Question: My 11-year-old’s teacher recently called and said that she suspects my son has a learning disability. None of his previous teachers has ever said anything, and he’s done adequately in school so far. Is it possible for learning disabilities to suddenly pop up this late in middle school?
Answer: It is absolutely possible for learning disabilities to first be suspected and/or diagnosed during the tween years. In fact, in rare cases learning disabilities may not be caught until as late as the college years or even beyond. A diagnosis after childhood does not mean that the learning disability suddenly “appeared.” It simply means that the individual was able to cope with the disability up until the point that it became an obvious obstacle. In other words, the more severe a learning disability is, the earlier it is usually caught. Severe cases create difficulties with even the mildly-challenging tasks of early schooling, making early diagnosis more likely.
Many tweens face initial diagnoses of learning disabilities. The average age for diagnosis of learning disabilities in reading and writing is about 7 years of age. Math disorders are usually diagnosed a bit later, averaging around 8 years of age. This slight age difference probably occurs because challenging math problems are presented to children slightly later than reading and writing challenges are.
Your son may have been able to compensate for any learning issues up until now. The tasks of this school year, however, may have caused a difference to appear between his intellectual capability and his academic performance. This is why his teacher probably suspects a learning disability.
That said, a full assessment by a school mental health professional is necessary to determine whether your son actually has a learning disorder. He may instead be dealing with a passing developmental issue – such as a social or emotional difficulty, or problems adjusting to a new school year – that is causing him to perform poorly in class. Your school's mental health professional is in the best position to make a judgment about your son’s case and to recommend future action.
Source:
Phares, PhD, Vicky. Understanding Abnormal Child Psychology, Second Edition. 2008. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.