbers might have a learning disability.
• 🔄 Difficulty with early literacy skills, such as rhyming, can also be a sign.
• ⚠️ It's important to consider a combination of these signs rather than just one or two when identifying potential learning disabilities.

Q & A

What is Andrea Heavener's profession and where does she work?

Andrea Heavener is a pediatric neuropsychologist working at the Mayo Clinic Children's Center.

What is the main topic of the discussion in the script?

The main topic is academic concerns in children, particularly those that might be characterized as learning disabilities or disorders.

Why is it important for children to face some challenges in their education?

Challenges in education are important because they help set the bar appropriately for children's development, ensuring they are sufficiently challenged rather than being under-stimulated.

What distinguishes children with learning disabilities from those who simply face common educational challenges?

Children with learning disabilities struggle to master concepts and learn new things despite good efforts and educational support, at a level significantly different from their peers.

Why might parents be particularly concerned when their child has learning problems?

Parents may be concerned because academic achievement is often linked to potential career opportunities and life success, and difficulties in learning can be troubling.

What does the script suggest about the availability of treatments for learning disabilities?

The script suggests that there are many good treatments available if children with learning disabilities can be identified early and receive the necessary help.

What are some early signs that might indicate a child could develop learning disabilities?

Early signs can include delayed speech and language development, difficulties with fine and gross motor skills, trouble following directions, and challenges with early literacy skills like rhyming.

Why is it advised to take a cautious approach when identifying early signs of learning disabilities in children?

A cautious approach is advised because having just one or two signs is not necessarily meaningful and could be indicative of conditions other than learning disabilities.

How can early identification and intervention help children with learning disabilities?

Early identification and intervention can help avoid years of struggle in school and support children as they progress toward graduation.

What are some specific difficulties that might be observed in preschoolers who may have learning disabilities?

Preschoolers may have difficulty remembering the names of letters and numbers, and they might struggle with early literacy skills such as rhyming.

Why is it important for vocabulary to 'stick' for children developing language skills?

Vocabulary retention is important as it indicates that children are effectively learning and internalizing new words, which is a fundamental aspect of language development.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Understanding Learning Disabilities in Children

Andrea Heavener, a pediatric neuropsychologist at the Mayo Clinic Children's Center, discusses the challenges children face in their education. She explains that while some children naturally struggle due to the need for adequate challenge, there is a subset that experiences significant difficulties despite good educational support. These children may be characterized as having learning disabilities or disorders. Heavener emphasizes the importance of early identification and intervention, as well as the availability of effective treatments. She also addresses parental concerns about the impact of learning disabilities on a child's future, highlighting the potential for success with appropriate support.

🔍 Early Signs of Learning Disabilities

Dr. Heavener delves into the early signs that may indicate a child is at risk of developing learning disabilities. She notes that while some signs can be subtle or misinterpreted, a combination of symptoms is more indicative. Delayed speech and language development, difficulties in fine and gross motor skills, and challenges in following directions are among the early indicators. Additionally, issues with early literacy skills such as rhyming and remembering the names of letters and numbers can be red flags. The key is to observe a pattern of these signs rather than focusing on isolated instances, as this can help in early detection and intervention.

Keywords

💡Pediatric Neuropsychologist

A pediatric neuropsychologist is a specialist who focuses on the study and treatment of cognitive and behavioral issues in children. They assess how the brain functions and is affected by various conditions. In the video, Andrea Heavener, a pediatric neuropsychologist, is discussing academic concerns in children, indicating the importance of this role in identifying and addressing learning disabilities.

💡Mayo Clinic Children's Center

The Mayo Clinic Children's Center is a renowned medical facility where Andrea Heavener works. It is an institution that provides comprehensive care for children, emphasizing the setting in which the expert in the video operates and the level of expertise expected from someone associated with such a center.

💡Academic Concerns

Academic concerns refer to difficulties or challenges that children face in their educational pursuits. In the context of the video, these concerns are central to the discussion, as they lead to the exploration of learning disabilities and the need for early identification and intervention.

💡Learning Disability

A learning disability is a neurological condition that affects a person's ability to process information, which can manifest in various ways such as difficulties in reading, writing, or math. The video script discusses this concept to highlight the challenges some children face that are distinct from typical academic struggles.

💡Learning Disorder

A learning disorder is similar to a learning disability and refers to a range of difficulties in acquiring skills that are typically learned by peers of the same age. The script uses this term interchangeably with learning disability, emphasizing the severity of the challenges these children face in their education.

💡Educational Support

Educational support refers to the assistance provided to children to help them succeed academically. In the script, it is mentioned that children with learning disabilities may have good educational support at home but still struggle, indicating the complexity of these conditions.

