Your child’s special needs are unique to your child.
Carrie realized the depth of her situation when her son experienced “emotional outbursts that were inappropriately times and a vast inability to sit still.” This led her on a journey to seek her own family’s solutions.
Deborah noticed that her son would act frustrated and angry when he could not accomplish things. It was not typical anger, but seemed so out of the ordinary that it alerted her to some deeper issues.
Kris knew early on that her daughter had auditory processing issues because she was not talking at the age of two and had trouble understanding what people said to her.
Karen was directed to her son’s challenge when she realized he had no interest in anything language-related. “We tend to like to do the things we can do well,” she observes. “and avoid the things we don’t do well. “ If your child has an intense aversion to reading or math or some other pursuit, it may be attributable to the fact that they are not processing that information well.
Is it necessary to get an “official diagnosis”? Sherri’s son was referred for special needs testing by his first grade teacher. “The school quickly labeled it as ADHD and suggested medication right away,” she shared. But Sherri was not satisfied with that dismissive diagnosis. She continued her own research and it was ultimately determined that he son had central auditory processing difficulties. It was not ADHD and medication would have been pointless.
Perhaps you are the parent of a child who is challenging you with her behavior. Learning is not an issue, but you cannot teach a child who will not listen to you. If discipline is your challenge, your solutions will look different.
Another mom I know is very happy with workbooks and filling in blanks. Her son, however, is a classic kinesthetic learner. She struggles with meshing her teaching style with her child’s learning style. This can be a source of tremendous frustration for the homeschooling mom!
Both the parents’ and child’s personality style and type are significant factors. In my own home, I am a drive, strong personality. I must remember that control and accomplishments are not the goal for every human! There are people who are content to seek peace and to smell the roses along the way. The way to motivate their type of personality will differ greatly from another personality type.
Are you having trouble teaching your child? There can be a number of causes:
- A true learning disability
- An attention issue
- A personality clash
- A discipline issue
- A learning style/teaching style clash
Mom, you are not alone. Do any of the above possibilities ring true for you?
Stay tuned. We’ll be exploring all of them in the weeks ahead.
For more information on teaching challenging children, see Homeschooling the Challenging Child.
Another great book is Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner by Kathy Kuhl who blogs at http://www.learndifferently.com/
