When they think they are working more than everyone else.
Unfortunately, learning disabilities in children often means that kids need to work harder than their peers. This might mean spending more time on homework, going to tutoring, and working with an educational therapist. Spending so much time focusing on something that is challenging for them can leave kids feeling frustrated and resentful. It can also lead to waning motivation in school.
What to do:
• Remember that success breeds success. It is important to set kids up for success—not failure—as much as possible. Teachers, therapists, and parents should consciously set modest, achievable goals that children can work towards meeting. When a child sees proof that she is making progress she will be more motivated to continue putting forth that extra effort.
• Find their talent. This is possibly the most important thing you can do for a child who has a learning disability. You don’t need to find her “passion,” or the thing she will do for the rest of her life—most kids won’t end up being professional athletes or ballet dancers—but every child has a talent. Find something that your child feels good about doing, and that gives her a sense of mastery and accomplishment, and give her time to practice it. As her talent grows so will her confidence, self-esteem, and overall happiness.
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當他們覺得自己學習要比其他人吃力時。
很不幸地，如果證實孩子有學習障礙，就意味著他們需要比其他同學加倍努力才能追上進度。他們需要花更多時間做功課、上補習班以及進行各方面的教育治療。他們花去大量時間來做一些自己不擅長的事情，這樣會令孩子感到受挫及氣憤，更有可能因此而降低他們上學的學習動機。
這時候，我們應該：
讓孩子獲得成功感：在學習過程盡可能讓小孩獲得成功感，而不是挫敗感，這點非常重要。老師、治療師和家長應特意為孩子設立一些適當和可行的短期目標，讓孩子為實現目標而努力。當孩子看到自己的目標逐步得到實現，他便會更有動力繼續向前。
找到孩子的長處：對有學習障礙的孩子而言，這可能是你可以為他做的最重要的事。你不需要找到他的“摯愛”，或者可以成爲他日後終身職業的東西，因爲大部分孩子都未必會當上職業運動員或芭蕾舞者，不過，每個孩子都會有他的專長。找一些他喜歡做的、擅長的、會從中獲得成功感的事，並給予他時間去練習。隨著他越來越熟練，他的自信心、自尊心和整體快樂感會隨之提升。