Recently I had my home’s sliding back door repaired because the lock mechanism broke.  Not good.

The repair guy tried to convince me that he was finished, even when the new door didn’t close all of the way.

“But it doesn’t close.”  (Seemed obvious to me.)

“You just have to push it tighter with both hands and lock it so it stays closed.  See?”

I asked him to keep working until the door actually closed properly, which he did.

This attitude of let’s do the bare minimum happens plenty in the construction business.  In my experience, it sometimes happens in the medical profession, too.  The doctor doesn’t know how to help, so the answer is, “There’s nothing more we can do.”

Half Measures

What happens when your child has learning differences, and the school tries to convince you they’ve already done enough, or that there’s nothing more they can do?

In your heart you know that she still struggles, that he still performs well below his peers.  Is it obvious to you that you should press the school to look deeper for a better solution, one that actually works?  Or do you trust that the “expert” knows best, all the while feeling helpless to make life better for your child?

Personally I’ve had countless doctors tell me, in so many words, “Since I don’t have the solution for you clearly it doesn’t exist.”  Call it extreme stubbornness if you like, but that answer wasn’t acceptable to me.  Sick forever?  Uh, no thanks, doc.  Why don’t YOU try feeling sick forever and then we’ll see how motivated you are to keep looking for answers.

The Secret Ingredient to Success

That’s the key, isn’t it?  Motivation.  How motivated are you to help your child succeed at learning, even when the answers aren’t obvious?

Are you willing to accept learning difficulties that last… forever?

Are you going to teach your child to simply cope with them INSTEAD of finding solutions, or will you keep searching for ways to improve both coping AND learning?

My guess, if you’re a parent, is that you believe half-measures to help your child are simply unacceptable.

But you get it.  We’re not here to vilify hard working teachers and administrators.  Schools have hundreds of other students to teach.  Teachers are overworked and underpaid, and stretched too thin to try to be the Dr. House of Education.  You KIND of understand why they stopped seeking better answers for your child, why they accept the equivalent of shoddy construction work.  BUT, that only makes you more determined, more fired up.

The good news?  You’ll keep searching until you find better solutions to your child’s learning challenges.  Yes, they’re out there.

The not so great news?  It’s going to take some work.

So, dear parent, stay true to what you know in your heart.  Your child does NOT have to struggle forever.  Choose to be the one who digs deeper and finds the answers you’re looking for.  I have one potential way for you to do that, which you can learn about here.

As for me, I’m immensely grateful for my own stubbornness determination.  Had I listened to all of those doctors who were unmotivated (or under-motivated) to keep trying, keep searching for solutions, I would not be able to write this blog post, or any other post for that matter.  Every day now, life keeps looking better and better.

I would love for your child to feel that same sense of freedom as well.  Learn more about online parent training here.