Post #15 Learning Disabilities So What Now is Needed?
A great city was besieged, and its inhabitants were called together to consider the best means of protecting it from the enemy. A Bricklayer earnestly recommended bricks as affording the best material for an effective resistance. A Carpenter, with equal enthusiasm, proposed timber as a preferable method of defense. Upon which a Currier stood up and said, “Sirs, I differ from you altogether: there is no material for resistance equal to a covering of hides; and nothing so good as leather.”[i]
Aesop’s fable, “The Three Tradesmen” speaks to all the voices, all the ideas being presented in the pursuit of change and support for and within the neurodiverse universe.
And for the most part, with good reason. If we are committed to continuing to meet the diverse needs of the neurodiverse, gaps in policy, perspectives, personnel, procedures and provisions must all be considered.
Focus on changing perception
Given that change is in the air and given that more work is needed to secure these changes, right down to that deep core within us, we need to see the positives in differences. Difference does not always equate to deficit. When parents see how their child is handling the expectations of school, their very core needs to know it is just different, not bad.[ii]
As Brock and Fernette Eide point out in, The Dyslexic Advantage, if there are so many in the world with learning differences, that’s because it probably helps us somehow … to enhance group survival. … To that end, it’s important for different people to use different cognitive strategies… More generally, it’s time to start thinking about many of the conditions that we label “mental disorders” as being purposeful, not pathological.[iii]
Speaking for LDers themselves, Winnie Agbonlahor in the UK, says, “It’s time to change the way we view dyslexia, we need to be proud of who we are”. [iv]
I give Naomi Fischer the last word: … If we can see our children exactly how they are right now, then the task becomes how to work out how to change the environment so that they can best learn and thrive as the wonderful person they are.[v]
Focus on offering support to all with learning differences whether they are dyslexic or learning different in other ways
In the argument regarding the need for a specific diagnosis, on the one side a diagnosis is evidently effective in opening doors and guiding the direction to support. On the other side the contention can equally be appreciated: what is plain for all to see: a child is struggling to read and write. Therefore, we should be trying to help all children with literacy difficulties, not just those who have been diagnosed with dyslexia.[vi]
Focus on getting parents involved
The Shaywitz family offer detailed advice to parents of children with dyslexia that on some levels speaks as well to parents of children with a variety of learning differences, to encourage them to get involved. Parents might want to get their book.[vii]
For that matter, there are enough professional advisors, books and other media available to leave no parent in the dark. Perhaps the trick will always be to navigate advice well enough to stay within the guidelines of ‘evidence-based’ advice.
Focus on assessment/evaluation
Hopefully it goes without saying that assessments should be done by a certified evaluator.
Assessments should always be concerned with evidence-based observations of academic achievement. Sometimes with cognitive testing, sometimes without. Learning issues viewed in the context of age and/or education, cognitive ability, knowledge of the individual’s history, clinical observations, behavioral observations, and judgment are essential to a diagnosis.[viii]
Assessments must also take into account whether a student is using a dialect, is bilingual or is a second language learner.[ix]
Individual Education Plans (IEPs) should be expected as a follow-up to the assessment.
And should a child become so lost as to be heading into conflict with the justice system it is recommended that the child’s advocates push for an assessment to guide the decisions made in sentencing. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, [recommends] that children with developmental disabilities ‘should not be in the child justice system at all’.[x]
Focus on details of support
These details would start out with making sure to be familiar with the child’s back story. Then ensure that the child is comfortable in the classroom in the face of expectations.
Yasik had to wear a proper and somewhat stiff uniform to his school for the learning disabled, the only label available at the time for a school offering targeted education for the learning different. He knew that he was in a school for children who were ‘different’, not necessarily an image he wanted to flaunt before his buddies. But he did not bring these complaints of stiff clothing or being in a ‘special’ school home to us. Instead, what he relayed came across as a burden lifted. He was deeply appreciative of being made to feel that the teacher was aware of how he was coping. Yasik now knew he was able to fully participate in this class and did not need to worry about being taken outside or treated separately.[xi] He could relax and know that he too was learning. As Dr. Bruce Perry says, when the school has done its homework to accommodate students, and eased them into a learning environment they know they can cope with, their cortex is open for business.[xii]
Bear in mind making an inviting environment for each student may mean being comfortable with a student who stims, or what we sometimes consider disruptive behaviour. It also means continually staying in touch with the plethora of ‘best practices’ information, not only in how to teach to learning differences but also how to help the students adapt their differences to expectations. It absolutely also means listening to the child’s parents’ input.[xiii]
Or parents could just do what this family did. Of course, the following story is another obviously goofy story that I couldn’t resist. But it does reinforce the need for ‘evidence -based ‘support as it is not fiction and backs up the message that globally we definitely have a way to go.
