Students with learning disabilities are bright, capable learners who benefit from specialized instruction and support tailored to their individual strengths and needs.

If your child has dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, autism, processing challenges, or executive functioning difficulties, the start of a new school year is an ideal time to seek the tools, strategies, and support they need to feel confident and succeed.

What Are Learning Disabilities?

Learning disabilities are neurological differences that affect how an individual learns, processes, stores, or retrieves information. Learning disabilities can affect skills such as reading, spelling, writing, math, organization, and memory.

Common learning disabilities include:

Dyslexia

Dyslexia typically affects reading and language processing. Students with dyslexia often have difficulty with decoding words, reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension.

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia affects a student’s writing skills. Students with dysgraphia often struggle with organizing their thoughts, forming letters properly, handwriting, spelling, or expressing their ideas in writing.

Students with dysgraphia may benefit from specialized writing instruction and strategies that help them organize their thoughts and express their ideas more effectively. Learn more at Why Smart Kids Struggle with Writing and How Writing Tutoring Helps.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia affects a student’s ability to understand math concepts. Students with dyscalculia may have difficulty with number sense, math facts, or word problem solving.

Learn more about the signs and symptoms of dyscalculia in children at What Is Dyscalculia? Signs, Symptoms & Treatment for Children – EBL Coaching.

Students may also struggle with:

Executive Functioning Challenges

Executive functioning skills help students plan, organize, manage time, initiate tasks, retain information, and finish homework assignments.

Many students with learning disabilities also struggle with executive functioning skills, including organization, time management, task initiation, and completing assignments. Learn more about the executive functioning skills students need for the school year at Executive Functioning Skills Every Student Needs This School Year – EBL Coaching.

10 Back-to-School Strategies for Students with Learning Disabilities

What are some strategies that can help your child with a learning disability start the school year strong?

1. Review Last Year’s Challenges

You can help your child start the school year on a positive note by reflecting on strategies that worked and did not work for them in the past.

Ask yourself questions such as:

• Which subjects were easiest for your child?
• Which homework assignments created frustration for them?
• Did homework take them longer to complete than expected?
• Did they struggle with organization?
• Did they need frequent reminders to stay on task?

Understanding what did or did not work in the past can help you create a better plan for your child for the new year.

2. Create an Organized Homework System

Many students with learning disabilities struggle with managing their assignments and overall workload.

Before the school year starts, help your child develop systems for:

• Recording homework assignments
• Organizing their folders and binders
• Breaking large tasks into smaller steps
• Tracking assignment and project deadlines
• Packing the materials they’ll need for the next day

The goal is to help your child become more independent and gradually transfer responsibility from you to your child.

3. Create Consistent Routines

Summer often brings a more relaxed schedule with fewer routines and expectations. However, many children with learning disabilities benefit from the consistency and predictability of a regular routine.

Set up an after-school routine for your child before the school year starts, which may look like the following:

1. Take a short break after school
2. Review assignments that need to be completed
3. Prioritize tasks and create an order for completing them
4. Break down homework in manageable chunks
5. Prepare materials for the next day

A consistent schedule can help your child feel more prepared, reduce stress, and know what to expect each day.

4. Communicate With Your Child’s Teacher Early

Try to set up a line of communication with your child’s teacher early in the school year. Don’t wait until your child starts to struggle to reach out; it’s always better to be proactive early on than reactive once the challenges become more severe.

Setting a communication plan early with your child’s teacher can help them understand your child’s strengths, challenges, and learning needs.

Set up a meeting and share helpful information like:

• Strategies that have worked well in previous years
• Accommodations that have been effective
• Areas where your child needs continued support
• Ways your child learns best

Whether your child attends a public, private, or specialized school in New York City or New Jersey, establishing clear communication with their school team can help ensure everyone understands how to support their learning needs.

5. Teach Self-Advocacy Skills

As students move through school, it’s important that they become active participants in their education and learn to advocate for themselves, especially if they have a learning disability.

To help them advocate for themselves, teach your child how to:

• Ask questions when they are unclear
• Request clarification on concepts or directions
• Use accommodations effectively
• Communicate their learning preferences

Self-advocacy is an important skill for students to develop before they finish high school and move on to college and adulthood.

6. Focus on Strengths, Not Just Challenges

Children with learning disabilities often notice that a lot of attention is focused on the areas where they struggle. Yet it’s just as important to recognize and celebrate their strengths, talents, and unique abilities.

