It’s possible that some children who have special needs may not come to the attention of parents or teachers in primary school. As anyone who has gone to school knows, the demands of the curriculum get greater and greater with each passing year.  In secondary school, the curriculum subjects become more and more difficult each year. The fact that a student is being educated by several different teachers each year also complicates matters.
 
There are  students who have had no problems at primary school who suddenly have a lot of difficulties in secondary school. Unfortunately, the reality is they are often perceived as “lazy” or “unmotivated” and sometimes as “difficult” students.
 
If these negative labels stick, the reality is that a student can become trapped in a cycle of failure and rejection by teachers which could result in the students leaving school early, behavioural difficulties, lowered self-esteem, loss of self-confidence and trouble at home. It is important to realise that some students, no matter how well they performed in primary school may have a special education need and it’s important to be aware of the warning signs.
 
What are the warning signs?
 
It’s not possible to provide a definitive list of warning signs of hidden disabilities. Generally speaking, notice should be taken any time a student who has a previously successful record in primary school begins to display difficulties in secondary school. There are a wide range of causes for school failure at second level, but a hidden disability can be reasonably suspected when one or more of the following becomes apparent:
  • Memory problems
  • Organisational difficulties
  • Refusal to go to school
  • Problems with written language expression
  • Difficulty organising thoughts into speech
  •  Inability to recall facts from yesterday’s lesson even if they seemed to retain them the night before
  • Unusual spelling problems
  • Unusual difficulty with more advanced mathematical problems
  • Pronounced difficulty in foreign language class
  • Behavioural difficulties not present in primary school
  • Mood swings or sudden mood changes that last several hours
  • Reluctance to engage with parents about school difficulties

 

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