Who knows what’s best for your child?
The answer is simple…You! It is true that it is a huge responsibility to raise a child, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need all the answers. But it does require you to do research and seek out the answers that help support your child’s growth and development.
How do you know when there is a problem?
I recently spoke to Rusty Johnson, a man dedicated to his family and the world around us. He told me something that made me stop and listen carefully.
“My teachers would tell my parents that I couldn’t read. My parents first said, ‘Don’t worry he is a good kid, but he can’t read.’ They were very accepting of who I was. “I wasn’t a typical learner. I learned by experience. Not with the typical lecture methods that were used in schools. “When I got bad grades, I was put in a class with slow learners, most who weren’t interested in learning at all. I couldn’t concentrate with all the activity going on around me. “It wasn’t until later that I learned I was both dyslexic and had ADD too. If they had put me in an advanced level class, where kids would shut up and study, I would have been better off.”With support from his parents, Rusty has grown up to be a productive man in our community.
READ MORE: October is Learning Disabilities Awareness Month
From dyslexia to autism:
A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows that one percent of kids in the US are autistic. Although researchers think some of the increased numbers are due to better detection, they feel there is no one single factor behind the rising numbers.
The CDC team found that autism cases were four to five times higher among boys than girls, with 1 in 70 boys and 1 in 315 girls identified. The researchers also said most children with autism showed symptoms before age three, but identification is often not made until later.
How does this study affect you and your children?
Kristi Wilson and her husband were frustrated because they couldn’t reach their young son. It wasn’t like they didn’t take their son for regular medical checkups, but nothing out of the ordinary was picked up by the pediatrician. It took this mom’s research and persistence to get her son Jake into Early Intervention programs that have made a difference in his life.
What was it like 32 years ago, when you had a child who was diagnosed as autistic?
Dad Mark Storch shares the story of his daughter, Jennie. She walked on time; she babbled; all the normal benchmarks. Then the nursery school teacher said that something was different with Jennie. That was the begging of a life-long search for answers.
Not all children need to be the best and the brightest. But every child deserves the chance to be a productive member of our society. And it is up to us, their parents, to make sure they get the best shot at achieving their personal goals.