When I'm called upon to assist a child who is struggling in school, I find the spotlight is often focused on a child's weaknesses. This is particularly common for the child with poor social skills, communication skills, learning disabilities, and/or any other disability. Children with disabilities already feel they are different. It is up to us to teach all children that different is not bad, and that each of us has special strengths. We can help that process along by showcasing every child's special interest and strengths.
Years of remedial effort have been poured into fixing what's broken, the deficit, rather than capitalizing on the strength and what works. In other words, if a child can't read, hours are spent teaching that child with methods that didn't work in the first place. If there are behavior issues, the same punitive measures are used over-and-over, yet there's no improvement.
When the spotlight shifts onto areas where your child shines, in his/her areas of strengths and personal interest, there are often very dramatic changes in work effort and negative behaviors often dramatically diminish.
Child psychologist and recognized authority on ADHD, Dr. Robert Brooks, developed the term "islands of competence" in reference to these areas of strength. I interpret his concept in the following way:
Everyone has strengths, but sometimes they're not obvious. We must find those areas of strength and build on them. Every person must feel they are making a contribution to their environment. If we accept both these concepts, the obvious thing to do is to build upon them. Every child must feel important and every child must taste success.
Once academic needs are determined and appropriate services are in place, it's extremely important to begin building self-confidence and self-reliance. It's essential to have a concerted effort both at home and at school, with clear communication between the school officials and the parents.
Dr. Brooks likes for each of his young patients to have a special job at school in an area related to the child's interests and needs. It can be something like feeding pets or taking attendance to the office monitor. This can take creativity and ingenuity, but it's essential.
The schools I visit are sometimes resistant to this effort. After all, only recently has there been such emphasis on this positive approach to resolve behavior issues or low self-esteem problems. Sometimes school personnel look at us like we've lost a few screws. But it works! Inappropriate behaviors diminish, the child walks taller, often begins to show improved self-confidence, and demonstrates reliability. He feels needed and recognized for his efforts.
Sadly, the child with a disability that impacts behavior and social skills is often the last picked to help out with different tasks. In reality, it's one of the single most effective tools to help your child gain self-confidence.
The focus of scholastic effort must also be on the child's strengths. Following, are just few examples and suggestions for compensating effectively for weaknesses and building on strengths.
- If your child has excellent verbal skills and creativity, but writing is a struggle, you might ask for daily use of a computer. If a child demonstrates such a need, (and I see this often in ADHD and learning disabilities), than the school is responsible for providing that assistive technology. Remember your child doesn't have to settle for the broken computer in the corner of the room (which happens all too frequently). Any needed equipment must be in working order and be made available in the regular learning environment. If you're concerned about the condition of equipment, you can stipulate in any 504 plan or IEP that the equipment be in working order and located in an area immediately accessible to the student.
- Perhaps your child grasps math concepts, but has difficulty performing the actual calculations on paper. A calculator is a great assistive device for such children. There might be complaints that the child has to first learn math the "old fashioned way." Practical experience has taught me that if a child can't perform very basic math calculations by, say, the fifth grade, it will probably always be somewhat difficult. Is he/she going to suddenly become proficient in this area when an adult or count fingers? Most likely not. This person will buy a calculator for as little as $5.00 and finally become successful in performing practical arithmetic calculations. Why not start early to help the person with a math disability progress rapidly with the concepts by using a calculator to bypass the disability? This is not to say a child should not continue to work on mastery of calculations as well.
- Or take the fifth-grader who's struggling with second-grade spelling, perhaps spending as much as two hours a night trying to learn a list of twenty words. The most common modification, if any is made at all, is to cut the list in half. What if we let that child spend spelling time becoming computer literate? With the use of a spell checker and word processor program to offset organizational difficulties and spelling difficulties, children suddenly blossom into creative authors.
- A child who is very distractible in the
classroom can show dramatic improvement when work is produced on a computer.
Headphones can also enhance learning. Many children with ADHD tend to
lose the thought somewhere between brain and pencil, but are excellent writers
when using a computer.
There seems to be an instant direct connection between brain and screen.
Organizational skills show improvement.
Problem solving skills are also honed on the computer, bypassing faulty
circuitry that gets in the way of real learning. In each of these instances
weaknesses are diminished by technology that levels the playing field for
people with disabilities. The spotlight then shifts from the writing weakness
to the content strengths.
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