Students with learning disabilities may excel in areas such as:

• Creativity
• Innovative problem solving
• Big-picture thinking
• Storytelling
• Visual reasoning
• Coming up with unique solutions

Helping your child become confident and motivated can play a significant role in their long-term success.

7. Build Strong Study Skills

Students with learning disabilities often need explicit instruction on how to develop effective study skills.

Helpful study skills strategies may include:

• Using graphic organizers before writing
• Creating visual study guides
• Learning strategies for retaining information
• Breaking studying into shorter blocks
• Developing organizational strategies

Effective study skills can be learned and strengthened, and they become increasingly important as students advance through school.

8. Monitor Homework Without Taking Over

When a child has a learning disability, their parent often becomes their “homework manager” to help ensure they complete their assignments effectively. However, the goal is to gradually build your child’s confidence and independence so they can take increasing responsibility for managing their homework as they get older and progress through school.

Instead of asking questions like:

“Did you finish your homework?”

Try asking:

“Do you have plan for completing your homework assignments tonight?”

Aim to help them become more independent rather than being dependent on you.

9. Look Out for Signs Your Child Needs Additional Support

If your child continues to struggle despite receiving support at home, it may be time to consider specialized tutoring. For families in NYC and New Jersey, working with a local tutoring provider who understands learning disabilities can provide your child with individualized academic and executive functioning support.

Some signs that suggest they may need additional support include:

• Homework takes them much longer than expected to complete
• Grades do not reflect their effort
• Your child avoids certain skills and subjects
• Your child becomes easily frustrated or overwhelmed with academic work
• Your child frequently forgets to turn in their assignments
• Your child needs constant reminders to start their homework or stay on task to complete it
• Your child lacks confidence in their abilities

Seeking the right support early can prevent small challenges from turning into larger struggles. Learn more about the signs your child may benefit from tutoring at 7 Signs Your Child Needs a Tutor: How to Know When to Get Help – EBL Coaching.

10. Help Your Child Start the Year with Confidence

The first few weeks of school can set the tone for the year ahead, so help your child start the school year feeling confident, supported, and ready to learn.

Encourage your child to focus on:

• Progress and effort, not perfection
• Building effective habits
• Asking for help when needed
• Celebrating small successes

Positive, encouraging language can make a big difference in your child’s performance.

Learning Disability Tutoring in NYC and New Jersey

EBL Coaching provides individualized tutoring and academic support to students with learning disabilities throughout New York City and New Jersey. Our individualized tutoring programs help students develop the skills they need to become more confident, independent learners.

We help students with:

• Dyslexia
• Dysgraphia
• Dyscalculia
• ADHD
• Autism
• Executive functioning challenges
• Reading difficulties
• Writing challenges
• Math struggles
• Study skills difficulties

We don’t just focus on homework help; we teach students the skills they need for success across all subjects.

Through one-on-one instruction, students in New York City and New Jersey receive individualized strategies tailored to each student’s learning profile, academic needs, and goals.

EBL Coaching works with families throughout New York City and New Jersey to provide individualized tutoring and executive functioning support for students with learning disabilities and other specialized learning needs.

Where does EBL Coaching provide tutoring?

EBL Coaching provides one-on-one academic tutoring and executive functioning coaching to students in New York City, New Jersey, and surrounding areas. Programs are tailored to each student’s learning profile, academic needs, and goals.

Academic Support for Students with Learning Disabilities in NYC and NJ

Finding the right academic support can make a significant difference for students with learning disabilities. EBL Coaching works with families throughout New York City and New Jersey to provide individualized tutoring and executive functioning coaching to students who learn differently.

Our programs can support students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, executive functioning challenges, reading difficulties, writing challenges, math struggles, and study skills difficulties.

Whether your child needs support with specific academic skills, homework management, or executive functioning, our one-on-one approach is designed to build both skills and confidence.

Closing Thoughts

A new school year is a great opportunity for students with learning disabilities to strengthen their academic skills, develop confidence, and apply strategies that work for them.

At EBL Coaching, we help students in NYC and NJ build the academic and executive functioning skills they need to thrive in school and beyond.

Frequently Asked Questions About Learning Disabilities and Back-to-School Success

What are signs my child may have a learning disability?
There are several signs that may indicate your child has a learning disability. These signs can include challenges with reading, spelling, writing, math, organization, memory, completing homework assignments, or struggling in school despite putting in consistent effort.

Does having a learning disability mean my child is not smart?
Absolutely not! Learning disabilities are not related to intelligence. In fact, many students with learning disabilities have average or above average intelligence, but need specialized approaches to learning.

