ARTICLE: Building the bond between fathers and children with learning difficulties/Schwab learning

[Guest guest]

Ever since our son, , was little and I was taking him from tutoring to

speech therapy to therapeutic swimming, the overwhelming prevalence of women

in those settings was impossible to ignore. In waiting rooms, on the

sidelines of swim and horseback riding lessons, and in parent support

groups, moms were everywhere. Articles, brochures and even books, offered

advice on everything from potty training to classroom accommodations. But,

always, the target audience was the mother. It is no wonder, then, that

fathers often feel excluded. And in families where kids have learning

disabilities (LD) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), the

related emotional and academic problems can leave fathers feeling even more

excluded from the family dynamics. " All the literature is very

mother-focused. There is a real shortage of information and support for

fathers, " observes May, program director for the Washington State

Fathers Network. " I'm amazed at the number of calls I get from men saying,

'I can't find any resources designed for me.' So often there is a feeling

of, 'I guess I'm not important.' It doesn't help that you walk into agencies

and there are no pictures of men and their kids on the walls. It's easy to

see why fathers feel isolated. " Traditionally, it has been the mother who

has carted children from school to lessons to play dates. And while more

dads are involved in their children's lives today than ever before, the gap

is still great, particularly for those fathers whose children struggle in

school.

FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE GO TO:

http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.asp?r=734

Websites The Fatherhood Project/ Families and Work Institute Website

<javascript:popWin('../on_the_web.asp?siteid=www.fatherhoodproject.org','off

site','x')> Children, Youth & Family Consortium Website

<javascript:popWin('../on_the_web.asp?siteid=www.Cyfc.umn.edu','offsite','x'

)> National Center on Fathers and Families Website

<javascript:popWin('../on_the_web.asp?siteid=www.ncoff.gse.upenn.edu','offsi

te','x')> Parents Helping Parents Website

<javascript:popWin('../on_the_web.asp?siteid=http://www.php.com/','offsite',

'x')> References Karin and Klaus Grossman, Society for Research in Child

Development, cited in Wall Street Journal, 2003 Levine, Getting Men

Involved: Strategies for Early Childhood Programs, Families & Work

Institute, NY, 2003 U. S. Department of Education, OERI Bulletin — Fall

1998 New Study Finds Fathers' Involvement Is Key To Children's School

Success

<javascript:popWin('../on_the_web.asp?siteid=http://www.ed.gov/bulletin/fall

1998/newstudy.html ','offsite','x')>