Does my child have a learning disability?

By BRIGITTE ROZARIO

How do you know if your child is just developing slower than other children or if he genuinely have a learning disability?

Going to a general practitioner at the neighbourhood clinic might not help. As the GP is not trained to spot learning disabilities, he or she might just brush it off and tell you not to worry.
Should you be worried though?

 

Teh Beng Choon

 Teh Beng Choon, chairman of the National Autism Society of Malaysia, says:

“I am a parent and my son has autism and that's what I went through. At the age of three my son didn't talk. I sent him to a general practitioner who was our family doctor and he just said don't worry, perhaps he is a bit slow. I don't blame him; he has not had a specialist training on identifying autism.

“If we had waited we would not have gone any further. I was not happy with the answer so I registered for assessment at a government hospital. I didn't get an appointment until half a year later. That is the situation in our country.

“We went through four observations before it was confirmed that my son is autistic.”

One thing that parents can look out for is the milestones – what they can expect their child to do at the age of one, two, three ….

Teh explains that if a child is not developing as they should that's when the alam bells should start ringing for parents and you should start looking for signs as early as 18 months.

Assessment is the first step

Parents acceptance is very important, says Adeline Chan, charter president of Kiwanis Club of Pantai Kuala Lumpur. She says that is the first step and from there you can proceed to the second step of getting your child assessed by a doctor and then the third step where you get help for your child. But the most important is to take that first step, she says.