Verbal Disability--Any tips?

Dear All,

My eight-year-old daughter was just diagnosed with a verbal learning disability (through our pediatrician). Do any of you have any experience with this? Any advice for me? She is struggling terribly in school, and my heart breaks for her every evening as we work on 1-2 hours of homework. I thank you in advance for your feedback!

What do you mean by a verbal disability? What are her symptoms?

Kris www.mykidcanlearn.com A Place for parents of children with learning disabilities.

Thank you for your replies! I am still learning what a verbal disability is. I can share with you some of her problems: She doesn't comprehend oral and written directions very well. She never understands jokes. She struggles with grammar, reading comprehension and spelling. She also struggles with problem solving, so subsequently she is not doing so well in math either.

In addition to these issues, she also has emotional issues. She is indecisive and easily influenced by others. She has no mental stamina. If something looks hard, then she is frustrated and discouraged before she even tries. She is afraid of new situations and she clings to me much as a preschool-aged child clings to her mother. She also has melt-downs over everyday, insignificant things, (like when her water bottle falls out of her backpack she will scream instead of bending over and picking it up.)

She is going to begin counseling next month to help develop some coping skills. Her teacher and I have requested an evaluation from the the public school system. She attends a small Christian school. So, right now we are waiting for the teacher consultant to respond to our request. I know that she is busy, but I am starting to see that I will need to become a "squeaky wheel."