By Marcia Miranda, EI Country Director
Can you imagine being seated in a classroom, not understanding a single word? Or studying for hours to take a test but not remembering anything? Or, trying to write but seeing that your letters don't look the way they are supposed to? When children try hard but can’t make progress on a specific set of skills over time, it could signify a learning disorder. Having a learning disorder means that a child has difficulty in one or more areas of learning even though they may be intelligent and motivated.
Children with learning disorders often need extra support and specialized instruction. Sadly, we don't have this kind of support in the Nicaraguan public education system. In addition, the normative cultural belief for children who are struggling is that they are lazy. This belief leads parents and teachers to not take action to find the support needed for their children.
At the beginning of this year, 98 of our students with difficulties in school went through a testing process for learning disorders. We discovered that thirty-four of our children (over 10% of our students) have significant symptoms indicating they have learning challenges/disorders. Since then, we have supported them with a specialized psychologist to diagnose and develop learning plans for their specific cases. But this is not enough; many learning disorders require a full-time teacher who can design and teach the children individually and accordingly.
Recently, while meeting with one of our donor groups in New Mexico, our Executive Director, Kathy Adams, and I requested support to cover the budget for a special needs teacher. One of our sponsors and a longtime friend decided to donate $1000 to kick off the campaign. We need another $5000 ($6000 per year) to pay for this teacher's salary and benefits. We are excited that with your support we have the opportunity to change the trajectory of these 34 children's lives forever!
Please support our campaign by clicking on this link and giving our special children the chance and opportunity they deserve.
Your donation makes the difference!
Thank you!
Marcia Miranda
Comments