The Learning Center Foundation

Unexpected underachievement happens when a student’s intelligence, health and opportunities do not jive with what his performance is turning out to be in school. There is a disconnect; high intelligence alongside low grades. Development of basic skills is crucial and when students fall behind in these, parents should pay attention. The longer a child lags behind in acquiring the basic skills, the more they will struggle and the more pronounced their deficits will be. Many parents worry about the right time to get help fearing creating trouble by attending to a problem that may not exist. Rule of thumb is parents need to ask for help as soon as their child falls behind in any basic subject. If extra assistance does not catch their child up, then we advise a learning disabilities evaluation as a next step.

Many parents are only concerned when a child is failing to master the basic skills which we have reinforced here. But you’ll remember that we explained learning disabilities as discrepancies between academic performance and actual intellectual ability. That can also mean that a child can be of superior intelligence but making average grades. Hence, average school performance should sound an alert when a kid is doing very advanced work in other academic areas. Average work should also be evaluated when it takes an inordinate amount of time to accomplish it.

There are expected junctures along the path of every child’s educational journey where most students meet with temporary set backs as the work load increases and the demands on their intellect expand. A child whom is not struggling with a learning disability will recover and move on from these intermittent set backs in a timely manner. If your child does not assimilate the new demands on his learning and catch up within one school year, you should have them evaluated as soon as possible.

Contact The Learning Center to Determine if Your Child Has Learning Disabilities