Karen Golembeski: It sounds like communication is an important key here. We’ve talked about other parents and we’ve talked about school personnel. I’m curious to hear more about siblings and other family members. We hear that sometimes they don’t understand what it’s like for you and your child to live with learning disabilities. How can dads be helpful in dealing with misunderstandings, disappointments, or perceived special attention that is often part of the learning disabilities experience at home with other siblings?

Andrew Kavulich: Well, I’m not pretending to be an expert on this. And I’m learning as I’m going through this as well. I really just try to celebrate the individual strengths of all our children. And obviously, as you’re trying to get remediation or you’re helping your children [with LD] through their difficulties, it is easy to let one of the other siblings maybe not get as much attention.

So I really think that is something that as a parent, as a father or as a mother, that you have to be aware of -- that you really celebrate the strengths of each child. It isn’t easy, but I think we’re trying to be aware of that and be aware of their needs. I’ve also tried to have open communication with each of the children as they’ve gotten older. If we are spending more time doing something [with one child], we always try to bring it back [to why] we’re doing this to help [him or her] because... The same is true about going to different meetings and talking to other parents. We’re doing this to help other children. That’s how we’ve handled it and it’s been pretty successful so far.

Karen Golembeski: Great. And finally, if you had two main tips to share with other dads or for any other parents or guardian looking to help their child with learning disabilities, what would they be?

Andrew Kavulich: My first tip is to trust that as parents you do know your children the best. You spend millions of minutes with them, and you know them inside and out. So if you feel [or think] that there’s an issue, I would act upon that instinct, react to what your gut tells you. That’s how we proceeded, because we know our children best. I’d also think sometimes, when we do talk about what our children’s issues are, we might defer to someone who has an “expert” opinion, but we are the experts on our children. And our input is very, very important.

My second tip is, a lot of times as we’ve been through this journey, you learn about yourself or other family members who might have had struggles and maybe in the past there might have been denial about what a struggle is and was. As quickly as a parent can move beyond that and stop being fearful, then they can become a fearless advocate for their child.

I know that’s not easy – it’s easier said than done -- but I think if you can put your child and their needs first as opposed to some of your feelings about the past, you will help your child the most.

Karen Golembeski: Andrew, thank you so much for joining us today and giving us your words of advice. I know that your words of wisdom will help other fathers to get the praise they deserve and maybe get more fathers involved in the struggles and strengths of their children who have learning disabilities.