Page 16 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • April 3, 2013 When a child heads off to school, parents hope that child will have every opportunity to succeed and realize his or her full academic potential. Some students, however, could unknowingly begin school without a level playing field. According to the Data Accountability Center, 43 percent of the nearly 2.5 million students currently receiving special education services have been identified as having learning disabilities. Parents should know these are just the children who have been diagnosed. Many more kids struggle in school every day, and those struggles could result from an undiagnosed learning disability. Part of the problem with recognizing learning disabilities is that they are not one-size-fits-all. Children with learning disabilities do not fit a single profile. Much like there are many different learning disabilities, there are many different ways a child can respond to one. However, the National Center for Learning Disabilities notes the following signs could be indicative of a learning disability and parents of children who show any of the following symptoms should seek help. • Poor organizational skills • Spelling the same word differently in a single document • Weak memory skills • Reluctance to take on reading or writing tasks • Trouble with open-ended questions on tests • Slow work pace • Difficulty filling out applications or How to recognize a child’s learning disability forms • Easily confused by instructions Often, exhibiting any of the above symptoms is not necessarily the sign of a learning disability. However, when the symptoms mentioned occur repeatedly, parents should take note. If parents suspect their child has a learning disability, a professional consultation should be scheduled. While a learning disability should be a cause for concern, parents should know plenty of successful people have been diagnosed with learning disabilities but still learned to live with them and experience success in the classroom and beyond. The United States Department of Education notes that 25 percent of students with a learning disability drop out of high school. By comparison, only 9.4 percent of students in the general population drop out of high school. When a learning disability goes untreated, or students and parents do not put maximum effort into managing and overcoming a disability, the chances that the disability will negatively affect the student later in life increase. Poor organizational skills and limited literacy skills could result in low job satisfaction, which can make it difficult for adults with learning disabilities to keep a job. Parents who are concerned that their children might have a learning disability can learn more by visiting the National Center for Learning Disabilities at www. ncld.org.