Expressive Language (writing, spelling, including handwriting skills)
The learner:
- Experiences problems with grammar and syntax
- Reverses letters in spelling, e.g., Friday becomes Firday, girl becomes gril
- Writes letters or numbers backwards or upside down, e.g., b for d, p for q, u for n, m for w
- Mixes capital and lower case letters inappropriately, e.g., SunDay, MoNey
- Spells words differently in the same document
- Has poor handwriting and inconsistent letter formation
- Has weak visual memory for spelling
- Commonly makes punctuation errors
- Spells phonetically, cannot remember spelling patterns, e.g., Munday, Toosday, Winsday, Thirsday
- Continuously whispers to self while writing
- Has inconsistent memory for sentence mechanics
- Has poorly organized writing
Math:
The learner:
- Has trouble remembering math facts and procedures
- Cannot remember in which direction to work in carrying out simple math
- Demonstrates inconsistent mastery of ma th facts (addition/subtraction, multiplication/division) due to problems with long-term memory
- Confuses similar numbers or transposes numbers
- Reads numbers backwards, e.g., 18 for 81, 21 for 12
- Has difficulty copying numbers and working with numbers in columns
- Has trouble following sequential procedures and directions with multiple steps
- Has trouble with left/right orientation
The pattern of errors is the key to determining the difference
between a person who has potential learning disabilities and a
person whose low achievement is a result of other factors.