Your Child Has a Language-Based Learning Difference. What Comes Next?

If your child has just been diagnosed with a language-based learning difference, you are far from alone. In the 2019 to 2020 school year, 7.3 million students ages 3 to 21 received special education services under federal law, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. This guide walks you through what usually happens next and how you can help.

How Learning Differences Are Noticed

A teacher, a parent, or the student may be the first to notice that something is harder than it should be. A psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluation is the first step in understanding your child's academic, thinking, and language skills. It becomes the basis for a plan to help them succeed in and out of school.

What a Language-Based Learning Difference Looks Like

Language-based learning differences are a spectrum of difficulties with spoken or written language, or both. They vary in severity. One student may struggle to read but understand speech easily. They do not reflect intelligence. They tell us how a student needs to be taught. Support can range from a small change, like extra reading time, to one-on-one help all day.

Common areas of difficulty include:

• Reading: decoding, fluency, and comprehension
• Listening and auditory processing
• Speaking and finding the right word
• Understanding spoken language
• Writing: grammar, spelling, and mechanics
• Math

Many children also have executive function challenges. These are not always classed as learning differences, but they can make learning harder.

Language-based learning differences are sometimes confused with speech disorders, which affect articulation, voice, or fluency and often improve with early therapy. A language-based learning difference affects spoken and written language more broadly. A child may have trouble learning the alphabet, read without understanding, or struggle to express ideas. These students may become frustrated, and others may underestimate how bright they are.

These differences usually surface once school begins and reading and writing are expected. A speech-language pathologist, psychologist, and special educator often evaluate speaking, listening, reading, and writing together. The best instruction is specialized, explicit, structured, multisensory, and ongoing.

Common Learning Differences

Dyslexia

Difficulty recognizing letters and words and hearing the sounds within words, which affects reading speed, spelling, and comprehension.

Dyscalculia

Difficulty with basic calculation and with ideas like time, measurement, and estimation.

Dysgraphia

Difficulty with written expression, including forming letters, fitting writing into a space, organizing thoughts, and using sentence structure and grammar.

Auditory Processing Disorder

Difficulty understanding and interpreting speech, following directions, and repeating what was said.

ADHD

ADHD is more accurately an executive function difficulty, but it often appears alongside a learning difference. Students may struggle to focus, stay on task, and keep track of time. It is commonly treated with medication and behavioral therapy.

What You Can Do Right Away

See your doctor. Rule out physical causes first. Hearing loss, vision problems and brain injuries can look like a learning difference.

Ask for testing. Request an evaluation through your school district, starting with your child's teachers. They may have noticed the same things you have.

How the Process Usually Works

Once a concern is raised, the school should:

1. Monitor your child's progress closely
2. Determine whether a learning difference is present
3. Decide whether your child qualifies for special education under federal law
4. Write an Individualized Education Program (IEP) if they qualify
5. Set benchmarks to measure progress

The team often includes a psychologist, a special education teacher, a speech-language pathologist, and a reading specialist. A full evaluation may include a medical and neurological exam, screening for other conditions, a review of your child's development and school history, a look at family history, and academic and psychological testing.

Getting Help for Your Child

Signs that your child needs more help include concerns from school, poor grades, frustration over homework, and little interest in reading. If the school isn't addressing the problem, you may need to push harder. The earlier your child gets help, the better for both their learning and their confidence.

Help usually begins with an IEP, which may include speech therapy, occupational therapy, a classroom aide, and accommodations such as extra time on homework and tests.

Your Child's Rights

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees children with learning disabilities the same free public education as other children, from birth through age 21. Eligible school-age children receive an IEP that sets learning goals, a plan to reach them, and a way to measure progress.

Other Kinds of Support

• Tutoring and therapy at home
• After-school programs for children with learning differences
• Private schools with smaller classes and more individual attention
• Schools that specialize in learning differences

Specialized private schools cost more, but many offer financial aid.

Questions to Ask at the IEP Meeting

The IEP meeting happens once a year, and it is a rare chance to have everyone in one room. Take an active part. Ask each person to introduce themselves, and ask for a copy of the current IEP. Then ask:

• Who is on the team, and what does each person do?
• How can I reach each of you?
• How is the IEP put into practice each day?
• How is progress measured?
• What can I do at home?
• Do you recommend any changes?
• What training do the staff have?
• What support will the classroom teacher have?
• How will I hear about changes to the program?
• Who do I contact to call another meeting?

If an answer is vague, ask for specifics.

How Speech-Language Pathologists Help

Speech-language pathologists help identify children at risk for reading and writing problems, assess those skills, and recommend effective help. They can teach children to decode words, learn vocabulary, break directions into steps, use context clues, and remember the details of a story.

Ask for Evidence-Based Teaching

Research-based teaching strategies are measurable and driven by data. They keep teachers, parents, and administrators on the same page about your child's program and progress. Federal education law places a strong emphasis on them.

How to Help at Home

Show your child you are on their side. Be patient, make sure they get enough rest, and leave time for play. Learning may take them longer, and that is all right.

• Speak up for your child when needed
• Learn about their learning difference and current approaches
• Work closely with the school and understand their IEP or 504 plan
• Watch their progress and ask for changes when needed
• Praise effort over outcome
• Offer help without taking over
• Encourage them to talk about their feelings
• Don't compare them with other children
• Make time for their favorite activities, and nurture their strengths

How Gow Can Help

Since 1926, The Gow School has taught students with dyslexia and related language-based learning differences, including dyspraxia, central auditory processing disorder, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and disorder of written expression. Many of our students also have ADHD or executive function challenges. We serve students in grades 5 through post-graduate, from 50 states and 22 countries over the years.