Sample: Open Door Learning
A small, low-demand alternative provision setting for children who can't currently manage mainstream school. Flexible days, interest-led learning and no pressure to be anyone but themselves.
Updated June 2026
Showing 1 provider supporting learning disability & gdd — updated July 2026.
Also support learning disability & gdd
Grouped honestly: providers can name no more than three primary specialisms — so when a provider appears here, learning disability & gdd is genuinely central to their work. Within each group, Pro subscribers are shown first. A provider's group is always decided by their own declared specialisms — never by payment.
Understanding
Understanding Learning Disability & GDD
These two terms are related but distinct. Global developmental delay (GDD) is usually used for younger children — typically under five — who are significantly behind in two or more areas of development, such as language, movement or learning. Some children with GDD catch up; for others, the term gives way to a diagnosis of learning disability as they grow.
A learning disability is a lifelong difference that affects understanding new information, learning new skills and managing some aspects of daily life independently. It ranges from mild to profound, and it looks different in every child. What it never means is that a child cannot learn — it means learning happens in smaller steps, needs more repetition, and deserves teaching designed for exactly that.
What helps: breaking skills into genuinely small steps and celebrating each one; frequent revisiting until learning is secure; multisensory, practical teaching tied to real life; functional skills — communication, money, independence — valued alongside academic ones; and consistency between home, school and any provider, so the child isn't navigating three different approaches. Progress measured against the child's own starting point, never a year-group average, is the only measure that matters.
This is general information to help you search, not medical or diagnostic advice. If you're concerned about your child, their GP or school SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) is the right starting point.
Common questions
Learning Disability & GDD support — your questions answered
What's the difference between a learning disability and a learning difficulty?
In UK usage: a learning difficulty is specific — dyslexia or dyscalculia, for example — affecting particular skills while general understanding is unaffected. A learning disability is global: it affects understanding, learning new skills and often aspects of daily independence, across the board and lifelong. The distinction matters when searching, because the right provider experience is quite different for each.
What does good tutoring look like for a child with a learning disability?
Small steps, endless patience, and real-life relevance. A good provider finds your child's genuine current level, teaches one small thing at a time, revisits it until it's secure, and uses objects, pictures and practical activities rather than abstract explanation. Sessions should feel successful to your child — frequent achievable wins — and the provider should be as comfortable teaching life skills as academic ones, if that's what you want.
Can my child still make academic progress?
Yes — genuinely. Progress may be slower and the path different, but children with learning disabilities learn throughout their lives, and well-taught small steps accumulate into real skills: reading, number work, communication, independence. The families who see the most progress tend to be the ones whose providers set ambitious-but-achievable next steps rather than either pushing toward year-group targets or quietly giving up. Expect ambition, delivered kindly.
How does an EHCP fit into all this?
An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is a legal document from your local authority setting out your child's needs and the support they must receive — most children with a significant learning disability will have one or be entitled to an assessment. Private tutoring sits alongside it, and some alternative provision can be named within it. Your school's SENCo, or your local authority's SEND information service, can guide you through requesting an assessment.
Do you support children with learning disability & gdd?
List your service free, keep your profile up to date yourself, and be found by the families already searching for exactly what you do.