Dealing with social and emotional challenges is part of growing up, but it can be particularly challenging for children with learning disabilities (LD). At school, children with LD often struggle with day-to-day tasks, which can make them feel less capable than the rest of their classmates. In addition to not measuring up in the classroom, children with LD may also lack important social skills that are necessary for making and keeping friends. This combination can easily lead to frustration, loneliness, and low self-esteem.

With an understanding of the social and emotional challenges at hand, parents and teachers can help children with LD develop positive self-esteem, useful social skills, and traits that can lead to success. Parents and teachers can also point out that there is more to life than academics. When children with LD experience success in another area, such as drawing, music, or dance, they will be more likely to develop confidence and a positive self-image, which can spill over into other areas of their lives. The following four articles go into greater depth on these topics:

• Building Self-Esteem offers strategies for helping children with LD build self-esteem, which can be a critical yet often elusive ingredient for happiness and success.
  
• Developing Social Skills and Relationships points out that children and adolescents with LD often have difficulty making and keeping friends because they lack certain interpersonal skills. Parents and teachers can teach social skills such as how to give and receive compliments, how to negotiate without being aggressive, and how to respond to teasing by peers.
• Learning Disabilities and the Arts suggests that arts such as drawing, music, and dance are more than just a fun, superficial way to keep kids occupied. Artistic success can help children with LD build confidence, develop talents, express themselves, and learn important skills.
• Life Success for Children with Learning Disabilities is an introduction to a free, easy-to-use online guide that identifies six attributes that help determine success: self-awareness, proactivity, perseverance, goal-setting, the presence and use of effective support systems, and emotional coping strategies. The guide also offers recommendations on how to help children develop these traits and characteristics.

The Social Side of Learning Disabilities
Featured expert Richard Lavoie, M.A., M.Ed., a nationally-recognized professional in the area of social-emotional development, talks about the social side of LD in this December 14, 2005 LDTalk.