Different Ways to Learn, Endless Ways to Succeed
Alex-Andrée Madore, Michèle Minor-Corriveau
AlphaGraphe Publishing (2025)
ISBN: 978-2925589037
Reviewed by Rob Laymon for Reader Views (09/2026)
Learning disabilities are no punishment for being bad. Nor are they evidence of being dumb. Nor a judgment of one’s worth. Nor a predictor of success.
Learning disabilities—call them learning differences—affect many people in the modern world—the typical classroom contains a few learning differences at least. These people struggle a little harder in learning reading, writing, and calculation. In the roster of obstacles encountered in life, they are a definite presence, but they are not insurmountable. We might even place these un-routine learning styles among the spices that make life interesting. Call them a flavor of diversity.
Such is the message of Different Ways to Learn, Endless Ways to Succeed by Alex-Andrée Madore, Michèle Minor-Corriveau, a user-friendly and colorful little book about the differing skills some people bring to reading, writing and calculating. A closely reasoned and logical little book—every chapter ends with a list of key takeaways—Different Ways nevertheless aims at an audience of all ages. With page-wide illustrations and even a typeface designed by Josée Lavoie-Mutonkole, the book turns a cheerful face to anyone opening its covers. Teachers will find it especially valuable.
And what readers will find in the book is at heart a sympathetic explanation of learning differences and an attempt to overcome some of the misconceptions surrounding them. Such as those listed at the beginning of this review. And especially the notion that students with learning differences are somehow committed to a life devoid of accomplishment and striving after the good.
What may appear to be a lack of effort is often a sign of fatigue caused by the extra energy required to complete tasks that come more easily to other students. The presence of a learning difference likewise says nothing about a student’s intelligence.
Almost every student works from some impairment or other, whether it’s ADHD, emotional problems, faulty executive function or a slower processing speed, and these too need to be addressed by the teacher.
Yet many students don’t present these problems until they are well advanced in their school career. Which is why school psychologists and speech pathologists play such an important role.
The second half of the book turns toward teachers and offers a variety of strategies for teaching kids with learning differences, offering advice on the use of AI, assistive technologies and Individualized Education Plans or IEPs.
All in all, Different Ways to Learn, Endless Ways to Succeed is a fun book that offers good insight into the teaching and accommodation of learning differences.
At a Glance: This accessible educational nonfiction guide explains common learning differences and challenges misconceptions about intelligence, effort, and achievement. It also offers practical classroom strategies, including assistive technology, AI tools, and IEPs, for supporting students with diverse learning needs.
Best for Readers Who Enjoy: learning disabilities, neurodiversity, inclusive education, special education resources, teaching strategies, student advocacy, assistive technology, books for educators, learning differences