Close Alert Banner
Skip to Content

Hospital

ResearchFoundation

Text Resize

Regular Large X-Large

Colour Contrast

Default High

Accessible formats and communication supports are available, please contact accessibility@cheo.on.ca

View Our Accessibility Plan

CareersContact UsWebsite FeedbackMyChart
FR
Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario Logo
Contact Us
  • Visiting CHEO
    • Accessibility
    • Amenities
    • Cold and flu season
    • COVID-19
    • Emergency care
    • Family and caregiver supports
    • Family-Centred Rounds
    • Find your doctor
    • Health Records
    • Maps and locations
    • Parking
    • Pay your bill
    • Pharmacy (Kidcare)
    • Preparing for your stay or visit
    • Visiting hours and policies
    View our Physician directory page
    Find Your Doctor Directory
  • Clinics, Services & Programs
    • Directory
    • Emergency care
    • IR/Cath and Sim Labs
    • Make a referral
    • Mental health
    • School
    • Surgical care
    • Technology Enabling Child Health Innovations (TECHi)
    • Virtual care
  • Resources and Support
    • A-Z resources
    • Community supports
    • Families First newsletter
    • Family and caregiver supports
    • Indigeneity - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Social justice
    • Patient Experience
    • Reads2CHEO
    • Transition to adult care
  • Get Involved
    • Co-op program
    • Donate
    • Family Advisory Council
    • Feedback
    • Share your voice
    • Volunteer
    • YouthNet
  • About Us
    • 1Door4Care
    • About CHEO
    • Advocacy
    • Awards, Accreditations and Designations
    • Blog
    • Careers
    • Contact us
    • Disclaimer
    • Find your doctor
    • For community physicians
    • For learners, students and residents
    • For pharmacists
    • Indigeneity - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Social justice
    • Innovation
    • Kids Come First
    • Leadership
    • Newsroom
    • Partners
    • Privacy and confidentiality
    • Reporting and statistics
    • Research and innovation
    • Social media terms of use
    • Strategy Renewal
HomeResources and SupportA-Z resourcesLearning disabilities and dyslexia

Learning disabilities

A young girl wearing a pink hijab, smiling at the camera

Regular Large X-Large
 
  • Open new window to share this page via Facebook Facebook
  • Open new window to share this page via LinkedIn LinkedIn
  • Open new window to share this page via Twitter Twitter
  • Email this page Email
Resources and Support
    • A-Z resources
      Toggle Section A-Z resources Menu
      • ACL injuries
      • Adenoidectomy
      • ADHD
      • Allergies
      • Anger
      • Anxiety and stress management
      • Asthma
      • Autism
      • Back to school
      • Bipolar disorder
      • Borderline personality disorder
      • Breastfeeding
      • Broken bones and torn ligaments
      • Bronchiolitis
      • Broviac central line
      • Bullying
      • Burns
      • Cancer
      • Cast care
      • Cerebral Palsy
      • Child and youth abuse
      • Complimentary and alternative medicine
      • Concussion
      • Connective Tissue Diseases
      • Constipation
      • Continuous nerve blocks at home
      • Cough and cold
      • COVID-19
      • Croup
      • Crutches
      • Crying
      • Cystic fibrosis
      • Depression
      • Developmental displasia
      • Diabetes
      • Diarrhea and vomiting
      • Down syndrome
      • Ear tubes
      • Eating disorders
      • Eczema (atopic dermatitis)
      • Emergency care
      • ENFit – Transitioning to safer enteral connections
      • Epilepsy
      • FASD
      • Feeding
      • Fever
      • Financial tips
      • Functional endoscopic sinus surgery
      • Gastrostomy tubes
      • Grief and bereavement
      • Gut health
      • Halo vests
      • Head injuries
      • Healthy active living
      • Heart murmurs
      • Hip spica casts
      • Hospitalization and surgery
      • Indigenous peoples
      • Infectious Diseases
      • Intoeing
      • IV care
      • Learning disabilities and dyslexia
      • Medical imaging
      • Mental health
      • Mindfulness
      • MIS-C
      • Neck surgery
      • Neonatal Intensive Care/Premature babies
      • Nosebleeds
      • Nutrition
      • OCD
      • Oncology
      • Pain and chronic illness
      • Pain management for procedures (Comfort Care)
      • Parenting
      • Parenting - special needs
      • Pavlik harness
      • Pelvic fractures
      • Polycystic ovarian syndrome
      • Preparing for an ultrasound (Urology and Nephrology)
      • Puberty
      • Recreation therapy
      • Scoliosis
      • Sedation for medical procedures
      • Self esteem
      • Self harm
      • Sensory processing disorder
      • Sexual orientation and gender identity
      • Siblings
      • Sickle cell anemia
      • Sleep
      • Social anxiety
      • Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus
      • Staying at CHEO
      • Strep Throat
      • Stuttering and language development
      • Substance abuse
      • Suicide
      • Taking care of burns
      • Taking pills
      • Technology and family life
      • Toilet training
      • Tonsillectomy
      • Torticollis
      • Tourette syndrome
      • Traumatic brain injury
      • Ultrasounds
      • Vaccination
        Toggle Section Vaccination Menu
        • COVID vaccine FAQs
      • Vascular access
      • Vulvovaginitis
    • Community supports
    • Families First newsletter
    • Family and caregiver supports
      Toggle Section Family and caregiver supports Menu
      • Child Life
      • Grief and Bereavement Care
      • Language and interpretation services
      • Navigator Program
      • Social work
      • Spiritual support
    • Indigeneity - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Social justice
    • Patient Experience
      Toggle Section Patient Experience Menu
      • Bioethics Consultation Service
    • Reads2CHEO
    • Transition to adult care

