Educate Teachers

If DCD is not well understood by your child’s teacher, he or she might not understand your child’s behaviour in the classroom.

Reframe their thinking, if necessary: You might hear that your child needs to try harder or focus more, or that she or he is attention-seeking or lazy. It is important to change these negative opinions by educating them about DCD. They’re Bright But Can’t Write is an educational resource teachers may find helpful for reframing how they think about a child with DCD.

Provide written resources that focus on school issues: It can be helpful to share educational material with a teacher. It might help to explain concerns that you have raised and can assist the teacher to better support your child. The CanChild flyer Succeeding at School: Accommodations for Students with Coordination Difficulties provides many suggestions for the classroom.

Meet to discuss DCD and how it is impacting your child’s participation and performance: A teacher might not realize the motor requirements of their assignments and how this is impacting your child’s learning and school performance.

Problem solve together: Work together with the teacher and ask where she or he notices your child struggling in class. You can then explain why that might be happening and come up with strategies together. It is important to think of ideas that will be manageable for the teacher to carry out in a class of 25–30 children.

Allow opportunities for success: You might discuss with the teacher how to provide opportunities to show off your child’s strengths to his or her classmates.