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Parenting a Child with Autism

July 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Autism spectrum

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Children with autism don’t think the same way as other children and parenting a child with autism can be very stressful. If you’ve just found out that your child has autism, here are some tips for how to cope:

  • Learn all you can. The first step is to learn all you can about autism: what it is, how it will affect your child, and what you can do to help.
  • Develop a strong social network to help support you. You’ll need someone who you can lean on for emotional support such as a close friend. You’ll also need people who can help if you’re in a pinch, preferably those who understand your child and his or her behaviors.
  • Teach your family about autism. It’s important for you and your child that your family understand what autism is and how will affect your child. Children with autism often don’t understand social conventions, so they may something inappropriate, for example. Having your family understand will make things easier.
  • Get a behavioral therapist if possible. One of the best ways for your child to learn is through a behavioral therapist. This aide will help teach your child what is proper behavior in a way that a child with autism can understand. The aide can also help give you advice on how to deal with certain situations.
  • Learn about diet and medications. Another way you can possibly help your child is through dietary changes and medications. These may help lessen the severity of symptoms and help your child feel better.
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Categories of Learning Disabilities

June 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Math Lesson 

Image via Wikipedia

Types of learning disabilities are often grouped by areas of education. Recognizing the signs of each area will make it possible for you to pinpoint a problem and tailor your child’s education appropriately. Early intervention is often very helpful in assisting a child with a learning disability, so making yourself aware of the different signs and symptoms will allow you to help your child.

Math Difficulties/Disabilities
Your child’s difficulty with math can be affected by other disabilities, such as a language disability. If your child’s learning disability falls into the category of math difficulties or disabilities, he or she might struggle with memorizing facts. Your child also might struggle with counting principles or telling time.

Language Difficulties/Disabilities
Language difficulties and disabilities encompass the ability to understand and produce spoken language. Signs of these types of disabilities include the inability to retell a story and the inability to understand the meaning of parts of speech or directions.

Reading Difficulties/Disabilities
Your child may experience different varieties of reading problems. Disabilities dealing with reading can lead to a difficulty in understanding meaning. Your son or daughter could show a lack of ability to recognize letters or words.

Writing Difficulties/Disabilities
These disabilities deal with physically writing and/or understanding information. A writing disability can involve physical difficulty writing words or letters or a struggle to organize thoughts in writing. Symptoms, like writing coherence, revolve around the actual act of writing.

If your child has a learning disability, he or she can still get the education they deserve. Learn what to watch out for so you can get your child needed assistance.

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IEP Writing

February 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

IEP, or Individual Education Plan, is a process that allows educators, parents, and the student come together to discuss the plan on how to handle the disability that is presented. Their is a stringent process on this plan, and its contents, progress, and reports are all protected by law. The first step to getting to the IEP stage is for the teacher to recognize that a student may have some challenges. The teacher will notify the Principal, who then meets with the teacher to organize some observations. After observations are concluded, and the staff agrees that there might be a disability present, they approach the parents with the idea to test the child for a disability. The testing is not intended to hurt the child or concrete a disability, but rather find what the disability is. If a parent feels that their child is suffering from a learning disability he or she can also request testing; this does not have to be a school directed step. Once the testing is complete, and they get the results, the staff meets to review the results. Further testing may be needed in order to see the severity of the disability, but the initial testing will at least identify the initial problem.

The parents will be notified after the testing is completed, and the results will be relayed to them at a meeting. The meeting will consist of the Principal, discovering teacher, and other teachers that help to collaborate on the issue. This is where the group comes together for the development of the IEP. This document is what will be the framework on how to help assist the student with his or her needs throughout the school year, and what will be included as far as accommodations to assist with as much mainstream classroom time as possible.

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Learning Difficulties

February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Learning difficulties can be manifested in many different ways. There are approximately 25 areas that are identified for students, and the struggle is that many of the issues tend to be combined with other difficulties. For instance, many children that tend to have reading disabilities also tend to have behavioral issues. This is probably the most common combination and mostly due to the fact that the student is frustrated with their lack of production and normalcy. The idea behind inclusion classrooms was to eliminate much of this frustration by allowing a student to be in a normal classroom setting with his or her peers. This has been very effective in the last decade, and many students are maintaining healthy behavioral habits as a result.

