Inquiry Based Essay
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Chantysha Clifton
Professor Sara Jacobson
English 110
28th October 2019
How Can Parents Support Children with Learning Disabilities at Home?
Being a parent can have one feeling many different emotions, especially since the parent is responsible for a whole human being. One can only imagine the difficulties parents face when raising their children. Trying to support and understand children is one of the many difficulties they go through. This could be even more difficult for parents raising a child with a learning disability. Learning disabilities stem from neuro-physiological infrastructure that causes challenges with processing many things. This neurological dysfunction contributes to disorder, disorganization and problems with communication (Smith 255).
With these types of obstacles parents are puzzled by their children and understanding their thoughts. Parents have to analyze everything, think carefully, reflect on activities of each day, and problem-solve to recognize the children’s strengths, interests, and areas of difficulty, and come up with plans for managing the child’s behavior and supporting the child’s development (255). With all the issues that come up with raising a child with a learning disability, one must ask how can these parents support them and specifically at home? A collection of eight sources, four scholarly, three pop media sites and an interview of a parent with a learning-disabled child, one can dive deeper into ways these parents do so.
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Learning Styles
In order for a parent to support their child at home, they must know the best way their child learns. There are three types of learning styles, visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Figuring out their best way to learn helps the parent and child when it comes to homework and studying at home. Visual learners learn best by seeing or tested visually and benefits from charts maps, pictures, written notes, diagrams (HelpGuide.org). Ways to know if a child is a visual learner is if they are good at spelling, love to draw, read and write (HelpGuide.org). Auditory learners learn best by listening and benefit from spoken directions and study groups (HelpGuide.org). Identify an auditory learner by their language, love for music and being on stage (HelpGuide.org). Lastly you have kinesthetic learner who learn best by doing, touching, and benefit from hands-on activities (HelpGuide.org). Kinesthetic leaners love sports, dance, martial arts and arts &crafts (HelpGuide.org).
Organizing and Routine
Due to the neurological dysfunction, organization and order is not a learning-disabled child strength. Parents can address this by implementing a clear structure of time and space. Space and time are organizing systems involved in every task, every performance, every aspect of life (Smith 255). Visual aids can be very useful at home when implementing structure in regard to space. For example, shelves can be used instead of drawers so children can see where things belong and how to put them back (256). List and labels are also something parents can use to help the child with organizing their task and belongings.
Developing understandable and reinforced routines can help with structuring time (256). Routines gets the child used to do things at a specific during the day, which sets a type of
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awareness to time. Breaking routines and other tasks into manageable chunks and communicating what must be done first, next and last is important (256).
Language and Communication
Learning disabled children have a hard time with communicating and language usage. This predicament would have parents limiting the amount of talking they do with the child. What the parent may not know is talking to them stimulates them more. Informal conversation is the kind of social interaction that strengthens the interpersonal relationships as well as verbal language (ldaamerica.org). When communicating with the child, one must also carefully listen to the child and not rush to ask them questions. For the parent to stop to listen to not only serves to demonstrate to the child that parents can delay their immediate impulse to react, but it also gives the child the opportunity to sound off about school (Adamson 13).
Parents must also make sure that before you communicate with the child you must make certain they understand language. Words don’t have simple meanings and tend to be more abstract, so parents must make sure that children understand word meanings. Try to reduce the amount and level of language so children understand new and difficult word meanings (ldaamerica.org). Children with learning disabilities also have a hard time understanding what feelings are and the words used to describe them. Let your children know how you feel in various situations also (ldaamerica.org). This allows the child to get used to the words and its meanings and knowing when and how to use it. Also, parents have to work with them on “reading” faces, “reading” gestures and movements, and learning what is and is not appropriate to say (Smith 256). Working on this will not only help with communication but also their social skills.
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Learning language can also help learning disabled children with comprehension, which is a difficulty for them. They have difficulty with the meanings of stories, sentences or conversations that are too long. When children have difficulty listening to stories, it is often helpful to speak slowly, to repeat phrases or sentences, and when necessary, use pictures to illustrate the meaning (ldaamerica.org). When disciplining the child, make certain that directions are not to lengthy (ldaamerica.org). Show the child what to do if he or she does not understand verbal instructions (ldaamerica.org). There will be times where the child will not use language properly, with parents wanting to correct them. Parents should not interrupt a child’s flow of thought when he or she is trying to communicate (ldaamerica.org). Allow them to speak and if there is miscommunication or the wrong language is being used, the parent should assist the child positively. Make the verbal interactions as pleasant and meaningful as possible (ldaamerica.org).
