Making the Move to High School for Your Child with LD
By Marcia Brown Rubinstien, MA, CEP
Starting a new school year is often challenging for kids with LD, but when the new year coincides with the move up to a higher school level, you may find your child needs a little extra parental guidance to navigate the new landscape successfully.
Some parents believe that a child who survives middle school can face anything, but the challenges of high school, though more subtle, can be equally daunting. Observe the way your child handles the following issues so that you can intervene when necessary:
- Long-term assignments
- Expanded library and media services
- Heavier academic workload
- Increased responsibility for work completion
- Pressure for good grades and extracurricular achievements
- Pressure to experiment with sex, drugs, and alcohol
- Varying academic tracks
- Access to support services
- Increasing desire for independence
- Larger and more bureaucratic environment
- Shift from nurturing pedagogy to content-based education
- Choice of electives
- Hazing
- Clothing
- Pressure to remain competitive for selective colleges
For further insights into the concerns of high-school students with LD and ADHD, along with helpful tips on how to help your teen handle those concerns, read Performance Anxiety: High Schoolers Under Pressure.
The author is an educational consultant and member of the Smart Kids Professional Advisory Board. She is the author of Raising NLD Superstars.