ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of costs and benefits to families and friends of an information processing difference. Perhaps the most important issue for parents and families is one of recognition and acceptance. The ‘middle-class disease’ was a phrase commonly heard in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s about dyslexia. All schools are now expected to have a parent partnership policy in place to engage with parents, families, carers and the local community. It is so important that schools and teachers are aware of the cost to parents coming into school, to express their concern about their child’s progress. A child’s home learning environment and the quality of parental engagement with them have been shown to be a key element in the development of resilience and a child’s self-concept. Parenting a child is probably the most important thing that an adult will ever have to do, and parenting a child who does not quite fit the norm is probably the most challenging.
