Learning Disabilities

Having a child with a learning disability often means that things are never as you might expect them to be. Simple algebra....first chapter, she's had a bit of it before....just the first chapter, you're not expecting it to be struggle we've done some of this before. However, she struggles with it. So, you go on the big hunt to try to figure out what it is she isn't grasping because it's usually not that obvious on first glance, Then you discover, it's not the big huge concepts but the small itty bitty ones that most people just "accept" without too much thought. For instance, changing the equations from arithmetic equations to Algebraic ones. (3x=6 instead of 3 x (x)= 6 )When I moved into Alg. and was told to do this, I just did it....realized it was a small thing and just made the adaptation. For her, it feels like I am taking away the props that she depends on to order her world around her. What do you do when your props are taken away? Thing about your calendar, or your blackberry. For those of us who depend on them daily to make it from appointment to appointment and keep track of the ingredients we need to buy to make supper, what happens to us when it is not available to us for the day? How does it make us feel--a bit rattled....we go on with our day but things kind of feel off. She has this same reaction when switching to algebraic equations. So, she resists it. She does all in her power to try to keep them arithmetic for as long as she can. If I'm not careful, it looks to me like she is being careless, rushing through her work, not trying or being stubborn and refusing to change, although, if I take the time to get to the heart of the issue, I realize it's a simple concept she is resisting and will continue to resist until she is convinced that in the long run, the adjustment will benefit her in the long run.