Most parents feel anxiety and guilt when suspicions that a child has learning disabilities become cause for psycho-educational and academic assessments. The message is that there’s something wrong with their child ; therefore, “it must be my fault”.  

Classroom

By the time of a diagnosis, the guilt hampers a parent's ability take in information, to ask the right questions. You sit in an IEP meeting with a bunch of experts, trying to read the reports and listen at the same time. The jargon alone is impossible to decipher. If the meeting is rushed, experts gloss over much of the information; if it is slow, you can drown in the details and miss what’s important.

If you have a good Special Educator to work with, you should be able to ask for and receive clarification and explanations before and after the meeting.  I’m always available by phone, text, and email to talk to parents – it’s my job to be their partner.  Unfortunately, many case managers have difficulty explaining the language of Special Ed, either because they, themselves are unclear, or because they are so used to the jargon that they forget what it’s like to be on the outside. 

Here, then, are some basic terms you may read about or hear, in language for regular people.

  • Auditory memory deficit: inability to remember what is heard. A child will listen to a direction and then forget what to do almost immediately.
  • Auditory Processing Disorder: Kids with ADP have trouble processing spoken language. They may have inconsistent comprehension or tune out what someone is saying without some visual cues. Think of the voice of the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons – that’s an extreme.  Also think about a time when you were half-listening to a someone talking to you and then realized you’d missed what he was saying.
  • Decoding: translating the printed word into sounds. The mechanics of reading.
  • Dysgraphia:  Difficulty transmitting thought to the written word. Accounts for sloppy handwriting and spelling, organization and legibility.
  • Discalculia: Difficulty understanding math concepts, using math symbols and calculation.
  • Dyslexia: A reading disability in which kids have difficulty with letter and word reversal, which impacts spelling and navigating through text.
  • Executive functioning: The brain’s “secretarial” skills. Kids who lack it have difficulty with organization, planning and sequencing, remembering what to do and when.
  • Expressive language deficit: Difficulty retrieving words. Kids will use generic words instead of precise ones.
  • Non-Verbal Learning Disorder: Kids with NVLD tend to be clumsy, physically and socially awkward, and have difficulty with organization of their belongings, bodies, and work
  • Phonemic awareness: The ability to notice, think about and work with different sounds in  words. Kids with problems in this area struggle with reading and writing.
  • Phonological awareness: Understanding words and word parts, deficits in which impairs the ability to rhyme, work with syllables and grasp nuances of language.
  • Receptive language deficit: Difficulty understanding words that are read or spoken. Subtle nuances of language are missed as well as definitions.
  • Specific Learning Disability: SLD involves difficulty in processing language in a way that impairs a child’s ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. A kid with SLD is of average or higher intelligence, but has trouble demonstrating understanding.  
  • Visual memory deficit: The child has trouble recalling what he saw.  Will check and recheck visual material, and may not remember and comprehend reading material.

In months to come, I’ll be writing more about Learning Disabilities and what they mean for you and your child.   Feel free to post questions!

Photo: knittymarie, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0