I'm stupid." My son said. "I can't learn." He throws his backpack to the floor. "I have to go to school extra because I'm a retard."

"No, you're not. You just get distracted so you go extra for quiet away from the group."

He just looks at me and throws his backpack on the ground. "I never get to play." Glaring up at me, he stomps off to the kitchen table.

I pick up the backpack and follow him. Sighing, I think he's right. He never gets to play out with friends. He's always doing some sort of school. What are we supposed to do? Making it to the table, I see him twisting around and fidgeting in his chair. I pull the homework packet out as I show him the homework list. As usual, he has extra homework because it's left over from the classroom and the regular homework as well. This is all so frustrating. The school tells me that the six person classes are really helping him. We help him with his homework. I've bought flash cards. Nothing seems to stick in his head. Reading is just something that he doesn't seem to be able to do. And writing well, it would make a doctor proud. I'm surprised the teacher can even read it.

I truly don't know what to do. My son is usually so mellow, but in the last month. He's been progressively more upset. He is a bright boy. He knows that something is different about him. H now thinks that he's retarded. If school was taught verbally and visually with oral exams, my son would be at the top of his class. My son's words rip out my heart. I have to fix this, but I don't know what to do.

We sit down and start the packet. Math comes out first and the math equations are done in about 10 minutes. Math is easy. It goes super fast until we reach the word problems. He struggles with each word. He holds his head. He begins to rock back and forth. I read them to him. His face lights up like a sunrise. He shouts out a number. I look blankly at him and repeat the last sentence. You know the one that asks the question you have to figure out for the word problem. He blurts out the same number. I look down at the word problem and work the equation out in my head. He's right. I ask him how did you do it? Easy he replies. My son who can't read the question can do math problems in his head.

Now comes the hard part. He has to read his assignments and write the answers to the questions. This is going to take hours. The clock on the wall ticks. I move around the kitchen preparing the dinner. There's something in his brain that keeps the

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