Learning Disabilities And Social Skills With Richard Lavoie

Subtitled Last One Picked...First One Picked On, this live seminar combines nicely polished (and admittedly entertaining) anecdotes by presenter Richard Lavoie with helpful tips for parents. Although there is a brief introduction about the symptoms exhibited by learning disabled children (and more information in the accompanying booklet), the program assumes an audience of parents of learning disabled children. At his best, Lavoie does a good job of explaining the "hidden curriculum" of schools, meaning all of the social aspects of education (building relations with peers and staff, distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and so on). Most children will automatically pick up these social skills, but they are beyond the grasp of many learning disabled kids. At his worst, Lavoie spends too much time talking about life at Riverview--the private school he runs--in a way that isn't quite advertising, but comes dangerously close. Available in two versions ("Parent" and "Teacher's," the latter offering an extra five minutes of material and bundled with a different booklet), Learning Disabilities and Social Skills with Richard Lavoie is a little fuzzy on definitions, and a bit heavy on thinly veiled self-promotion, but many of Lavoie's comments are on the mark, and parents of learning disabled children would most likely benefit from some of the ideas presented here. Recommended, with reservations. (R. Pitman)