Learning Difficulties?

I will have been Teaching for 9 years this October, and I am yet to meet two children with the same needs.

In this time I have taught in privileged schools and also those with great need. I have taught at High School, Primary School, University and adults at ESL College.

Throughout this time I have realised that it may seem difficult for parents to approach the class Teacher should they have questions relating to their child and any perceived difficulty with learning. I think because it's hard to describe the problem and use current language, the research is constantly updating and different countries use different terminology - this can become very confusing, especially with the internet.

I am currently reading a fantastic book called 'The Brain That Changes Itself' by Norman Doidge and it mentions a wonderful school located in Toronto, Canada called 'The Arrowsmith School.'

They have created an excellent 'Description of 19 Learning Dysfunctions' which may assist you should the question of learning difficulty arise.

Of course if you believe your child has a learning difficulty it's best discussed with your family's GP as well as the class Teacher. Most Public Primary Schools in NSW have a 'Learning Support Team' and you can always ask your school for contact details or information on their policy and procedure.

Key to any response to learning difficulties is coordinated communication, and I encourage parents to persevere with their enquiries; sharing any information they gain with their child's school.

PBS Autism Now Series

PBS is America's ABC 'equivalent' Network and has recently produced a six part series on Autism. Each clip runs for approx 15minutes and gives updated analysis and insight into this puzzling disorder.

Autism now affects 1 in 110 American children, similar to Australian statistics.

You can visit the website here for more detail and all available clips.

Part One: Introduction to Nick and Autism as a whole-body experience



Part Two: Autism Prevalence | Why are the numbers of children with autism increasing?



Part Three: Autism's Causes | The rise in autism numbers has caused a surge in research to find the causes.



Part Four: Autism Treatment | School systems often bear most of the burden of treating children with autism through educational tools.



Part Five: Adults With Autism



I also need to insert a warning here that the comments section of YouTube may contain nasty language although I believe the comments have been disabled in this case.
This video content is intended for general interest and information only. This article is not entirely a reflection of my schools or my own personal views on autism although I hope it it will inspire some thought and understanding in our community.