Learning Disabilities

This Child Needs Help: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

By KidsDirect Editorial Team Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children Plenty of childhood conditions slip under the radar. ADHD usually doesn’t, because it’s hard to miss in a classroom or at the dinner table. A child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder may have a hard time staying focused, act before thinking, squirm in a seat, and leave a trail of unfinished projects. Parents and teachers often feel worried, and sometimes worn out. The encouraging part is that ADHD is well understood, it can be diagnosed reliably when the right steps are followed, and it responds to treatment. Here’s what you

Are There Different Types of Learning Disabilities?

By KidsDirect Editorial Team Understanding the Different Types of Learning Disabilities One of the first questions parents ask when they learn their child has a learning disability is “Why? What went wrong?” There’s rarely a simple answer, and that’s really the point of this article. Learning disabilities aren’t one condition with one cause. They’re a whole category of different diagnoses, each with its own pattern. Figuring out which one you’re dealing with is the first real step toward getting your child the right kind of help. If you’re curious about the origins, our article on what causes learning disabilities covers

What Causes Learning Disabilities?

By KidsDirect Editorial Team What Causes Learning Disabilities When parents find out their child has a learning disability, the first question is almost always the same. “Why? What went wrong?” It’s a natural thing to ask. It’s also a question that doesn’t have a tidy answer, and chasing it can leave you feeling guilty about things that were never in your control. Here’s what researchers do know about where learning disabilities come from, and why the most useful thing you can do is look ahead instead of back. Why Looking Backward Doesn’t Help Much In most cases, no one can

Learning Disabilities

By KidsDirect Editorial Team Learning Disabilities Maybe your child works twice as hard as everyone else on homework and still comes up short. Maybe reading feels like a fight, or the backpack looks like a tornado hit it every single day. It’s easy to blame laziness or a bad attitude, and plenty of kids hear exactly that. But a learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence or effort. It’s a difference in how the brain takes in, sorts, stores, or uses information. Many children with learning disabilities are bright, curious, and creative. They just need to be taught in