Mind Your Language - the power of little words

During the last year or so I have been taking Italian lessons and, in the process, learning grammar I didn’t learn at school. My school years fell in a window of time when there wasn't a focus on teaching grammar in more than a very basic way. So in learning a new language I am discovering all manner of things about English and the power of different parts of speech to change the intention.

Conjunctions (or 'joining words' as they were when I was at school), for instance, are small but they are clearly not interchangeable. They have the power to completely alter the intention of a statement.

Take for instance the ‘little’ words ‘and’, ‘but’, and ‘or’. Despite their size they are heavy weights.

Consider the impact on a twice exceptional child – a gifted learning disabled child. Our choice of conjunction makes all the difference to their future, at the very least in the short term.

Gifted and learning disabled

Gifted but learning disabled

Gifted or learning disabled

A child who is seen as gifted and learning disabled (or having learning difficulties of some sort) is recognized for both the giftedness and the disability or difficulty. It is reasonable to expect then that both will be catered for, even though the giftedness may be difficult to see when it is masked by the difficulties. Acknowledging both the giftedness and the difficulties means that schools (and parents) will be more likely to look for ways to accommodate both of these differences.

Gifted but learning disabled has a different tone. It almost sounds like an apology. The giftedness might accepted as being present but, oh dear, there is this learning difficulty that means we don’t have to take it too seriously. We won’t expect too much, perhaps not provide too much for either the giftedness or the disability.

Gifted or learning disabled is even more dangerous.  Make a choice. Gifted. Or Learning Disabled. One wins, the other loses. And it is not just that it is one or the other, it is the fact that it is one without the awareness of the impact of the other. If the learning disability is ignored and the child considered gifted, they will struggle in gifted programs and the classroom without accommodations for their disability. Sooner or later doubt will set it, for the child, the teacher or the parents……. Maybe they aren’t gifted after all………. opportunities dry up.

If the giftedness is ignored and remediation put in place using the methods and pacing that would typically be used with less able children, the gifted child is unlikely to be engaged or motivated (either by the pace of the level of content), and gains are likely to be small. Sooner or later this is used to discount the presence of giftedness at all. It becomes self fulfilling and convenient when it is awkward or time consuming trying to solve the problem of why learning is difficult.

If you have a child whose learning needs differ from the mainstream for some reason, listen closely to the words used when there is discussion about your child, their needs and how they can be accommodated.

One little word can speak volumes.