How early should I look for signs of a learning disability?

You can look for early warning signs, such as speech delays or trouble with rhyming, as early as preschool (ages 3-5). The more 'classic' academic symptoms of dyslexia or dyscalculia often become more apparent once a child starts formal schooling in Grades 1 and 2. Early identification is key.

Can behavioural issues like anger or withdrawal be symptoms of a learning disability?

Absolutely. Behavioural issues are often a secondary symptom. When a bright child consistently struggles and fails at tasks their peers find easy, it leads to immense frustration, low self-esteem, anxiety, and avoidance behaviours. Addressing the root learning challenge is often the most effective way to improve behaviour.

What makes Cadabam’s learning disability assessment different from a school evaluation?

School evaluations are often designed to determine eligibility for special education services within the school system. Our clinical, psycho-educational assessment is far more comprehensive. We provide a definitive medical and psychological diagnosis, analyse underlying cognitive and sensory processes, and create a detailed therapeutic roadmap that extends beyond the classroom.

My child has been diagnosed with dyslexia. What is the next step?

The next step is to begin targeted intervention. At Cadabam's, this involves creating an Individualized Education Program (IEP) with a special educator and may include supplementary therapies like speech or occupational therapy, depending on your child's specific profile. The goal is to build skills, develop compensatory strategies, and restore confidence.

Does Cadabam’s offer online therapy or consultation for learning disabilities?

Yes, we offer a robust tele-health platform for many of our services, including initial consultations, parent coaching, and certain types of speech and behavioural therapy. This allows families from all over to access our expertise.

How do you involve parents in the treatment process?

Parents are central to our approach. We involve you in the initial goal-setting, provide regular progress updates, and conduct dedicated parent training sessions to equip you with the skills to support your child's learning and emotional well-being at home.

An Expert Guide to Learning Disabilities Symptoms in Kids at Cadabam’s

Learning disabilities symptoms in kids are a consistent pattern of unexpected difficulties in core academic skills like reading, writing, spelling, or math, despite the child possessing average or above-average intelligence. These signs point to a fundamental difference in how the brain receives, processes, and communicates information—a concept known as neurodiversity. It is crucial for parents to understand that these challenges are not a reflection of a child's motivation, effort, or intelligence.

At Cadabam’s Child Development Center, we bring over 30 years of experience in providing evidence-based care to accurately identify these symptoms and support your child's unique learning journey with compassion and expertise.

From Concern to Clarity: Why Trust Cadabam’s with Your Child’s Development

Recognizing potential symptoms is the first step; choosing the right partner for assessment and support is the most critical one. At Cadabam’s, we offer a pathway from parental concern to diagnostic clarity and effective intervention, ensuring your child receives the best possible care.

A Multidisciplinary Team for Accurate Diagnosis

The symptoms of learning disabilities can often overlap with other conditions such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or a general developmental delay. Misdiagnosis can lead to ineffective strategies and prolonged frustration. Our integrated, multidisciplinary team—comprising child psychologists, special educators, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists—collaborates on every case. This team-based approach ensures a holistic and accurate diagnosis by carefully considering and ruling out all other possibilities.

State-of-the-Art Assessment Infrastructure

We don’t believe in guesswork. Our diagnostic process is built on a foundation of standardized, globally recognized assessment tools. We conduct comprehensive evaluations that measure not only academic achievement but also cognitive abilities, sensory processing, language skills, and behavioural patterns. This deep-dive analysis allows us to create a complete profile of your child's strengths and challenges.

Building a Bridge from Therapy-to-Home

Our support system extends far beyond the walls of our centre. A diagnosis is not the end of the journey but the beginning of a structured, supportive plan. We are dedicated to creating a seamless transition from therapy to home, empowering you—the parent—with practical strategies and tools to reinforce learning, manage daily challenges, and strengthen your parent-child bonding through a shared understanding.

Decoding the Signs: A Comprehensive Guide to Learning Disability Symptoms

Understanding what to look for is vital for early intervention. Symptoms can vary significantly by age and the specific type of learning disability. Here is a detailed breakdown.