💡Development

Development in the context of the video refers to the growth and maturation of children's cognitive and physical abilities. The script discusses the importance of challenging children to ensure they are developing appropriately, but also identifies when developmental delays may indicate a learning disability.

💡Early Signs

Early signs are indicators that can suggest the presence of a learning disability. The video script mentions several signs such as delayed speech and language development, which are crucial for parents and educators to recognize in order to provide timely support.

💡Fine and Gross Motor Skills

Fine motor skills involve the use of small muscles for tasks like writing or manipulating small objects, while gross motor skills involve large muscle movements. The script points out that difficulties in these areas can be early indicators of learning disabilities, as they relate to a child's physical coordination and control.

💡Following Directions

The ability to follow directions is crucial for learning and is often tested in educational settings. In the script, difficulty with following directions is mentioned as a potential sign of a learning disability, highlighting the importance of this skill in a child's academic success.

💡Early Literacy Skills

Early literacy skills include foundational abilities like recognizing letters, rhyming, and understanding basic concepts that are precursors to reading. The video script notes that struggles with these skills can be indicative of a learning disability, emphasizing the importance of early intervention.

Highlights

Andrea Heavener introduces herself as a pediatric neuropsychologist at the Mayo Clinic Children's Center.

The discussion focuses on academic concerns in children, particularly those that might be characterized as learning disabilities or disorders.

Most children face educational challenges, which is considered beneficial for their development.

A subset of children struggle more significantly than their peers despite good educational support.

Struggling children are characterized by their efforts and the support they receive but still have difficulty mastering concepts.

Parents often worry about their children's learning problems due to the association with future career and life success.

There are many treatments available today for learning disabilities if identified early.

Early identification and intervention can prevent years of struggle in school.

Parents are advised to look for early signs of learning disabilities in their children.

Early signs can be difficult to spot and should not be overinterpreted from just one or two indicators.

Delayed speech and language development is often associated with later learning disabilities.

Children with potential learning disabilities may have shorter sentence structures and difficulty with vocabulary retention.

Fine and gross motor skill development issues can be a sign of learning disabilities.

Trouble following directions or understanding basic learning concepts may indicate a learning disability.

Preschoolers with learning disabilities might have difficulty remembering the names of letters and numbers.

Early literacy skills like rhyming can be challenging for children with potential learning disabilities.

A combination of developmental signs is more indicative of a learning disability than isolated instances.

Transcripts

my name is Andrea Heavener and I'm a

pediatric neuropsychologist at the Mayo

Clinic Children's Center I'm going to be

talking with you today about academic

concerns and children which sometimes

might be characterized as a learning

disability or learning disorder most

children at some point in their

schooling will have challenges in their

education and in fact this is really the

way we want it to be because we want

kids to be sufficiently challenged

otherwise we're setting the bar too low

for their development but there are also

a subset of children who really struggle

throughout their education at a

different level than their peers and

these are kids who are putting in good

efforts and who have good educational

support at home but who just struggle to

master concepts and to learn new things

and these are the children that we might

characterize as having a learning

disability or a learning disorder

parents are sometimes very dismayed when

their children have learning problems

because we often relate academic

achievement to potential career

opportunities and life success so it can

be troubling when you see your child

struggling fortunately there are lots of

things that we can do to help and we do

live in a day and age where there is

lots of good treatment available if we

can get these children identified early

and get them the help that they need and

often this helps to avoid years of

struggle in school as they move through

toward graduation so parents will often

ask what are the early signs of a

learning

ability and how my I know that my child

would be one who would go on to struggle

to learn so these signs can be difficult

to spot because having just one or two

of them is probably not meaningful or it

can be a sign of some condition other

than a learning disabilities so it's

important to take a measured and

cautious approach when you're thinking

about your young child and how his or

her development is progressing but the

things that we often see associated with

later learning disabilities are things

like delayed speech and language

development so kids who talk later and

even after they do develop language

their sentence structure and the length

of utterances what we call it is much

shorter than other children they also

might have difficulty in they're fine

and gross motor skill development

sometimes children will have trouble

with following directions or just

understanding basic kind of learning

concepts vocabulary that they might have

heard many times just doesn't seem to

stick a little bit older when we're

looking at kids who are preschoolers

these children might have difficulty

remembering the names of letters and

numbers and they also might have

difficulty with doing like early

literacy skills like rhyming well those

are some of the things that we see but

again it really would be a combination

of those skills that would signal the

possible presence of a learning

disability rather than just one or two

of those characters