Getting Children with Learning Disabilities the Education they are Guaranteed under the Law
It usually starts the same way - your child seems to be somehow not in touch with everything that goes on at school. Either the teacher blames her for inadequate effort and enthusiasm, or you do. You have to, you feel; when she's such a bright and precocious child, surely she'd ace everything at that class if only she would try a little bit, and not be so attentive to everything outside the classroom window (if it has a window). For while, you could blame the child, or wonder if there is something wrong with the teacher or any bullying in the classroom. But sooner or later, you do have to wonder if there is something else that might be going on - you do hear a lot these days on TV from the parents of children with learning disabilities. You keep hearing how nearly 20% of all American children are affected.
You could go to a child psychologist for a basic evaluation, but a thorough and scientific analysis of your child's situation, comes at a real price - $5000. Of course, many parents would balk at such a figure; their insurance doesn't pay for it, and they aren't sure if they should out of pocket, if they don't even know that there is a problem that needs attention. However, there is a rather easy way out, and no, it's not an alternative "holistic" treatment route. The law (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) says that the burden lies with the public school system (or if your child goes to a private school, with them then), to find the means to assess every child's learning needs so that they can be given an appropriate education. It isn't automatic though; you do have to run after all the right people, forms in hand, to get it done. Sometimes, parents of children with learning disabilities just can't be bothered, and hire their own specialist. It does work either way; it just depends on which one is for you.
To begin with, how would you know or recognize that your child actually has a problem? Gauging your child by her reading abilities, is an excellent way. Four out of five children with learning disabilities have problems with reading and spelling. The first step, when you suspect that there is a problem, is that you set up a meeting with the principal and your child's teacher. If the school seems to be giving you the runaround, as often happens, you just need to approach the Parents Training and Information Center for your state, to learn more about what you can do. The schools are hard-pressed too; they are, as is famously recognized, under terrible financial pressure to make ends meet. A letter to the Director of Special Needs at your child's school might work too.
What you're looking for, is a proper psycho-educational test that your child can take. They would give her an IQ test, break down your child's reading skills into all its component skills, and measure how the she does at every one of them. It is very easy to get a half-hearted evaluation done that doesn't really find anything. If the results of the testing are preposterous, in your understanding, you need to draft a proper request for a second test. If they won't do that, you could go to a lawyer, to make the school do it. Once the task of identifying the exact problem that children with learning disabilities is done, your child's school is required to take the necessary steps for proper, sensitive schooling. And that is what will make all the difference.