Overcoming ADHD and Dyslexia

Neuro-Linguistic Learning Center

Helping Children, Teens and Adults Succeed in the 21st Century

A New Approach to an Old Problem

By Gerald Hughes, NLC Learning Specialist

“When you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s hard

to remember you came to drain the swamp.” --Anonymous

ADD, Dyslexia and a variety of other sensory-based learning challenges, have traditionally been characterized as “learning disabilities”. That dubious distinction is no doubt due to the fact that, in the context of our current educational system, many children with Dyslexia and ADD experience significant learning and social challenges.

While many of these children exhibit exceptional abilities outside the school environment they often struggle in a traditional learning environment. In trying to help these children, most well-intentioned efforts are focused on their weaknesses rather than their strengths. Unfortunately for theses children, this approach has proved largely ineffective. Rather than educating the child, most well-meaning educators focus their efforts on battling the child’s weaknesses.

The first flaw in focusing on the child’s weaknesses is that even with extraordinary efforts, progress is usually minimal and very slow-going. The child becomes frustrated and discouraged. Inevitably, resentment, anger and resignation follow.

The second flaw in focusing on the child’s weaknesses is that it presupposes that all children effectively learn using the same approach. The fact is that children with Dyslexia and ADD typically have learning strategies that are very different from non-ADD children. Forcing them to learn like other children is analogous to forcing them to use a hammer to drive a screw or use a screwdriver to drive a nail. In either case you’re probably not going to get a satisfactory result.

The third flaw in focusing on the child’s weaknesses is that it sets the stage for a relationship between the student and the teacher that is inherently adversarial in nature. The student is presumed to be broken. He or she must, therefore, be fixed and his or her natural abilities must be altered, fought or suppressed in favor of consistency and uniformity.

Conversely, a paradigm that these non-verbal children are gifted, not broken, honors the child and the gifts that he brings to the learning table. It opens the door to a positive and cooperative relationship between the student and the teacher. Rather than being distracted by the child’s weaknesses (the alligators), the educator and the child can focus on utilizing and developing the child’s strengths and natural abilities.

Repeated experience has shown that allowing a child to utilize his natural abilities results in far more effective learning. It engages the child in the learning process. It allows the child to feel successful and motivated. The Learning Specialists at the NLC specialize in bringing out the best in every child.