Dear Mr. or Mrs. President,

Many children in today’s society suffer from learning disabilities such as dyslexia, ADHD, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and processing deficits. Dyslexia, the most commonly known learning disability hampers a student’s ability to read and fully comprehend a passage. Dyslexia affects all people who have it differently. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) causes children to have difficulty with holding their attention and staying focused to the task at hand. Dyscalculia prevents the student from comprehending math. It ranges from failure to order numbers correctly to being unable to perform problem solving strategies. Dysgraphia affects a child’s ability to physically write things or expressing thoughts. It cripples their ability to organize thoughts comprehensibly, too. Lastly, these learning disabilities connect to processing deficits. This disturbs their ability to make sense of sensory data. Which prevents children from remembering important information that they would need to succeed.

By understanding the learning disabilities of a child, teachers have an easier time helping them to pass their classes. Not only do private schools not provide a source of help for these kids, but some teachers discriminate against them. Teachers neglect to help the children because all of the other children understand the material. Many of the students then transfer to public schools to escape the repeat of the grade they failed. The child feels unintelligent and looked down upon by other children, too. If the child continues on to a private high school, their chance of taking advanced classes decreases because their grades suffer. In private schools, students are held to a higher standard, thus children who struggle with learning disabilities begin to fall behind.

Although some schools offer tutoring and teachers will help their students, most do not offer these luxuries. Instead, teachers allow the child to fall behind in class. I have first handedly heard a teacher embarrass a student in front of the entire class for not passing a test. This child was denied extended time when they had been granted it for every other test. In order to prevent this from continuing, please consider implementing programs in private schools for students with learning disabilities. Some programs that may help include classes designated for one on one time with trained teachers. These teachers will have the qualifications to assist these students. These children will work to find ways to improve their learning, and be given extra time on tests and quizzes in order to succeed in school. Your involvement in improving this can change the private school system drastically. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Eden L.