- Learn all you can about the disability. Learning disabilities take
many forms. As a knowledgeable, informed parent, you will be better
able to communicate with teachers about your child, help your child
with schoolwork, and develop strategies to help him or her navigate
social situation.
- Keep in contact with your child's teachers. Teachers want to work
with parents. Let them know how your child behaves at home, any
difficult times he or she is going through, any subjects or lessons he
or she has particularly enjoyed in class. Parents can also play an
essential role in working with teachers to develop instructional and
behavioral strategies that can be used both in school and at home.
- Keep a profile of what your child does well. This can be important
for your child at school and on a personal level. Too many times in
the school arena, we tend to focus on the areas in which a child needs
to improve. A "Strengths Profile" can help teachers and
parents remember areas in which the child excels and that can be used
to build curriculum that is meaningful to the child. A "Strengths
Profile" is also a handy tool parents can use to banish the times
when a child is feeling frustrated, a failure, or unable to cope.
- Help your child understand the effect the learning disability will
have on him/her in school as well as socially. Even when a child
accepts that he or she has a learning disability, the child may not
realize how it will affect his or her life. Parents should help their
child understand that the learning disability may mean he or she will
have difficulty reading, that others may become frustrated with the
child, or that the child may misread social cues, which can impact his
or her social life. Of course, the parents and teachers would also
develop intervention strategies to help the child cope with these
factors.
- Help your child get organized. For many children with learning
disabilities, organization is a difficult concept. Parents should not
only buy their child an assignment book, they should also teach him
how to use it. For example, the child should not only put down the
day a project is due, he should also break the project into steps and
assign due dates to each one. If possible, parents should also get
extra copies of textbooks to keep at home.
- Involve your child in extra-curricular activities. Some children with
learning disabilities have a difficult time making friends and/or
excelling in the school environment. Getting your child involved in
extra-curricular activities provides another avenue in which your
child can achieve success, as well as gain new friends.
- Involve your child in helping someone else. Too often students with
learning disabilities fall into the "poor me" syndrome.
Parents can not only put a stop to this but also boost their child's
self-confidence by giving him or her the opportunity to help someone
else. Children with learning disabilities have successfully tutored
younger children, helped the elderly, worked in homeless shelters, or
in other capacities. Even very young children have served others
successfully.
- Keep you expectations for your child high but realistic. It is
extremely important that you keep your expectations for your child
high, and let your child know that you believe in him or her. If a
particular task or assignment is difficult for your child, the answer
is not necessarily to make it easier but to help your child find a way
to do it. Also, don't forget to ask your child to think. Children
with learning disabilities are often very creative and insightful.
By asking their opinions and allowing them to figure out the answers
to problems, you let them know you trust their intellect and their
judgment.
- Help you child learn to ask for what they need. While children with
learning disabilities often know what they need to learn $#40;such as
sitting close to the teacher), they may be afraid to ask for
"special treatment." By teaching your child self-advocacy
skills, you help him or her get the assistance they need to progress
in any situation.
- Join or form a group of parents with similar situations. You can
learn invaluable information form other parents. And, they can be a
much-needed source of support in times of stress!
This article is reprinted with permission from the Council for
Exceptional Children, www.cec.sped.org/index.html
last modified: September 2001