Learning Disabilities

Home is where most people learn the basic tasks of living. Parents begin teaching children as soon as they are born. Of course, there are conflicts all through the learning process as children grow up, but since most of us are born eager to learn, learning usually happens rather easily.

The process can become very complex and riddled with problems if one of the family members has a learning disability. Not only is the learning process difficult, but the daily threads of family life may be strained to the breaking point.

Such a family soon learns that they must make adjustments. The person with a disability has to make adjustments, too. Using a disability as an excuse for not joining fully in the family and not carrying one's load of family jobs doesn't work and isn't fair.

Tom's son Hank also has a learning disability. Hank is eighteen, and he will soon graduate from high school. He's still not able to read well and has many of the prob lems that go along with LD .

Hank's room is a mess, and he can never find any thing. He often arrives at school without his homework (when he remembers to do it) or money for lunch. He usually gives up on finding his keys before he leaves and decides he'll worry about getting in the house when he gets home. When his mother tells him to do some thing, he stands and looks at her blankly, so she has to repeat herself. She often mutters angrily, “You're just like your father!”

Hank's mother worries about what will become of him. What kind of job can he get?