Richard Selznick is a child psychologist who has helped parents with their children s struggles in school for more than 25 years. His first book, The Shut-Down Learner, identified the problems faced by spatial learners and recommended ways that parents and teachers can help them learn. School Struggles offers aid, comfort, and perspective to parents whose children have difficulty in school for a multitude of reasons. Selznick addresses reading and writing issues, task analysis, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, difficulties with organization, social skills, medication, parents interactions with teachers, and more, in a practical, down-to-earth manner. The book is filled with takeaway points, surprising insights, and new actions to try with your child that are a godsend for families struggling with school and behavioral issues. Through his work with thousands of academically struggling kids and their families, Dr. Selznick has developed techniques and easily applicable tools on pretty much any topic that plagues parents and children alike, including the excessive use of technology, parental indulgence of their children, and the difficulty of being patient with a frustrating situation. This is an indispensable guide for any parent who stays awake at night worrying about their child s school experience, whether the issues are academic or social, or both.

This book is based on the author's clinical experience as director of a program in the paediatrics department of a large teaching hospital that assesses and treats a broad range of learning problems. He has consulted with thousands of families, explaining complex data in straightforward terms understandable to the parents. He coined the term "shut-down learner" to describe children who thrive with hands-on tasks requiring visual and spatial abilities, but who become discouraged by their difficulty mastering core academic skills such as reading and writing. As many as 40% of Americans experience problems with these core skills, and a significant proportion of them are spatial thinkers. This book is packed with techniques that parents can use to help their shut-down learner succeed in school and in life. In a friendly, non-technical style, the author helps them understand their child's characteristics and offers specific approaches to break the downward spiral.