Children with learning disabilities are vastly underidentified in their preschool years. Because LD has been defined and operationalized (discrepancy between ability and achievement) as primarily an academic learning problem and academic instruction typically does not begin until 1st grade, children with mild disabilities who are in preschool programs rarely get identified. The criterion of a significant discrepancy is also problematic. A child in preschool has a very limited time to demonstrate underachievement and has a only a finite amount of possible differential between his or her ability and achievement. The child's disability is usually described according to developmental milestones. Children significantly below age expectations (usually 25% or more below) are considered developmentally delayed. Some of these children are later identified as having a learning disability.
Characteristics of young children that signal that early intervention is warranted:
- excessive motor activity
- problems producing speech sounds
- difficulty with language (receptive or expressive)
- memory or discrimination problems
- cognitive delays
Many children with learning disabilities have a history of early language disorders.
It is during the 2nd through 6th grade that many children with learning disabilities begin to demonstrate the academic difficulties so characteristic of this disability. As the curriculum becomes more complex and relys ever more increasingly on the written word, children begin to show the discrepancy necessary to be identified as having a learning disability. Because the curriculum depends so on reading, the child will start to show progressively grater discrepancies in reading intensive subjects (social studies, language arts, science). Studies have shown that children with learning disabilities are most frequently identified in the 3rd grade. As the discrepancies become more prominent, concurrent social skills and behavioral difficulties emerge.
Most of the adolescents with learning disabilities show severe academic achievement deficits below the 10th percentile on achievement measures of reading, writing, and mathematics (this is less common than the former two subjects). The academic performance of adolescents with learning disabilities, in general, suffers across all academic areas and this child typically underperforms their peers. Academic skill development appears to plateau during the secondary years, usually at about the 10th grade level and many adolescents show severe problems with study skills. Social skill deficits become more pronounced, in particular when accepting negative feedback, giving feedback, negotiating with others, and resisting peer pressure.
This area, unfortunately, has received little attention. From the limited studies that have been conducted, the data indicates that:
- the academic problems evident in school continue into adulthood
- adults with an LD are somewhat more successful in getting a job (50%) than other disability areas (emotional, physical, mental retardation).
- most adults with a learning disability are unemployed or underemployed
- many adults with a learning disability continue to live with relatives or a close friend
- females with an LD tend to do better than males in post secondary school settings
Smith (1988) studied adults with learning disabilities and found:
- adults with an LD reported difficulties with survival skills (e.g., managing money, reading bus schedules) that reflect deficiencies in basic academic area (reading, math)
Chesler's 1982 study shows that adults with learning disabilities have lower scores on measures of career satisfaction and adjustments when compared with age peers.