Building a Stronger Child III

This is Part 3 of 5 in a Series with answers by a Child Education Psychologist, who happens to be my awesome Brother-in-Love, Zane.  If you have particular questions, feel free to either leave them in the comments section or email me directly and I'll f/w them to him.

Understanding How Your Child Learns:
Every one learns differently. It’s important for parents to know how their child learns best.
Some types of learners include: visual, audio, and tactile.
Many parents are surprised to learn at IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meetings, and through psychological evaluations, how their children learn, or more specifically what that child’s individual strengths and weaknesses are.

Knowing how your child learns benefits you both because… This goes back to something I said earlier: if you know how your child learns, then you can help a new teacher bring out the best in your child more quickly. For children in special education, the partnership with your child’s case manager is very much like a marriage: rocky sometimes, especially at the start or with a change of scenery (classroom teacher, or subject-matter), but you work on it constantly for the benefit of your child. Helping your child experience success with the support of special education is HUGE in helping turn around your child’s feelings toward school (see below).

What if you suspect your child learns differently, what’s the first proactive step you can take to support them?
Let the teacher know what you might suspect, so that you can work together to determine what supports can be provided to your child in the classroom and at home. If your child had success with previous teachers, ask them what worked best for your child if you aren’t sure.

Special Education students feel “failure” significantly because it usually takes at least a few years before their needs for additional support is recognized—usually because of the many poor marks in school (failures) that accumulate before someone notices that the student has a unique way of learning and needs support services. By that time, the student’s peers have also noticed the failures.
Can you expand on what effect that has on the student?
Children with learning difficulties often sense from an early age that they don’t learn the same as their classmates, and certainly any friends that they have in class. This can lead to an early disconnect from the classroom. If you as the parent are lucky enough to have your child’s teacher see this at an early stage, then you can work together to provide some in-class and at-home supports to modify work so that the child can demonstrate his/her skills. Remember, with Federal legislation like No Child Left Behind, and the reauthorization of special education laws, any classroom teacher can provide whatever modifications and accommodations necessary so that the child can start to experience success in the classroom. A child doesn’t have to have an IEP to receive this type of in-class support. If these interventions are successful, they need to be documented in the child’s records, so that they can be used or refined from year to year.
Some children need supports through special education services in order to learn in the classroom---but again, by the time these supports are in place, the child may already feel like a failure at school, and these feelings may extend to “work” at home, with their friends and in the community.
Helping a child who receives special education services to feel that success in school, either again or maybe for the first time, will take a lot of work, and a whole lot of patience.

*This is Pt. 3 of a Series of 5.