What are the early signs of learning disabilities? (Preschool & Early Elementary)

In the very early years, the signs are often subtle and related to developmental milestones.

Language & Speech Delays:

Late to start talking compared to peers.
Persistent "baby talk" or mispronunciation of words.
Difficulty learning and remembering new vocabulary.
Trouble with rhyming words, a key pre-reading skill.

Motor Skill Challenges:

General clumsiness or poor coordination.
Difficulty with fine motor tasks like using buttons, zipping up a jacket, or holding a crayon correctly.
Struggles to learn how to tie shoelaces long after peers have mastered it. (Our pediatric therapy team specializes in this).

Pre-Reading Difficulties:

Trouble recognizing the letters in their own name.
Inability to match letters to the sounds they make.
Lack of interest in being read to or looking at books.

Common symptoms of dyslexia in children (Reading Disability)

Dyslexia is the most common learning disability and primarily affects reading and related language-based processing skills.

Decoding & Phonological Awareness:

Difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words.
Confuses letters that look similar (e.g., 'b' and 'd') or sound similar (e.g., 'f' and 'v').
Struggles to recognize common sight words.
Makes frequent errors when reading aloud, such as skipping words or reading them in the wrong order.

Reading Fluency & Comprehension:

Reads very slowly and in a choppy, halting manner.
Visibly avoids reading aloud in class or at home.
Cannot recall or summarize the details from a passage they just read, even if they read it correctly.

Signs of dyscalculia in elementary students (Math Disability)

Dyscalculia involves a persistent difficulty with numbers and mathematical concepts.

Number Sense:

Trouble grasping the concept of quantity, often being unable to tell which of two numbers is larger.
Relies on finger counting long after peers have stopped.
Difficulty connecting a number symbol (5) to the word ("five") and the quantity it represents.

Mathematical Reasoning:

Struggles to understand and solve word problems.
Difficulty understanding concepts of time, money, and measurement.
Fails to grasp mathematical logic, such as the concepts of 'greater than' or 'less than'.

Memory for Math Facts:

Inability to memorize basic arithmetic facts like addition pairs or multiplication tables.
Forgets mathematical procedures and steps shortly after learning them.

Symptoms of a writing disability in kids (Dysgraphia)

Dysgraphia affects a child's ability to produce written language, which can involve both physical writing and expressing thoughts on paper.

The Physical Act of Writing:

Extremely messy, illegible, or inconsistent handwriting.
Holds a pencil or pen with an awkward, tight grip.
Complains that their hand gets tired quickly during writing tasks.
Mixes print and cursive letters or uses inconsistent sizing and spacing.

Expressing Ideas in Writing:

Difficulty organizing and sequencing thoughts on paper.
Writes sentences with significant grammatical errors, poor punctuation, and incorrect spelling.
A noticeable gap between the creative stories they can tell and the simple, brief sentences they write.

The Overlooked Clues: Behavioral signs of learning disabilities in children

Often, the most visible symptoms are emotional and behavioral, stemming from the frustration of academic struggle.

Frustration and Low Self-Esteem:

Gets disproportionately angry or upset when faced with homework or school tasks.
Makes self-deprecating comments like, "I'm stupid," or "I can't do anything right."
Avoids challenging tasks and gives up easily.

Avoidance and Acting Out:

Becomes the "class clown" or acts disruptive to distract from a task they find difficult.
Frequently complains of headaches, stomach aches, or feeling unwell to get out of school or homework.

Attention and Organization Issues:

Appears disorganized or forgetful, frequently losing homework, books, or personal items.
Has difficulty following multi-step directions.
Struggles to focus on academic tasks (Note: It is vital to seek a professional evaluation to differentiate these signs from ADHD, as the treatment approaches differ).

The Journey to Understanding: Our Early Identification & Assessment Process

Our structured assessment process is designed to be thorough, transparent, and family-centered.

Step 1: Initial Consultation & Developmental Screening

Your journey with us begins with an in-depth consultation where you can share your concerns in a supportive environment. Our experts listen carefully to your observations and conduct initial developmental screenings to understand the scope and nature of the challenges your child is facing.

