Understood.org Launches as Complete Resource for Learning Disabiilities Community

By Kaitlin Ahern May 4, 2015

Understood.org is a new, state-of-the-art website with a mission to help you find clear answers to the challenges your child with learning disabilities or attention issues may face at home, in school, and with friends.

What do you get when 15 nonprofit organizations that care deeply about helping kids with learning and attention issues come together to create a single resource for parents? You get Understood.org, a website launched in September with a mission to help you find clear answers to the challenges your child with LD may face at home, in school, and with friends.

The easy-to-navigate website allows you to create a profile, which personalizes your experience. For example, if you indicate that you have a child in second grade who struggles with reading, the website will show you the most relevant content it has for your child’s age range and specific challenge. A personalized newsletter is also in the works, according to site developers.

Developed over several years by a team of about 100 experts and staff members, the website was designed based on research that included more than 2,000 parents of children with LD. Through this research, the team identified what type of content parents want most: help for solving behavioral issues, help navigating technology that can help their kids, and a way to better know their children’s experience, or what the world looks like through their child’s eyes.

All About Accessibility: The entire site is available in Spanish, is fully accessible via mobile and tablet, and includes a tool that reads text aloud for parents who may have their own attention issues.

Community & Connections: The site hosts free live expert chats and webinars on advice for managing your child’s disabilities and even self-care topics for parents. Coming soon is a community section called Parents Like Me, where you can connect directly with like-minded parents who are dealing with similar issues.

State-of-the-Art Tools: In addition to expert tips—from how to make getting out the door in the morning easier to the best ways to help your child make friends—you’ll find a technology tool, powered by Common Sense Media, that customizes recommendations for apps, websites, and games that match your child’s needs. And we highly recommend checking out the one-of-a-kind Through Your Child’s Eyes, which allows you to ‘experience’ what life is like for someone with a specific learning or attention issue.

Through Your Child's Eyes

How many times have you wished that, just for a moment, you could see the world as your child does? Every time he becomes upset or frustrated, do you crave to put yourself in his shoes, to feel firsthand what he’s feeling and thinking? That may not physically be possible, but Understood.org has created a digital experience that comes pretty close.

The Through Your Child’s Eyes tool uses videos and interactive games and tests to help users get a better sense of what it feels like to have learning and attention issues.

Does your child struggle with reading or writing? Math, attention, or maybe organization? The tool allows you to tailor your experience by selecting your child’s specific issue and grade level. You’ll then hear from experts as well as directly from real kids who deal with these challenges on a day-to-day basis (and how insightful they are!). Stephen, a second-grader who struggles with organization, says, “It’s like I can’t even think. It’s like I don’t even have a brain. It feels very embarrassing. I’ll put something here and then when I go to find it, it feels like someone actually stole it.”

Next, you’ll play a game or take a test that simulates what it’s like to have your child’s specific challenge (warning: these exercises can be very frustrating!).

The simulation ends with a second round of video in which the expert offers tips for kids struggling with these challenges; the child explains what works best to help him or her cope.

While you may not be able to literally step into your child’s shoes, this new tool can certainly help you get a better sense of what he feels—and, most importantly, to empathize. Find it at Understood.org.