Children are often diagnosed with mental health or learning challenges in middle and high school after having struggled for years without support.
Some of them could have been identified and gotten help earlier if adults in their lives had recognized the signs. The Child Mind Institute has put together resources on how to keep an eye out for early signs of developmental disorders.
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The institute’s resources on how to recognize signs cover a number of developmental disorders, including autism, ADHD, nonverbal learning disorder (NVLD), and dyslexia.
One article focuses on NVLD at various ages, from preschool to high school, and how in young children it can show up as a motor delay or difficulty drawing shapes, building with blocks, or doing puzzles.
Another discusses how some of the earliest signs of autism include delays in simple gestures such as pointing and sharing objects with others. One resource focuses on how learning disorders such as dyslexia and dyscalculia often aren’t caught until a child is struggling to keep up in school, but there may be early signs in preschoolers, such as trouble with rhymes or counting.
A resource on ADHD in preschool discusses how identifying it early can help children get behavioral support they need to succeed when they get to elementary school. Anxiety and depression are covered in two other resources.
The Child Mind Institute’s resources include:
