we need a change for our children

I agree. It only becomes a true disability if the child is never taught and it hinders life after school. Dr. Mel Levine refers to learning differences. I think that is a more appropriate term. I could go for learning disorder, too. Still could use the initials “LD” for both of those alternatives!

Janis

I agree. “Learning Disabled” does not really tell us anything about the child’s learning problems, only that there are problems in learning.

As a teacher of LD kids, I guess I just look at the labels as just that…..a label for funding purposes. I always assess the child’s learning style and use that to do remediations and a plan for how I can best teach that child. Quite often, “LD” students simply have a learning style that is not compatible with the “cattle approach” to teaching that we tend to take. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to oversimplify this…….many have significant interferences that make it difficult to process language, but nonetheless there is a “style” of learning through which the child can achieve. Outside of funding, I don’t see what purposes the labels achieve.

If you change the word and not people’s attitudes, people will simply use a different word for the same negative thing.

Dis doesn’t exactly mean “not” — it means “not happenign in the right way.” A dysfunctional family *is* functioning… just not properly.
A dyslexic student is, in fact, still dyslexic even if he learns to read.

Michele,

I don’t use any of the labels with my son. I am in the minority when I say that I don’t think that LD is permanant. Applying a label implies that it is.

We are label crazed in this country. We really need categories so that we can define people. As if people, especially children, can be defined.

I hate to define kids as “something.” anything. Even positive labels such as pretty can have a negative connotation implying “just pretty.” Girls who get alot of attention for their looks can sometimes believe that is all that matters. They are so young everything about them can change over time.
My son had many labels that fit when we began. He has fewer labels that fit now.
I see them as all transient and therefore unneccessary.

I can explain all of this to him without labels.

Same here, Linda. I do not want my daughter to think of herself by what she cannot do yet. I emphasize what she is good at…even if it is something like roller skating! I really don’t think of her as learning disabled…I just think the school does not know how to teach her correctly yet. ;-)

Janis