Special education officials in the Chambers County School district will host forums in February to educate parents on the needs of students with learning disabilities.

The two forums, to be held later in February, will help parents identify if their child has issues with speech and language development or dyslexia.

“We want to be able to give parents in the community what appropriate language development is and what age should you be concerned that their child isn’t speaking clearly or doesn’t have a large enough vocabulary so that they will have an idea of when it might be appropriate to seek our services,” said Diane Sherriff, director of special education in Chambers County Schools.

The first forums will be held on Friday, Feb, 15 at the public libraries in LaFayette and Valley beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

They will focus on language and speech development and what parents should look for in regards to each.

“Especially for very young children around three or four years old, it can be hard [for parents] to determine how developed their speech should be,” Sherriff said. “Is it ok that they are still substituting some vowels or is that something to worry about.’ Things like that.”

The forums will be completely open, allowing parents to ask questions and discuss topics with other parents and officials.

Sherriff said that once they leave, she hopes that parents will have a much better understanding of what their child needs to succeed.

The second forum on Tuesday, Feb. 19 will be held at the H. Grady Bradshaw Library and have a focus on dyslexia. Similar in structure “Experiencing Dyslexia” will also give parents an idea of what it is like to live with the learning disability.

Sherriff said that these forums are being held in response to parental feedback from previous years.

“I hope parents leave with some knowledge about if their child needs more help,” Sherriff said.