Should my child receive tutoring if they have a learning disability?
Many students with learning disabilities benefit from specialized one-on-one tutoring that focuses on academic remediation and skills development, not just homework help. The right support can help students with learning disabilities improve their academic skills while becoming more confident and independent learners.

What is the difference between tutoring and executive functioning coaching?
Tutoring typically focuses on academic subjects, such as reading, spelling, writing, or math. Executive functioning coaching focuses on skills such as organization, planning, time management, task initiation, and finishing assignments.

Many students benefit from a combination of both academic skills tutoring and executive functioning coaching.

When should parents seek help?
Don’t wait until your child is struggling significantly before reaching out for support. If your child is consistently struggling, frustrated, overwhelmed, or losing confidence and motivation, early support can help them build their skills and develop effective strategies before these challenges increase.

How can I help my child with a learning disability become more independent?
You can help your child become more independent by gradually transferring responsibility from you to them. Teach your child systems for organization, planning, problem solving, and homework completion and give them the opportunity to practice managing their own responsibilities.
Dr. Emily Levy, the founder and director of EBL Coaching, has helped thousands of students with specialized learning needs build their academic skills over the past twenty years. She is the author of the Strategies do Study Success student workbook series, the Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham student workbook program, and the Flags and Stars Multi-Sensory Math student workbook series. She speaks nationally at educational conferences and frequently appears on podcasts as an educational expert. She has also been featured in publications including Newsweek, Autism Advocate Parenting Magazine, Epoch Times, and Macaroni Kids.

The post Back-to-School Tips for Students with Learning Disabilities appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Date published: 2/15/23

Listen to the full podcast here

In this podcast, Dr. Levy discusses ways parents can advocate for their special education child to help them thrive in school.

Special education students often have many gifts, but they also have unique and individual needs. Some thrive in math but struggle with reading and writing. Others have strong academic skills but have difficulty with their executive functioning skills, including organization, planning, prioritizing, and time management. Students might have autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, ADHD, or a combination of diagnoses. As a parent, it is important that you consistently advocate for your child, year after year.

Many different services and accommodations are available to special education students based on their needs, as defined by their IEP or 504 plan. Students may qualify for extra time, preferential seating, a scribe, speech therapy, occupational therapy, pull-out special education tutoring, or other related services. You might find that your child is thriving in school one year with a certain set of services and accommodations only to find that the following year – or even partially through the current school year – their performance begins to sink. 

As a parent, you should always be advocating for your child. At the beginning of the school year, schedule a meeting with your child’s teacher and any other service providers. Tell them about your child and what has or hasn’t worked in the past and try to make sure they read your child’s evaluation reports, IEPs, or 504 plans if available. Then stay in touch with them throughout the school year. Schedule periodic calls or meetings; don’t wait until the end of the school year to find out about any struggles or challenges. Be active in constantly evaluating and reevaluating the services and support your child is receiving to make sure they are consistently getting what they need. Learn more about strategies for helping your special education child at Strategies For Your Child with a Learning Disability or ADHD – EBL Coaching.

With the right support, students with special education needs have the potential to thrive academically.

Read more at Navigating the special education process | LD OnLine.

The post Dr. Emily Levy on the My Child Will Thrive Podcast: Tips for Advocating for Your Special Needs Child appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Dysgraphia affects a child’s ability to form words and letters, space words properly, and express thoughts in writing. These apps can help.

Many students with dysgraphia struggle with spelling, handwriting, and expressing their thoughts on paper when writing. ‎While an individualized, multi-sensory instructional plan is most ideal for remedying these academic challenges, there are many tech tools that can help kids with dysgraphia build these key skills. Try some of the apps detailed below.

iTrace
‎Handwriting, letter spacing, and fine motor skills are all areas that are typically challenging for kids with dygraphia. iTrace is a great tool for helping students build these important skills. With this app, children as young as age 3 can practice letter, number, and word formation, and can even work on spelling their name properly. An animated “hand” demonstrates tracing each letter before the child writes it, serving as a helpful model for proper formation. Parents can even add their own words, select background music, and receive progress reports on the status of their child’s writing. iTrace is a useful tool for helping your child master these key writing skills.

ABC Pocket Phonics
This is another great app for teaching students in grades pre-K-1 proper letter formation when writing, along with letter/sound recognition and how to blend sounds together when spelling. Kids are introduced to various phonemes, starting with basic consonants and short vowels and gradually increasing to more complex sounds, and are asked to say each phoneme, write it, and apply it to a word. At the end of each unit, they are awarded with stars based on selecting the correct phonemes to complete certain words and accurately tracing letters. This app is Orton Gillingham–based and much more fun for most kids than traditional pen-and-paper phonics activities.

