Teachers and Children with Learning Disabilities

Recently, we became aware that my son is having a difficult time with his studies at school. He is in first grade. The cirriculum for a first grade class these days are much different than what we remember as being first graders ourselves. Even in kindergarten, the expectations are quite high. This being due to the inefficent education system of our country. They have raised the standards, which is necessary and beneficial to our students in this day and age.

But what do you do with a child that is having REAL problems in their school work. Resource teachers are on site, yet they are not quite sure what the problem is. We have had my son tested by the state for any learning disabilities, of which he has been diagnosed with. But is that what is REALLY wrong with him? I've purchased the "Hooked on Phonics". He attends after school programs. But all of these things are not really helping him. They are to a certain extent, but he is also getting very tired and "burnt out" with all of the information we are trying to put into his little mind. And it is leading to other behavioral problems. I don't believe we have found what is really wrong with him.

So who do you go to when you encounter a problem like this? Is it the teacher's responsibility to take what the see happening in the classroom and narrow it down to a general problem area? Are the teachers trained sufficiently to make such a suggestion. The answer is NO, they are not trained enough. They do not know what is wrong with your child, other than his grades are poor. Even the resource teacher, who IS supposed to be trained in the field and be able to pick up on certain weaknesses that indicate a problem and/or condition. But not all of them can do this.

There is a "I DON'T KNOW" bandwagon that trots through our schools and classrooms. There is also and "ADD/ADHD" bandwagon that follows the "I DON'T KNOW" lead wagon. And who is left to help? Anyone? No, the only ones left are you and your child, with no answers. No help. No direction to go. And once again, we must follow our instincts as parents. We know our children better than anyone, including their teachers, unfortunately.

Trust your instincts and support your child, regardless of what the "professionals" at school tell you what the "think" may be the problem. If you do have administrators who are an exception to this rule, then you have found some of the "few" that truly understand educational learning problems and/or disabilities. Our federal, state, and local level educators MUST address these issues if they want to see test scores raised in our school systems. Otherwise, there will always be children who "fall through the cracks" and struggle through their lives, from not being properly diagnosed