Adults with Reading or Learning Problems

Helping Your Child Learn: Some Suggestions for Parents

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National Information Center
for Children and Youth with Disabilities

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If you suspect that your child is having trouble learning to read, or trouble with learning in general, there is help available. For parents of school-age children, the first source of help should be the public school serving your area. Contact your child's school principal, express your concerns, and ask to have your child evaluated. The school system is required by federal and state law to evaluate your child at no cost to you or your family.

The results of the evaluation will show whether or not your child has a problem with reading or learning and, if so, the nature of the problem. You may be told that your child has dyslexia or another type of learning disability. If the evaluation shows that your child does have a learning disability, the school is required by federal and state law to provide special education for your child -- also at no cost to you or your family.

Suppose, however, that the results of the evaluation show that your child does not have a disability. In this case, there are a number of actions you can take. If you think that the school's evaluation of your child was not appropriate -- for example, only one test was administered or the evaluation was based solely upon observation of your child -- you can ask the school system to pay for what is known as an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE). There are usually strict guidelines for obtaining an IEE at the school's expense. Ask the school about its IEE policy. Of course, you can always have your child evaluated independently and pay for the evaluation yourself. Whether the school pays for the IEE or whether you do, the results of this second evaluation must be taken into account in determining whether or not your child has a disability and, thus, is eligible for special education services through the school.

If evaluation results still indicate that your child's problems in learning to read are not caused by a disability, your child will not be eligible for special education services through the public school. However, most schools have services available for students who are having trouble reading. Your child may be enrolled in a remedial reading program or work with a reading resource teacher to improve his or her skills. You may also wish to contact some of the organizations dealing with literacy (see Organizational Resources at the end of this Briefing Paper).

Suppose, however, that the results of testing show that your child does have a learning disability. In this case, your child will be eligible to receive special education services. Parents and school personnel then meet to discuss the results of the evaluation and to develop what is known as an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP will describe the level at which your child is currently performing, as well as identify the specific services or instruction your child will receive to address his or her specific needs. (More information about special education and the IEP process is available by contacting NICHCY.) Classroom accommodations are also possible and can help a student compensate for his or her learning disability. Accommodations can include:

• Taped textbooks available through Recording for the Blind (see the description of RFB under "Organizations" at the end of this briefing paper);
  
  
• Extended time on tests;
  
  
• Tutoring;
  
  
• Use of a notetaker, for students who have trouble listening in class and taking notes;
  
  
• Use of a scribe during test taking, for students who have trouble writing but who can express their answers verbally to the scribe, who writes down the responses;
  
  
• Use of a reader during test taking, for students who have trouble reading test questions;
  
  
• Tape recording of class lectures; and
  
  
• Testing in a quiet place, for students who are easily distracted.
  
  

The suggestions presented in the remainder of this article focus upon what parents can do to help a child with a learning disability learn and function within the home.

• Learn more about learning disabilities. This information can help you understand that your child does not learn in the same way as other people do. Find out as much as you can about the problems your child has with learning, what types of learning tasks will be hard for your child, what sources of help are available, and what you can do to make life and learning easier for your child. You can find the information you need by reading many of the publications listed at the end of this document, or by contacting the national organizations that are listed.
  
  
• Become an unobtrusive detective. Look for clues that can tell you how your child learns best. Does he or she learn best through looking, listening, or touching? What is your child's weakest approach to learning? Also pay attention to your child's interests, talents, and skills. All this information can be of great help in motivating and fostering your child's learning.
  
  
• Teach through your child's areas of strength. For example, he or she may have great difficulty reading for information but readily understand when listening. Take advantage of that strength. Rather than force reading, which will present your child with a "failure" situation, let your child learn new information by listening to a book on tape or watching a videotape.
  
  
• Respect and challenge your child's natural intelligence. He or she may have trouble reading or writing, but that doesn't mean learning can't take place in many other ways. Most children with learning disabilities have average or above average intelligence that can be engaged and challenged through using a multisensory approach. Taste, touch, seeing, hearing, and moving are valuable ways of gathering information.
  
  
• Remember that mistakes don't equal failure. Your child will have the tendency to see his or her mistakes as huge failures. You can model, through good-humored acceptance of your own mistakes, that mistakes can be useful. They can lead to new solutions. They are not the end of the world. When your child sees you taking this approach to mistakes - your own and the mistakes of others - he or she can learn to view his or her mistakes in the same light.
  
  
• Recognize that there may be some things your child won't be able to do or will have lifelong trouble doing. Help your child to understand that this doesn't mean he or she is a failure. After all, everyone has something they can't do. Capitalize on the things your child can do.
  
  
• Be aware that struggling with your child over reading, writing, and homework can draw you into an adversarial position with your child. The two of you will end up angry and frustrated with each other, which sends the message to your child that, yet again, he or she has failed. You can contribute positively to your child's schooling by participating actively in the development of your child's Individualized Education Program (IEP) and by sharing with the school the special insights about your child that only you as a parent have.
  
  
• Use television creatively. Television, or videos, can be a good medium for learning. If the child is helped to use it properly, it is not a waste of time. For example, your child can learn to focus, sustain attention, listen carefully, increase vocabulary, and see how the parts fit together to make a whole. You can augment learning by asking questions about what was seen. What happened first? Then what happened? How did the story end? Such questions encourage learning of sequence, an area that causes trouble for many LD children. Be patient, though. Because your child does not see or interpret the world in the same way you do, progress may be slow.
  
  
• Make sure books are at your child's reading level. Most children with learning disabilities will be reading below grade level. To experience success at reading, then, it's important that they have books to read that are on their reading level (rather than their age level). Foster reading by finding books on topics of interest to your child or by reading to him. Also let your child choose his or her own books to read.
  
  
• Encourage your child to develop his or her special talent. What is your child good at? What does he or she especially enjoy? Encouraging your child to pursue areas of talent lets him or her experience success and discover a place to shine.