by Amy DiLaura, CHC Marketing Manager
High school, college, and early adulthood are filled with challenges. From juggling school, extracurriculars, and friendships to planning for the future, there’s a lot to manage. When school struggles crop up, your first instinct might be to get help from a tutor. But sometimes the challenge isn’t coming from the specific academic subject so much as the approach to learning the material.
That’s where a learning specialist can help. Unlike a traditional tutor, a learning specialist doesn’t focus on specific subjects. Instead, they help learners build skills that apply across all areas of life, from organizing their time to managing their workload and dealing with stress. Here’s a look at what learning specialists do and how they can help you become a more confident and capable learner.
What is a Learning Specialist?
A learning specialist is an educational professional who helps learners, particularly those with ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning differences, succeed. At the Schwab Learning Center, our team of learning specialists helps learners develop the foundational skills needed for success in school and beyond. Unlike tutors, who focus on specific subjects like math or English, learning specialists focus on skills that impact everything you do—like time management, organization, study habits, and self-advocacy. These skills aren’t just for school. They’re essential tools that can help you through college, a future job, and even managing your day-to-day life.
How Learning Specialists Can Support You
Academic and Study Skills
Learning specialists work with you to strengthen the skills you need for all subjects. Here’s how they help:
- Reading: Improving reading comprehension helps you understand your assignments better and retain more information.
- Writing: Learning strategies for organizing ideas, writing clearly, and using proper grammar will help you communicate effectively in essays and assignments.
- Math and Problem-Solving: Instead of just memorizing equations, learning specialists focus on helping you understand the logic and problem-solving behind math.
- Study Techniques and Exam Preparation: Learning how to study effectively, remember important concepts, and manage test anxiety to improve your test performance.
- Test-Taking and Note-Taking: Learning how to take effective notes and use specific strategies for different types of tests can make studying less stressful and more productive.
- Research Skills: Knowing how to find, evaluate, and organize credible information is essential for research papers and projects.
- Self-Advocacy: Learning how to recognize your own needs and communicate them to teachers or advisors is a critical skill for students with learning differences.
These skills not only help you do better in school, but they also make you a more independent learner, ready to tackle whatever academic challenges come your way.
High school and early adulthood can feel overwhelming, but a learning specialist gives you tools to manage your responsibilities more confidently.
Executive Functioning Skills
Executive functioning skills are the life-management skills that help you balance your responsibilities, make plans, and stay organized. Learning specialists help you strengthen these skills. Among them:
- Time Management: Balancing school, activities, and personal time by setting priorities and creating schedules that work.
- Working Memory: Working memory strategies help you remember instructions, manage complex assignments, and stay on top of tasks.
- Self-Monitoring: Checking your own progress, noticing when things aren’t going well, and making adjustments to stay on track.
- Planning and Prioritizing: Breaking down big projects into manageable steps, set priorities, and focus on what’s most important.
- Task Initiation: Starting tasks and staying motivated
- Organization: Keeping school materials, digital files, and workspaces organized, so you can focus and get things done.
- Impulse Control: Managing impulses so you can stay focused on goals and avoid distractions.
- Emotional Control: Learning to manage emotions while handling stress and staying resilient when things get tough.
- Flexible Thinking: Adjusting when plans change or you need to take a new approach.
These skills don’t just help in school—they’re crucial for managing everything from work projects to personal goals, making them invaluable as you move forward in life.
Why Learning Specialists Can Make a Big Difference
High school and early adulthood can feel overwhelming, but a learning specialist gives you tools to manage your responsibilities more confidently. Instead of focusing on immediate academic performance, they help you build skills that will serve you for years to come. Teens and young adults who work with learning specialists often see improvements in their grades, but more importantly, they gain a sense of self-discipline, time management, and resilience. Working with a learning specialist helps you prepare for long-term success, not just getting through the next test or assignment.
The Schwab Learning Center is Here to Support You
The Schwab Learning Center team of learning specialists provides collaborative support to help you identify your challenges and strengths, then works with you individually to help you set and work toward your goals. In our one-on-one sessions we can develop skills and strategies that work for you, and explore assistive tools to optimize your learning and performance.
Our support goes beyond academics, helping you build essential life skills that will benefit you long after high school. A learning specialist’s support isn’t just about boosting your grades; it’s about becoming a more capable, resilient person, ready for whatever life throws your way.
There are many tools and strategies that can help with organization, attention, focus, planning, and prioritization. Check out this article about some tools our learning specialists love and use at the Schwab Learning Center.
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