"The Right Side of Normal" for those with learning disabilites or gifted

I had seen the title of this book different times over the past year, but didn’t really look into it……until now! How I wish I would have read this sooner. I have it now and I am only on chapter 2, but it has already given me insight into why my daughter may struggle so much. Yes, I believe there are definite learning delays with my daughter (turning 13), but she definitely is teachable. I have just had so many frustrations over the past several years finding what works. I could give you a list of labels that would surely be put on my daughter because of her learning difficulties, and maybe some of them are legitimate, because she was born with a form of cerebral palsy, because of a stroke in-utero. But, she certainly fits this category of right-brained learners. I am so excited about planning for my daughter’s 7th grade year using resources such as this for a guide. Thank you to those who have talked about it in other threads. So much helpful information on this board:)

I wanted to mention this, because in reading just the first chapter, I was hit with the realization that maybe not all of my daughter’s ‘labels’ are true learning disorders (I could probably give a half dozen or more). For those who have children with official or unofficial diagnoses of learning disabilities, I wanted to encourage you to look into resources such as this for some guidance. Here is an excerpt from this book.

“Common labels for right-brained children are: ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, auditory processing disorder, phonological awareness disorder, vision disorder, sensory processing disorder, and other general learning disabilities. Those who are gifted or diagnosed on the autism spectrum are often right-brained learners as well.”

The first chapter is called “Shifting Perspective”. Maybe my daughter’s are not all true learning disabilities. And yes, my daughter fits 6 of these labels. It has been overwhelming for me, because I knew there were multiple issues. Although there are true weaknesses, I believe this resource will give me help in some areas where I just need to teach her differently. This book is 469 pages, so it will take me a good while to finish it, but it has already, after only reading 36 pages, given me some hope that I can finally find ways to help my daughter reach her potential. So, those of you who, like me, have had times where you just wanted to give up, or maybe you have, like me, tried special programs that didn’t work, keep pressing on. I know there are other resources out there that are helpful. This book has been mentioned in numerous threads, but my intent was to be sure all who need this kind of guidance would be aware of it. I am hopeful that by the end of next school year, I can come back here with success stories, rather than ‘help me’ questions. Hope this will give some hope to  moms of struggling children.