Understanding Special Needs

In addition to autism and ADHD, Fourth Street School specializes in helping students with many other types of learning differences, including...

Dyslexia?   back to list

Dyslexia is caused by the brain's inability to interpret what it sees or hears into meaningful information. Children with dyslexia may have normal intelligence, but still struggle with reading and writing skills. The dyslexia can go unrecognized because often times the student excels in other subjects such as math. Since reading is a skill that is essential to academic success, being dyslexic can put your child at a great disadvantage. This is why remedial education is so important.

Symptoms that your child may be dyslexic include:
• Trouble sounding out the pronunciation of a new word
• Reading below the normal level for the child
• Problems processing and understanding what he or she hears
• Difficulty comprehending rapid instructions
• Trouble following more than one command at a time
• Problems remembering the sequence of things
• Seeing letters or words in reverse
• Difficulty spelling
• Struggle with seeing and hearing similarities and differences in letters and words

Dysgraphia   back to list

Dysgraphia is a processing disorder that affects a student's ability to write letters and numbers. It becomes evident after children have developed the motor skills for writing but still show difficulty transferring their thoughts to paper, challenges with spelling words, and have poor handwriting.

Symptoms that your child may have dysgraphia include:
• irregular letter sizes and shapes
• pain while writing
• unfinished letters
• struggle to use writing as a communications tool
• odd writing grip
• illegibility
• mixture of upper/lower case letters
• many spelling mistakes
• pain when writing
• decreased or increased speed of writing
• copying
• talks to self while writing
• muscle spasms in the arm and shoulder
• inability to flex or move arm
• inconsistent position on page (margin, etc)

Dyscalculia   back to list

Dyscalculia is a term for a range of learning disabilities that involve mathematics. These math-related learning disabilities present an array of challenges that vary greatly from one student to another. Some students may have trouble remembering basic facts like multiplication tables. Some have a difficult time understanding visual special relationships. Others may struggle to read and write numbers or see them as inverted, similar to dyslexia.

Symptoms that your child may have dyscalculia include:
• Frequent difficulties with arithmetic, confusing the signs
• Problems with reading a clock and telling time
• Difficulty with multiplication, subtraction, addition, and division tables
• Struggles with performing mental arithmetic
• Trouble calculating basic amounts like bills
• Difficulty using calculators or reading a personal schedule
• May do well in subjects such as science and geometry, which require logic rather than formula, as long as a higher level requiring calculations is not required
• Problems differentiating between left and right
• Difficulty navigating or comprehending a map
• Difficulty with measurement
• Often incapable of grasping and remembering mathematical concepts, rules, formulas, and sequences
• Inability to read a sequence of numbers, or transposing them
• Difficulty keeping score during games
• Difficulty with number games
• Inability to concentrate on mentally intensive tasks
• Difficulty remembering names
• May substitute names beginning with same letter

Bipolar Disorder   back to list

Bipolar disorder, commonly referred to as manic-depressive disorder, is a psychological disorder that causes periods of instability and drastic shifts in energy, mood, or activity level. Children with bipolar disorder may experience a long period of feeling extremely happy and then shift to an episode of severe depression.

Symptoms that your child may have bipolar disorder include:
• Bed-wetting (especially in boys)
• Poor Performance at school
• Night terrors
• Rapid or pressured speech
• Separation anxiety
• Rages & explosive temper tantrums (lasting up to several hours)
• Obsessional behavior
• Laziness
• Excessive daydreaming
• Compulsive behavior
• Motor & vocal tics
• Learning disabilities
• Poor short-term memory
• Lack of organization
• Fascination with gore or morbid topics
• Hypersexuality
• Manipulative behavior
• Bossiness
• Lying
• Suicidal thoughts
• Destruction of property
• Paranoia
• Hallucinations & delusions
• Marked irritability
• Oppositional behavior
• Frequent mood swings
• Low self-esteem
• Difficulty getting up in the morning
• Social anxiety
• Oversensitivity to emotional or environmental triggers

Oppositional Defiant Disorder   back to list

Oppositional Defiant Disorder is characterized by a consistent and ongoing pattern of hostile, defiant, and uncooperative behavior toward adults or authority figures. The behavior typically disrupts daily routines and interferes with relationships at school, with peers, and at home.

Symptoms that your child may have oppositional defiant disorder include:
• Anger and resentment
• Temper tantrums
• Academic problems
• Oversensitive and easily annoyed
• Argumentativeness with adults
• Active refusal to respect requests or rules
• Deliberate annoyance of other people
• Blaming others for mistakes or misbehavior
• Spiteful or vindictive behavior
• Aggressiveness toward peers
• Difficulty maintaining friendships
• Constantly in trouble at school