LD Blog

While I’m on the subject, there is a story from the Washington Post (DC, US) that shows typical confusion about Learning Disabilities. Dedicated readers of LDBlog know that I have repeatedly noted how people misuse “Learning Disability” as a generic term for disability, etc. Post staff writer Avis Thomas-Lester opened a story with this lead:

Holy Trinity Episcopal Day School in Bowie is welcoming a new head administrator, and First Baptist School of Laurel is constructing a new building and expanding a program to work with mildly and moderately learning-disabled students.

The use of the adjective phrase “mildly and moderately” caught my attention. I read the remainder of the article. However, I did not learn much about what the schools were doing. In fact, I grew confused when the story revealed that one school was predicating it’s program on the National Institute of Learning Disabilities. Here is an extended quote.

Cathey said the biggest change academically this year will be the addition of a program called Spectrum “to provide additional support for students with unique learning styles.” The program is part of the National Institute of Learning Disabilities, although it is not for learning-disabled children.

“Holy Trinity is a school for average and above-average children, but any children may experience difficulty with an aspect of writing or comprehension,” she said. “Spectrum allows students to recognize and identify strategies to strengthen their weaknesses.”

Haube said First Baptist School for the past few years has been honing a program geared toward learning-disabled students — a non-traditional population among parochial and private school students.

The school has hired an assistant administrator to oversee the program, which offers both modifications and accommodations for learning disabled students, she said.

“That’s not usual for private schools,” she said. “But we feel that God is leading us to that. We can’t say to parents that because their child has special needs, they can’t have a Christian education.”

The National Institute of Learning Disabilities is a private consulting organization based on a limited amount of research of modest strength. Hmmmmmm…. I’m sorry that those educators, parents, and students (both those with and without LD) are unlikely to get access to the teaching procedures that research has shown to be the most effective.

Link to the Post story.