Symptoms of Language Based Learning Disability are located here. This blog is about Natasha’s specific symptoms. They are seen by anyone who interacts with her on a daily basis.
I have collected some conversations with Natasha to show what I am talking about. First up is a conversation about Snicki. He is Natasha’s 7 month old puppy. According to the lady on the street corner, (Snicki entered our lives about 2 months ago but that is another story 
) Snicki is half Boston Terrier, Half Boxer.
Natasha: Mom you know your thing?
Me: No. What thing?
Natasha: The bowl thing in the bathroom. Puppy broke it.
Explanation: Natasha was trying to tell me that the Snicki (picture above) broke the ceramic trash can.
General words like “thing” and “stuff” are frequent visitors at our house. Natasha has a large vocabulary. She knows the correct words, she just cannot rapidly recall them.
Natasha: Grandma you know where they try stuff out?
Grandma: No
Me: Natasha do you mean the house where they tried different colors on the house before they picked one?
Natasha: Yes that is it. Grandma what stuff did they try out?
Explanation: About an hour earlier, Natasha, Grandma and I drove past Grandma’s (my mom) neighbor. Grandma explained to me (Natasha was listening in the backseat) that this neighbor tried out various colors on their house. Grandma has a very similar house in material and structure and was glad to see their experimentations (food for thought).
Me: What are you looking for?
Natasha: I forgot. (still digging through the clothing)
Me: What do you need?
Natasha: Oh, now I remember. I need [pj] bottoms.
Explanation: I found Natasha searching the laundry closet. There is a washer, dryer and shelves. I fold the clothing on the shelf. When I don’t have time to fold/hang, the clean load(s) of laundry hangs out on the shelf.
If Natasha cannot remember a word (which is frequent) she will sometimes tell me, “I forgot”. She will use this as “filler” while she retrieves the word from her memory. She slides it in and makes it seem nature.
She has gotten better over the years at making her “filler” words seem to naturally fit into the conversation.
School Friend: Natasha why can’t you remember my name?
Explanation: Natasha struggles with rote memorization. It took her 3 years to learn the home phone number. It takes her about 6 months to learn 25 children’s names in her class.
Natasha used to call out, “hey kid” or “hey girl”. This really doesn’t work anymore. Gets her into hot water with peers. So she is struggling to figure out how to deal with names.
She doesn’t want to explain that she is different…. that her brain works differently. So typically she doesn’t answer this question.
Food for thought… Many, many people see President Bush’s various verbal problems (using the wrong word) as a symptom of dyslexia. He has denied it. Another folks see symptoms of CAPD. Here is an article on why many people still believe President Bush has a language disability.
I will let Natasha have the last word.
Natasha: Everybody has issues. I have issues with reading and writing and chewing my nails and allergies.