Great Resource...

As my search continues, I have stumbled across an exceptional website that provides a wealth of information about learning disabilities for parents and teachers: http://www.ldanatl.org/ (Learning Disabilities Association of America). The LDA was originally formed in 1963 by a group of parents who had children with learning disabilities. Since that time the LDA has expanded to include thousands of members with learning disabilities, their families, and the professionals who work with them. It is currently the largest non-profit volunteer organization and it's mission is advocate for individuals with learning disabilities. This website may be difficult for ELL families to navigate, but as a teacher, I can locate important information about the child's specific disability that would help me better meet their needs in the classroom, and help the parents understand how they can help their child in the home.
The amount of information and helpful links contained on this website is staggering. For parents they provide information that spans the spectrum of the child's life - from the early childhood years to how to help your adult child who has a learning disability find a job and live independently. I would definitely recommend this site to all parents and teachers of children with learning disabilities. However, as I stated before, parents for whom English is not their first language would not likely be able to use this site. If this were the case, I would try to locate information that is specific to their child and their situation and find a way to translate that information for them.
As an educator, I find it helpful that they provide information about specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia. Under IDEA the term is "specific learning disability," which further emphasizes the uniqueness of each diagnosis. In general, I learned from the LDA website that a learning disability is a "neurological disorder that affects one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language." It can be manifest in a variety of ways and to varying degrees, such as difficulty in listening, thinking, speaking, writing, spelling, or doing mathematical calculations. I was surprised to learn that learning disabilities cannot be cured. It is a disability that a person lives with for their entire lives, but with support and interventions, the individual can experience success in all areas of their life. This made me think of the slideshow we saw in class of the famous people - inventors, writers, composers, presidents - who overcame their learning disabilities and contributed so greatly to the world. A very inspiring message to share with families who are dealing with the stress of having a child with a learning disability!

http://www.ldanatl.org/about/index.asp