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The Learning Success blog

Plain-language help for brilliant, struggling learners.

Articles, education news, infographics and a podcast for parents of children with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia and ADHD. Written parent-to-parent, grounded in neuroscience.

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Early Signs of Dyslexia: Backwards Letters Don’t Mean What You Think Latest article Early Signs of Dyslexia: Backwards Letters Don’t Mean What You Think Dyslexia · Oct 12 · 7 min read No Single Test Diagnoses ADHD. Ask What Else Was Checked. Latest news No Single Test Diagnoses ADHD. Ask What Else Was Checked. Attention Deficit Disorder · Oct 12 · 6 min read Learning Success infographic, Reading Habits That Build a Struggling Reader's Skills: low-pressure strategies for parents to build skills through consistency and calm. What this is: reading is a multi-skill process (hearing sounds, decoding words, reading smoothly, holding onto meaning); focus on skills, not labels; low-pressure daily practice. What matters most: consistency over intensity, a few focused minutes every day; meet them where they are and practice the skill they have not built; keep the pressure low. Habits that help: read together every day and take turns; encourage rereading favorites; talk about the story; follow their interests and let them choose. What parents can do: prioritize the next skill, celebrate small wins out loud, and be the most consistent teacher with a short, daily, calm practice time. Latest infographic Reading Time Keeps Ending in Tears? Five Calm Daily Habits That Build Real Reading Skills. Reading · Oct 9

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Quotes worth sharing with another parent All quotes
“ADHD isn't broken focus—it's democracy of attention. Everything gets a vote until something earns devotion. Then watch the hyperfocus ignite.” — Learning Success
Dyslexia
“The same brain that stumbles over spelling effortlessly builds three-dimensional worlds in imagination. Different wiring, not defective wiring.” — Learning Success
Dyslexia
“Einstein's 'problem' was seeing in pictures when others saw in words. Jobs' 'deficit' was connecting dots no one else noticed. Your child's difference is tomorrow's advantage.” — Learning Success
Dyslexia

Highlights by topic

Dyslexia

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Early Signs of Dyslexia: Backwards Letters Don’t Mean What You Think Article Early Signs of Dyslexia: Backwards Letters Don’t Mean What You Think Oct 12 From Dyslexia to a Neuroscience PhD: The Part the Story Skips News From Dyslexia to a Neuroscience PhD: The Part the Story Skips Oct 11 Learning Success infographic, Dyslexia Is Not a Measure of How Smart Your Child Is. Common misconceptions: a child who cannot read is not trying or not clever; struggling to read means poor teaching or laziness. Why the myths take hold: slow reading aloud looks like a lack of ability. The image draws verbal reasoning and decoding as two separate tracks, and says dyslexia is not caused by low effort or poor teaching. Why it matters: mistaking reading effort for low intelligence harms self-belief; structured, explicit reading instruction helps. Action steps for parents: separate the reading struggle from the child's identity, advocate for structured explicit reading instruction, keep feeding big ideas through read-alouds and discussion. Closing line: your child's difficulty reading the page is not a measure of the mind behind it. Infographic Your Child Reads Slowly but Thinks Fast. How to Protect the Thinker While Reading Grows. Oct 7

Dyscalculia

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It Looks Like Not Trying. Telling Time Is a Math Task. Article It Looks Like Not Trying. Telling Time Is a Math Task. Oct 8 California’s New K-2 Math Test Won’t Label Kids. Here’s What Scores Miss. News California’s New K-2 Math Test Won’t Label Kids. Here’s What Scores Miss. Oct 3 Learning Success infographic titled Dyscalculia: 5 Real Strengths That Often Sit Beside It. It explains that dyscalculia is a specific difficulty processing magnitude and quantity and is not a measure of intelligence, and lists five strengths often seen alongside it: verbal reasoning, practical and spatial problem-solving, creative and lateral thinking, strategic thinking, and determination and stamina. It notes these are patterns rather than a guarantee, that naming strengths fosters engagement and protects the math teaching, and that explicit math instruction continues alongside strengths-building because strengths do not teach math. Infographic Struggling With Math Is Only Half the Picture: The Strengths That Often Sit Beside Dyscalculia Sep 24

Attention Deficit Disorder

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The Focus Supplement, the Brain App, the Vision Program: 4 Questions Ads Hope You Skip Article The Focus Supplement, the Brain App, the Vision Program: 4 Questions Ads Hope You Skip Oct 7 No Single Test Diagnoses ADHD. Ask What Else Was Checked. News No Single Test Diagnoses ADHD. Ask What Else Was Checked. Oct 12 Unlocking Brain Potential: Separating Fact from Fiction on Left Brain vs Right Brain Infographic The Left Brain vs. Right Brain Label Was Based on a Neuromyth. Here Is What Your Child’s Brain Actually Does. Oct 8

Parenting

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Your Child Says “I’m Stupid.” How to Teach Them Their Brain Is Still Learning Article Your Child Says “I’m Stupid.” How to Teach Them Their Brain Is Still Learning Sep 28 0aafruit-jelly-1351299_960_720 News 5 Things Kids with ADHD Should NOT Eat #adhd Jan 8 Learning Success infographic: Unlocking Your Child's Potential Starts With Better Questions. Ask small to hear the truth. Six better questions: What made you laugh today? What was the trickiest part of the morning? Who did you sit with at lunch? What is one thing you would change about today? Ask sideways, not face-to-face. Allow silence for processing. Supporting children with dyslexia or ADHD: arriving home guarded, and home is not a place to be graded. Action steps: trade one big question daily, sit side by side, respond with curiosity not a fix, accept the shrug. Infographic Your Child Always Says School Was “Fine.” Ask These Small Questions Instead. Oct 8