Tamara Sukhovei, waitress, 29 years old who has tried to commit suicide three times because “Life’s a Bitch!” shared the support she got from loved ones who were worried about her welfare. She didn’t want to go to school and was afraid of everything.
Tamara says, One day, I came home from school, went to bed, and the next morning, I couldn’t get up. They took me to the doctor – no diagnosis. So then we went off to find a wise woman-a magic healer. …the wise woman laid out the cards and told my mother, “Go home and cut open the pillow your daughter sleeps on. You’ll find a piece of a tie and chicken bones inside. Hand the tie from a cross by the side of the road and feed the bones to a black dog. Your daughter will get up and walk. Someone put a curse on her.”[xiv]
Focus on adoption specifics
Perhaps because when we adopted, such information was considered unnecessary as the child was so obviously going to be raised in a different educational system, we were told nothing about Yasik’s education other than that they considered him bright and musical. Based on what? Books on adoption now encourage adopters to ask as many questions as possible about their children’s education pre-adoption. It will be helpful not only to them, but also for the school their children will be attending.
If the child is coming to them from institutional care, individual interaction between the children and the caregivers will likely have been limited or ‘socially depriving’. The child is simply part of a group of children shepherded through the day as in many orphanage situations. Where resources and care are even more lacking, the term used is ‘globally depriving’ for educational programs are not provided. A child adopted out of these circumstances is likely to be learning delayed and can be expected to have learning difficulties.
We were not given any indication during the adoption process that Yasik might struggle with learning. And in the honeymoon period post-adoption we were love-blind, a very good thing. We were unaware that Yasik, in the educational system of the time, would come up against barriers.
In time awareness crept in. And with it fear. The first reaction to recognizing that your child has learning difficulties is most often fear for the child and fear that as parents you are not equipped to support your child. These fears must be recognized and worked through. Adopters have to take a firm grip on the reins, understanding that they, not the school system are the primary guides of their child’s education and well-being. It would have relieved much of the burden though had we understood, that Yasik, like most children, will have resources within that can be nurtured to resilience.[xv]
To effectively deal with the fear, adoptive parents, begin by recognizing when the child’s needs are beyond the capabilities or resources of the parents or the school. This is the time to seek assessments and more focused support.[xvi]
Perhaps also reconsider choosing an entry grade level on chronological age (as we did for Yasik).[xvii]
In time Yasik was ready to learn something again, to go to school. He’d learned adaptation, accommodation, alternatives, enough to have gained at least willingness to try warily to accept some more education. He completed training for a trade and continues to upgrade and work. The older sister two doors up, who told me she was the class problem, is entering university this fall.
The Camel
When Man first saw the Camel, he was so frightened at his vast size that he ran away. After a time, perceiving the meekness and gentleness of the beast’ temper, he summoned courage enough to approach him. Soon afterwards, … he assumed such boldness as to put a bridle in his mouth.[xviii]
Footnotes
[i] Aesop’ Fables Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1968
[ii] Adlof, Suzanne M; Hogan, Tiffany P. Understanding Dyslexia in the Context of Developmental Language Disorders Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools (Online); Washington Vol. 49, Iss. 4, (Oct 2018): 762-773. DOI:10.1044/2018_LSHSS-DYSLC-18-0049
[iii] Garson, Justin, Ph.D. “Seeing Dyslexia as a Unique Cognitive Strength, Rather Than a Disorder It’s time to nurture the abilities of dyslexic individuals”. The Biology of Human Nature July 25, 2022 Reviewed by Michelle Quirk
Cherry, Kendra “Theories of Intelligence in Psychology” ww.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-biology-of-human-nature/202207/seeing-dyslexia-as-a-unique-cognitive-strength-rather-than Updated on November 03, 2022
Taylor, Helen “Developmental Dyslexia: Developmental Disorder or Specialization in Explorative Cognitive Search” Study Argues Developmental Dyslexia Essential to Human Adaptive Success University of Cambridge June 24, 2022 https://neurosciencenews.com/developmental-dyslexia-exploration-20902/
Grandin, Temple Visual Thinking: the hidden gifts of people who think in pictures, patterns, and abstractions Riverhead Books, 2022, 60, 159-160, 184
[iv] Agbonlahor, Winnie. “44 years to find out that I had dyslexia’: More than 100,000 people in Notts suffer from dyslexia”. Nottingham Evening Post; Nottingham (UK) 14 Feb 2013: 23.