Contact us

Receive Email Updates...

A learning disability (LD) is a kind of learning problem. It happens when a person with average or above-average abilities for thinking and reasoning has trouble learning certain skills.

Below you will find a variety of resources to help you better understand, cope with and/or support someone with learning disabilities and dyslexia.

Books

Believe in my child with special needs

Falvey, Mary A. -- Baltimore: P.H.Brookes Pub. Co., 2005.

A book about children with special needs and helping them reach their full potential in school. Provides tips on, understanding their child's rights, pursuing an inclusive education for their child from pre-school to high school and beyond, IEP, access to general curriculum, assessment strategies, friendships, transition plans to help their child achieve desired goals after high school.

Bridging the gap: raising a child with nonverbal learning disorder

Whitney, Rondalyn Varney -- New York: Perigree, 2002.

This book focuses on NLD as a unique learning style, rather than a disability, offering a brilliantly realized account of a day in the life of a child with NLD. Other chapters address specific problems, including finding the right school, telling your child about the diagnosis, teaching social skills, negotiating the maze of interventions, and caring for self and spouse. Each chapter balances vivid case examples with thoughtful strategies.

Challenges surrounding the education of children with chronic diseases

Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2016.

This book explores the needs that children with certain conditions--such as diabetes, cancer, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease--might have in the classroom, featuring coverage on a wide range of topics relating to pre-service teacher training, school administrators' policies, and the experiences of children with chronic health conditions.

Different croaks for different folks: all about children with special learning needs

Ochiai, Midoir -- London: Jessica Kinsley, 2006.

This book can be read with children with autism and related spectrum conditions. Deals with social and physical difficulties and provides practical advice and background information.

Dyslexia: a complete guide for parents

Reid, Gavin -- Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2004.

This guide provides the unique insights of a noted educational psychologist on what sort of supportive role parents can play in the life of their dyslexic child. The book includes a description of dyslexia, how it's identified and assessed, examples of different approaches parents can adopt, and a range of useful resources.

Dyslexia and other learning difficulties: the facts

Selikowitz, Mark -- Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

This book deals with difficulties in traditional academic areas such as reading, spelling, and arithmetic, but also looks into lesser known conditions like clumsiness, social unease, and hyperactivity. Providing practical advice to parents to help understand their children's difficulties and to help them overcome problems and improve their self-esteem, it also offers a number of suggestions for managing difficult behaviour.

Exceptional children - ordinary schools: getting the education you want for your special needs child

Forman, Norm. -- Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2004.

This book addresses the educational concerns and needs of children with learning disabilities and other special needs. It is a comprehensive guide for parents seeking to improve the lives of their child's education, as well as resources on how to become a successful advocate for their needs.