Step 2: Comprehensive Psycho-educational Evaluation

This is the core of our diagnostic process. We utilize a battery of scientifically validated tests to gain a complete picture. This may include IQ assessments to confirm that intelligence is not the issue, academic achievement tests to pinpoint specific skill deficits, and specialized tests to evaluate underlying processing abilities like visual and auditory processing, memory, and sensory integration.

Step 3: Collaborative Diagnosis and Goal Setting

After the evaluation, our multidisciplinary team convenes to analyze the results and form a clear, definitive diagnosis. We then meet with you and your family to explain our findings in easy-to-understand terms. This is a collaborative session where we work together to set realistic, empowering, and measurable goals for your child’s therapy and academic journey.

Unlocking Potential: Our Tailored Therapy & Support Programs

A diagnosis is the key that unlocks the door to targeted support. Our therapy programs are customized to address your child’s specific learning profile.

Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) & Special Education

At the heart of our intervention is the creation of a truly Individualized Education Program (IEP). Our special educators use evidence-based, multi-sensory teaching methods to work one-on-one or in small groups with your child, focusing on their specific areas of difficulty. This is the core of effective learning assistance.

Targeted OPD-Based Therapies

We offer a range of outpatient therapies that work in synergy to support your child’s development:

Speech Therapy: To build phonological awareness, address language comprehension deficits common in dyslexia, and improve overall communication skills.
Occupational Therapy: To improve fine motor skills for dysgraphia, enhance visual-motor coordination, and address underlying sensory processing issues that can impact focus and learning.
Behavioral Therapy: Using techniques like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), we help children manage the frustration and anxiety associated with their learning struggles, building resilience and positive coping strategies.

Parent Coaching and Home-Based Support

We believe parents are the most important therapists in a child's life. Our parent coaching programs, available both in-person and via tele-therapy, equip you with the knowledge and skills to manage homework stress, reinforce therapeutic strategies at home, and become a confident, effective advocate for your child at school.

The Team Behind Your Child’s Success

Our greatest asset is our team of dedicated and highly qualified professionals.

Our Special Educators

These are the architects of your child's learning plan, skilled in breaking down complex academic concepts into manageable, understandable steps.

Our Child Psychologists

They lead the diagnostic process and provide crucial support for the emotional and behavioral challenges that often accompany learning disabilities.

Our Occupational & Speech-Language Therapists

These therapists address the foundational skills—from motor control to language processing—that are essential for successful learning.

Expert Quote

"We don't just see a diagnosis; we identify a child's unique learning profile. For us, dyslexia isn't a deficit; it's a different way of thinking. Our job is to provide the right keys to unlock their innate intelligence." – Lead Special Educator at Cadabam’s CDC.

Expert Quote

"Often, the frustration you see at home is a direct symptom of the struggle they face in the classroom. By addressing the root learning challenge through targeted therapy, we almost always see a significant improvement in a child's behavior and self-esteem." – Child Psychologist at Cadabam’s CDC.

Real Stories, Real Progress: Our Impact

These anonymized case studies illustrate the transformative power of accurate diagnosis and tailored intervention.

Case Study 1: Rohan’s Journey with Dyslexia

Symptoms: Rohan (8) consistently avoided reading, had messy handwriting far below his grade level, and experienced intense emotional outbursts during homework time.
Our Process: A comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation at Cadabam's identified severe dyslexia and underlying challenges with fine motor skills.
Outcome: After six months of a customized IEP focusing on multi-sensory reading techniques and weekly Occupational Therapy, Rohan's reading level improved by two full grades. More importantly, he began to voluntarily pick up comic books at home, a milestone his parents never thought possible.

Case Study 2: Priya's Breakthrough with Dyscalculia

Symptoms: Priya (9) experienced severe anxiety during math class, was unable to remember multiplication facts, and struggled with real-world concepts like telling time and handling money.
Our Process: Our assessment confirmed dyscalculia. Her therapy program focused on using physical manipulatives to build number sense and game-based activities to make learning math facts fun.
Outcome: Priya’s math anxiety significantly reduced. She gained the confidence to complete her math homework independently and developed the functional math skills needed for daily life, successfully using money to buy an item from a store for the first time.