A very few schools actually can do the job they say they can do. For a while it was a trend to have LD kids in the mainstream, but it doesn’t work. The school has to have the knowledge base, and the skills base to pull it off. Most schools don’t. They need special training to be able to teach kids with learning differences.
We did not know about learning differences until fifth grade when her resource room teacher insisted that she be tested. She also referred us to Sheila, our educational consultant. The core of Libby’s problem is that she will listen to someone talking and lecturing but digesting it all on the fly was difficult. If she read something and was given instructions she did a little better. Elementary school was simple but once you reach fifth grade things change. There’s more talking and less showing. So we had her tested.

One in five kids has learning disabilities so it’s not a rare thing. The stigma attached to it goes away once you become more aware and understand more about LD. You become more comfortable. Of course there is the emotional shock, then we felt down on ourselves, and then we were able to accept it and say it is what it is.

Our decision to go to middle school at Sterne was not a difficult decision. Our daughter was failing and we trusted Sheila, our education consultant. So we drove by and thought that school sure looks different from the outside. But we knew we had to do something. So Libby started in November of that year and it made a world of difference. The teachers there do the work of angels. It takes a special person to have the patience they do. They are so committed and dedicated. Sterne’s style of education is a lot of hand holding, nurturing and individual attention. They don’t tell you you’re failing.

So now, she can listen to a lecture, go home that night, and write notes from a tape recording. It’s time consuming but it works. Sterne teaches you how you operate in an academic world. She’

BACK