The biggest problem with learning difficulties is not so much the identification of the issue, but rather the reception in which the student receives help for that issue. Many times students tend to fight the help because they feel out of place or stupid. This is a tragic scenario as it can take years before a student realizes that the intervention is not intended to harm, rather help. For some, this can mean that learned things can be missed, and students fall even more behind. This cycle can create an ugly situation for students and their families, and many times can result in being held back in a grade, or more one on one intervention to get the student caught up with the key concepts.

ADD/ADHD is not considered a diagnosable disability at this time in school, and there are efforts to try and change that. The problem with this difficulty is that many believe it to be strictly environmental and therefore highly preventable. The age old argument of Nature vs. Nurture is hot on this topic, and many educators hope to see a change in the near future regarding this particular aspect of noticeable difficulties that students face.

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The Stigma of a Learning Disability

January 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Do you deal with a learning disability? Do you find yourself scared of what others will think of you if they knew about your learning disability? Do you judge someone with a learning disability as always being less intelligent as others? For some people, the judgement, as well as the fear of being judge can be as hard or even harder to deal with than the learning disability itself.

It is important to clarify that a learning disability such as dyslexia has little to nothing to do with that persons intelligence.  Too often in our society people that are different are somehow viewed as not as good or flawed somehow. There is an organized effort it appears to make sure if you do not fit into the definition of “normal” there is something wrong with you.  In the case of learning disabilities this could not be further from the truth. A learning disability does not immediately mean that you are a burden on society. The term “learning disability” should be changed to something like, learns differently than the average human.

It is sad that the average person with a “learning disability” is taught to think that they aren’t good enough, but what is terrible is that many of them end up believing that it is true. The truth is that every individual has different capacities and different abilities, even among the average person this is true. It is time that we as a culture, found ways to spread acceptance and helped every person equally to become successful. In the United States, the education system is developed, in general, to move as many kids through as best it can and if you don’t fit the mold, you will be treated as an outsider. It is not those that are labeled with “learning disabilities” that need to change or work harder, it is the rest of us.

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The Intelligence Understanding: Learning Difficulty

December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s a common accusation. It’s a vicious belief. Teachers deem your child too strange, too hopeless, to educate. They claim his intelligence is lacking — a consequence of his disorder, a proof that he does not belong in the standard classes. He is beyond their help and must therefore be placed with others like himself: branded as a special needs pupil.

And it is not this name that offends you. It is instead the assumption that your child is not brilliant — because you know that he is. He simply can’t offer it in the usual ways, can’t verbalize his thoughts with ease.

Too often is it believed that children with learning disabilities are of low intelligence and cannot be taught. This is incorrect, however, and must be understood immediately as nothing more than a myth. Most individuals with forms of disorders are of above average intellect. They excel with creativity and can offer information in new ways. They are not — despite what so many declare — unable to learn.

The complication that comes from a difficulty, however, is in the way information is absorbed. Children can be precocious but can also be unable to demonstrate this. Words may elude them; numbers can confuse; and the necessary motor skills (such as holding a pencil properly) can disappear, leaving them unable to communicate as others do.

This is not validation of below average potential, though. It is instead a need for unconventional applications — all of which must be utilized by teachers to ensure that school becomes a welcoming environment and not a simple terror.

The misconception that plagues individuals with learning disabilities is that they can never succeed. Their intellect is thought to be weak. The truth, however, is that they are often the most dynamic students in the classroom. They simply must express their skills differently. And this requires patience from all.

A difficulty is not a failing. It is instead merely unique.

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Integrating Information: Learning Difficulty

December 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It was to be a simple exercise, an exploration of creativity — students were to craft a story, with each child offering their own ideas, allowed to create a masterpiece. And the fable began efficiently: the words were offered easily; the characters were formed. Each boy and girl was given the chance to use their imaginations, the tale bouncing from desk to desk. But the process came to a sudden halt as one child was unable to speak, could offer none of the needed coherency.

She didn’t understand the sequence. She couldn’t recall the events. And the story fumbled, losing all power. Her classmates weren’t pleased; her teacher was confused; and she was humiliated, unable to explain that — though she tried her best — she couldn’t track the logic.

