The brain is a malleable organ, and it grows and expands against all odds, even when seeming limitations appear to cower at the sight of looming challenges. Currently, 800,000 disabled children reside in the UK, which equates to about 6% of the child population. According to the Department of Work Pensions, a child may be categorised as someone who is the age of 16 or under.
Some purport that disabled children are doomed to failure. This, however, is completely baseless and untrue. With the aid of enriching services and programmes, a disabled child can cultivate their innate talents, and gradually exceed any limitations imposed by their cognitive deficit.
Definitions of Success
Before we outline the steps to success for disabled children, it is critical to aptly define success in proper terms. How do you delineate success? To some, success may simply equate to being admitted to law school, a grade and admirable feat. Success is characterised differently by different people. Furthermore, it may assume different meanings at different stages during an individual’s life. Although definitions of success hinge on a person’s perception of it, there are a few universal concepts that people consider when broaching their own ideas of success. Success may refer to marriage, business or corporate success, or even personal fulfillment. But, for all intents and purposes, academic and career success will be considered in the context of disabled children.
Children who suffer from specific disabilities also suffer from those disabilities once they reach adulthood. This implies that the very difficulties that plagued them in childhood prove challenging during their adult life, as well. However, many children, with the right resources, are able to challenge these limitations and pursue successful lives.
Through research, scholars have compiled a series of skills and traits designed to propagate success for disabled youth. Disabled people who harness the skills of self-awareness, goal-setting, emotional regulation and coping, proactive behaviour and persistence are more likely to succeed.
What do the above mentioned findings imply for you? That there is hope. If you suffer from dyslexia, ADHD, or any other disability that constrains academic functioning, you can still achieve your dreams, even if this entails attending law school.
The first trait to be examined is known as self-awareness. If you develop self-awareness, you will begin to look upon your personal limitations with utter, transparent clarity. If, for example, you suffer from a disorder the diminishes your speaking abilities, you, as a self-aware individual, will readily acknowledge this. This will increase the likelihood of surpassing those weaknesses. Acknowledging limitations also enables one to select a course of study or career track that best suits their respective strengths and weaknesses. This too can optimise success.
Another key trait is proactivity. When you are proactive, you invest your attention and energy in the world around you, instead of receding or withdrawing. The more involvement you achieve in the surrounding economic, political, social and communal climate, the more successful you will be. For example, consider participating in community activities, extracurriculars, and making efforts to socialise. In terms of being proactive, it is also critical that you become decisive and guide your own decision making process. This is a critical trait in the career world. Furthermore, proactivity is related to personal accountability, or the notion of assuming responsibility for your own success. And of course, the ability to request assistance from others is a critical trait that one must cultivate to be successful.
Perseverance, or persistence, is an invaluable asset for disabled children who wish to succeed. Many people who suffer from disabilities such as ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyslexia and other cognitive deficits, exhibit a consummate degree of perseverance. However, it is critical that a disabled child possess all of the qualities listed here to increase their chances of success. True perseverance is channelled in such way that the child rarely defaults on their goals and gives up.
Goal setting is critical because it catalyses their overall growth. All successful people have attained their success by setting feasible and realistic goals that gradually transmuted into greater things.
Of course, another critical skill is to turn to reliable support systems, hence the importance of family, friends, teachers, and disability resources. And finally, emotional coping is absolutely critical, in terms of their capacity to excel, persevere, and interact socially at a healthy level. This can be difficult to master, especially in the context of Asperger’s Disorder, which impairs emotional perception and reasoning.
What Parents Can Do
If you are the parent of a disabled child, then you understand the immense responsibility that is associated with this role. While you must continually safeguard your child’s vulnerabilities, you should also give them the space and liberty necessary to grow, develop and learn from their mistakes. Of course, you can establish the foundation necessary to optimise their success, as well.
In accordance with the success traits discussed above, it is crucial that you challenge them academically to the best of their ability, and steer them in a direction that capitalises on their natural talents. For example, some children with Asperger’s enjoy and excel greatly in math. If this is the case, do your best to cultivate this skill that they naturally enjoy, and they may pursue a fulfilling life in mathematics, engineering, physics, etc. You can help your child every day to persist, set goals, turn to support systems, cope emotionally, and stay proactive and develop self-awareness with small exercises. For example, consider setting mall, academic goals with your child each week, and monitor their overall process. Have a one on one discussion with your child and their instructors to better delineate their limitations so that they are understood thoroughly. Reward them for being proactive and consistent in their efforts as well. And most importantly, provide feedback for their emotional coping strategies, both positive and negative.
There are additional resources specifically suited for the needs of disabled youth. Even if your child does not excel right away in writing, rhetoric, they can attend college and ultimately be admitted to law school if they continually harness these traits.
Visit this link to learn more. A number of services are provided in the UK for those who suffer from learning disabilities and disorders: