Customer Reviews

Smart Kids with School Problems: Things to Know and Ways to Help (Plume)

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This may seem contradictory, but a fairly significant number of people struggle with the double problem of being both gifted and learning disabled. Priscilla Vail has been there, in all roles, child, adult, parent, teacher, and counselor. She shares what she learned the hard way in a warm, easy-to-read style with plenty of common sense and compassion. The book was an enormous help to me at a time when I needed it, not least by reassuring me that our family was not alone in facing these problems. I have recommended it to everyone I know who is involved with such special children in any capacity and I would heartily recommend it also to any Amazon customers who need information on these sorts of difficulties.

A very insightful book that explains how a child can demonstrate both brilliance and learning difficulties. The section on testing gave a wonderful explanation of common assessments, exploring the intricacies of scores typically found in these kids.

This book was a God-send just at the time of giving up on the school system-- I took charge and looked for an answer to why my son who was so bright has hated school since Kindergarten. I found out why in this book!! The author lovingly and astutely explains how and at what point the learning process can break down. I was able to pinpoint that area in my son and then use the practical advice Ms. Vail offered. AN ABSOLUTELY MUST BOOK FOR FUTURE TEACHERS (and parents seeking understanding and practical advice). TEACHERS NEED TO BE ABLE TO "SEE" A CHILD WHO IS FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS BECAUSE OF A STRUGGLE HE/SHE IS HAVING WITH AN UNRECOGNIZED LEARNING BREAKDOWN.

I was hoping for information on how I could work with my son. There were some good tips for parents, but I felt that this book was more about working with school system and once properly diagnosed, the school system would direct the efforts to help the child. I'm one of those who doesn't completely trust the system and wants to do more for myself. Still it gave me some information that I didn't already have that I can use when working with my son's teachers. I thought it did good job of describing the issues for smart kids who are having trouble in school, especially in the area of language. It described how school personnel test and asses and child for the various issues and what the test scores mean. I thought the case histories were very illustrative.

When my child was in the process of being evaluated for possible learning disabilities, I was given this book to read. It was like "deja vue"....so many of the stories/examples within the book fit my child's situation exactly. It helped me understand her evaluation results and also helped me to understand her better. This book was pivotal in leading our whole family down the path to understanding, advocating and supporting our child at home and in the school. It's been 6 years now, and I still re-read parts of it.

I am reading this as well as a couple other books simutaneously so I haven't gotten through it yet. However, it is an easy read as well as easy to understand.

I poured over this book after receiving my child's evaluation. Full of nuts and bolts explanations on various learning difficulties. Gave me hope for the future. I couldn't help but wonder if it shouldn't be updated since it is now 20 years old and much has happened in the study of children's learning issues. Still, it was clearly ahead of its time.

All in all the book is okay. It tends to teach by example and allegory but there isn't data behind the stories to back up the conclusions. There is an ample bibliography in the back for anyone interested in following up.