Question:

We are considering homeschooling our child. Can you help guide us?

Answer:

Homeschooling your child can be a very rewarding and enriching experience at any ageit can also be a very challenging task without adequate information and preparation. To begin with, consider your response to several key questions, including*:

• Can we do this?
• Can we afford to homeschool?
• What about relationships?
• What resources are available?
• Would homeschooling be good for our child?
• Do we really want to take full responsibility for our child’s academic learning?
• Are school district personnel available to us to provide assistance in shaping a program of home study? If so, how often can we speak? Can we meet in person on a regular basis?
• What services and supports are available to us given our decision to provide home instruction? Is the IEP still a valid document? Will meetings with the school-based child study team or committee on special education still take place?
• Can instructional support (e.g., resource room) and related services (e.g., speech-language therapy) be provided to our child at home?
• Can our child visit the school building for certain classes (e.g., advanced placement science, studio art) but not others? How about participation in sports, chorus, clubs and after-school activities?
• How will our child’s progress be officially monitored and reported? Will our child have to take mid-term and final exams? (in school? at home?) Standardized assessments? And will these be given with appropriate accommodations?
• How will our child’s grade point average (GPA) be calculated and recorded on the official school transcript?
• Will the decision to home school have an impact on our child’s college application process or work application status?

If, after pondering these questions, you are still interested in homeschooling, the next step is to contact specialists and find an educational consultant to guide you through the process of selecting curriculum and instructional strategies best suited for your child’s specific needs. Join networks to learn about your state’s requirements and more by visiting homeschooling websites, such as:

• Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org)
• Homeschoolers Support Network (www.homeschoolsupport.org)

Seek out reading materials and training opportunities through websites, homeschooler newsletters, curriculum fairs, and organizational conferences such as the Learning Disabilities Association and homeschooling networks. Publishing companies, along with local schools and universities, may also provide “professional development” in specific materials and teaching methods. Consider the following books for more excellent advice on preparing for and supporting the education of your child at home:

• Field, C. M. (2005). A practical guide: Homeschooling the challenging child. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.
• Hensley, S. C. (2009). Home schooling children with special needs (3rd ed.). Enumclaw, WA : Pleasant Word.
• Kuhl, K. (2009). Homeschooling your struggling learner. Herndon, VA: Learn Differently.

With careful consideration and proper planning, the homeschooling experience can be a positive one for the entire family, ensuring that your child receives the best instruction from the ones who care most for her educationyou!

* Adapted from ncld.org.

B. J. Wiemer, Ph.D. | Director of Special Services, Kirk Day School | St. Louis, MO

Dr. Wiemer is a special educator, national teacher trainer, and educational consultant. She has spent 38 years working in public and private settings with students with special needs, most notably as a specialist in specific learning disabilities, children with behavioral/emotional needs, and the at-risk reader. She especially enjoys working with families. She trains and consults with teachers and administrators across the country to address the needs of the at-risk learner. Dr. Wiemer has served LDA in many roles and currently serves on LDA’s national Executive Committee. She holds a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, an M.Ed. in Counseling from the University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Saint Louis University.

Question:

I am an adult with learning disabilities. Where can I go for low cost or free evaluation services?

Answer:

Thank you for contacting the Learning Disabilities Association of America with your question.

Here is a link to an information page about individuals who have LD and need diagnosis, but are searching for low cost evaluation services. There is a section on TANF recipients which includes other state aid opportunities.

Another option is to see if you qualify for Vocational Rehabilitation Services. If you are considering training or education toward a career or are looking for a job and are having difficulty due to a disability, your state’s department of vocational rehabilitation services may support you. The information sheet also speaks to accessing that service.

Finally, if there is an LDA state affiliate or contact in your state, they frequently have resources and information for their state and local areas. Click here to find LDA contacts throughout the United States.

Nancie Payne, Ph.D. | President/CEO | Payne & Associates, Inc.

Dr. Payne was the President/CEO of Payne & Associates, Inc. She provided education, training and employment services and support to adolescents and adults who have cognitive, non-apparent disabilities. She, also, provided professional development and consultation to businesses and organizations. Dr. Payne served as President of the Learning Disabilities Association of America, 2014-15, her term cut short by her untimely passing..

Question:

I am an adult who has struggled with books for years. I so desperately want to read, but don’t know where to go for help. I am a visual learner and get distracted easily. I can draw any picture in my head and write poems and stories easily…but I cannot read. Do you have any suggestions?

