Symptom Tests

Learning Disability Symptom Test for Children

As many as half of all children with ADHD also have a learning disability (LD). Find out more about the symptoms in the self-test below.

By ADDitude Editors Verified Medically reviewed by ADDitude’s ADHD Medical Review Panel Updated on September 27, 2022
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If your child continues to struggle academically even after treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), he or she may be among the 30 to 50 percent of individuals with ADHD who also have a learning disability (LD). The symptoms in this self-test relate primarily to elementary school, which is when LD is most often identified. Complete this test and take the results to an education professional for evaluation.

This self-test is designed to determine whether your child shows symptoms similar to those with learning disabilities, but it is not a diagnostic tool. A trained educational psychologist can make a diagnosis of learning disabilities through clinical evaluation. This self-test is for personal use only.

From the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.

Does your child make mistakes when reading aloud, and/or repeat and pause? 

Does your child mispronounce words or use an incorrect word that sounds similar?

Does your child have trouble telling time or conceptualizing the passage of time?

Does your child have very messy handwriting or does he hold a pencil awkwardly?

Does your child have difficulty knowing where to begin a task and/or how to proceed from there?

Does your child have trouble organizing what he or she wants to say or thinking of the word he or she needs when writing or in conversation?

Does your child confuse math symbols and misread numbers?

Did your child learn language late and/or have a limited vocabulary?

Did your child have trouble learning the alphabet, rhyming words, or connecting letters to their sounds?

Does or did your child have trouble with buttons, hooks, snaps, and zippers? Or with learning to tie his or her shoes?

Does your child have a hard time understanding what he or she reads?

Does your child have trouble understanding humor, puns, comic strips, idioms, and sarcasm?

Does your child appear awkward or clumsy, dropping, spilling, or knocking things over a lot?

Does your child ignore the social rules of conversations, such as taking turns or standing a comfortable distance from his or her conversation partner?

Does your child have trouble retelling a story in order (what happened first, second, third)?

Does your child struggle to express ideas in writing?

Does your child have difficulty understanding instructions or following directions?

Does your child have real trouble with spelling, remembering the sounds that letters make, or hearing slight differences between words?


(Optional) Would you like to receive your learning disability symptom test results — plus more helpful resources — via email from ADDitude?