Autism and other Learning Disabilities are Curable

Thesis: Learning Begins at Home

Introduction:

Attention Getter: Can you picture yourself graduating from college, going on to be successful and looking back on your life? You think about all the things and people that played a factor in you being the individual that you’ve become. A coach, a best friend, and grandparent, a mentor, a parent! Or you think about when you have children and decide what role to play in their lives. These are not attributes we think about before hand, but or parents do. This is why learning begins at home.

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Thesis and Preview: Today I hope to show you why learning begins at home. First, I will talk about brain growth. Then, I will discuss a parents’ role in their child’s life, and lastly I will talk about some learning disabilities that can be prevented or short lived with parent participation.

Body:

I. First we need to understand brain growth.
A. The development of the brain in the beginning years.
1. A young brain houses billions of nerve cells that are necessary in life. (www.healthtoday.net)
2. Between the ages of 3 to 6 the most rapid growth takes place in frontal- lobe areas involved in planning and organizing new actions, and in maintaining attention to tasks. (washingtonpost.com)
B. It is good to realize that you either use it or lose it!
1. After puberty the growth rate declines rapidly.
2. The teenage years are very important. This is when it is a very critical time to optimize the brain. (washingtonpost.com)

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Transition: This is why a parents’ role is essential in their child’s life.

II. Parents are their children’s first teachers.
A. A young child is very observant.
1. Children know when to cry due to the reactions they get, particularly from parents. (healthtoday.net)
2. Children recognize letter distinctions. They are able to associate the letter B with words such as Banana due to how it sounds.(healthtoday.net)

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B. A child’s environment is very powerful in their development.
1. Being a positive influence assists children in adapting to situations and learning how to deal with life and people.
2. Rewarding a child for good behavior plays part in how they decipher from right and wrong.

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Transition: This is why a caring parent is a good parent and a knowledgeable one also.

III. As parents it is great to know what our children are up against.
A. Many teens go through school with learning disabilities and parents don’t know.

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1. “50% of all students in special education in public schools have learning disabilities, 2.25 million children.” (aspeneducation.com 2005)
2. Without effective intervention the teens work below their actual abilities, from frustration.

B. There are different types of learning disabilities that parents’ can help their children through.
1. Some terms associated with learning disabilities are Dyslexia a reading disability; Dysgraphia a writing disability; Dyscalculia a math disability and speech impairment which affects the growth of the child’s speech. (aspeneducation.com 2005)
2. Autism is a variable developmental disorder that appears by age three and is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, by impairment of the ability to communicate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns; which children who have it get stuck and fall between the gaps of the school system because parents don’t know it is curable. (merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autism)

[VISUAL AID displays two autistic children slide]

Conclusion:

Review: Learning begins at home. Today I barely scratched the surface of the development of the brain, why parent’s involvement in their children’s lives are important, and what challenges children are up against, but it doesn’t have to end with me.

Final Comment: As your classmate I know you understand what I have explained. Whether you are a parent, someone who had that “perfect” childhood, with the supportive parents, or that student who often wished their parents had a clue. As a child I know what my parents tried to do for and instill into me. As a parent I know first hand how important children are. As a parent of a child with a learning disability I know how essential it is to help our children, my children, your children, our children.

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