Montessori Crosswords
Montessori Crosswords is another great app for building spelling skills. Preschool and elementary-aged students learn to spell words by dragging letters into a crossword frame that is associated with selected pictures. Students start with basic CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words and drag letters to spell simple words like can‎, dog, and mat, and later progress to words containing blends (like flag, plug, and glad), words with consonant and vowel digraphs (like ship, bath, and feet), and multi-syllabic words. When they correctly spell a word, colorful confetti fills the screen, providing children with a fun and engaging experience.

Dragon Dictation
Many kids with dysgraphia have intelligent and creative ideas but struggle to express them on paper when writing. Dragon Dictation is a voice recognition app that allows students to dictate their ideas orally and have them presented on a screen, rather than transcribing them. ‎ To use the app, students hit “record” and begin speaking, then hit “stop” when they are done. They can then cut and paste their text and save it elsewhere, or send it out via email, text, or social media. It’s important that kids speak clearly when using this app, and it’s helpful for an adult to check the text for accuracy after it has been dictated.

Inspiration Maps
Inspiration Maps helps students with dysgraphia organize their ideas into visual maps. Children can create organized mind maps using a touch screen as a means of brainstorming before writing a paragraph, essay, or speech. They can add colors, icons, pictures, and photos to their mind maps, making the process fun and engaging. Once completed, they can convert their map to a linear outline, or can print it, share it via email, or save it to DropBox, iTunes, or the app itself. Templates are available, or students can create their own maps.

Students with dysgraphia typically face continued spelling and writing challenges as they progress through school. These apps can help ease these struggles and set them up for academic success.

The post Best Apps For Your Child With Dysgraphia appeared first on EBL Coaching.

Children with dysgraphia often struggle with forming letters and words correctly, spacing words properly on a page, and generally have difficulty expressing their thoughts on paper.

Your child struggles to properly hold a pencil. His handwriting is messy and he has trouble with letter spacing and spelling. Writing a paragraph is a completely daunting task. If your child experiences these challenges, he may have dysgraphia.

Dysgraphia is defined as a specific learning disability that affects writing. Children with dysgraphia often struggle with forming letters and words correctly, have ‎trouble spacing words properly on a page, and generally have difficulty expressing their thoughts on paper when writing. Yet with the right strategies and tools, your child can learn to tackle the increasing writing demands of school. Try the ideas detailed below:

Feel the letters!
Many kids with dysgraphia have trouble learning to form letters and numbers properly when writing. To build this skill, try creating a multi-sensory experience. Have your child trace letters in a tray of salt or colored sand while she says the formation of each letter aloud. For instance, as she traces the letter “A,” she might say “around, up, and down,” or “down, up, and around” for p. You might also have her trace letters on your back or palm, or you can do the same to her while she closes her eyes to better experience the sensation of each letter’s formation. For gross motor exercises, try having her sky-write each letter or number while standing up, or squirt some foam on the shower door and have her write letters and numbers, using large hand formations.

Practice storytelling!
Children with dysgraphia often struggle to organize their ideas into well-constructed stories and paragraphs. To help build this skill, teach your child to tell stories aloud in an organized fashion. For instance, when you return from a vacation, ask him for an opening line by saying, “We did so many fun activities on our vacation!” and then ask him ‎to discuss his three favorite activities and why he loved each one. He might say one of his favorite activities was playing on the beach, since he built a giant sand castle, jumped the waves, and swam in the ocean. He may say another favorite activity was eating every meal with his family and enjoying special treats, like Belgian waffles, chocolate ice cream, and frozen lemonade. Finally, he may say that his third favorite activity was spending time with his cousins, which included swimming with them, sharing stories, and laughing. Then have him end his story with his overall thoughts on the vacation, like “I had so much fun on my vacation and can’t wait for the next one!” You can try this exercise with just about any experience—a day at school, a play date, or a meal he just ate. The more you practice helping him organize his ideas orally, the easier it will become when writing.

Learn to type
The physical act of writing involves so many components: Letter and word formation, spacing, spelling, sentence construction, written organization, and so many other challenging tasks, especially for kids with dysgraphia. Typing can ease some of these challenges. It eliminates letter formation and spacing challenges, and computers can help with spelling with the use of spell check. When the physical challenges of writing are reduced, ideas often flow much more easily. ‎ If typing is not an option, though, learning to write in cursive, rather than print, can help your child with letter reversals, spelling, spacing, and the overall flow of writing.

