10 Professionals Who Can Help Your Struggling Child

There are many trained professionals who can help your child be successful despite any difficulties he or she may be encountering. The list below contains 10 professionals you might want to consider when exploring options to help your child.

1) Classroom teacher--works with your child on a daily basis and can provide insightful information related to how your child learns, how attentive he or she is in the classroom, etc.

2) Learning Disabilities Specialist--many schools have a teacher on staff with specific training and credentials to provide educational services above and beyond regular classroom instruction. This instruction my be one on one or in small groups.

3) Educational/Learning Consultant--Independent center or individual who administers educational evaluations and makes recommendations and/or implements intervention work in specific areas of need.

4) School Psychologist--gives and interprets psychological and educational tests; assists with behavior management; provides counseling or consultation with parents, school staff, and students.

5) Pediatrician--provides medical examinations and services, trained in overall child development.

6) Neurologist--a medical specialist that looks for possible damage or weakness to specific brain functions.

7) Psychologist--provides psychological and intellectual assessment and treatment for mental and emotional health. Also administers ADHD evaluations.

8) Psychiatrist--diagnoses and treats behavioral and emotional problems, most notably those requiring prescription medications.

9) Occupational Therapist--helps improve motor and sensory functions to improve ability to perform daily fine and gross motor tasks.

10) Speech and Language Therapist--can assess, diagnose, and treat disorders related to speech, language, and cognitive communication impairments such as attention, memory, and problem solving disorders.

While there are other professionals available in the community who might also be helpful, these 10 are a good starting point to think about.

When Your Child has a Reading Problem....and ADHD

Learning difficulties don't like to travel alone. They almost always have another issue accompanying them. Often times, this "companion" is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

A diagnosis of ADHD is based on behavioral symptoms of inattention. But evidence suggests that children with ADHD also often exhibit cognitive weaknesses in other areas essential to learning, including: 1) executive functioning 2) working memory and 3) processing speed.

These are important facts to consider when determining how to best address the specific needs of your child. Just as you need to consider these facts, we consider them in determining how Langsford can best meet the learning needs of your child.

That's why when your child comes to Langsford their work will be:

One-to-One

We provide specific instruction developed and tuned weekly, (sometimes day-to-day) for each child by their assigned Learning Coordinator. Your child's instructors will be working with him or her on a one-to-one basis so that they can adapt their teaching techniques to best serve your child alone.

If needed, they can accommodate your child's learning style by allowing more time to complete tasks or process information, or by providing as much repetition as your child requires to master a new task.

Highly Interactive

Our work is highly interactive--no work sheets or boring lectures. We keep your child engaged by using manipulatives, visual stimuli, and making tasks into games when appropriate. We ask lots of questions, model tasks when needed, and work at whatever pace is optimum for the student.

High Interest

We understand your child cannot sustain attention for long periods of time. Therefore, we move through a variety of tasks each session, spending no more than about 10 minutes on any given activity. We select reading material according to your child's interests and independent reading level. We keep the sessions moving and fun!

Rewarding

We offer lots of praise and encouragement. We are skilled at figuring out what motivates different children, and we work out an individualized reward system when needed. This might mean a goal sheet, earning points, or getting stickers or a trip to the treasure box for a job well done!

The learning difficulties and ADHD symptoms that your child experiences are unique to him or her. Understanding this and structuring intervention that is as individualized as your child is the key to your child being a successful learner.

Umbrellas and Labels

Parents who have children struggling to learn how to read can sometimes find themselves in the middle of a confusing array of educational terms. This confusion affects their basic understanding of the problem which means they do not have the clarity they need to make informed decisions on how best to help their child.

Labels such as learning disability, auditory processing disorder, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder are just a few terms parents may hear from educational professionals. The problem is that most of these terms fall under large umbrellas with a wide variety of symptoms falling under each.

If that’s the case, then are these labels important? Yes and no. Labels are important only as far as they can be used to get help for a child, whether that means help through accommodations for challenges that are innate, and/or specific remediation for challenges that can be improved with research-backed work.

Complicating Factors

One example of how labeling can be helpful is when a child has several factors coming into play that can affect learning in various ways. If nothing else, for a child with a lot of challenges, giving a series of labels about a child can quickly help an educator understand that a particular child has a lot more to juggle in order to learn than another child without those labels. Labels can also help determine specific accommodations or help a school may offer. If the label is used to translate into specific individual help for the child, then that’s what's important.

Uncomplicating the Factors

When it comes to getting some specific help, often there is no reason to think in terms of labels. At Langsford, it’s our philosophy not to label children, especially when we know that the right kind of work can bring a child up to a typical level of functioning. We will certainly use a label if it is helpful in some way for the family to get the help they need, but otherwise we just don't find it necessary or even helpful to the family or the child.