Homework & Studying
Parents have an extremely hard time when it comes to learning disabled children doing homework and studying. Parents of children with LD note that, in addition to problems with organization, attention, homework completion, their children are more likely to procrastinate, need constant reminders, and require someone to be in the room with them in order to complete homework assignments (Walker 319). The U.S. Department of Education (2013) offers the following general suggestions for parent who are working with their children to complete homework (319-320):
- Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework.
- Make sure the materials your child needs are available.
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- Help your child with time management.
- Be positive about homework.
- When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers.
- Play a role in homework, when asked by the teacher.
- Stay informed.
- Watch your child for signs of failure and frustration.
- Use direct praise for doing the homework and even more for accomplishment.
- Look over the homework when it is completed.
As a parent supports their child with their homework, they will start to realize what are their strengths and weakness. It is good to also talk to your child about the best way to approach their homework and come up with a plan (Education.vic.gov). Since learning disabled children has issues with comprehension and language, the parent must read to them every night. Depending on age the parent can either read to them or if old enough allow them to read aloud. Point to the words as you read (Reading Today 19) or let the child use their own finger to guide themselves when reading aloud.
The parent must demonstrate reflective reading, which instead of just reading a book straight through the parent is giving the child a chance to think back about what they read. Pause for discussions as you read (Reading Today 19). As you read stories to and with your child, stop frequently to discuss their language, content, and relevance to real life and other knowledge (Reading Today 19). When reading stories, pause to discuss various characters, problems and events in the story, and invite your child to think about how the problems might be solved or to wonder about what might happen next (Reading Today 19). Giving this type of support will help
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with their comprehension making it much better for them to understand not only academics but life in general. Pause to explore meanings of new words, using them in other sentences and contrasting what they mean with words that have similar meanings (Reading Today 19). Exploring meanings of new words help with the child language development, being able to build their vocabulary and how to use their words properly.
The primary goal is to make certain that children understand that reading is a meaningful act. Children with learning disability tend to skip over reading whether it’s a book or directions for homework. Reading signs, labels, or thank you notes help them understand relationships between oral and written language and emphasizes meaning (ldaamerica.org). Writing is another factor that a parent of a learning-disabled child must focus on. The child could reach a point where they could communicate and express themselves verbally but not in a written form. Early writing is also an important part of literacy (ldaamerica.org). Let the child engage in writing as a communicative act (ldaamerica.org). Once children can copy letters, use the opportunities that arise from going shopping (ldaamerica.org). Encourage children to write the grocery list by copying one to two words from empty cartons and boxes (ldaamerica.org).
Parents can also support the child at home with math by finding ways to include it when doing things in the home. Introduce mathematics as a meaningful, pleasurable activity, not a rote memory skill (ldaamerica.org). Yes, one may think why not go out and purchase a few good math games or download a math app to help the child. Why do that when one can do something as simple as asking a child to count different objects around the house. Simple games with dominoes can be used to match quantities, to strengthen counting skills and one-to-one correspondence (ldaamerica.org). Encourage children to estimate, measure, pour water or milk,
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not to only learn some of the quantitative terms (more, less, few), but to help them acquire certain visual-spatial-motor skills (ldaamerica.org).
Building Self Esteem
Not every child that is learning disabled knows that they learn different until they are put with other kids to learn. Watching other kids understanding the work while they are having a hard time, will have an impact on their self-esteem. Parents must be their child personal cheerleader. One must be aware of the things that are said to a learning-disabled child. Criticism damages self-esteem, and global praise is often to abstract to be meaningful to concrete thinkers (Smith 256). Its best to stick with positive and specific comments on what the child is doing well. With specific praise, a child can be very clear on what behaviors are liked and expected (256). Visual, concrete proof of progress also helps children notice and feel confident about their progress and accomplishments (256).
