The problems regular students are experiencing have increased dramatically in recent years. Students who are struggling to learn are not necessarily less intelligent or less capable than the successful students.

Although many of these kids have been labeled "learning disabled," a more accurate description is that they are "learning strategy disabled." Many simply have never been taught strategies that are compatible with the way they think and learn. Once they are taught the appropriate techniques, their learning problems diminish significantly.

The fault does not lie with the teachers for they are trained in the traditional way that most people learn. It's simply an insignificant proportion of kids with learning disabilities who are otherwise brilliant and articulate learn differently.

Struggling students will continue to struggle if they don't get the help they need. Once we find and use strategies that work, learning becomes mutually successful experience. It's not fair to expect teachers to add to their regular teaching assignment to provide for students with learning needs as teachers are already stretched to the limit. For this reason, special educational needs of students with learning difficulties are best met entirely outside of the classroom.

When the right methods are used, it is no longer necessary to water down content or repeat it endlessly, the message we send to struggling students is, "You can be a successful student!"

If you are a concerned parent of a child that has been diagnosed as "learning disabled," or perhaps a concerned teacher who wishes to help a student, you should ask yourself:

• What is your understanding of the child's problem?
• Where did you get that information about the child?
• What is being done to correct the problem?
• Is the child making any progress?
• Is the child failing in the school system, or is the school system failing the child?
• Do you really believe that more of the same methods that have failed so far are ever going to work?
• Are you open to exploring new ideas and solutions?

Today, more than eighty different learning disabilities have been defined and studied. The scientific and academic communities are busy publishing studies in journals that support various theories. Which theory is true? What are we supposed to believe?

There is empirical evidence that the learning and behavior problems associated with dyslexia and ADD can be corrected without physical or chemical intervention. It's relatively simple when the Davis® Theory recognizes and addresses a person's natural abilities and talents as avenues to overcome the difficulties that may accompany them.