Brainstorm!
Many kids—even those who don’t have dysgraphia—have trouble getting started with their writing. Brainstorming can be very helpful in easing this challenge. Encourage your child to start by creating a brainstorm web with her ideas. If she wants to write about why she loves math, for instance, before she begins writing, she should draw a bubble in the middle of the page and write “why I love math.” Then, branching out from the middle bubble, she can add details on why she loves math, like “It helps with problem solving,” “It’s fun!” and “It plays a role in everyday life.” Then branching out of those detail bubbles, she may even add supporting details on why each of those reasons make her love math so much. Once her brainstorm web is complete, it becomes a much easier process to translate that information into an organized written format. Computer programs like Inspiration and Kidspiration are great tools for creating electronic versions of these brainstorm webs.

‎As students progress through school, they will inevitably be required to write longer and more complex stories, paragraphs, and essays. Help your child with dysgraphia build his writing skills with these ideas, and he will be well on his way to academic success!

The post Does Your Child Have Dysgraphia? appeared first on EBL Coaching.

As your child moves through school, the writing demands will increase rapidly. She’ll move from learning to scribble circles and lines to writing letters, numbers, and words, and before you know it, she’ll be asked to write multi-page essays and research papers. Some kids can easily rise to these challenges but for other students, especially those with dysgraphia, these increasing demands can feel completely insurmountable. Help your child with dysgraphia build stronger writing skills with the ideas detailed below.

Use Tactile Tools
Students with dysgraphia benefit from a multisensory approach to learning to write, including touching and feeling letters when forming them. When working on basic letter writing skills with your child, teach him the language for forming each letter (i.e. “down, up, and around” for p or “around, down, and across” for f), then have him practice writing each letter using tactile tools. For instance, pour some sugar or flour on a cookie tray and have him draw the letter with his finger, always saying its formation aloud as he writes it. He can also trace letters in sand at the beach, in dirt at the park (yes, it can be messy!), or on a plate filled with shaving cream at home. Have him practice these letter formations multiple times using these various multisensory tools before having him write them using pencil and paper.

Use Gross Motor Muscles
‎When learning to write, students with dysgraphia benefit from using their gross motor muscles rather than focusing exclusively on fine motor muscles–helping new information stick in their long-term memories. While working on letters and numbers with your young child, have her stand up and trace each letter or number in the sky using large motions with her entire arm. For instance, she might stand up when learning to write the number 1 and, using her entire arm, trace in the sky, “I go write down to reach the ground” as she forms the number 1 (using fun poems for number formations helps too!). Have her try this gross motor work with each letter or number and she will soon write them using correct top-to-bottom formations.

Use Clay or Dough
Try using clay as another multisensory tool for helping your child build his writing skills. For instance, have him create the letter A by rolling out two long thin strands and one short strand, then putting them together to correctly form the letter. He can do the same exercise for numbers, then down the road create short decodable words with clay (at, in, mop), sight words (the, for, she), or even basic math problems, like 2+2=4. Wikki Sticks also work well for these exercises, along with pizza dough or any type of modeling clay.

Use Cursive
While many schools and districts are starting to do away with cursive, this style of writing offers many benefits to students with dysgraphia. First, when writing in cursive, students lift their pencils only between words (not between letters), requiring less fine motor activity. Also, many kids with dysgraphia have trouble spacing words on a page when using print. ‎With cursive, however, spacing between words tends to be less of an issue, as students naturally feel the movement of lifting their pencils between words. Cursive also tends to minimize reversals when writing, since cursive letters typically have unique formations unlike print; with print, for instance, b’s and d’s look very similar to one another and create challenges for students with dysgraphia.

Use Technology
While technology should not necessarily take the place of learning to hand write, it offers many benefits to students with dysgraphia. Some students who have great ideas may struggle so much with the physical act of writing that they tend to avoid it entirely and struggle to express even a few words or sentences on paper. In such cases, learning to type on a keyboard can ease the physical challenges of writing and allow your child to express her thoughts much more effectively. Likewise, multiple speech-to-text tools now exist to help your child with written language, like Dragon Speak and Sound Notes, where she dictates her ideas and the tech tool writes them for her.

The increasing writing demands of school can be challenging for most students. Children with dysgraphia in particular often show significant challenges with this skill. Help your child express his thoughts more effectively when writing with these ideas and he will be well on his way to success at school.

The post Help Your Child With Dysgraphia Build Stronger Writing Skills appeared first on EBL Coaching.