When a child is suffering from dormant thinking skills she or he may display some of the following signs of frustrations and avoidance. 

These signs would indicate that some of their mental operations may be under-developed, sluggish or have failed to reach adequate stimulation, and they could benefit from isolated and targeted coaching.

• Procrastinates when work is assigned 

• Unclear about where and how to start

• Lacks confidence and self-esteem

• Impulsive when solving a problem         

• Has difficulty focusing / short attention span

• Easily frustrated with learning tasks   

• Lacks motivation 

• Overwhelmed during exams/too much at once

• Resigned and indifferent to outcome

• Loses interest in assigned work   

• Lacks clarity and structure and organisation

• Lacks strategies for solving problems

• Not producing results they are capable of

• Makes vague and sweeping generalisation       

• Does not recognise cues when seeking information

• Has difficulty isolating parts of a whole idea    

• Has difficulty seeing the bigger picture

• And many more such behavioural and learning issues.

Dormant cognitive functions do not signal a learning disability. Rather, due to lack of suitable conditions to ignite the core thinking functions, a child starts to experience learning difficulties which naturally triggers behavioural issues in relation to performance and achievements. 

And because of the environmental and experiential nature of this problem, even gifted and normative children may sometimes have underlying dormant skills, and may also require strategic and targeted assistance to ignite their full potential.