Surviving and Thriving in Summer Camp
For some kids with learning disabilities, summer camp can be stressful. Counselors don't understand their needs. And being around all new people can be a tough test of their social skills. Beloved expert Rick Lavoie has written an exclusive article for LD OnLine about how to help your child deal with these challenges: be among the first to read When the Child with Special Needs Goes Off to Summer Camp. Rick's tips will help you to help your child have a good time and stay connected with your family. Here's a preview:
- When it comes to mail, quantity is more important than quality. Send a lot of short letters.
- Cut back on kids' complaining by asking them to share a positive comment for each negative comment.
- Take some notes about family events and tell them to your child when you talk on the phone.
- Send along a calendar for your camper to post in their room so they know when you will be arriving for parent's day and when they will go home.
Learning to listen
Children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) have a disability that teachers and other professionals often have trouble recognizing. These kids don't necessarily have trouble hearing, but they have trouble understanding what they hear. When you talk to them, it's as if they don't "get" what you're saying. And APD can make it challenging for a child to connect the sounds of our language with the letters of the alphabet -- something they have to be able to do in order to read. Auditory Processing Disorders in Children, by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, says the symptoms include:
- Trouble paying attention to and remembering information presented orally
- Problems carrying out multistep directions
- Poor listening skills
- Needing extra time to process information
- Low academic performance
- Language difficulty (e.g., they confuse syllable sequences and have problems developing vocabulary and understanding language)
- Difficulty with reading, comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary
Watch Henry Winkler talk about his dyslexia — and LD OnLine!
Henry Winkler, who starred as "the Fonz" in "Happy Days," is now the star of two new LD OnLine PSAs. In the first spot, he stands in a children's bookstore and says that "a room full of books that I couldn't read" would have been his worst nightmare as a child. In the second spot, Winkler talks about his childhood experience with dyslexia, when he was called "lazy, unmotivated, or just plain stupid."
view the PSAs here >>
Your television station, organization, or website are welcome to contact us to use these spots.
Reading and the Brain, with Henry WinklerHosted by Henry Winkler, who has had his own struggles with reading, Reading and the Brain explores how brain scientists are working to solve the puzzle of why some children struggle to read and others don't. New research shows the answer may lie in how a child's brain is wired from birth. This program is the newest episode of Launching Young Readers, a television series produced by our sister site ReadingRockets.org. This award-winning collection of innovative half-hour programs examines how children learn to read, why so many struggle, and what we can do to help. |
Volunteer with LD OnLine
Do you want to help thousands of people get the right information about children with learning disabilities? You can help parents and teachers from the comfort of your own home by joining our "virtual volunteer team". We are looking for writers, researchers, and people who can help with administrative tasks.read more >>
Featured articles
For education administrators
- Transition of Students With Disabilities To Postsecondary Education: A Guide for High School Educators
The Department of Education has produced a guide to help you prepare your students to succeed in post-secondary education through accurate knowledge of their civil rights. This guide, which is in easy question and answer format, explains the "rules of the game" and how they change after high school.
read more >>
For parents
- Developing a Summer Listening Program
Your children need to learn to listen as much as they need to learn to read. Whether or not your children have auditory processing issues, they can profit from hearing plays and recorded books, as well as from learning to pay attention to richness of sounds in the background such as crickets chirping and approaching footsteps. And a summer listening program will also help children with auditory processing disorder.
read more >>
For teachers
- Understanding Auditory Processing Disorders in Children
How can you help your students who might have auditory processing disorders? There are many possible reasons why they may have difficulty understanding you. This article, written by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, will help you to navigate the jungle of information - and misinformation - out there. And it will tell you how to get a legitimate diagnosis.
read more >>
In the news
- Parents Don't Need Lawyers to Fight for Special-Ed Help
- Goal for DNA Research? World Peace
- Fraudulent Disabilities a Concern to NCAA
View more headlines in LD News >>
New in our Yellow Pages
Professionals
- Commonwealth Learning Center - Boston, MA
- Commonwealth Learning Center- North Shore, MA
- Commonwealth Learning Center- West Suburban, MA
- Margaret J. Kay, Ed.D. Psychologist
- Neurocognitive and Behavioral Diagnostic Associates
- Speech & Learning Connections
- SPEECH PATHways
Schools
Advertise in the LD Online Yellow Pages
Reach more than 200,000 parents and professionals each month. Since 1996, LD OnLine has been the number one source of trusted information for parents and professionals.
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All the best from LD OnLine!
- Noel Gunther, Executive Director
- Dale S. Brown, Senior Manager
- Kelly Deckert, Web Producer
- Sun Kim, Web Coordinator
- Karen Lange, Revenue Manager
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Newsletter Editor: Dale S. Brown
