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economist suntribune education saturday april 28 2001 attling the invisible schools work to detect and help students with reading writing troubles by kathleen griffin staff writer josh could not understand why he just didnt get it by the time he reached the end of grade 2 he was still struggling to read most of his peershad been read ing for more than a year and josh began to realize he had trouble even sounding out words words his classmates and friends had mas tered easily and because he couldnt read no matter how hard he tried he couldnt write either thats when he began to get frus trated he stopped trying- he acted out in school and at home and became overlysensitive so much so that his parents and friends dreaded bringing the subject up homework became a power struggle that often ended with tears or tantrums finally joshs teacher suggested he- undergo an assessment the- results indicated he had alearning disability now we can work on helping him through it helping him learn to deal with it said his mom lisa almost with relief we know what the problem is now he doesnt have to think hes just dumb while the names in this story are fictional the experience is- not in fact its one an increasing number of children and their parents are facing as early detection- and in- schoolsupport improves in both york region school systems manychildren with learning disabilitiesare intelligent they can expressideas and they understand content explained lee wilson superintendent of student services for theyork catholic district school young students do their best to read but it requires all their concentration topj and sometimes above even thats not enough reading anci writing difficulties can leadto misbehaviour board but when you ask thehvto write down their thoughts they cant do it u or- they can read and write but cant seem to master the concept of addition or subtraction a small number of children are nonverbal they sometimes have a behav ioral component as well they dont- pick up on visual or social cues and spend valuable study time just trying to fit in we call it the invisible disability it doesnt have a wheelchair attached said catholic student services coordinator tina dacunto both boards while struggling to meet the needs of their special edu- cation students ona shrinking bud- get offer support for students with learning disabilities at the elemen tary level one of those programs is the intensive support assessment centre it runs up to two years with a maximum of 12 children to one teacher said wilson the student stays inthat classroom 50 per cent or more of the daybut subjects like gym and religion are with the childs regular class toward the end of the two years the student is integrated back into his classroom those two years are likely the most significant in the childs entire education students are taught cop ing skills strategies to manage their disability in what will become a lifelong struggle to learn what comes easily to others these disabilities dont just go away wilson pointed out children carry that burden for life and a crit ical component of their elementary education is learning about their disability its crucial for their self esteem we teach them how to advocate for themselves how to communicate with their teachers and eventually their employers about what their needs are wilson said we help them learn how to meet their own needs for exam ple if they struggle with writing we find ways they can do the work thats expected it might be teaching them how to take notes in pointform or underlining important points in a notebook it could be teaching key- boarding skills or how to operate a tape recorder we look at the child their needs and their learning style and design a strategy based on their strengths that process is continued through high school with a credit course called learning strategies designed specifically for learning- disabled students we support career planning what is best suited for the students learning style dacunto said we give them a greater understanding of their rights and the fact they are expected to participate as adults the biggest thrust is selfadvocacy developing it early so they can go on to university or college or a job not only will they know what they need theyll be able to articulate it for josh those skills will mean the difference between success and failure not only in school but for the rest of his life by the time he reaches high school hell know what works for him and what doesnt said mom lisa it still wont be easy but those skills are going to save him grief