A child with learning disabilities becomes an adult with learning disabilities. However, with early and adequate identification, together with remediation, a child can learn to cope and to succeed. Such a child can grow up to be a fully independent adult, enjoying social, academic and career success. Given the right types of educational experiences, people have a remarkable ability to learn. Adults have a wealth of life experiences to build on as they learn, and often determination that many children don't have.
Parents are usually the first to notice obvious delays in their child reaching early milestones.
The pediatrician may also observe certain delays. But, the classroom teacher may be the first to notice the child's difficulties in reading writing or arithmetic. Learning disabilities may be informally flagged by observing significant delays in the child's skill development. A two-year delay in the elementary grades is usually considered significant. Actual diagnosis of learning disabilities is made using standardized tests that compare the child's level of ability to what is considered normal development for a person of that age and intelligence.