How you can help

As parents or adults or concerned individuals there are many ways you can help the individuals who are learning disabled to reach to their fullest potential.

When someone is diagnosed with a learning disability, the most important thing is not to look back and worry about what went wrong, but get motivated to moving forward and finding help.

As a parent, guardian or responsible adult, you should arrange for professional testing and evaluation to identify the learning disability and to get first hand advice of what should be done. Also the individual, e.g. the child, should also be taken to the family pediatrician for a complete physical examination for correctable problems like poor vision or hearing loss that may cause difficulty. Work with professionals and learn strategies for dealing with specific difficulties.

If you are a parent with a child with learning disabilities, you can help a lot with the little things you do. Start by accepting them for who they are, and know they have a potential to grow and develop. Listen to your child well and understand his/her message. Love them immensely, and show it by touching them, hugging and tickling. They need a lot of physical contact to develop. Encourage their strengths, interests and abilities. Reward them with praise, good words, smiles and pat on the back as much as you can. Let them take part in decision making activities at home.

Work with your child at home. Set a example and show them it is a enjoyable task and help them catch up with work like reading and writing.

Join with others who are involved in work related to or caring about learning disabilities. By working with others you can increase your awareness and dispel any misconceptions. Also work with professionals who will assist you in your tasks.

Collect data about his/her progress to keep track of where you are heading, and see if there is any improvement in his/her skills/knowledge. Have your child evaluated on regular basis, to find out what yields results better then other methods.

Talk to the individual about learning disabilities and make him realize he is not useless or lazy. Make them realize that they are intelligent people who have some difficulty because their minds process information differently, and that they can get around it with a little help. Show them your confidence and give them pep talks so that they will feel motivated to work harder and not give up as they will believe you have faith in them.

Keep in mind, that if a learning disability is identified early and the individual is provided the right kind of help, it can give the individual a chance to develop skills needed to lead a successful and productive life.

Work as a team to help the learning disabled.