What can a speech therapist do when my child is diagnosed with learning disability?

What Can a Speech Therapist Do When My Child Is Diagnosed with a Learning Disability?

“Wait… isn’t speech therapy just for kids who stutters or can’t pronounce their R’s?”

If that’s the first thought that popped into your head, you’re definitely not alone—and don’t worry, you're not being judged! Most people don’t realize that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) do way more than help with speech sounds. When your child has a learning disability, a speech therapist can actually become one of your biggest allies in their educational journey.

Let’s walk through this together—with a little heart, a little humor, and a whole lot of hope.

First Things First: What Is a Learning Disability?

A learning disability doesn’t mean your child isn’t smart (in fact, many are incredibly bright!). It just means their brain processes certain types of information differently. This might affect their reading, writing, listening, speaking, or understanding of language—any of which can make school feel like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops.

Cue: the speech therapist. 🦸‍♀️

So… What Can a Speech Therapist Actually Help With?

Here’s a breakdown of what an SLP can do for a child with a learning disability (besides bringing sticker charts and magical patience).

1. Improve Language Comprehension

If your child hears, “Read the instructions carefully,” and their brain goes, “Cool. But... what do these even mean?”—they’re not alone. A speech therapist (SLP) can help your child:

• Understand what words and sentences actually mean

• Break down complex directions into manageable chunks

• Build listening skills for classroom success

Think of it as helping your child build a stronger “language toolkit," so they can assemble the IKEA bookshelf of schoolwork without crying. (Okay, maybe less crying.)

2. Boost Expressive Language (a.k.a. Getting the Words Out)

Kids with learning disabilities might know exactly what they want to say, but their thoughts get stuck somewhere between brain and mouth. Frustrating, right?

An SLP helps kids:

• Expand their vocabulary

• Organize their thoughts clearly

• Learn how to tell stories or explain ideas

• Use grammatically correct sentences (goodbye, awkward plurals!)

So instead of saying “I waked up early to go to the zoo,” they’ll start sounding more like the little narrator you always knew they could be.

3. Support Reading and Writing Skills

Yes, speech therapists work on written language & literacy too! Language and reading are tightly connected—like peanut butter and jelly (or peanut butter and peanut butter if jelly is not for your child).

SLPs can help with:

• Phonological awareness (hearing and playing with sounds in words)

• Sound-letter relationships

• Spelling patterns

• Understanding what they read and writing clearly

Translation: your child won’t just sound out words—they’ll understand them, too.

4. Build Confidence and Self-Advocacy

This is the part most parents don’t expect, but often love the most. Speech therapy doesn’t just help kids communicate, it can help them feel heard and more confident.

Over time, your child will:

• Learn to ask for help when they don’t understand

• Recognize and celebrate their own progress

• Use strategies to help them focus and learn better (and YOU, as the parent, will get to know how to help them, too!)

• Discover that they are not “bad at school”—they just learn differently

Cue the happy tears. (Yours, not theirs. Probably.)

What Does Speech Language Therapy Look Like?

Speech language therapy doesn’t mean your child will be sitting silently while someone lectures them. Far from it! Most sessions are:

• Play-based for younger kids

• Game-based and interactive for older kids

• Personalized to your child’s needs, strengths, and learning style

Don’t be surprised if your child comes home saying, “I played a game with my speech teacher!”—and you realize they just learned three new sentence structures without even noticing.

Final Thoughts (from One Caring Grown-Up to Another)

Getting a learning disability diagnosis can feel overwhelming. You’re worried about your child’s future, their self-esteem, and maybe even how to explain all this to the grandparents.

But here’s the truth: Your child is still the same awesome, quirky, brilliant little human they were yesterday. Now, you just have more tools—and more support—to help them thrive.

And one of the best tools in your kit? An SLP who understands how to unlock your child’s superpower & potential, one word at a time.

TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Rhyme)

A speech therapist can help your child with a learning disability by:

• Strengthening language and communication skills

• Supporting reading and writing

• Building confidence and independence

• Making learning feel less like a battle and more like an adventure

So the next time someone says, “Speech therapy? Isn’t that just for talking?”—you’ll know better.

And if you're still wondering, “Is this really going to help my kid?”

Just wait. You’ll see the difference, not just in their grades, but in their grin.

Additional resources:

National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities

F.A.T. City video frustration anxiety and tension

Have Questions?I’m here to help—whether you’re a parent, teacher, or a speech language pathologist. Drop a comment, send a message, or give us a call!

Learn more about speech-language-voice-cognitive-swallow therapy or what we do as speech language pathologists, and our in home and virtual private speech therapy settings:

call/text us at 818.823.8022 or email us at hello@thechatroomtherapy.com.

We provide virtual speech therapy visits/telehealth visits in California, and in home services in Montrose, La Crescenta, La Canada, and Pasadena, CA areas.

We also provide speech therapy in Mandarin Chinese. 中文/國語語言治療

Vicki Chia Hui Lin, M.S., CCC-SLP

Founder, The Chat Room Therapy

Vicki is a California licensed and American Speech Language and Hearing Association certified speech language pathologist. She is a highly accomplished and award-winning Speech-Language Pathologist with extensive experience with both adults and children, with particular specialties in gender affirming voice therapy, adult voice disorders, post stroke or head and neck cancer related voice, communication, cognitive, and swallow difficulties.  Vicki has received various accolades, and is recognized for her excellence in patient care, life participation therapy approaches, and leadership in the field.

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