Non-Verbal Skills Checklist

You can use this basic checklist to help identify those children who MAY have more general learning difficulties rather than a specific one (dyslexia, specific language impairment, dyscalculia etc.). For this group of children, you will be looking for a few ticks across several of the different boxes, rather than a lot of ticks in just one or possibly two.

Think about the child in question, and tick a box if you feel the comment applies to them. You can print off this checklist and send along with the referral if appropriate.

Attention and Listening Skills

Fails to pay attention to the teacher when they are talking. Makes frequent/numerous careless mistakes in schoolwork.
Has difficulty maintaining attention to work or play activities.
Does not follow through on instructions
Has difficulty organizing tasks and activities
Avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort such as homework and organizing work tasks.
Is easily distracted by outside influences.
Is forgetful in daily/routine activities.
Loses/misplaces things consistently
Has difficulty listening and writing at the same time

Gross and Fine Motor Skills

Appears awkward and/or clumsy: possibly dropping, spilling, or knocking things over.
Has limited success with games and activities that demand eye-hand coordination
Has trouble with buttons, zips, or tying tie shoes
Creates art work that is immature for age
Demonstrates poor ability to colour or write “within the lines”
Grasps pencil awkwardly, resulting in poor handwriting
Experiences difficulty using small objects or items that demand precision (e.g. Legos, jigsaw pieces, scissors)
Dislikes and avoids writing / drawing tasks _
Struggles to travel in straight, curved and zigzag pathways, and also in relation to objects
Finds it difficult to use combinations of jumps and landings smoothly and without losing balance

Reading Skills

Confuses similar-looking letters and numbers
Frequently loses place while reading
Confuses similar-looking words (e.g. beard/bread)
Reverses letter order in words (e.g. saw/was)
Demonstrates poor memory for written words
Has difficulty understanding written ideas
Has significant trouble learning to read
Has trouble naming letters
Has problems associating letter and sounds,
Guesses at unfamiliar words rather than using word analysis skills
Reads excessively slowly
Substitutes or leaves out words while reading
Has poor retention of new vocabulary
Dislikes and avoids reading or reads reluctantly

Writing Skills

Dislikes and avoids writing and copying
Late starting to copy and write
Has messy and incomplete writing, with many “cross outs” and rubbing outs
Has difficulty remembering shapes of letters and numbers
Frequently reverses letters, numbers
Uses uneven spacing between letters / words/ has trouble staying “on the line”
Copies inaccurately (e.g. confuses similar-looking letters and numbers
Spells poorly and inconsistently (e.g. the same word appears differently other places in the same document
Has difficulty preparing plans and organizing written work
Expresses written ideas in a disorganized way

Numeracy

Has difficulty with simple counting and one-to-one correspondence between numbers and objects
Has difficulty mastering number knowledge (e.g. recognition of quantities without counting)
Has difficulty with learning and memorizing basic addition and subtraction facts
Has difficulty learning strategic counting principles (e.g., by 2, 5, 10, 100)
Poorly aligns written numbers resulting in computation errors
Has difficulty estimating (e.g. quantity, value)
Has difficulty with comparisons (e.g. less than, greater than)
Has trouble telling time
Has trouble learning multiplication tables

Social/Emotional

Does not pick up on other people’s moods / feelings (e.g., may say the wrong thing at the wrong time)
May not detect or respond appropriately to teasing
Has difficulty “joining in” and maintaining positive social status in a peer group
Has trouble knowing how to share/express feelings
Has difficulty with self-control when frustrated
Has difficulty dealing with embarrassment, and unexpected challenges
Unlikely to display good sportsmanship and treat others with respect during play.
Struggles to regulate emotions and control impulses in some situations
Not showing any signs of being able to negotiate and work on solutions when conflicts arise.
Doesn’t show appropriate audience behaviour during musical or similar performances

Other

Confuses left and right
Has a poor sense of direction; is slow to learn the way around a new place; is easily lost or confused in unfamiliar surroundings
Has difficulty using detail to draw and discuss visual images based on text descriptions
Is slow to learn new games and master puzzles
Has difficulty generalizing (applying) skills from onesituation to another
Struggles to remember the words and melodies to a variety of songs.
Unable to expresses ideas and feelings in artwork, using a variety of colours, forms, and lines