Students with learning disabilities and other educational difficulties are already at a disadvantage when it comes to finding a school that can best handle their situation. Though some families choose to relocate or spend thousands of dollars on specialty education programs, children deserve to find a setting — preferably nearby — that can best handle their abilities. However, there’s a lot to consider before any family can reach that point.
Breaking down the terms we use
There’s ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which plagues students with inattentiveness and impulsiveness, making it difficult to learn in typical classroom settings. Children with Asperger’s syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum, tend to be unusually preoccupied with specific subject matter. Dyslexia, a disorder that involves difficulty reading and interpreting words, affects nearly 15-20% of children in the United States.
Getting the proper evaluations
Before a student tries to enroll in any kind of specialized school, it’s important for the parents to have him or her undergo a neuropsychological evaluation in order to pinpoint the child’s exact difficulties and what his or her unique abilities might be. These specific kinds of tests can often be performed at public schools, though university medical and research centers tend to offer higher quality facilities. In short, these evaluations can provide insight into different areas of a child’s educational abilities, namely:
- intellectual strengths
- ability to use language effectively
- visual and perception skills
- attention span
- motor skills
- social knowledge
- learning and memory
Finding the right schools and educational settings
Whether you’re looking for the right school for Aspergers, schools for ADHD for schools for dyslexia, it all starts with a little bit of research. With an Aspergers school, the focus tends to be more on the social environment and the individualized instruction than the actual coursework itself. Schools for ADHD students tend to hone in on finding compassion for the child rather than repeated criticism. Schools for dyslexia students involve a very particular curriculum tailored to each student’s respective needs for growth and development.