Children with learning disabilities need enough love, support, and acceptance so that they can learn to be independent and overcome rough situations.
With the right combination of effort and encouragement, these children become hopeful and strong enough to respond to life's challenges. Never forget, parents, you are not alone in this journey! The following are tips on how parents can guide their children with learning disabilities effectively.
1. Provide guidance needed for independence
Children with learning disabilities require more guidance and instruction to master skills they need in their daily lives. Typically, they encounter difficulties in paying attention and processing information. This guidance they receive from their parents and guardians may slowly be reduced so that the child can carry out activities independently.
2. Set reasonable expectations
Avoid setting high expectations from your child. Rather, expect the best that they can produce with or without assistance. The child should be taught simple tasks at first, then more complex tasks later. Providing children with assistance then slowly decreasing it will make them more capable and efficient in carrying out tasks.
3. Foster intellectual curiosity
Children with learning disabilities are usually passive learners. But their curiosity can be sparked by guiding their attention and being enthusiastic even in simple events. Engaging them with everyday sights and basic toys can be hugely interesting for them once you show what can be done with them.
4. Think life success, rather than school success
Success in life depends on having confidence and self-awareness, possessing the ability to make decisions and take action, being determined to push through tough times, setting goals and working towards their achievements, coping with stress, and knowing how to ask for and accept help. These qualities aren't quantifiable, however, helping your child prepare would give them an advantage in life.
5. Emphasize healthy lifestyle habits
Eating well, getting enough sleep, and regularly exercising will help a child with learning disabilities become more attentive and productive throughout the day. Also, listening to your child and encouraging other healthy emotional habits will aid them in becoming aware of their feelings and regulating their mood better.
Indeed, there are a multitude of strategies that parents and guardians can try and explore for their child's sake. At the end of the day, you must remember to also take care of yourself so that you may have enough strength to nurture your child's development.
About Project SMILE
Project SMILE is an award-winning youth-led non-profit organization that aims to uplift the lives of neglected and underprivileged Filipinos - one act of kindness at a time. To date, it has helped over 10,000 Filipinos in need through its outreach activities and impact initiatives in its 2+ years of existence.
About the Accessible Assistance Alliance
When the pandemic struck, we all shifted to a digital way of life. However, this adjustment is not easy for children with disabilities (CWDs). With therapy centers closed and physical interventions hindered, getting access to treatment is more challenging than ever.
To help address this, Project SMILE and TheraWee—a community and platform for teletherapy—formed the Accessible Assistance Alliance. This partnership aims to help connect therapists to CWDs and their parents for remote therapy and guidance.
Support a kid with special needs by sponsoring a therapy session for as low as ₱500 and donating at donation.ph/projectsmile.
See more sources here:
Helping Children with Learning Disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/autism-learning-disabilities/helping-children-with-learning-disabilities.htm
Johnson, D. Helping Young Children with Learning Disabilities at Home. Retrieved from http://www.ldonline.org/article/5880
