Navigating Learning Challenges: How Mental Health Professionals and Schools Can Help

It’s common for children and teenagers to have some struggles with learning, whether in specific subjects or across the board. Luckily, there are a number of ways to help the issue. The first step is to get a clear idea of what is underlying the difficulty. Mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) can certainly affect a person’s school performance. If you see any changes in mood or increased anxiety, an evaluation with a qualified mental health professional (Psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist) can help with diagnosis and treatment options. If there are questions about AD/HD, a pediatrician can help you get started with Vanderbilt forms which will ask a series of questions for you and your child’s teacher to look for core inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms. If positive, you can work with your pediatrician or a child psychiatrist to consider medication treatment for your child. There are other behavioral interventions that can be useful for AD/HD in school. These can include preferential seating near the teacher, extra time for tests and long projects or even testing in a private space if need be. A way to formalize these accommodations through your child’s school and school district is through a section 504 accommodations plan. Speaking with your child’s teacher and counselor at school may help determine whether a plan like this may be helpful for your student.

Sometimes, there are learning difficulties that exist independently of a child’s mental health. These could take the form of specific learning disabilities, for example. Some children have struggles with reading (dyslexia), others with writing or mathematics. If you are wondering about something like this, it can help to request that the school undertake psychoeducational testing for your child. This is a battery of tests performed by the school psychologist to look at achievement in specific subjects, and often more broad measures of cognitive functioning as well. If a specific learning disability is diagnosed, a child will often be placed on an IEP or Individualized Education Program. These are plans which often include resource time in a small group setting for which the child is pulled out from their regular class. The purpose is to provide intensive help and catch-up in the subject(s) where the student is struggling and below their current grade level.

While learning problems and the poor grades and evaluations from teachers that they can lead to are highly stressful for families, the good news is that there are a number of ways to diagnose and treat whatever the underlying issue may be. Schools, teachers, counselors, school psychologists and outside mental health professionals may all be of help to a child or teen in such circumstances. With the right help, almost every child with learning difficulty can get back on track for a successful school year.