Misunderstood Minds LD: Chapter 1-2-3 Reflection

During this class we were asked to view videos dealing with students with learning disabilities.  During our three videos we were introduced to two students Nathan and Lauren.  The introduction discussed how the attitudes surrounding LD's have changed.  In the past we considered these children lost and with no means of rescue.  Parents would hold their breath and hope for the best.  Today we check to see exactly what is going wrong, never using a broad brush to diagnose issues.  Teachers and parents now have more strategies and resources available to them. The following is a description of Nathan and Lauren's learning disabilities and the tough choices families need to deal with.


Nathan:
Nathan is a sporty, athletic young boy.  He started his early years being very worldly, reading and with very high communication skills.  It was when he started grade one that his mom saw problems.  He struggles with phonemes.  The sounds were just not there although from appearances he loved books and loved to read.

His mom struggled with this issue at first.  Like most parents she could not understand how someone who is so high functioning could be struggling so much.  Nathan used coping skills with familiar work but as he moved on in his education these coping skills did not work.

Lauren:
Lauren is a student who has sever attention and organizational problems.  When I watched her video I found myself looking as some students in my class and one in particular who suffers similar problems.  She forgets what she is doing and has trouble with her school work.  She has social issues.  It was found that she needs a focus coach, someone to help her organize academically and socially.

The issue her parents were struggling with was to medicate her or not.  Doctors were suggesting ritalin but her parents were worried that they would loose their daughter to the drugs.

Here is a concept map outlining the key issues we developed during class.