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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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Learning Styles Failed the Test Twice. Try These 2 Habits Instead Latest article Learning Styles Failed the Test Twice. Try These 2 Habits Instead Education · Sep 27 · 7 min read Which AI Learning Tools Actually Teach? Start With One Question Latest news Which AI Learning Tools Actually Teach? Start With One Question Dyslexia · Sep 27 · 6 min read Learning Success infographic: Unlocking Learning Potential, an encouraging framework based on the 7 Principles of Learning to support a child's progress and confidence. The foundation of learning: the 7 principles describe how every child learns, focusing on student-centered teaching, social connection and emotional intelligence, and name ways a home becomes a place of support for children with dyslexia or ADHD. What matters most: recognize individual differences by finding the exact skill a child has not yet built instead of lowering the bar; challenge every learner by keeping the bar high and teaching the next manageable step. Why emotion comes first: a child who feels safe leans into difficult tasks, while anxiety and shame cause shutdown; protecting confidence is part of teaching. Steps for progress: identify where the work stops, such as a decoding step, a number fact or holding a sentence in mind; teach that step directly and connect new ideas to the child's strengths. Latest infographic Lowering the Bar Feels Kind. The 7 Principles of Learning Ask for Something Better. Education · Sep 27

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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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Dyslexia Isn’t an Eye Problem. So What Is the Infinity Walk For? Article Dyslexia Isn’t an Eye Problem. So What Is the Infinity Walk For? Sep 26 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 titled Dyslexia and Design: Myth vs. Reality. Debunked myths: specialized font shapes and weighted bottoms make reading measurably easier, and switching a font is a meaningful reading intervention, each shown against a study of dyslexia fonts (Kuster and colleagues 2018; Wery and Diliberto 2017). What actually helps, a green checklist: generous spacing between letters, words and lines; left-aligned ragged-right text with short line lengths; adequate font size in a plain, familiar sans-serif font. Why it matters: no typeface addresses the underlying cause of dyslexia; formatting reduces physical effort and does not teach reading; a font change offered as a solution should not replace structured reading instruction. Action steps for parents: prioritize spacing over styles, trust the child's font preference, focus on whether the child is taught to decode words. Infographic A Dyslexia Font Will Not Teach Your Child to Read. Here Is What Helps Instead. Sep 26

Dyscalculia

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Look Back a Grade Before You Decide Your Child Is Bad at Math Article Look Back a Grade Before You Decide Your Child Is Bad at Math Sep 22 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 Tisha Campbell Got Her Diagnosis at 57. What It Replaced Matters News Tisha Campbell Got Her Diagnosis at 57. What It Replaced Matters Sep 22 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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Stop Out-Disciplining Your Spirited Child. Redirect the Energy Instead. Article Stop Out-Disciplining Your Spirited Child. Redirect the Energy Instead. Sep 17 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