A learning disability (LD) is defined as a neurological condition that affects the brain’s ability to receive, process, store and respond to information. LD commonly includes the following diagnoses: language and auditory processing, disorders of expressive or receptive language, dyslexia, non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD, executive function disorder, sensory processing disorder, writing disorder and dysgraphia.

Academic remediation is the process of teaching a student how to understand their strengths and how to use them to diminish the impact of relative weaknesses. The focus is in developing strategies to manage academic work in a way that is most efficient and leads to stronger academic performance.

If a student needs academic remediation an individual program is designed using available information that may include educational testing, school reports, and parent reports. Depending on the child’s age and school, remediation takes place at least twice weekly for 45-60 minutes, after school and/or on weekends. A typical program would last at least 18 months and could be longer.

Only a full neuropsychological evaluation will define the need for academic remediation. However, if you sense that your child’s performance in school is much weaker than their capacity to perform in other areas there may be a learning issue that requires remediation. If your child consistently struggles with homework or often seems distressed about school, this might indicate the need for more data as a learning issue could be the cause of the difficulty.