The gift of dyslexia: why some of the smartest people can't read-- and how they can learn

Davis, Ronald D.; Braun, Eldon M. -- New York: Penguin Group, 2010.

This book outlines a unique and revolutionary program with a phenomenally high success rate in helping dyslexics learn to read and to overcome other difficulties associated with it. This new edition is expanded to include new teaching techniques and revised throughout with up-to-date information on research, studies, and contacts.

Handbook of learning disabilities 

New York: The Guilford Press, 2006.

This book reviews the major theoretical, methodological, and instructional advances in the field of learning disabilities over the last 20 years.

How I learn: a kid's guide to learning disability

Miles, Brenda S. -- Washington: Magination Press/American Psychological Association, 2015.

This book introduces the concept of a learning disability in concrete terms for younger students. This supportive and upbeat story reassures readers that they are capable, and can use 'smart strategies' to help themselves learn. A note to parents, caregivers, and professionals is included, with suggestions to guide discussion and help children identify their particular strengths and challenges.

An introduction to dyslexia for parents and professionals

Hultquist, Alan M -- London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006.

This practical guide provides basic need-to-know information for parents and professionals and answers frequently asked questions about dyslexia. It addresses topics such as possible causes, means of testing, remediation, and methods of classroom accommodation.

Kids in the syndrome mix of ADHD, LD, Asperger's, Tourettes's, Bipolar, & more: the one stop guide for parents,teachers and other professionals

Kutscher, Martin L. -- London: Jessica Kinsley, 2005.

This book provides accessible information on causes, symptoms, interactions with other conditions, and treatments. He presents effective behavioural strategies for responding to children who display traits of these disorders - whether at home, at school, or in other settings - along with case vignettes and practical tips. The author's sympathetic yet upbeat approach and skillful explanations of the inner world of children in the syndrome mix make this an invaluable companion for parents, teachers, professionals, and anyone else who needs fast and to-the-point advice on children with special needs.

Learning disabilities: from identification to intervention

Fletcher, Jack -- New York: The Guilford Press, 2006.

This book addresses classification, assessment, and intervention for a range of disabilities involved in reading, mathematics, and written expression. With a focus on exploring the evolving scientific base of the field, as well as establishing effective educational practices, this book will serve as an essential text and an indispensable resource for school psychologists, neuropsychologists, special educators, and others who work with struggling learners.

Lost at school: why our kids with behavioral challenges are falling through the cracks and how we can help them

Greene, Ross W. -- New York: Scribner, 2014.

This book counsels parents and educators on how to best safeguard the interests of children with behavioral, emotional, and social challenges, in a guide that identifies the misunderstandings and practices that are contributing to a growing number of student failures.

The new language of toys: teaching communication skills to children with special needs

Schwartz, Sue. -- Bethesda, MA: Woodbine House, 1996.

The New Language of Toys is a how-to guide about using everyday toys, both store bought and homemade, to develop communication skills in children with disabilities and make playtime a fun, exciting and educational experience.

Nonverbal learning disabilities at school: educating students with NLD, Asperger syndrome and related conditions

Tanguay, Pamela B. -- London: Jessica kingsley, 2002.

This book is filled with practical suggestions and ideas for methods that can be utilized to meet the challenges of educating the child with Nonverbal Learning Disability (NLD).

Overcoming dyslexia in children, adolescents and adults

Jordan, Dale R. -- Austin, TX: Pro-Ed, 2002.

This resource leads the reader through simple, clear descriptions of the learning and social patterns of students who are dyslexic. The book summarizes in easy-to-understand language what science knows today about the causes of the different forms of dyslexia. All forms of dyslexia are described in detail. Illustrations of how dyslexia impacts classroom learning, social behavior, emotional maturity, job performance, and personal development are also provided.

Raising NLD superstars: what families with nonverbal learning disabilities need to know about nurturing confident, competent kids

Whitney, Rondalyn Varney -- New York: 2004.

Raising NLD Superstars is essential reading for all those who come in to contact with children with non-verbal learning disorders (NLD). Instead of insisting upon the one size fits all model of intervention, the author focuses on the individual nature of NLD children and offers practical, adaptable advice that will help them find their place both in the family and in wider social groups.

