Source Based Essay

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Chantysha Clifton

Professor Sara Jacobson

English 110

27 September 2019

Raising Children with Learning Disabilities: The Obstacles and Ways to Overcome It

As one gets older, they begin to think about what it is they want out of life. One questions the type of career they want, marriage and children. When one decided to have children, they don’t think about the obstacles they will endure. Parents are totally responsible for the safety, welfare, and education of a tiny infant who quickly becomes a growing, ever-changing, maturing child (Smith 254). Most parents use almost every resource they have to help their children flourish, and still, they worry they are not doing a good enough job (254). This is general things parents deal with once they have children. It is difficult to be a parent; it is even more difficult to be a parent of a child with special needs (254). It tends to be the last thing on a person mind that they will have to deal with such an obstacle. Just like any other obstacle one deals with in life, there are many ways to overcome them. Even the obstacles one will endure with raising a child with a learning disability.

When it comes to understanding the obstacles that these parents deal with, the authors are communicating to those that deal with children with learning disabilities. Some of the authors tone and language are similar. Making it easy for the audience to understand the purpose and what is being communicated in the writing. All four sources used elements that would help the audience relate to the topic. Using those elements helped the authors be able to convey their topics thoroughly and efficiently. One wouldn’t question if what was discussed in the writing

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was effective or not. Each source, including the confusing one made it clear that what they were trying to convey is effective and would help the audience in the long run.

Family Matters

The author of this source, background has a great influence on her writing this article. Being a parent concerned about her child and studying about learning disabilities. As a first grader at Beauvoir elementary school, Gary (Smith youngest son), in his frustration, began to act up at school, and Mrs. Smith and her husband discovered that he was severely learning disabled (Holley 1). This led the author to write this article on the specific topic, which she wrote not from her own opinions but by doing her own research. Relying on her observations and intuition, as well as her graduate school work in education, she came to understand that her son learned by acting things out and by telling stories rather than by absorbing lectures (1).

The audience the author is reaching out to varies, from parents, educators, medical workers, etc. Their backgrounds would consist of either having children or working with children with or without learning disabilities. Few people realize how difficult it is to be a parent… until they became a parent (Smith 254).

Smith purpose of the article is to inform the audience of the difficulty’s parents deal with raising children with learning disabilities. As well as giving a positive outlook by adding strategies that could help deal with the difficulties. Because of central nervous system dysfunction, neural immaturity that tends to disorder, and poor organization, many children with learning disabilities are very disorganized (255). One doesn’t expect children to be the cleanest or organized, but as

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they get older organization should be better. The statement speaks on an issue a parent may deal with raising a child with disability. Parents and teachers of children with learning disabilities can help them by providing clear structuring of time and space (256). The author gives reassurance that the issue at hand, can be resolved and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The authors’ writing tone is formal, informative and straightforward from the beginning to the end of the article. Starting the article stating, “Children with learning disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and related disorders puzzle parents because of their many abilities and disabilities (254).” Down to ending it stating, “Professionals need to realize and appreciate the heavy load carried by parents of children with learning disabilities, ADHD, and other related disorders (257). The language is understandable and easy to comprehend, doesn’t consist of difficult terminology that the audience would have trouble with. Smith stance is objective and passionate, giving the audience the reality of the topic. The genre is expository writing and medium is an article in Pediatric Nursing Journal. Smith stated the main idea, organized the topic by first stating the problem and then adding the solutions.

Concerns of Families

The Concerns of Families of Children with Learning Disabilities purpose is to give an insight of a research that was done to shed light on the concerns of families that have children with learning disabilities. The main concern in the article, dealt with the parents’ issues with their education and its effects on them. “Doing homework at night was incredibly difficult; my husband and I took turns and it was screaming, fighting…he hated homework. And we hated

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working with him (Waggoner 97).” Parents and education workers would be the audience for this report, as it gives them a better understanding that could lead them to having a positive

relationship. The set tone for the report is formal, impassioned and informative, which is set by the participants in the research. The statement “…The teacher had not accepted the fact that our son had a problem, it’s just that he was a problem to them…His teacher insisted that he was just lazy and uncooperative (98)” shows the impassioned tone from a parent’s situation. In view of the demands and added responsibilities placed upon these parents, it is important to recognize that those demands, as well as the experiences of child, can drain parents both emotionally and physically (98). This informs the audience the effects raising a child with learning disabilities have on the parents. The language is direct as the author keeps it clear for the audience to identify with the participants. With the authors doing the research and collecting all the data about the topic makes the genre expository. The medium is a report in the Journal of Learning Disabilities Book.

