When the child’s school fails to support him the situation has reversed. While the school has failed the child, it is the school that has failed in its endeavour to provide a sound education of the child.
As learning disability teachers, we provide much needed support to the child in terms of his reading, writing , spelling and thinking skills. We are also his emotional anchor and counsellors and are his confidantes and friends. Once the child relaxes with us, we hear about a lot of incidents at home and school that trouble him – being bullied for not being able to read or answer the questions.
We are also happy witnesses to the growth of their self-confidence and new-found happiness at being long last able to read and write. We also work hard to shift the parents’ attitude towards the child.To convince them that their child is not purely disobedient or lazy and is not performing well due to deficient processing skills takes some doing. Many a parent who came with frowns. have come back with delighted smiles when their young primary child has decided to to show-off his newly evolved reading skills and has proudly read aloud all the bill-boards and menus. There alone lies our greatest satisfaction.
Even though we exist on the fringes of schools our role as mentors to the learning-disabled child and parents is big. Holding their hands, advising them to approach sensitised schools and giving them additional support in times of stress is of paramount importance to us.
Therefore we can compare ourselves as the stepney tyre. When the car has a punctured tyre,the stepney comes in handy! We are also much a much required resource to fall back on!