Five Messages our Kids with Learning Differences Need to Hear (and hear often!)
When we think about ‘Back To School’ as a parent of a child with a learning difference, or as a professional who works with kids with learning differences, we can imagine that these are the types of terms that come to mind:
IEP (individual education plan)
Accommodations
Assessments
Modifications
IPRC meetings (identification placement and review committee)
Assistive Technology
These are important and valuable pieces of the puzzle when it comes to helping to support our kids with learning differences such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia and learning disabilities. There is no doubt that we need to come up with plans, strategies, and goals to help our kids to succeed.
However, we believe that there are a lot of messages that our kids need to hear that will help to support them in other ways:
Increasing their self-esteem
Decreasing stigma
Improving their confidence
Decreasing shame
Developing a greater sense of self
There are many ideas and concepts that NEED to be part of the messaging for kids with learning differences. These can be shared by parents, in IEP meetings, by teachers - anything we can do to help our kids gain ownership over their differences, and to celebrate the strengths that accompany their differences. Let’s share these messages with them:
Differences are not deficits - when you learn “differently” it means that you have a unique set of strengths and struggles, it does not mean that you have a deficit.
Mistakes mean you are willing to take risks - when we see you making mistakes in learning, that is a good thing, it means that you are trying and that you are willing to take a risk! This is where real growth happens.
Being the same as everyone else should not be the goal - what makes us all incredible is that we are all different from each other.
You have strengths and gifts that others do not have - learning, processing, and thinking differently means that you look at things in ways that other people don’t. You have a lot of strengths and gifts that accompany your difference!
People who think differently are the ones who provide incredible insights, have novel ideas, and create innovative things - there are a lot of things to celebrate about learning differently. Sometimes your learning difference can make things hard for you (we get that!), but there are lots of benefits to it as well!
Let's make sure that our children and students understand THIS part of their learning difference as well. We want our kids to own who they are, celebrate what they can do, and focus on the positive. Help us to spread these messages to all of our incredible kids who learn differently.
The problem is not the difference, the problem is actually the way that difference is treated in environments where we are told that we should be the same
Jonathan Mooney
Check out our whole back-to-school series for lots of resources and support!
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Written by Jillian Watson, B.Ed., M.Ed., OCT