What to Do When Your Child is Diagnosed with a Learning Disability

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by Eileen Bailey
Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Your child was recently diagnosed with a learning disability. What does that mean? What are you supposed to do now? What can you do to help? Will he (or she) be able to graduate high school? Attend college? Get and hold a job?

A diagnosis of a learning disability brings as many questions as it answers. And it does answer questions. You have probably been wondering why your child is having such a difficult time completing school work or why he can't remember what he learned just a few days ago. Or why she is struggling with learning to read. Now you know the answer, but now you are faced with an onslaught of other questions.

And yes, your child can be successful, can graduate high school, go to college (even Harvard has students with learning disabilities), get a job, be self-sufficient. A diagnosis of a learning disability isn't a guarantee of failure any more than not having a learning disability is a guarantee of success. Persistence, determination and effort are needed for success. And a child with a learning disability can have these traits just as much as a child without learning disabilities can.

There are some things you, as a parent, can do to help your child cope with, manage and succeed with a learning disability.

1. Learn as much as you can about your child's specific learning disability. How is this disability going to impact his ability to learn. Remember, children with learning disabilities are not less intelligent than those without learning disabilities, they learn and process information differently. Learning about and understanding how your child's specific LD impacts learning can help you develop strategies to help. Your child's school should be able to provide you with some basic information. You can also find multiple books at the library, and research on the internet (be careful and only rely on information from reputable sources).

Read more:
What is a Learning Disability?
Types of Learning Disabilities

2. Find out about your child's and your rights. Your child may be eligible to receive special services, accommodations or modifications in school work based on his learning disability. If the school completed the evaluation and have advised you of the learning disability, they probably set up a meeting to go over the evaluation and discuss possible services. If not, contact the school to have a meeting set up as soon as possible.  

Read more:
What is an IEP?
What Rights Do Parents Have Under IDEA?

3. Create a line of communication between you and your child's teacher. It is important for you to keep up with your child's progress and be able to intervene and find solutions as soon as you see your child struggling. This is much easier when there is an established communication schedule between you and your child's teacher. For example, can you use an agenda or homework book to write notes to one another? Can the teacher send you a daily or weekly email to let you know how your child did in school?