A learning disability is a neurological condition that causes difficulty in reading, spelling, writing, recalling, reasoning and organizing information. Even though a learning disability cannot be completely cured, there are many ways to support kids with the condition in dealing with it.

Listed below are some things that can be done to help a child with learning disability:

• Identify Your Childs Favorite Learning Style: Every child has a unique learning style irrespective of whether he has a learning disability or not. As far as kids with learning disabilities are concerned, it is important to identify the learning style they like in order to help them in understanding any subject better. Try to identify whether your child is a visual learner, auditory learner or a kinaesthetic learner.
• Focus On Success In Life: Look beyond academic success of your child by giving equal weightage to being successful in life. In addition to helping your child understand what he is being taught at school, teach your child how to develop self-confidence, positive relationships, perseverance, being proactive, setting goals, knowing how to ask for help, etc.
• Instill Healthy Lifestyle Habits: Eating well, getting enough sleep and being active can be extremely beneficial for children with learning disabilities. Maintaining healthy habits will help your child in focusing better, developing concentration, boosting energy and mood levels encouraging him to work hard towards achieving his goals.
• Encourage Healthy Emotional Habits: In addition to healthy physical habits, it is important to foster healthy emotional habits e.g. teach your child how to vent out feelings of anger, frustration, discouragement, etc. This will help him in learning how to regulate emotions and stay calm in stressful situations.
• Provide Structure: Children with learning disabilities find it difficult to focus and concentrate on a task at hand. A great way in which you can help them tackle this is by providing structure and discipline. Break down complex tasks and provide them with an orderly sequence of tasks to be completed.
• Encourage Play And Socializing: If you feel that your child’s learning disability is interfering with his ability to play and interact with others, teach your child how to get better at these skills. Encourage your child to play games he is interested in e.g. blocks, construction games, building sand castles, simple board games, etc. For developing social skills; play games that encourage mixed body movements, voice intonations, facial expressions, etc.
• Teach Time Concepts:  Help your child understand simple concepts of time by using words like later, today, yesterday, etc. You can also mark important days on the school calendar with bright colors, keep weather journals with interesting weather illustrations and so on.

See-N-Read Reading Tools offer a variety of reading & learning tools to assist children with learning disabilities. For more information about our products, call at (630) 236 – 5592.