She suffers from an Integration Disability and this must be understood before it can be helped.

Simply defined: an Integration Disability occurs when the brain cannot catalog information properly. Facts are recognized but cannot be placed into the appropriate order. There is no concept of minutes, sequence or organization. Instead all truths become clumsy, unable to be comprehended for their timelines.

And this can lead students to fail at seemingly easy tasks: such as explaining their morning, listing the alphabet or even being aware of the clock. All information is interpreted without true understanding.

This demands therefore aid from all parents and teachers. Students should be accommodated with highly specific instructions, ensuring that all facts can be followed. Extended deadlines may be needed to allow for any complications. Use memory exercises to help encourage learning of basic notions (such as the alphabet or mathematical properties). And be certain that all environments are organized — guaranteeing that items can be found with ease, rather than being forgotten.

Integration is a difficulty that cannot be denied. It can, however, be countered with attention and patience. Understand a child and her needs to make the learning process effective.

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Testing Tamed: Modifying Methods

December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Time paces forward — the seconds unrelenting, refusing to offer the much needed reprieve. A child stares at the endless questions of a page, overwhelmed by their possible meanings, the answers they demand. He doesn’t understand them: the words keep leaping, all letters transposed. And the scratch of pencils all around him provides no assurance, only pain. His peers can comprehend a test but he cannot.

And the minutes drag on, yielding only occasional insights, the attempts to fill in every line. He doesn’t know what he’s writing. He doesn’t think it’s relevant to any query. But he must provide… something.

And his efforts are proven futile later when a grade is revealed: he didn’t succeed. He isn’t at all surprised.

Children with learning disabilities are forced to bear a heavy burden — never more so felt than when they must offer knowledge through testing. The strain of their disorder is intensified, with an inability to recognize the questions coupled with a fear of failure. And this leaves them unable to provide information.

Something must change — and it must be the way testing is presented.

Students with learning difficulties (whether dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and more) cannot be held to the common standards. The usual methods of testing — requiring just a pencil and paper — can confuse these individuals. Words can be misunderstood. Numbers can be transposed. And questions may be labeled nonsensical, their interpretations too broad.

It’s necessary therefore for teachers to offer alternatives. Consider:

One: Verbal Testing. Ask questions aloud and accept oral replies.

Two: True or False Reliance. Ignore open-ended questions as these can confuse. Require only concrete answers.

Three: Scribe Assistance. Allow a fellow student to write the child’s responses instead, ensuring correct spelling and interpretation.

These methods will require effort from any instructor, but their results will be rewarding. Children will finally be able to offer what they know, rather than being limited by what they must suffer with.

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The Third Party Evaluation: Learning Disabilities

December 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Your child does not suffer from a disorder — this is the supposed truth that’s offered to you within the confines of a principal’s office. No symptoms were discovered, it’s explained. No worries were found. Your son is perfectly normal, will require no secondary aid or alternative teachings. He is merely… restless and would benefit from medication. This will surely tame his distracted mind and allow him to focus. And you’re assured then that all will be well. There’s nothing to fret about. Everything is perfect.

You’re not convinced.

Your child is different from his peers. His motor skills are lamentable; his ability to read is weak. He does not lack intelligence. He simply can’t express facts without stumbling, is forever frustrated by books and their confounding pages. Medication, you believe, won’t help with this.

And so you seek another opinion — and learn that he does indeed have a disability. The school was wrong; and you wonder if it was intentional.

The sad truth of public education is that all special needs pupils must be supported by the schools themselves. Slices of the budget must be offered to provide the necessary assistances: such as computer programs, isolated study rooms and specialized teachers. These costs can be great and many districts lack the funds (and the desire) to spare for them.

And disorders may therefore go undiagnosed, assumed to be simple behavioral concerns. Children can be deemed hyper-active or merely wild — with medication forced upon them rather than genuine help.

It’s essential therefore that all parents trust their instincts. If a learning difficulty is suspected, a third party opinion must be sought. Do not rely on unqualified nurses or counselors to test your child. They can easily mistake symptoms or simply ignore them entirely. Understand the truth of a disease and receive the proper care for it.

You know your child. You know when something is wrong. Make sure others know it as well.

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