Helping Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this article is to show how a three-dimensional approach can help parents raising children with learning disabilities. Parents are able to respond to a three-dimensional approach which contains educative, interpretive, and habilitative experiences (Adamson 12). The approach is broken down with examples of the difficulties the child has and then giving the solution. Children of these parents will mirror their parents’ denial mechanism by saying there is nothing wrong with them, it is just in their eyes (14). This is an example of a difficulty as a parent being in denial about the child disability will only have a negative effect for both. Increasing acceptance of the child as he or she may be, parents are freed to move toward constructive

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programming for their child (14). This would be the solution to the problem, giving the audience a sense of hope.

The audience the author is conveying to is people that work with families that have children with learning disabilities but is not limited to that type of audience. The method is adaptable to individual casework or group parent counseling (12). Family therapy counselors can also use much of the content as elaborated on in the article (12). The set tone of the article is formal, informative and optimistic. There is, however, a growing body of knowledge and counseling skill being developed concerning the process for affecting growth and change in parents’ attitudes and effectiveness in helping their children achieve a greater sense of self-mastery (12). This statement not only informs the audience about what types of resources is out there for parents dealing with this type of situation; but also conveying that there is a solution.

The author stance with the article is objective, ensuring the audience by staying on topic, breaking it down the approach and doing this using comprehensive language. This supports the genre being descriptive as there are many examples in the article, not leaving the audience uninformed. The medium is an article in the Journal of Learning Disabilities book.

Involvement Programs for Parents

The authors’ purpose of the article is to discover the types of programs and how effective they were for parents of learning-disabled children. Three general questions were addressed in reviewing these studies: (a) What types of parent training programs have been attempted? (b) What are the results for both parents and for their children? (c) What are the implications for future parent training programs (Shapero 499)? The most common programs were tutoring and counseling (499). Once finding the common ones, the authors’ go on to explain the pros and cons

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of its effectiveness. The authors’ audience is parents that are seeking help with children whom are learning disabled and are unsure where to get assistance. Also, those whom work with parents that question where they can get assistance. There is a need for a systematic presentation of the available studies of training programs for parents of LD children (499).

The authors’ tone is formal, thoughtful and encouraging; which gives the audience a great outlook of the topic. From adding statements that undermined parenting techniques, that would then be challenged. While a “hands-off” policy for parental teaching generally prevailed throughout the 1960s (Larrick 1976), some educators were recognizing the impact of parental influence on learning (499). The stance in the article is objective and analytical, where the authors’ use the research that’s been collected to guide the article. The article genre writing style is expository, taking what was observed during the experiments and using it to inform the audience. The purpose of this paper has been to explore the types of training programs attempted for parents of LD children, their results, and their implications for future research (503). The medium is an article in the Journal of Learning Disabilities book.

Conclusion

The sources presented used all rhetorical elements to their advantage to get their point across. Most elements in each source were similar, due to the nature of the overall topic. One can say that the purpose was fulfilled and communicated efficiently. Each element allowed the authors to have an understand as to what it was, they were officially trying to convey. Reading each source and breaking it down awakened a sense that some may never be able to.

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Work Cited

Smith, Sally L. “What Do Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities, ADHD, and Related Disorders Deal With?” Pediatric Nursing 28.3 (2002): 254-7. Web.

Adamson, William C. “Helping Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities.” Journal of Learning Disabilities 5.6 (1972): 326-30. Web.

Shapero, Susan, and C. Rebecca Forbes. “A Review of Involvement Programs for Parents of Learning Disabled Children.” Journal of Learning Disabilities 14.9 (1981): 499-504. Web.

“Sally Smith, 78; Lab School Founder.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Dec. 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/03/AR2007120301954.html.