A parent can also build up the child self-esteem by including them in daily task, making them feel some type of accomplishment once completed. Parents can encourage hands-on activities, such as cooking, cleaning, shopping, and running errands to show children that they can make things happen (257). When doing the activities, the parent will get a sense of the child strengths and weakness. Struggles in the classroom can cause children to doubt their abilities and question their strengths (HelpGuide.org). Parents can then nurture those strengths which will inspire them to work on their weaknesses. Work with your child on activities that are within their capabilities (HelpGuide.org). This will help build feelings of success and competency (HelpGuide.org).
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If a child is lacking self-confidence it can have a huge influence on their learning. Help them understand that they’re learning and not expected to know everything (Education.vic.gov). Remind them of their progress-this helps them see the purpose of their work (Education.vic.gov) Teaching children that many people have overcome difficulties to become successful is another valuable parenting strategy (Smith 256). Showing the child others struggles give them, a sense of hope. Letting them see they too can overcome their own struggles. One way to do this is to read or play tapes or biographies in which children or play tapes or biographies in which children or adults have had to struggle to achieve their goals – adventures where the characters got lost or had to fight sharks and other beasts; stories of achieving despite illness or disability; or stories of fighting prejudice or unfairness (256).
Parent Self Care & Support
An interview with a young mother (Tara Hendriksen) of an autistic son, spoke on the struggles she dealt with and the steps she took that supported her son diagnosis. When asked what has been most helpful for you as a mother navigating the joys and struggles of having a son with autism (Cannon, KSL.com). Tara states “It’s definitely a combination of many things—family support, faith and prayer, the autism community and fellow autism moms who welcomed us with open arms, and wonderful teachers and therapists (Cannon, KSL.com). Not having any support not only effects the parent but the child as well. Having some form or support for the parent allows them some form of relief, which gives them the ability to truly be there for the child emotionally.
It’s important to tend to your physical and emotional needs so that you’re in a healthy space for your child (helpguide.org). The last thing parents should do is tire themselves out to the
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point that they aren’t able to support their child. When you’re calm and focused, on the other hand, you’re better able to connect with your child and help them to be calm and focused too. Below is a small list of tips from HelpGuide.org on self-care:
- Keep the lines of communication open with your spouse, family, and friends. Ask for help when you need it.
- Take care of yourself by eating well, exercising, and getting enough rest.
- Join a learning disorder support group. The encouragement and advice you’ll get from other parents can be invaluable.
- Learn how to manage stress in your own life. Make daily time for yourself to relax and decompress.
Conclusion
Finding ways to support learning disabled kids takes time, especially since not every child that is learning disabled is not the same. The parent must find what works for that child and what would be best for them. Though before the parent can do so, they must have a great understanding of their child. Their strengths, learning styles, weaknesses and levels of confidence. Constantly working with the child and being patient while supporting, which is not an easy task. With that being said, parents must remember to take time for themselves. Parents easily get caught up in focusing on the child and begin to neglect themselves. Forgetting once they burn out from only focusing on the child, they can’t be there for the child efficiently. All the information that was given can be effective as long as the parent has the will power and mindset to do so.
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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, vol. 5, no. 6, 1972, pp. 326–330.
Walker, Allison R., et al. “Homework Supports for Children with Learning Disabilities.” Childhood Education, vol. 90, no. 4, 2014, pp. 319–322
“Aiding, Children with Learning Disabilities: Ways Parents Can Help.” Reading Today, vol. 14, no. 2, Oct. 1996, p. 19. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9701205652&site=ehost-live.
“Helping Young Children with Learning Disabilities at Home.” Learning Disabilities Association of America, 5 Aug. 2018, https://ldaamerica.org/helping-young-children-with-learning-disabilities-at-home/
“Helping Children with Learning Disabilities.” HelpGuide.org, 9 July 2019, https://www.helpguide.org/articles/autism-learning-disabilities/helping-children-with-learning-disabilities.htm
“How You Can Support Your Child with Additional Needs at Home.” Department of Education and Training Victoria, https://www.education.vic.gov.au/parents/additional-needs/Pages/disability-support-home.aspx.
Cannon, Dylan. “An Interview with a Young Mother of an Autistic Son.” KSL.com, https://www.ksl.com/article/44052992/an-interview-with-a-young-mother-of-an-autistic-son.
