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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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The newest article, news story and infographic
It’s an Education Expense. That Doesn’t Mean Your ESA Will Cover It. Latest article It’s an Education Expense. That Doesn’t Mean Your ESA Will Cover It. Homeschooling · Oct 31 · 6 min read Indiana ESA: Subscriptions Must Be Monthly, or the Whole Order Bounces Latest news Indiana ESA: Subscriptions Must Be Monthly, or the Whole Order Bounces Education - Policy · Oct 24 · 6 min read Learning Success infographic, When Big Feelings Flood a Child Who Learns Differently: Supporting ADHD with Co-Regulation. Moving beyond toughen up to build emotional skills through calm connection. What emotional regulation is: noticing a big feeling and steadying it. How the storm hits a child with ADHD: overwhelm arrives fast and lands hardest on schoolwork. What co-regulation means: a child borrows a calm adult's steadiness until their own is built. Four core moves: validate before you fix; steady yourself first; name the feeling out loud; wait for the wave to pass before you teach. Why it helps with repeated failures in reading, writing and attention: it keeps I got it wrong from hardening into I am the problem, and each emotion named and ridden out together is practice. Four-step action plan: 1 connect before you correct, 2 name it, 3 ride it out, 4 problem-solve together. Parent takeaway: a child learns to steady themselves by being steadied by an adult many times first. Latest infographic One Wrong Answer Sets Off a Meltdown. What a Child With ADHD Needs From You First Emotional Intelligence · Oct 31

Recent articles

Pass it on

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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A Dyslexia Diagnosis Feels Final. It Names Where Your Child Is Today. Article A Dyslexia Diagnosis Feels Final. It Names Where Your Child Is Today. Oct 30 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: A Dyslexia Label Is a Map, Not a Verdict. Two myths: a child with dyslexia will never read, and reading clicks on its own if you wait. What the science says: dyslexia is a difference in learning to read, and structured, explicit phonics links letters to sounds. Why it matters: the label points to the teaching to ask for, aimed at the specific skill gap. What parents do: ask for structured phonics by name, keep home practice short and targeted, and ask which word-reading skills were tested. Infographic Your Child’s Dyslexia Diagnosis Is Not a Verdict. It Tells You What Teaching to Ask For. Oct 30

Dyscalculia

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Dyscalculia and Math Fear Are Two Different Problems. Here’s How to Tell Them Apart. Article Dyscalculia and Math Fear Are Two Different Problems. Here’s How to Tell Them Apart. Oct 22 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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It Looks Like ADHD. Ask What Else Was Checked First. Article It Looks Like ADHD. Ask What Else Was Checked First. Oct 17 L-Theanine Was Called a Focus Factor. What Did the Study Find? News L-Theanine Was Called a Focus Factor. What Did the Study Find? Oct 13 Learning Success infographic: When One Fix Isn't the Whole Story. Five linked skills: attention, working memory, information processing, reading and number processing. Narrow explanations and quick fixes leave parts untouched. What matters most: find which parts are hard, aim support at them, and see the whole picture instead of one thing to blame. Why waiting costs your child: starting now gives more room to build skills. What parents can do: notice which skills work hardest, ask for targeted support, start at the first sign, and learn your rights. Takeaway: your child is not broken. Infographic If One Explanation Didn’t Cover Your Child’s Learning Struggle, Look at Attention, Memory, Reading and Math Oct 29

Parenting

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Why Does My Child Reread the Chapter and Still Blank on the Test? Article Why Does My Child Reread the Chapter and Still Blank on the Test? Oct 29 0aafruit-jelly-1351299_960_720 News 5 Things Kids with ADHD Should NOT Eat #adhd Jan 8 Learning Success infographic titled When Other People's Opinions Land Hardest on a Child Who Learns Differently. It shows three core strategies: self-reflection, broaden horizons, and keep it in perspective. A control chart sorts showing up, asking for help and effort as within a child's control, and finding reading difficult as not. A middle panel explains how offhand remarks land on an existing burden and how unanswered opinions become inner beliefs. An action checklist tells parents to distinguish control, call out strengths, and teach two questions: Is this true? Does this person get a vote? Infographic Someone Called Your Child Slow. 3 Ways to Keep Other People’s Opinions From Sticking. Oct 31