Tweens with a Learning Disability

Strategies to Help Kids Adjust to ADD and Other Disorders

Jan 27, 2009

A tween with a learning disability can lead a fruitful and healthy life. Find out what you can do as a parent to help your child adjust to this condition.

When your tween is given the diagnosis of a learning disability, your first reaction may be disbelief. Once you begin to accept the reality of the situation, you need to consider how the actions you take will affect him for many years to come. If you are positive and supportive, your tween is much more likely to be happy and well-adjusted. However, if you are constantly reminding him of his disability, he is more likely to concentrate on it.

For the tween that has a learning disability, there are some strategies that he (and you) can put into place to help him feel better about himself, and feel more comfortable in society. Here are some of the most commonly recommended strategies, according to the Learning Disabilities Association of America.

Teach About the Learning Disability

There are many different learning disabilities that can plague a tween, so finding out a child's exact type of disorder is very important to learning how to help him work with it. Some of the most common learning disabilities include, but are not limited to:

Sometimes, parents and children just choose to ignore a learning disability. This can be very detrimental to the child. Since most tweens are just beginning to understand how important self-image is in order to “fit in” to society, a tween with learning disability is also starting to recognize how different a learning disability makes him.

Your child is likely to have feelings of low self esteem, embarrassment, failure, and will often worry excessively about the future. When you take the time to teach your tween about the learning disability, he can begin to understand why it affects him as it does. Your child may be full of questions, so take the time to answer them as best you can, and then turn to your pediatrician for questions you cannot answer.

It is essential that a tween understands he is not dumb, stupid, or ignorant, and that the learning disability is not a result of anything he did wrong. Students with a learning disability simply process information differently. Many students with similar disabilities do fine, if not better than "normal" kids once it is known how to work with the disability in a positive way.

Not Everyone Learns the Same Way or at the Same Rate

Every student learns at a different rate. One of the most essential strategies for a tween with a learning disability is to determine a schedule for learning. He must determine how he learns best and with what tools. Of course, a pediatrician can help bring this learning technique to light.

Regular classroom instruction does not always provide good results. Parents of a student who needs flexible instruction should make sure this is what the child receives. It is also important that your tween receives this type of instruction at a pace that works for him.

A Learning Disability Doesn't Matter to Other Kids

Here is another important thing to remember. While your child’s learning disability may seem monumental to him and to you, other kids don't even notice it. A tween with a learning disability does not necessarily stand out in the crowd as different. Tell your child to look around the halls at school. How many students can he see that he knows nothing about? Remind your child that this is how others see him sometimes, too. Of course, good friends will understand the disability, and it won't matter, if they are a true friend.

If you have a tween with a learning disability, do what you can to make learning easier, and support him when he is feeling discouraged. Most of all, love your child, and remember to celebrate the wonderful things that make him a special person. A learning disability should not define a person, but help him feel empowered to overcome it with help and guidance.

The copyright of the article Tweens with a Learning Disability in Tween Communication is owned by Denise Oliveri. Permission to republish Tweens with a Learning Disability in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.