My son, age 10, is LD in reading/writing and has ADHD. He has an iep, is in regular classroom most of the day, then will go to spec educ class each afternoon for language arts. His good friend is in his class this year. I think his friend will ask my son why he’s leaving. My son is just starting to understand his dyslexia, and is embarassed. I want to give him something wise to say.. where he can acknowledge he learns differently but not make him feel any less worthy. Something like, “I learn better in a smaller class”… Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Denise S.
Re: what to tell others-10 year old
Of course it depends on the child, but I have found that my son (now 11) is very empowered because he understands about his LD. We’ve used the word dyslexia with him, but he has attentional and processing speed issues as well.
He just tells people ” I’m dyslexic, do you know what that means?” and then he tells them ” It means I need to learn some things differently than most people”. He has also told people that he needs more time , or that his dyslexia has nothing to do with his intelligence.
I suggest role playing a couple of scenarios that he may face. These things can come up at the most unexpected times. My son wanted to audition for the camp musical last year and didn’t get a part b/c of his poor reading. This year he was ready (we had practiced..) to tell them that he needed more time to learn his lines , but that he had fantastic memory and would never forget them. He got a part.
Re: what to tell others-10 year old
thats fantastic karenn!! i’m so pleased to hear about kids taking their ld’s on board and making the best of their situation..
the glass is always half full!!
Re: what to tell others-10 year old
As far as the original question, the child can just say he has to go to a different reading class, period. Kids are used to bureaucratic assignments in schools so this will just be another one of those things. He doesn’t have to say why. He can even grumble and groan about it, say how hard his reading teacher makes him work when the other kids are playing games. If he pulls this right, he can even make the other kids feel they are missing something.
when i was a young child, i was taken out of classes for special ‘migrant’ classes.. kids actually aren’t as mean as adults - they don’t fully understand the differences..
saying that he learns in smaller classes is good.. 10 yr olds don’t seem to understand the complexity so going into dialogue is just wasted..
there are a few kids at my dd’s school who are taken out, and all they say is that learn differently.. the other kids respect that..
good luck !!