The secret life of the dyslexic child: how she thinks, how he feels, how they can succeed

Frank, Robert -- USA: The Philip Lief Group, Inc. 2002.

This is a practical guide for parents and educators to allow them to see the world through the eyes of a dyslexic child. This book seeks to enable readers to appreciate the emotional struggles the dyslexic child faces.

Survival guide for college students with ADHD or LD

Nadeau, Kathleen G. -- Washington, DC: Magination Press, 2006.

Contains information on support, advice, and strategies for surviving college, e.g. building great relationships with professors and how to get everything done and still have fun.

The survival guide for kids with LD*: *learning differences

Fisher, Gary -- Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub. 2002.

This book answers many questions children might have about LD and how to deal with related issues. Appropriate for Ages: 8-12 years

Teaching by design: using your computer to create materials for students with learning differences

Voss, Kimberly S. -- Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House, 2005.

An educational computer and graphics book for parents and teachers with crafty ideas to organize and entertain kids with learning disabilities.

Teaching mathematics to middle school students with learning difficulties

New York: The Guilford Press, 2006.

A practical resource for special educators and classroom teachers which provides specific instruction guidance. Includes examples and lesson plans.

Teaching word recognition: effective strategies for students with learning difficulties

O'Connor, Rollanda E. -- New York: The Guilford Press, 2007.

This unique book synthesizes the research on how children learn to read words skillfully and translates it into step-by-step strategies for the classroom. The author demonstrates how to plan and implement a coordinated series of lessons that address letter-sound pairings, decoding and blending, multisyllabic words, sight words, and fluency. The book features reproducible forms and checklists.

Understanding sensory dysfunction: learning, development and sensory dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders, ADHAD, learning disabilities and bipolar disorder

Emmons, Polly Godwin -- London: Jessica Kingsley, 2005.

This comprehensive resource aims to help identify and address sensory dysfunction in children, using a range of practical strategies to help children reach their full potential at home, at school and in the community.

Websites

  • Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario 
  • LD@home
  • L'Association québécoise des troubles d'apprentissage
  • Learning Disabilities at School: An Introduction – About Kids Health
  • Canadian Dyslexia Centre
  • Kids Health - From the Nemours Foundation for Parents, Teens and Kids
  • International Dyslexia Association - Ontario Branch
  • Helping Children with Dyslexia - WebMD
  • The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada
  • Learning Disorders – MedlinePlus from the National Library of Medicine
  • Learning Disabilities & Disorders: Types of Learning Disabilities and Learning Disorders and their Signs - Helpguide.org
  • Dyslexia – HealthLine

Pamphlets

 Learning disabilities

You are free to copy and redistribute these materials in any medium or format. This work may not be used for commercial purposes. View the full Creative Commons license. 

Local Contacts

  • Canadian Dyslexia Association 
    207 Bayswater Ave, 
    Ottawa, ON K1Y 2G5
    613-853-6539
    info@dyslexiaassociation.ca
  • Learning Disabilities Association of Ottawa-Carleton 
    160 Percy Street
    Ottawa, ON K1R 6E5
    Resource Centre 613-567-5864
    info@ldaottawa.com

Disclaimer

These resources are for educational purposes only. If you have any questions, ask your health-care provider.

CHEO

  • Visiting CHEO
  • Clinics, Services & Programs
  • Resources and Support
  • Get Involved
  • About Us

Contact Us

CHEO
401 Smyth Road
Ottawa ON K1H 8L1
Phone: 613-737-7600
Email Us

 

Connect with us

View our Facebook Page View our Twitter Page View our Instagram Page View our YouTube Page View our LinkedIn Page

Sign up for our newsletter

twitter:1248b279-93aa-4ec9-8398-fb5ed28a6413

Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario logo

Copyright 2021 CHEO.

By GHD Digital
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy and confidentiality
  • Website Feedback
  • Contact Us

Staff Portal

Close Old Browser Notification
Browser Compatibility Notification
It appears you are trying to access this site using an outdated browser. As a result, parts of the site may not function properly for you. We recommend updating your browser to its most recent version at your earliest convenience.