Written by Amelia Matlock
Parent Representative
Catholic School Parents Victoria

Having a child with a learning difference is unexpected for most parents and comes with a myriad of adjustments for the family. Our journey started out as a time of confusion, grief, anger and sadness. Our beautiful and amazing child was going to face some tough hurdles through his educational life.

Like many before us, coming to know the complexities of dyslexia, we discovered a determination and need to understand and learn as much as we could to help our child’s journey through school be successful, enjoyable and positive.

Children with learning differences face challenges inside and outside the classroom. Dyslexia affects not only the ability to engage and access the academic curriculum, but also self-esteem, confidence, social engagement and emotional regulation.
All of which impacts a child’s friendships and learning. For parents, it’s overwhelming and difficult to know how best to help.

We decided to build our knowledge. We read articles, joined support groups and spoke with therapists and teachers. Armed with knowledge and being an expert in our own child, we needed to find a constructive voice with key staff at school to ensure we all worked together to achieve our son’s goals. We approached this by creating an environment of open communication with the teacher and school leadership team.

Many families in our situation have regular planning meetings with their school called Program Support Group meetings.  At these meetings everyone involved in the child’s educational journey is invited to create a plan for the child. These meetings are most beneficial when they are structured with clear documentation.

Before the meeting we think about our goals for the term and the year. We discuss these with therapists who might be working with us. We are then able to walk into a meeting at school, confident we know where we are currently and where we are heading.

We wanted our child’s school journey to be a positive experience and this inspired me to join our School Education Board. I saw a need to have the voice of children with diverse learning needs at the table. Having that voice would benefit the broader community particularly when 10% of Australian children are dyslexic. Every school has dyslexic students, they may just not be formally diagnosed.

I recently joined Catholic School Parents Victoria, a decision inspired by my positive experience on our school education board and to bring the parent voice of children with additional learning needs to a system and state level.

Children achieve more when parents and educators collaborate, communicate and genuinely work together to support each child. Our experience has led us to truly see that conversations we have with our children’s educators are critical and parent knowledge must be listened to and acted on when it comes to supporting children’s learning needs.