The World of LD Parenting

The world of LD parenting can be complex and intimidating, but we designed this website to help you navigate through it.  In this post, we explain the systems that you have to learn to deal with in order to help your child learn.  In our next post, we talk about how to navigate a pathway through.

The World of LD Parenting is Complex

We’re taught that when we send our child to school, they just learn.  Sure, there’s homework, and you have to teach your child to share, and be polite, and be a good person. But school teaches our children. Right?

Actually, if your child is one of the 1 in 5 children with learning differences, your world gets difficult, fast.

If your child learns differently, you’re immediately thrown into into several worlds that overlap.

Each world has its own

• rules,
• goals,
• professionals,

and you, the parent, have to deal with all of them, at the same time. Furthermore, you’re under emotional stress, because having a child fail to learn is upsetting: for teacher, parent, and most of all, your child.

We can help.

We’re here to save you time and energy.  We understand what you need to do to help your child, and we’re working to make that information easy for you to get.  It turns out that all parents need to do pretty much the same steps in order to help their child, but it can be hard to figure out what you need to do.

Note: To get this information in a handy book, go here.

What do you Need to Know about the World of LD Parenting?

Our educational system is designed to be a one-size-fits-all system that educates children using standard techniques.  Unfortunately, LD children don’t fit neatly into the educational system.  Skills that are simple for most children can be very difficult for LD children, but with proper training & accommodations, LD children can learn well. 

Figuring out how to help your child succeed in the educational system involves several different systems.  You’ll often find that, in order to do one thing, you might have to navigate legal, teacher, school administration, learning disability, and teaching techniques.

Whew!

Because of the complexity, it can sometimes take parents years to figure out their own path.

Identifying LDs

When you first enter the world of LD, it seems as though identifying learning differences should be straightforward. In reality, it can take years to figure out what’s going on.

We help you understand the steps for identifying LDs and for understanding your child’s diagnosis. Search for “diagnosis” on this site, or use our checklist.

Informing Your Child’s Teachers about LDs

Many teachers have only had one class in learning disabilities — and some are entirely unfamiliar with LDs, what they look like, and how to support them.  It’s very common for teachers to suspect that an LD child is simply “bad” or “not working enough,” and it’s often the parent’s job to push back and educate the teacher.

We guide you through how you can get information to your teachers.

Claiming Legal Protection for LD

Legal protection for LD refers to the two laws that provide cost-free learning support for LD children: IEP and 504 plans.  Requesting testing and support is free, but involves several steps.  Although the law says that schools must respond in a certain amount of time, many parents don’t ask properly, or get told wrong information. It can take years for an LD child to get proper support, and some parents get so intimidated that they don’t try.

We give you a simple, understandable overview to the process of requesting an IEP or 504. Then we point you towards resources that you need in order to claim support in your particular state.

Understanding Your Child’s Brain-Body Development

Brain-body development is an important part of your pathway to success, because it turns out that many types of movement and exercise can help a child’s brains mature. Often, the proper exercise can give your child a much stronger foundation for learning- making learning easier.

We help you understand the role of brain-body development, so that you can understand how occupational therapy and exercises can strengthen your child’s learning skills.

Skills and Learning

Every parent of an LD Child needs to help them learn skills and do their homework.  After you understand your child’s LD, you can do a better job of prioritizing how to help them learn. We’ll refer you to many resources that can help.

Finding Learning Tools for Your Child

Many companies have created great tools for children and adults who learn differently.  We’ll tell you what we’ve learned about finding and using tools, and we’ll point you to some of the great experts in this field.

We’re bringing you all sorts of great information, in bite-sized chunks, but you’ll always be able to back up, look at our pathways, and determine the big questions:  what should be my priority right now?  Where are we going?  What’s the next step?

You’ll develop new skills along the way, such as becoming an executive parent, and you’ll learn how to manage your child’s journey through the educational system with less time and effort.

GO TO our pathway to success for an overview of how to make your way through the world of LD parenting.