Focusing on your child’s strengths can boost her self-esteem. You may need to hire tutors to work with your child after school or on weekends. Be sure when you select a tutor or learning specialist, you look at his or her certification and experience. The learning experience should always involve using all of the senses. According to the NIMH, “By using the senses that are intact and bypassing the disabilities, many children develop needed skills. These strengths offer alternative ways the child can learn.”

Helping your child learn will help your child prepare for the future and will help him live to be a productive adult. Encourage your child to develop positive, supportive friendships. Explain to your child that learning disabilities occur in people of all levels of intelligence (even Albert Einstein is said to have had a learning disability). Get counseling for your child so she can establish a more positive attitude and greater self-control. Join a local or national support group so on the trying days you won’t feel like you are all alone. Structure tasks and your home environment in ways that will encourage your child to succeed.

If your child is almost of college age, help him choose a college wisely. By law, all publicly-funded colleges and universities must remove the barriers to disabled students learning, by offering isolated testing areas, tape recorded lectures and tape recorded papers. Also, testing services are required to provide oral versions of the college entrance exams if necessitated by the disability. And when your child is ready to enter the job market, the Learning Disabilities Association offers a videotape titled “The Employment Interview and Disclosure: Tips for Job Seekers with Learning Disabilities” for $22.95 plus ten percent for shipping and handling. FOR MORE INFORMATION: · The All Kinds of Minds Institute is a non-profit agency that helps families, educators and clinicians understand why children are struggling in school and provides practical strategies to help them become more successful learners. P.O. Box 3580, Chapel Hill, NC 27515, www.allkindsofminds.org · American Hyperlexia Association is a volunteer-based, awareness organization that produces an award-winning web site and newsletter for parents of children with hyperlexia. 195 W. Spangler, Suite B, Elmhurst, IL 60126, www.hyperlexia.org · Learning Disabilities Association is a national non-profit organization dedicated to a world in which all individuals with learning disabilities thrive and participate fully in society and a world in which the causes of learning disabilities are understood and addressed. The LDA offers videotapes about learning disabilities for sale on their web site. 4156 Library Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15234-1349, www.ldanatl.org · National Institute of Mental Health is the federal agency that supports nationwide research on the brain, mental illnesses and mental health. They have created online books on learning disabilities which can be viewed at or printed from www.nimh.nih.gov · Schwab Foundation for Learning is dedicated to raising awareness about learning differences and providing parents and teachers with the information, resources and support they need to improve the lives of kids with learning differences. SFL is the first and only organization to offer customized information and individual responsiveness from professional resource consultants, librarians and information specialists online or over the phone for anyone who has concerns and questions about learning differences, according to their web site. 1650 South Amphlett Boulevard, Suite 300, San Mateo, CA 94402, www.schwablearning.org