If you have trouble with reading, it’s easy to get stuck on what you can’t do. Let’s face it, reading is part of a lot of different things, in and out of school. Sometimes, it can feel like your learning disability in reading is like a big bar over the door to everything you want to do.

Remember, though, that there’s a big difference between saying that everything uses reading and saying that you have to be a good reader to do anything. A little creativity and willingness to advocate for yourself can make school easier and your learning very successful.

Sometimes we get so caught up in what’s hard for us we forget to notice what we can do – and do well! Reading and spelling may not be your forte, but what are you good at? Do you love doing science experiments? Can you multiply in your head? Can you build amazing buildings out of blocks or found objects? Are you an artist?

Everyone has talents, whether they’re ones that come up frequently in school or not. Figuring out what yours are is a necessary first step for success in school, as well as for bolstering your self-confidence when you talk to parents, teachers and classmates and get the help you need.

Chances are that you can read, at least a little. It’s important to know what your reading ability is at this point. Your teachers or parents may be able to show you results of tests that you’ve taken that show you either a grade level for your reading or what’s called a “lexile.”

A grade level tells you what grade most of the kids who scored the same as you on the test were in. Don’t worry if it’s lower than your grade – remember, you’ve got strengths, it’s just that reading isn’t your strong suit. A lexile is a number that corresponds to how hard the text is that you can read well. It can also be translated into a broad grade level.

Now that you know what your reading level is, you’re ready to find things you can read on any topic. Did your history teacher just assign a research paper? No problem! There are multiple websites that list books by reading level or lexile, so you can find books on your topic that are at your level.

something that you could not imagine doing in about a zillion years. This can be very frustrating, and a lot of kids give up – that’s when grades start to slip, so don’t let this happen to you!

Very often, when a teacher assigns something, there are alternatives they would consider. For example, let’s say your English class is reading Othello, but that’s way past your reading level. You’re supposed to finish reading it by next week. What do you do?

First of all, here’s what you don’t do. You don’t, no matter how tempting it is, use Cliff’s Notes. They may seem attractive, but they leave out a lot of important information. However, if you think about it, what your teacher really wants is for you to have taken in Othello. So, would she allow you to listen to it on tape or watch a video of a performance? You need to ask.

This is an especially useful tactic in classes where reading and writing are not the primary focus. For example, your science teacher may want you to write a long lab report, and that might not be practical for you. But what she really wants, if you think about it, is for you to do the lab and show that you understand it. So, is there another way you could show that? Could you do an oral report or record your findings on a tape recorder? The only way you’ll know is if you ask.

New software is coming out every day to help kids with learning disabilities. There are a couple of types in particular that you might find really helpful. The first is a program called CoWriter. This works with your word processor. As you type, it learns what words you are using a lot and starts to predict what word you need next. Each time you start a new word, it pops up suggestions of the word you might want, and you can click the one you need if it’s there. This is great if spelling is a chore for you.

The next type of software you might look into is text to speech software. Kurzweil is one popular example. This software can read text to you, which is great if reading is a tough area. You can get whole books through these programs. Even the Kindle now has text to speech functions on many books. And don’t forget the low-tech version – books on tape.

Finally, you might find voice recognition software helpful for writing. The technology is getting better every day, so it’s worth a try. The one thing to be careful about is that we often speak differently than we write, so while a program that writes what we say is very useful, you still need to go back and edit your work before you turn it in!