Can we use our brains to talk about school?

The (arrested) state of learning disabilities.

Right now, kids are hiding in bathrooms because they can’t read and it’s their turn. Others are beaten up on their way to school or humiliated via text because they can’t read social cues. Others sit in the back of the classroom, ticking like time bombs. And not just a few kids. We’re talking millions and millions. Including mine.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities (LD) released “The State of Learning Disabilities 2014.” Here are some highlights:

· One in five are impacted by learning and attention issues.

· One in two diagnosed with LD experiences a suspension or expulsion.

· One in three young adults with LD have been arrested within eight years out of school.

· Even though eight out of ten Americans consider children with LD “just as smart as you and me;” seven out of ten parents, educators and members of the general public incorrectly link LD with intellectual disability (“mental retardation”) and autism. Half or more school administrators do as well.

I appreciate the report. It offers glimpses: who gets diagnosed, who doesn’t and why. It exposes the stubborn myths, stigmas and outcomes that stick to those with LD.

But it’s strange and disturbing that in the 50+ pages of this report, there is no mention of the brain.

Because the brain is hot. The brain is trending. It’s all over the New York Times and the Huff Post. Obama pledges millions to the Brian Initiative. It’s on the cover of Time, Scientific American, Nat Geo, Life — it even has its own magazine. More than one.

When I turn on my screen, I am promised a better, stronger, younger brain — if I practice simple cognitive exercises for just a few minutes every day. But what about my kid’s school? Why can’t they do that? They have all day!

I think I know the reason. It too was mentioned in the Introduction to the “State of Learning Disabilities 2014.”

“Learning disabilities are both real and permanent.”

Real? Yes, people with learning disabilities have real differences — in their brains.

But permanent? Almost nothing about brains is permanent, right? Brains change all the time. We have the pictures to prove it. Neuroplasticity is no longer in question.

But how, when, why and where they change — these are interesting questions. Right now.

So why is no one in the entire State of Learning Disabilities asking these questions? Why do they persist in calling learning disabilities permanent?

As long as they do, our kids — our beautiful, smart, terrified kids — our millions of LD kids have no hope.

Can we please use our brains?