How to Help a Child with a Learning Disability

A learning disability can be classified as a number of different disorders that hinder a child's capacity to learn. A learning disability could affect the way that a child listens, thinks, reads, writes, spells, and speaks. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, there are currently 2.4 million students that have a diagnosed learning disability and receive special education services in schools.

If you are the parent of a child with a mild to severe learning disability, you may feel overwhelmed. The first step in the right direction is to understand simple ways to help your child better comprehend their schoolwork to make it easier for them to learn at home and at school.

Love and Support: Positive Reinforcement

The foundation to help any child with a learning disability is to offer encouragement, love, and support through positive reinforcement. This in itself is often enough to give your child the confidence that they need at home to finish their school work and pay better attention during class.

Positive reinforcement will ensure that your child has an improved sense of self-confidence so that they can remain determined - even when they are overwhelmed by class assignments, homework, and especially tests.

Remember, it's not your job as a parent to cure your child of this disability; your job is to empower your child to face challenges with optimism and confidence so that they are better prepared to learn.

Do Your Homework as a Parent

On top of helping your child with their homework every day after school, it helps to do your own homework as a parent. This means doing your research on the latest developments and techniques available to help better teach your child, in spite of their learning disability.

Although it is helpful to reach out to specialists and therapists, becoming an expert on the subject yourself will help you to be better prepared to give your child the tools that they need to learn at home and at school.

This improved understanding will also help you to become an advocate for your child to ensure that they get the help that they need. If your child is still in a regular classroom with a learning disability, it may be almost impossible for them to advance in their class if they are not given special attention.

Communicate Better at School

Last but not least, the next time that you sit down with your child's teacher or principal to discuss their education, use these tips to better communicate to ensure that your child gets the education they deserve:

•     Set clear goals with their teacher.

•   Listen carefully to the options the school has available.

•    Propose new learning solutions based on your research.

•  Stay focused on how to meet your child's needs in and out of the classroom.

•    Stay positive in all discussions.

•   Don't give up, even if you don't get the answers you are looking for the first time.

Bethany Ramos is a full-time freelance writer that co-owns her own e-commerce website, The Coffee Bump. The Coffee Bump specializes in a wide variety of Bunn coffee makers and assorted coffee and espresso products.