by Kathleen G. Rayburn, Head of School

I have had the privilege of delivering a presentation about this subject to a variety of audiences, most recently a group of Currey Ingram grandparents at this past week’s coffee. My hope is that this article will enrich your understanding of your own child’s unique learning style and, ideally, prompt you to share this information with those in your midst who may have the same questions.

 

Is My Child’s Brain Disabled? – Deviation vs. Variation

Being a parent is hard. Being a child is even harder. When children have difficulty performing certain age-specific roles needed to keep pace with the demands of school, it can be sad for all involved.

When a child has a hard time in school, we must ask: is the child’s brain disabled or is it highly specialized? In adult life, we are able to specialize in areas of strength and to avoid activities that make us feel inadequate. Children do not have that freedom. They are expected to be reasonably adept in everything. When they are not, something is "wrong." They are expected to develop in lockstep with their peer group and to learn and socialize in the same ways as most other children. In short, there is little room in a child's world for highly specialized brains and varied learning styles.

 

I would argue that when a child is unhappy in school, the only thing "wrong" or "disabled" is the school environment and/or the approach to teaching that child.

 

The sad reality is that too many children are lost in a mix of public misunderstanding, false labels, and broken school environments – and they quickly become uniquely vulnerable to a wide range of complications. As you know, children who are misunderstood may often have behavioral problems, lose motivation, become anxious and, sadly, lose ambition.

 

We must remember, at every turn, without fail, that children desperately want to be successful and to feel good about themselves. I firmly believe that this desire is baked into the DNA of every child. No child needs to fail. It is us that fail them.

 

How Can Schools Help?

Schools and teachers can look beyond the symptoms of being misunderstood and, instead, try to understand. They can look beyond a label such as “attention-deficit disorder” or “autism spectrum disorder” and get to the real roots of the problem.

 

Here’s an example of what I mean. Let’s say Johnny is having trouble in third grade. His teachers tell his parents that he cannot attend to the work and that he’s causing trouble by being too talkative during class. As a result, he’s falling behind. She may even go on to share that she suspects that Johnny has "attention issues." Well, that may be true. But why? Does he have weak mental energy control? Weak processing control? Weak production control? Had the parents asked these questions, I suspect they would have been met with a blank stare.

 

We simply must know what is really at the root of a child’s negative school experiences and behaviors. Without this forensic approach, we almost assuredly will come up with a false assessment of the situation (and, most sadly, of the child).

 

So, in addition to weak attention controls, what are some of the other things that can cause a child to struggle in school?

 

Reduced remembering: problems with short-term memory, insufficient active working memory, incomplete consolidation in long-term memory, reduced access to long-term memory

In a traditional school environment with timed tests and little wait time in group discussions, this child can quickly become misunderstood as slow or “dumb” – when, often, it would take only two more seconds of wait time or a visual prompt to bring this child’s knowledge to light.

 

Chronic misunderstanding: weak language processing, incomplete concept formation, weak visual processing, slow data processing, small chunk-size capacity, or excessive top-down or bottom-up processing

 

Think about a lamp. When you plug it in and turn it on, it works, right? Yet, if there is a knick in the cord, what happens? It may blink or not turn on at all. That cord is like mental processing. The knicks may be very small and easy to address – if you simply know where they are. A child with chronic misunderstanding is simply not getting the full picture and needs to be taught in a different way using a multisensory approach. This child may also need “scaffolding” between major pieces of information to help him or her identify and track with the small steps in learning new concepts.

 

Deficient output: weak language production, weak motor performance, persistent organizational failure, problematic problem-solving and strategy use

 

This child may know everything he or she needs to know, but has trouble getting it "out" or using the information in strategic ways. When the breakdown occurs in the output, the child can easily feel frustrated. These children can appear to be clumsy, disorganized, awkward and "not street smart." In reality, there are wonderful teaching tools that can help these children dramatically improve their output – if only the teacher knows what they are and how to use them.

 

This short list of common learning challenges merely scratches the surface of what modern science knows about the brain. That is why we as teachers, counselors, therapists, administrators and, yes, parents and grandparents must always take an observational and research-based approach to helping each child succeed. Just like a fingerprint or snowflake, no one brain is alike.

 

How Can I Support My Child?

You have started off well. Getting a full psychoeducational evaluation on your child (a requirement for applying to Currey Ingram Academy) is a great way to begin to understand his or her learning style. Depending on where you completed your testing, this should give you a full spectrum of information about a lot of the areas referenced in this article.

 

Second, it is usually helpful to stop asking “why?” and start asking “what can we do?” The causes of learning differences are widely varied and often irrelevant to helping the child improve or overcome the difficulty. Here is what you can do:

 

Observe your child in multiple environments and doing a variety of things. Think about what your child is seeking, avoiding, enjoying and doing. Is she talking loudly and bumping into other children after a tough day? Could that mean that she needs some calming sensory input or some time to herself? Is he asking his sister to read his menu for him at the restaurant? Does he simply need a few more minutes to think of his order and try to read those words? Or does he need someone to read it to him because he processes information through his ears much quicker than through his eyes? Do you know? If not, this is a perfect example of something to discuss with his teachers.

 

Work in partnership with every adult in your child’s life. Compare what you observe and know about your child with what his or her teachers are seeing. Your IEP conferences are a great time to all sit around a table and do this. If you have a child in another school, ask his or her teachers if they would be willing to have a similar meeting with you. Come prepared with your own observations and questions. Remember, also, to talk with the coaches, Sunday School teachers, neighbors and other key adults in the circle that supports your child. The more people understand how your child learns best and/or succeeds socially, the more successful your child will be.

 

Most importantly, please remember that every child is, first and foremost, a child. It is our job as teachers to help your child find his or her fullest potential academically, emotionally, socially and physically – and to partner with you every step of the way.

 

What Will Currey Ingram Do to Help?

We are going to explore your child’s areas of strengths and weakness, seek ways to strengthen any identified weaknesses, and use your child’s strengths to bypass those weaknesses. We are going to meet with you formally four times a year and have an open-door approach to communication all year long. We are going to carefully prepare an individualized education plan for your child and involve every teacher in your child’s life in that plan. And, most important, we are going to love and support your child.

 

Together, there’s really nothing we cannot do to help your child love school, explore his or her strengths, and find success.

 

If you have questions about anything in this article or about your child’s educational experience at Currey Ingram Academy, do not hesitate to contact your Division Head or to write or call me directly. We are here for you, and we absolutely love your children.