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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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BookShark LA 1 Calls It Natural Learning. Here Are 4 Things It Teaches on Purpose. Latest article BookShark LA 1 Calls It Natural Learning. Here Are 4 Things It Teaches on Purpose. Homeschooling Curriculum Review · Sep 29 · 6 min read New ADHD Brain Study: Attention Is a Spectrum, Not a Switch Latest news New ADHD Brain Study: Attention Is a Spectrum, Not a Switch Attention Deficit Disorder · Sep 28 · 5 min read Unlocking Learning Potential: Beyond Labels Latest infographic No Developmental Milestone Locks Your Child’s Brain: What Post-Birth Neural Science Means for Struggling Learners Neuroscience of Learning · Sep 29

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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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Why More Reading Help Misses, and What Targeted Dyslexia Teaching Aims At Article Why More Reading Help Misses, and What Targeted Dyslexia Teaching Aims At Sep 29 Which AI Learning Tools Actually Teach? Start With One Question News Which AI Learning Tools Actually Teach? Start With One Question Sep 27 Learning Success infographic: What Dyslexia Feels Like as an Adult, the hidden cost of routing around. Seven experiences: the retention gap, reading a page twice to retain it once; the persistent dread of reading aloud in a professional meeting decades after school; hyper-vigilance, triple-checking every box on a simple form; the time tax, an email taking far longer than expected followed by rereading for spelling; career limitation, avoiding promotions, courses or jobs that require reading under time pressure; the careless paradox, fluent in conversation but messy on paper; and early onset exhaustion by mid-afternoon. The connection from parent to child: dyslexia runs in families, so a child's struggle is likely a shared trait rather than a lack of discipline; protect the child's belief that they are capable; adults with dyslexia did not fail to grow out of it, they learned to route around it, and those routes are teachable. Action steps: practice radical honesty, saying this is hard for me too and here is how I handle it; seek direct reading instruction rather than waiting; use audiobooks and text-to-speech while reading skills are being built; request formal accommodations in writing at school and at work. Infographic You Reread Every Email Twice. What Adult Dyslexia Tells You About Your Child Sep 28

Dyscalculia

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The Math Signs Schools Rarely Check For, and What to Do When You See One Article The Math Signs Schools Rarely Check For, and What to Do When You See One Sep 28 Dyscalculia Isn’t a Line Your Child Is On the Wrong Side Of News Dyscalculia Isn’t a Line Your Child Is On the Wrong Side Of Sep 23 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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ADHD Isn’t Only in the Brain. Your Child’s Body Might Be Part of the Story. Article ADHD Isn’t Only in the Brain. Your Child’s Body Might Be Part of the Story. Sep 18 New ADHD Brain Study: Attention Is a Spectrum, Not a Switch News New ADHD Brain Study: Attention Is a Spectrum, Not a Switch Sep 28 Unlocking Potential: The Multi-System Approach to Dyslexia Infographic ADHD Looks Like Restlessness. The Hardest Part Stays Underwater. Sep 24

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: 14 Confidence Mantras for Kids Who Find School Hard. These are my words, not my parent's praise: fourteen sentences for a child to say back to themselves in their own voice. I can do hard things. This is hard, and I am still going. Mistakes show me what to fix. I do not have to be finished to be doing well. My brain is working right now. I have done difficult things before. I can ask for help and still be capable. Slow is a speed. I know more than I did last week. I am allowed to find this hard. I get to start again tomorrow. Stuck is part of it, not the end of it. What I practice is what gets easier. I am not behind. I am here. How to make them stick: pick two at a time, tie them to real actions, say it with them, then stop. Parent action steps: choose with them, not for them. Use the same two for two weeks. Put them where the hard thing happens, such as the homework table. When they use one unprompted, say nothing. Final takeaway: confidence is evidence of effort a child points to when they have the right words. Infographic Confidence Mantras for Kids Who Find School Hard: Pick Two, Not Fourteen Sep 27