Our speaker was Isabelle Thomas-Heinsohn, a licensed professional counselor affiliated with Agage Group
Isabelle talked to us about the emotional consequences of untreated dyslexia and other �invisible disabilities�
Children from 0-2 years are building trust and if they don�t have the nurturing they need at this stage they are left with mistrust. One problem for children in this first two years of life is �serial caretakers�. Parents need to find stable preschools or daycares with little turnover because the children get attached and then lose that person in their lives.
The autonomy stage comes next to about 3 � years old and during this stage unless the child gets the affirmation they need they will develop shame and doubt about themselves. Still in pre-school ages, children start showing initiative and if their efforts at something fail, the child could have guilt and uncertainly about themselves.
By first grade, children are in the industry stage and they can tell if they are having problem learning. If they are different from their peers they feel inferior. Beyond third grade IDENTITY is crucial for kids and self-esteem is important. Isabelle said teenagers are �attribute collectors� as they try to form their identity about who they are: cheerleaders, soccer player, baseball player, computer whiz, are all labels the kids use to form their opinion of themselves.
If children with an invisible disability don�t get help, are not identified, they are left with stress, a loss of hope and a negative view of self. There are two ways these children deal with their invisible disability. Some are internalizers and some are externalizers. Those who internalize have express their frustration through head and stomach aches, wetting the bed; they may be sad or depressed and have poor grades and low motivation. They have a learned helplessness and low or no self esteem, and no �life course�, no ambition for what they want to do in life.
Externalizing their stress, pain and frustration, some children become the class clown, or disparage the achievements of others. These kids are bad at school work, and have a negative attitude about life and what they want to do for their life course. These kids use drugs for relief, or thrills. They become part of the juvenile criminal justice system, and drop out of school.
The worst case scenario for untreated learning disabilities is suicide and those at greatest risk at the internalizers.
Obviously, Isabelle said those attending the meeting and those a part of MLD are working to identify and treat their children�s dyslexia and learning disabilities. Her advice to those of us working to help our kids is to build competencies. Encourage children to find areas where they succeed and highlight those. Highlight their pattern of abilities.
Give alternatives to the �all of nothing� attitude that some kids adopt. Make sure your child knows that all great writers have editors and that no one writes perfectly the first time. For math help your child with manipulatives. Use video and audio tapes from Alabama Public TV and the library. The state department of education has a list of videos available. Go to
http://www.alsde.edu/general/ALRC_Catalog.doc
for the catalog.
Isabelle said to go to your child�s strength so they will think of alternatives. Parents need to lend their ego to their child to help them. Keep reading, spelling or math in perspective!
Kids need peer strength too and they need the opportunity to be a regular kid. Isabelle suggests letting kids come home from school and go play before tackling homework. They need time to play. She told us that in Japanese schools the children are taught one hour, and play one hour, then are taught another hour, then play another hour. The mind has time to process what has been put in during that play time. Isabelle says pleasure opens the door for information to move from short term memory to long term memory.
Isabelle says her work with kids with learning disabilities is like being a coach and she approaches her time with kids that way�as a coach not a therapist or teacher.
Isabelle can be reached at 895-2977 at Agage Group, Inc. at 1230 Slaughter Road Suite B in Madison.
For parents struggling with IEP meetings in public schools, Ruth O�Conner suggested contacting Phyllis Mayfield of the state education department who will MONITOR your child�s IEP compliance by the schools. The number to reach Phyllis Mayfield is 1-800-392-8020.