Answer:

What you are describing is not uncommon and you are not alone. Reading is a really complex process, and while we are programmed to learn language as humans, we are not programmed to read. While most believe that the primary difficulty with reading is phonological awareness, that is, sound-symbol association, we are also learning that visual and auditory attention can play a significant role for some individuals with reading difficulties. Recent research by Dr. Matt Schneps, Director of the Center for Visual Learning at the Harvard-Smithsonian, shows that adjusting the display of print can make a difference. For example, he demonstrates that reading on an iPod (or iPad) where the text has been adjusted to 3 to 4 enlarged words per sentence, made a difference in both reading fluency and comprehension for some readers.

A suggestion to help would be the use of audio books, particularly, with the highlighting feature. The highlighting makes you focus on each word while you hear it being read out loud. Multi-sensory input stimulates different part of the recognition system of our brain and helps with the reading process.

Other resources include:

• Learning Ally is the largest audio book lender in the country. They provide access to audio books for struggling readers.
• There is a text-to-speech app called Voice Dream Reader. It will read digital text for you.
• You might contact the Haskins Lab at Yale to receive more targeted intervention information.

Manju Banerjee, Ph.D. | Vice President and Director, Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT), Landmark College, Putney, VT
Dr. Banerjee has over 28 years of experience in the field of learning disabilities, AD/HD, and postsecondary education, and is a certified diagnostician and teacher-consultant on learning disabilities. She has published and presented extensively, both nationally and internationally, on topics such as Universal Design for Instruction, disability documentation and accommodations, and technological competencies for postsecondary transition and online learning. She is an editorial board member of the Journal of Postsecondary Education Disability, Professional Advisory Board member to the Learning Disabilities Association of America, and a consultant to Educational Testing Service. She received her doctoral degree from the Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, on the application of Universal Design to assessment practices.

Question:

If someone has a learning disability can it be considered a mental illness? We have a wonderful club in our city for those who suffer from mental illness. I have a friend who has a learning disability. I am curious if he can use their services.

Answer:

No, a Learning Disability is not a mental illness. Learning Disabilities are neurologically-based. They result from “faulty wiring” in specific areas of the brain. These disabilities will impact on an individual’s ability to process and to use information and, thus, can impact on this individual’s ability to be successful with reading, writing, math, and other learning tasks.

For more information on learning disabilities:

New to LD
Related Disorders of a Learning Disability

Larry B. Silver, M.D.
Dr. Silver, a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, recently retired from private practice. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Georgetown Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He has more than 150 research, public policy, and clinical publications, including his popular book for parents, The Misunderstood Child, now in its fourth edition. Silver has been active in LDA since 1969 and served as LDA President from 2000-2002. He currently co-chairs the LDA Professional Advisory Board.

Question:

I am trying to find any resources to help my daughter. She is in first grade at a private school. Her teacher has expressed concern over my daughter’s grades, especially in reading and writing. I am trying to find the best route to get her tested. Everything I have seen is extremely out of price range. I am not sure if I am missing any resources that we can benefit from. Where can I go to get affordable testing?

Answer:

Teachers in the early grades are often the best predictors of which students are truly struggling and may need additional support to succeed academically. While there is a broad range of normal development when it comes to learning to read and write, teachers who are experienced with first graders usually have a very strong sense of which students need to be watched closely.

The first thing I would recommend is a meeting with the teacher to get more specifics regarding the teacher’s concerns along with some examples of work product that demonstrate those concerns. I would ask if there is a reading specialist at the school that could evaluate your daughter, and perhaps provide some extra one-on-one instruction to gain insight into her needs and to look for signs that further testing is needed.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act includes the Child Find mandate. Schools are required to locate, identify and evaluate all children with disabilities from birth through age 21. (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3))

The Child Find mandate applies to all children who reside within a State, including:

• children who attend private schools and public schools,
• highly mobile children,
• migrant children,
• homeless children, and
• children who are wards of the state.

This includes all children who are suspected of having a disability, including children who receive passing grades and are “advancing from grade to grade.” (34 CFR 300.111(c)) The law does not require children to be “labeled” or classified by their disability. (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3)(B); 34 CFR 300.111(d)).

If the private school your child attends cannot provide an evaluation, you should contact child find office of the local public school system your child would be attending, and request that they complete an evaluation to determine if your daughter has a learning disability. Such an evaluation must be provided by the local school system at no cost to the parent.

Robin P. Church, Ed.D.
Dr. Church is currently the Senior Vice President for Educational Programs and Executive Director of School Programs at The Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore; as well as Associate Professor of Education at The Johns Hopkins University.