This year, it seemed many people around me struggled with learning disabilities and so I began tracking down books to help them. I discovered Verbal Images Press, a small press driven by Jeanne Gehret, an author who's experienced the issues in her own life. It was Jeanne who tole me that conservative estimates for learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder are 5% of the entire population, but many others never get diagnosed so it could be as high as 15-20%; forty per cent of the children in Special Education have learning differences.
Gehret's first two books are picture books. The Dont-Give-Up Kid ($13.95;$8.95) is about learning differences. Eagle Eyes: A Child's Guide to Paying Attention ($13.95, $8.95) focuses on a boy with Attention Deficit Disorder. Her third and newest book, I'm Somebody Too, $16.00; $12.00) expands Eagle Eyes and changes viewpoint to the boy's sister who struggles to be perfect to make up for her brother's difficulties. All three books have images that kids can use, lots of information for parents, and show a definite path of finding support.
When I don't have first hand experience with a book, I usually field test it. I brought The Don't-Give-Up Kid and Learning Differences to the support teachers at my son's school and asked them to read it with their students. The response of everyone was overwhelmingly positive. It's written in the words of Alex whose Mom calls him the "dont-give-up-kid". Within the first two pages, Alex tells us his strength and difficulty. He has an inquiring mind like his hero Thomas Edison and wants to be an inventor, but in school everything goes wrong. "I mean everything!" says Alex and goes on to bring alive the frustrations of a day when his inner style of learning conflicts with the plans of his teacher. One creative teacher with whom I shared the book asked the kids to give a thumbs up when they agreed with Alex. They began timidly, but by the end of the story were strongly on Alex's side and their own.
Mainstream publishing is acknowledging learning differences too. And this year I had another book serindipity with Jeanne Betancourt's My Name is Brain Brian (Scholastic, $13.95; ages 10 and up) which focuses on a boy who's been judged lazy and feels stupid. A conciencious and concerned teacher bothers to look below the surface and gets Brian the help he needs. Mr. Bingham is able to support Brian's different learning style and help him past a non-supportive father. Brian himself is able to find new kinds of relationships and escape a damaging relationship that he was held in because of a hard exterior he adapted to hide his problems.
I gave this book to a family whose son has been labeled learning disabled at the same time he faces a middle school transition. He dealt with this book with his typically cool bravado, but his mother couldn't help but notice how it effected him. He could only hear a bit at a time because it was so close to home. He'd scorn and shun the reading aloud session, but always stayed in ear shot. His mother cried and at the ending and his father teared.