[v] Fisher, Naomi A Different Way to Learn: neurodiversity and self-directed education Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023, 33, 34
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder
“Making Accommodations” Maclean’s February 22, 2016, 58-60
[vi] Kale, Sirin “The Battle over Dyslexia” https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/sep/17/battle-over-dyslexia-warwickshire-staffordshire, 2020
[vii] Shaywitz, Sally, M.D. and Jonathan Shaywitz, M.D. Overcoming Dyslexia, 2nd ed. Alfred A Knopf, 2020, 140, 150, 170, 173, 174
[viii]Shaywitz, Sally, M.D. and Jonathan Shaywitz, M.D. Overcoming Dyslexia, 2nd ed. Alfred A Knopf, 2020,152, 159, 160, 184-187, 199-202
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder
[ix] https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/signs
[x] Newsdesk “Learning disabilities increase risk of children breaking the law, research shows” 17/01/2020
[xi] Perry, Bruce D., MD, PhD, and Maia Szalavitz The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog: and other stories from a child psychiatrist’s notebook: what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love, and healing Basic Books, 2017, 166-169
[xii] Perry, Bruce D., MD, PhD, and Maia Szalavitz The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog: and other stories from a child psychiatrist’s notebook: what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love, and healing Basic Books, 2017, 166-169
Perry, Bruce, M.D., Ph.D and Oprah Winfrey What happened to you: conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book, 2021, 221-222
[xiii] Redford, James The Big Picture: rethinking dyslexia: the myths, the stigmas, the truths revealed docuramafilms, Cinedigma Canadian Entertainment Corp, Inc., 2013
Shaywitz, Sally, M.D. and Jonathan Shaywitz, M.D. Overcoming Dyslexia, 2nd ed. Alfred A Knopf, 2020, 130, 131
Saltz, Gail The Power of Different: the link between disorder and genius Flatiron Books, 2017, 210
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder
Adlof, Suzanne M; Hogan, Tiffany P. Understanding Dyslexia in the Context of Developmental Language Disorders Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools (Online); Washington Vol. 49, Iss. 4, (Oct 2018): 762-773. DOI:10.1044/2018_LSHSS-DYSLC-18-0049
Bosco-Ruggiero, Stephanie, MA, Gloria Russo Wassell, MS, LMHC, and Victor Groza, PhD adopting older children: a practical guide to adopting and parenting children over age four New Horizon Press, 2014, 182, 183, 184, 185
Firth, Nola, Daryl Greaves, and Erica Frydenberg Coping Styles and Strategies: A Comparison of Adolescent Students With and Without Learning Disabilities Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Journal of Learning Disabilities 43(1)
[xiv] Alexievich, Svetlana Secondhand Time: the last of the soviets, an oral history Random House, 2016, 403, 409
[xv] Tantrum, Barbara Cummins The Adoptive Parents’ Handbook: a guide to healing trauma and thriving with your foster or adopted child North Atlantic Books, 2020, 215, 216
Gray, Deborah D. Attaching in Adoption: practical tools for today’s parents Perspectives Press, 2002, 342-347
Crook, Marion. Thicker Than Blood: adoptive parenting in the modern world Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016, 9
[xvi] Bosco-Ruggiero, Stephanie, MA, Gloria Russo Wassell, MS, LMHC, and Victor Groza, PhD adopting older children: a practical guide to adopting and parenting children over age four New Horizon Press, 2014, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 190
[xvii] Lancaster, Kathy Keys to Parenting an Adopted Child, 2nd ed. Barrons Educational Series, 2009, 65-71
[xviii] Aesop’ Fables Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1968, 132-133
