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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
Learning disability vs. emotional problem
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
Learning disability vs. emotional problem
by Silent all these years, Apr 07, 2000 12:00AM
My nine year old daughter started out in kindergarten laying down at the back of the room and sucking her thumb. She eventually was evaluated by the childfind program and was labeled as emotionally impaired and receives resource room help. She has a very high vocabulary and general knowledge but is slower with reading and anything she has to write down takes forever. It is a nightmare getting her to do homework. She also doesn't get along with kids her age and acts immature.
My 7 year old daughter is pleasant and very popular in her class. She has never acted out at school or done any of the behaviors like her older sister did. However, she is falling behind in second grade. They screened her for childfind and said her vocab. is 124, composite IQ 114, but most of her academic type scores were below the 50th percentile. She is about the slowest in class to get anything done and is really struggling with reading and math. The school psych says it must be emotional in nature. Her dad and I divorced when she was only 2 so she doesn't remember too much about it like her older sister does. So here is the question: both girls are having similar academic problems despite very different personalities. Their testing profiles were very similar: High vocabularies and auditory learning but writing and reading are very difficult for them. Does this sound like a learning disability or is it emotional or both? The teacher thinks I should get a private evaluation of the younger girl because the school psych says she is in the average range and doesn't qualify for help, despite the superior vocabulary score and the 114 composite score.
My 7 year old daughter is pleasant and very popular in her class. She has never acted out at school or done any of the behaviors like her older sister did. However, she is falling behind in second grade. They screened her for childfind and said her vocab. is 124, composite IQ 114, but most of her academic type scores were below the 50th percentile. She is about the slowest in class to get anything done and is really struggling with reading and math. The school psych says it must be emotional in nature. Her dad and I divorced when she was only 2 so she doesn't remember too much about it like her older sister does. So here is the question: both girls are having similar academic problems despite very different personalities. Their testing profiles were very similar: High vocabularies and auditory learning but writing and reading are very difficult for them. Does this sound like a learning disability or is it emotional or both? The teacher thinks I should get a private evaluation of the younger girl because the school psych says she is in the average range and doesn't qualify for help, despite the superior vocabulary score and the 114 composite score.
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Apr 07, 2000 12:00AM
, Apr 07, 2000 12:00AM
Dear JB,
It sounds likely that both emotional and learning problems are evident, particularly with your older daughter. It's not at all uncommon for children with learning disabilities to display average or even high native intelligence, as measured by intelligence testing, while they struggle in school and don't learn at a pace you'd expect to see in the face of high intelligence. I certainly wouldn't assume that your younger daughter's difficulties are due to emotional factors, without ruling out learning disability. LD screening is the only definitive way to evaluate for this.
It sounds likely that both emotional and learning problems are evident, particularly with your older daughter. It's not at all uncommon for children with learning disabilities to display average or even high native intelligence, as measured by intelligence testing, while they struggle in school and don't learn at a pace you'd expect to see in the face of high intelligence. I certainly wouldn't assume that your younger daughter's difficulties are due to emotional factors, without ruling out learning disability. LD screening is the only definitive way to evaluate for this.
Member Comments (2)
by Kathy, Apr 30, 2000 12:00AM
How do you get the parent of a child to seek help when you know there is definitely something abnormal about a childs behavior. Many of the situations described throughout this site describe the behavior of a 10 year old boy. We know he has been neglected for most of his life and although he is seeing a Christian counselor, that isn't helping. He still lies steals, is forgetful, very disorganized, has a problem with following directions or instructions, must constantly be reminded about the same thing, has poor hygiene, is unable to get along with kids his age (both at school and in the neighborhood), rocks (he's had this habit ever since his father can remember) and continues to rock (side to side and back and forth), plays with stuffed animals (and talks to them), hides things, sneaks around very suspiciously, will continue to do something that he is asked not to do (almost as if he's hoping to anger that person) and was failing almost every subject in school. Can someone give some hope for the future? His father is still in denial and feels that time will improve his behavior. I see that time will only intensify the behavior. I know he needs to have his behavior analyzed, the other part of the problem behavior is his father, who is taking the path of least resistence...ignore the problem and continue to see the counselor, even though he knows it isn't helping. I've spoken with many professionals, experts and what it seems like is that he has been neglected and is now having difficulty growing up. Others have commented on his behavior as well, asking if there is something wrong with him. Even the older kids in the neighborhood had asked if he was "retarded". He has had detention in school, suspended once, his FORMER babysitter asked that he get counseling (which is why he is finally in counseling) and the FORMER sitter asked that she not have to watch him anymore. When disciplined, he continues to repeat his behavior which he was originally disciplined for, almost as if he enjoys getting into trouble. He just came to live with us (almost a year now) and although he has started listening a litte more to his father (only because he's afraid of his father), his behavior is unchanged. As soon as his father isn't in hearing range, his behavior is odd once again. His father isn't good at following through with what the counselor has suggested and that has made it even more difficult to improve the odd and disruptive behavior. His father comes from a family with low morals and values and the boys mother had left him in the care of others (babysitters, her family). He didn't talk or crawl at age one and his father thought he was retarded at the time. Could neglect have caused this many problems in a childs behavior? At age 10, how much hope is there for improvement if his father is going to take the path of least resistence and do nothing more than continue to see a counselor who is doing nothing to improve his son's behavior? It's exhausting to watch his behavior because he knows he is getting away with so much. His father knows there are definite problems, he admits that, but that's about it.
