It is very common for anxious parents to wonder if some of their child's more unusual habits or interests are just little idiosyncrasies that the child will "grow out of," or a symptom of a more serious problem.  Because many of the early signs of communication and learning disorders are recognizable in children as young as 12-months old, it helps to know what behavior may, in fact, indicate a problem.

Parents are the expert on their child and are often the first to recognize areas of concern or potential problems .  To be vigilant, it is recommended that parents familiarize themselves with typical developmental milestones to monitor their child’s progress.  If their child is consistently lagging behind or missing certain skills, it would be wise to discuss these concerns with a child development professional.

The following behaviors or lack of skills may indicate that your child is experiencing difficulties and is at-risk of having learning or communication difficulties:

Infancy and Toddler

​Dislikes being cuddled
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Irregular sleep patterns

Infrequent eye-contact

Not smiling in response to others smiles

No warm, joyful expressions

Unresponsive to sensory stimuli (e.g, sound, lights)

Decreased activity level

Extreme irritability

Tendency to fixate on objects rather than people

No babbling

Delayed language development

Uses few gestures (e.g., pointing, waving, showing, etc.)

Does not imitate others behaviors

Does not engage in back-and-forth exchanges during interactions

Uses few exclamations (e.g., “uh-oh”)

Proneness to accidents

​Pre-School

​Articulation/pronunciation problems
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Slow expansion in vocabulary…Has difficulty finding words to express self

Difficulty with rhyming words

Difficulty learning ABC’s, numbers, days of the week, colors, or shapes

Is easily distracted

Difficulty interacting with other children

Difficulty following directions or routines

Extreme restlessness

Difficulty holding small objects or picking objects up with fingers

Proneness to accidents

Unresponsive to traditional disciplinary strategies

Temper tantrums

Extreme mood swings

Aggressive behavior

Destruction of toys or other property, not necessarily maliciously

​Elementary

Poor coordination, unaware of physical surroundings, prone to accidents
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Short attention span

Is easily distracted

Difficulty sustaining and making friends

Difficulty sustaining topics during conversation

Excessively silly behavior

Does not appear to know when to stop certain behaviors during interactions

Decline in self-esteem

Inability to organize self and schoolwork

Excessive talking

Forgetting homework and chores

Failing to complete activities

Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in chair

Temper tantrums

Interrupts others

Difficulty waiting for turn in activities/games

Difficulty learning the connection between sounds and letters

Confuses basic words (run,eat, want)

Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including letter reversals (b/d), inversions (m/w), transpositions (felt/left), and substitutions (house/home)

Transposes number sequences and confuses arithmetic signs (+, -, x, /, =)

Slow to remember facts

Slow to learn new skills, relies heavily on memorization

Impulsive, has difficulty planning

Unstable pencil grip

Trouble learning about time

​Adolescence to Adulthood

Difficulty making friends
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Trouble understanding body language and facial expressions

Difficulty adjusting to new settings

Either pays too little attention to details or focuses on them too much

Works slowly

Decline in self-esteem

Depression

Substance abuse

Sexual acting out

Thoughts of suicide

Engages in thrill seeking behavior

Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing

Avoids reading and writing tasks

Has difficulty summarizing

Trouble with open-ended questions on tests

Weak memory skills

Poor grasp of abstract concepts

Misreads information

Reverses letter sequences (soiled/solid, left/felt)

Slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other spelling strategies

Avoids reading aloud

Trouble with word problems

Difficulty with handwriting

Awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip

Avoids writing assignments

Slow or poor recall of facts

Truancy

Caution: Some of these characteristics or behaviors are common in children who are developing normally, the key for concern is when these behaviors occur frequently impacting the child's ability to engage in everyday activities. 

If you have a concern, proceed to the Parent Road Map.