How can children with learning disabilities be helped?

All research indicates that children with learning disabilities require direct remediation
in their areas of difficulty. They do not outgrow their learning difficulties, and they do not acquire
appropriate skills by osmosis. This means, for example, that a child who has difficulty reading text will
always have difficulty reading text unless s/he receives
appropriate and effective remediation that retrains the brain to approach the language
task of decoding in a more efficient way.

Often, educators discuss the terms "accommodations" and "modifications". Although accommodations
and modifications can allow children to participate successfully in
their classes, they are not the same as remediation. It is only with remediation that a
child with a learning disability can begin to overcome his or her skills deficits.

An "accommodation" is something a classroom teacher does to enable a student to complete a task

successfully; it does not mean changing the amount or the ability
level of the work required. Allowing a child to use a pencil-grip to increase the legibility
of handwriting is an accommodation, as is providing texts in larger or clearer fonts.
A "modification" is also something a teacher does to enable a student to complete a
task successfully; however, a "modification" does mean that one or more changes are made to the
amount or ability level of the work required. Assigning a child five math problems instead of ten is a
modification, as is providing a different type of exam to the
child with a learning disability. Finally, "remediation" means focusing directly on the skill with which the
child has difficulty and teaching him or her to perform that skill efficiently
and successfully.

What services are available for children with learning disabilities?

Many services are available for children with learning disabilities. Under the federal law,
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a child with a diagnosed learning disability has the
right to receive a free and appropriate education. In addition, each state may also have its own
regulations and policies regarding services for children with
learning disabilities. Information on these is generally available through the state's department of
education. In public schools, children with learning disabilities currently receive services from special
education teachers who are trained to help them become more successful in the classroom. In addition
to services provided by the public school system, many children with learning disabilities are tutored
after-school and/or during
the summer. Sometimes, when this level of support is not enough to help them learn successfully, a
placement in an independent school dedicated to serving students with learning disabilities becomes an
option.
"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."

Chinese
Proverb

"It is easy to fly into a passion--anybody can do that--but to be angry with the right person and
at the right time and with the right object and in the right way--that is not easy, and it is not
everyone who can do it."
Aristotle

hatever is begun in anger ends in shame."

Benjamin
Franklin
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.