Do you think this child has a learning disability, if so what?

Question

I watch children in my home. I have a little girl who just turned 4. She has been doing well with songs and stories. However, she can sing her alphabet, and with very very much time she can spell her name out loud and even write it on paper, however she has no recognition of what the letters are. I have told her one million times, this is the letter F, and 2 seconds later (seriously), I will ask and she gets it wrong. At first I just thought she needed time, but after months with nothing, I am worried about her. I have tried every approach to it. The 2 year olds that I keep are passing her by and everyone is getting the same learning. What do you think? All opinions welcome

Answer 1

4 is still very young for letter recognition. Kindergarten readiness requires only that the child be able to recognize their name.  My advice is to take a break from teaching her her letters. Four year old should be focusing on social abilities and interactions. Letter recognition will come in school.  

Answer 2

The only way to diagnose a Learning Disability is by standardized testing. An I.Q. test is given & a battery of appropriate tests.  If there is a 15 point difference (approximately) between the Full Scale I.Q. & the Subscales of an Achievement test, a Learning Disability is diagnosed.

Having said that, I wouldn't be concerned if this (barely) four year old child doesn't know her letters.  Children learn different skills at different paces. I wouldn't insist that she try to learn them just now.   Don't worry about this.  Enjoy your time with her & all the other kids.  

There are lots of cool ideas on this site for teaching preschoolers:

http://www.dltk-teach.com/

Answer 3

It's normal at her age.  I don't think letter recognition is required at this age, but i wouldn't push it.  Pick out maybe 2 letters - T and C and focus on those.  Make it a point to make those "marks" with paint, markers, toys whatever once or twice a day.  Also pointing to the letters on a chart once or twice a day while singing is appropriate.  Again, it's not required, but thank you for working with her.  Keep it playful and encouraging and she should be well prepared for school.  :)

Answer 4

Your child may be too young to recognize the object that you have just shown her. It is my suggestion that you should wait until she grows up and is  she in seven years old. If this persists I would get in contact with someone to diagnosis this problem. I do not think that she has a problem due to the fact she can see numbers, letters. The child may not recall some items but since she can recalls items confirms to me that she does not have a problems. I have taught students who were mentally retarded. These student would have not have any recall, speak etc. Be thankful that your child can do what she does at her age. I hope this helps you out.

Answer 5

I don't think there is a learning disability here!

At 4 letter recognition is not something that needs to pushed. Children aer not always ready at this age for letters or phonics. Children's cognitive skills develop at different rates and so what one child will learn at one age wont be the same for another. Also if she feels you are pressuring her then she will be less inclined to remember as she may feel too anxious and that she is being tested. Some children make themself fail because of the pressure-they think its easier just to make themself fail that way it saves them the embarassment of failing because they genuinely dont know!

Also teaching her the captial letters is not going to help her literacy skills as phonics(what most education setting use to teach ready) is in small letters a,b,c not A,B,C! Capital letters are the 'name'' of the letter and not the sound! Does her name begin with an F sound ('ef') or 'f' (like in f-ish, f-oot) as you could be confusing her.

Encourage social skills, a laugh of letters such as reading, looking at stories and rhyme books etc and teach her play skills...these will really help her!