Tag Archives: learning disability

Tricks and Tips to Help with Dyslexia

I was not diagnosed with dyslexia when I was a child. I was never taught how to work around my dyslexia. Instead, I found what worked for me, mostly by trial and error. Some of these tricks will help the dyslexic person in your family, too. If you search the internet, you can find several different websites that are filled with pages of tips and tricks . Some help with letter recognition, or letter sounds. Others help with basic math skills. Some are “life skills”. Here is what has consistently worked for me: Write down a phone number vertically instead … Continue reading →

Adoptive Parenting Traits, More Part 3

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I didn’t finish my third blog in the traits of adoptive parents series. I had illustrated how recovery and restoration from the hurtful and damaging things in the child’s past might sometimes take a very long time to be fixed. This blog will focus on the fact that many of those things sometimes heal rather quickly. My statement that it doesn’t always happen should not be taken to mean that it can never happen. Tommy came to us at age two and a half. He had experienced two open heart surgeries to repair a badly malformed heart valve. Once we … Continue reading →

Help Your Learning Disabled Child With Letters and Words

When most children are initially introduced to the alphabet, they see each letter as a picture. The letter “T” might look like one stick balancing on top of the other. An “O” might look like a ring. Yet soon a child’s perception begins to change, and the concept of letters transfers from the right hemisphere of the brain to the left–the auditory-linguistic hemisphere. That’s when a “T” becomes an actual symbol that can be associated with a sound. Children with learning disabilities often have great difficulty with this transition in thinking. They are simply “stuck” in the spatial intelligence frame … Continue reading →

Ten Ways a Special Needs Child Will Change You Forever

Having a son or daughter with special needs transforms us. There is just no way around it—we are shaped and chiseled from the inside out. It’s a process not without pain, but the ultimate rewards are great. Here are ten ways that a special needs child will change you forever: Perspective shift. There’s something about having a child who is struggling to master simple language, develop motor skills, or maintain basic health that changes your perception of things. Now, whether or not you get a new pair of shoes to wear to the Brewster’s Christmas party doesn’t seem to matter … Continue reading →

The Animal School: A Fable for Parents

Okay moms and dads, it’s your turn to sit down and hear a story. Back in 1940, a man by the name of George Reavis, who was superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools, wrote a fable. It’s called “The Animal School,” and it’s now in the public domain. The fable is very insightful with respect to children with so-called disabilities. As the story illustrates, in many cases it is not the child who is “disabled,” but the faulty teaching system. I’m going to share the fable with you, and as you read it, see what insights you can gain. THE … Continue reading →

Could My Child Have Dyslexia?

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If your child is struggling with reading, and seems to fall below her peers in writing ability, it’s a reasonable question to ask. However, some children who initially have difficulty with reading and spelling soon catch up to their peers, with encouragement and more exposure to books. If your child does have dyslexia, the sooner you intervene the better. So it’s a good idea to understand the condition and recognize the symptoms. What is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a specific learning disability, which is biological in nature. It is neurological, meaning that it comes from faulty brain functioning. It is genetically … Continue reading →