A learning disabled student is one who:

seems very bright but makes silly or stupid mistakes.

 

does very well in one skill and quite poorly in another (the verbally-skilled student who can barely read or write).

 

excels in a subject area outside of the English classroom, as in art or music or computers, or even an academic area where ideas, not grammar, are graded.

 

does well on one assignment but poorly on the next, or more startlingly, shows INCONSISTENCY from line to line; spells a word correctly at the top, then three other ways on the rest of the page; writes several beautiful sentences, then degenerates into grammarless nonsense.

 

relies heavily on other classmates or on you to explain what was said, or what written directions mean.

 

writes down everything, but still gets assignments wrong or doesn’t do them sometimes.

 

is often, but not always, inappropriate or immature in behavior in class.

 

is a classic "taperer off;" starts the semester with a bang, bright-eyes and bushy-tailed, then starts getting lots wrong on homework (although homework is always complete), poor grades on quizzes, or starts missing homework or getting it in later and later, starts missing classes and eventually misses the midterm and disappears.

 

writes all to one side of the paper, or always fills up lines without margins; puts name and information in the wrong places despite repeated instructions.

 

may do all or some of these things, but most especially does NOT MAKE PROGRESS. S/he tries very, very hard, but never learns to spell, to write better, to read faster, to learn the tenses and word forms, to find the main idea or to make inferences, no matter what.

 

In other words, this student is frustrated and very frustrating.

 

Highly irregular performance of this sort should alert you to look closer.