You have a feeling, actually it's more than a feeling, it is 'a knowing' that your child has a learning problem. You try to get help for your child in the school system and they say, "NO." Recently a distraught parent called me. She was at a loss what to do. She had just gotten off the phone with her daughter's school. She was again informed that her 9th- grade daughter did not qualify to get any help from the school system. She had been trying to get help for her daughter for years. Each time the school did an evaluation for her daughter the answer was the same. "She scores very high in the auditory areas so she doesn't qualify for help."
Even though they explained to the school that the only way their daughter managed was because she and her husband read everything to her after school so she could keep up with her schoolwork and homework. But, the bottom line was, they could not follow her around school all day long year after year reading everything to her. Her learning problem was not being addressed.
Schools have been telling parents for years that their child's learning problem does not qualify them for help because they are so high in another area. When this happens, all is not lost. As a parent, what you need to do is to keep advocating, as difficult as it is. You can actually make a case for discrepancy if you are a bit educated in what is actually going on.
A learning problem can come from one, two, or three broad areas. There are 3 areas of perception. We learn by hearing, seeing, and doing. The areas of perception are auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic. A student can qualify for help when there is a severe discrepancy between the auditory processing and visual processing levels.
There are nine different areas for each of auditory processing, visual processing, and tactile/kinesthetic processing. If you go through an informal assessment that is created for parents or teachers, you will be able to determine which areas are strong and which are weak. Armed with that knowledge, you can ask the school to do formal testing focusing on those areas to conclude if there is an actual discrepancy. And, if there is, your child will qualify for additional IEP help and actually get help with their learning problem.
Author BoxB Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET, The Nation's Learning Expert, is a learning disabilities specialist and board certified educational therapist. http://bonnieterrylearning.com. Ms. Terry helps parents identify, understand, & address the underlying causes of their child's learning problems. Bonnie has designed a variety of books, games, and guides to make learning reading, writing, spelling, English, and math easy even if you are Dyslexic, have a learning disability, or are ADHD. She also offers a coaching program, Awaken the Scholar Within, where she teaches you step-by-step how to help your child improve their skills yourself in just 20 minutes a day. Give Bonnie a call at 530-888-7160 to find out more.
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