You have been told that your son or daughter has a learning disability. Whether you have been dealing with this news for three weeks or three years now, you may be feeling anxious, confused, or overwhelmed. Confronting you are a myriad of sincere suggestions and opinions from the experts, your mother-in-law and the next door neighbor. The most important comment is perhaps the one that you may not hear very often:      Your son or daughter is not a walking learning disability. He is a won...

In the previous post, A New School Year & Learning Difficulties, Part 1, I made some suggestions about some steps that you can take if academic problems are popping up again after returning to school from a nice summer break. You may be concerned that your student is experiencing a learning disability or difficulty.  Here are some more ideas for first steps that you can try if your student is struggling in school this year, either for the first time or as an on-going issue.   ...

Do you remember your dismay when first learning of the low percentage of elementary students who read at their grade level? For many students learning math skills is not a strength and by high school far too many are below their expected achievement level in math as well as reading.   Low math skills and fear of math do not begin in high school, but usually stem from shortfalls in a student’s early learning experience. An alarming number of students at the end of elementary school h...

School has been open now for several weeks and concerns that were lulled away during the summer are surfacing again. It’s also possible that for the very first time this year you’re seeing evidence that your student is struggling in school. You may be noticing one or more growing problems and are concerned that your student might have a learning disability.  Disappointing grades on the first report card of the school year? Assignments late or missing entirely? Low test scores? Lots of compl...

Books by Richard Louv Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder, became an international bestseller nearly a decade ago, winning the prestigious Audobon Medal. Louv has authored more than half-dozen books about family, nature and community, with Last Child in the Woods being the most well-known. It is a great resource for the parents and teachers of all children, whether or not they experience a learning difficulty. Louv’s writing and ...