School can be very challenging for children with ADHD and learning disabilities. There are cases where both parents and teachers are unaware that the child has a problem. If a teacher misses the signs of a child’s disability, he or she might blame laziness or poor attitude towards the lack of performance.
A kid with learning disabilities needs all the help they can get, not just at home but also in school. Discussing your child’s condition with the teacher is vital in order to make sure your child isn’t misunderstood by other people. It is very important that teachers recognise a child’s learning differences in the classroom to be able to handle their strengths and weaknesses.
For example, many children with ADHD also have dyslexia. The unaware teacher might assume that the child struggles with reading, when in fact, he might be able to read well using a different method (whole language approach) that relies on sight words and context clues.
There are many obstacles children with ADHD and other special needs face in school. Some children may be diagnosed with the same disorder but present with different symptoms. Poor working memory, along with poor phonemic awareness, tasks involving fine-motor skills, cutting with scissors, and creating illustrations maybe difficult for them. Mistakes are inevitable. And when a child’s best efforts yields results that won’t impress the teacher, it can wreak havoc on his self-esteem.
Educating children with ADHD requires patience and understanding. It is important that both parents and teachers share their thoughts and observations on the child. Awareness is the key. You can’t provide proper scaffolding and support for your child if you don’t know exactly what it is you are trying to fix.
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