Last modified on 15 July 2025
THE learning disabilities are specific neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) affecting language and learning. First, it is important to remember that a diagnosis can only be made by a qualified healthcare professional, after ruling out all other possibilities (trauma, injury, psychiatric condition, intellectual or sensory impairment, etc.).
We offer some suggestions here for identifying them, but this is in no way a substitute for a professional diagnosis.1. The law on disability and education of February 11, 2005, brought dyslexia into the realm of cognitive disability. Children recognized as having a learning disability now benefit from school accommodations and support from professionals.
Did you say DYS?
Learning disabilities (DYS): neurodevelopmental disorders
Therefore, they are grouped under the heading » learning disabilities »These neurobiological disorders are developmental. They appear during childhood development and/or early learning, and often persist into adulthood. Some of these disorders affect early learning (gestures, language, sociability), while others affect academic learning such as written language, arithmetic, etc. They are often called "specific language and learning disorders" (TSLA).
The main learning disabilities
Dyslexia : disorder(s) of "reading", of the acquisition of reading;
Signs to look out for : very slow, not very fluent reading, difficulty in breaking down syllables and words in a sentence.
Dysorthography : disorder(s) of "knowing how to spell words correctly" (in writing), of the acquisition and production of spelling.
Signs to look out for : slowness and fatigue in writing, the child transcribes "phonetically" what he hears and confuses letters.
Dysphasia Dysphasia is a disorder affecting the ability to "speak and/or understand what is said." It should not be confused with a language delay, which can be overcome. Unfortunately, dysphasia often resists both time and treatment.
Signs to look out for : unintelligible and disorganized language, limited vocabulary, difficulty understanding simple sentences.
Dyspraxia : disorder(s) of the «how to do it», also called developmental coordination disorder.
Signs to look out for Difficulty planning and automating motor movements to perform an action. Delay in motor acquisition, clumsiness.
Dyscalculia : disorder(s) of «calculating and counting».
Signs to look out for : difficulty(s) with counting, enumerating, doing mental calculations, understanding mathematical terms etc.
Dysgraphia : disorder(s) of the writing gesture.
Signs to look out for : slowness, fatigue and sometimes pain when writing, overlapping lines, illegibility, random size and shape of letters etc.
Dyschronia : disturbance(s) in the perception of time.
Signs to look out for : abstractions of the concept of chronology, difficulty in reading and understanding the time, in orienting oneself in time (past, present, future…)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) : attention deficit disorder(s) with or without hyperactivity.
Signs to look out for : great distractibility, impulsivity and dispersion of the child during moments of concentration. It alone can cause or exacerbate other learning disabilities.
How many children suffer from learning disabilities?
In France, an average of 51 children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and ADHD are currently identified as having a TP3T (Targeted Third-Party Learning Disability). Dysphasia is estimated to affect 11 of these children. According to the Ministry of Solidarity, Autonomy and Persons with Disabilities, 10% of births would be affected by neurodevelopmental disorders.
It is difficult to obtain reliable and truly representative figures despite medical and scientific advances. Firstly, the diagnosis of learning disabilities (LDs), even though they are increasingly common today, is a lengthy process (since all other possibilities must be ruled out before a specific LD can be identified). Some disorders overlap: attention deficit disorder can, in fact, cause or exacerbate other LDs on its own. A dyslexic child will also be dysgraphic, but the reverse is not necessarily true, and so on.
Focus on dyslexia
Dyslexia is therefore a language disorder of neurobiological origin. A dyslexic child has difficulty identifying what they read, even if they understand it. If you have any doubts at any point during your child's schooling, don't hesitate to contact qualified professionals who can carry out an assessment. multidisciplinary assessment.
Current recommendations for diagnosing dyslexia point to around 18 months of reading acquisition; before that, it is too early to determine whether it is a learning difficulty or true dyslexia. Certain signs in young children can provide clues:
- Difficulty and fatigue when reading, very slow and not very fluid reading;
- Difficulties in identifying and separating the syllables of a word, the words of a sentence, and the sentences themselves.
How to provide support?
Once a diagnosis is made, in addition to the follow-up care provided by one or more qualified healthcare professionals, you can use a variety of resources daily that allow for storytelling, language development (pictures, cards, flashcards, kamishibai, books, etc.), and the exploration of mathematics through experimental and logic games (e.g., self-correcting Montessori materials). Flashcards help with memorization, while magnetic and traditional puzzles encourage concentration and hand-eye coordination. In general, games facilitate the essential early diagnosis and have a powerful ability to encourage children in the development of all their abilities.
1. Footnote: Get in touch with, for example, a speech therapist, a neuropsychologist, etc.
Our articles on the same topic
To go further
- French Federation of Dyslexia
- Learning disabilities – Obstacles, resistance, and controversies, Alain MORET (2018, Childhoods, DUNOD)
- Children with learning disabilities, Gabriel and Marie WAHL (2020, Que sais-je, PUF)
- Handicap.gouv.fr
- 0-3 year old identification booklet
- Listen to the podcast: Learning disabilities (DYS): little-known learning disorders
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