BY ROD HANSEN
A local group for the families of children with special needs offers a place to socialize, to learn about children’s different learning styles and share in the common experience of raising a child deemed to be different.
“We want this to be an uplifting experience,” said Laura Brooks, a local parent and educator who founded LD Talk last May and has seen the group grow in size significantly over the past year.
The “LD” in LD Talk initially stood for “learning disabilities,” though Brooks said she prefers the term “learning differences.”
The group meets the second Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon at the Christ Community Church at 727 S. Stark Highway in the church’s back classroom. Brooks said the group has proven a resource for students with a wide range of learning styles and their parents.
“We run the gamut with age and learning differences,” said Brooks, noting families of young people with conditions including autism, Asperger’s syndrome, nonverbal learning disabilities, child bipolar disorder, attention defecit-hyperactivity disorder and Tourette’s syndrome are among those who use LD Talk as a place to learn more about themselves and their children.
The need for companionship can be demanding for children and families coping with special needs, said Brooks.
Citing one study conducted by a national mental health organization, Brooks said 20 percent of the parents surveyed would not allow their children to play with a child with depression or ADHD.
The challenges of raising a special needs child often arrive with the initial diagnosis, Brooks said.
“There is a grief cycle that goes along with finding out you are the parent of a child with learning differences,” Brooks said. “We are a service to parents in all stages of the process, from childhood to college-age.”
A long list of educational experiences precede Brooks’ work at LD Talk, including a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in administration from the University of Vermont.
Brooks also taught elementary school in the Vermont communities of Shoreham and Williston, as well as teaching literacy at Center Woods Elementary School.
Brooks founded the Parent/Teacher Resource Center at Center Woods through educational grants four years ago.
That service functions as a lending library by making educational materials available to parents, teachers and students, Brooks said.
She said she founded LD Talk with her husband Leo and another parent as a means of outreach to others raising a child with special needs in Weare and surrounding communities, she said.
The group now attracts residents from Weare as well as Goffstown, Londonderry and Manchester, and LD Talk now hosts an Internet chat group and at most meetings makes educational materials and handouts available to the parents and children.
Just as importantly, Brooks said she tries to maintain a positive atmosphere at the LD Talk meetings.
“This is a place where people can come to let their hair down, and we try to keep away from complaining. We want everyone to leave happy,” Brooks said.