| Our
educational system assumes that all people learn in the
same way, at the same speed, and can learn a wide range
of subjects. My personal and professional experience has
shown me that the system does not work for all kids. Some
kids do very well in writing but poorly in math, some
will never learn to spell or have good handwriting but
are creative. Some of us are visual learners, others are
auditory learners. I help parents with kids who have learning
challenges, learning disabilities, ADD, and ADHD to see
that if their kid struggles it is not necessarily the
child’s or the parent’s fault. The parent’s
job is to find the right people and environments that
will develop their child’s strengths, talents, and
interests. In this day and age of tremendous job options
and alternative work arrangements parents should know
there are many ways to be successful in life.
Our
family Story about Education
When
our older daughter, Eve, was in a competitive grade
school she had difficulty with spelling, writing, and
anything that involved memorizing. She was slow to learn
to read and do her math. It would take her a long time
to do her homework. She would not maintain focus and
was disorganized. Now, she is entering high school having
won awards in science, art and writing. This year she
won a Scholastic Award for a science fiction/fantasy
story she wrote. The road to seeing her reach this point
was not easy; it involved getting her evaluated by a
psychologist and moving her to a school that helps with
learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD. Once she experienced
success at this school, The Churchill School and Center,
she became very motivated. Eve will always have some
challenges but has ways to cope such as spell check,
working harder than others at keeping things organized,
and receiving some academic accommodations.
Eve
says, “The important thing to focus on is making
sure the child is not too discouraged by a competitive
school system…and give up later in life. Later
on in life a person can do what they are strong in.”
Dr.
Mel Levine is a speaker and author on learning disabilities
and has started programs to help families; check out
his services at www.allkindsofminds.org.
Another speaker who is very inspiring is Jonathan Mooney.
I also recommend books by Ed Hallowell, MD such as Driven
to Distraction.
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