Month: July 2023

Green-Yellow-Red Zone

by | Jul 28, 2023 | ,

Liana’s mom has seen a great deal of struggling in her 4th grade daughter.

After I evaluated Liana, the mom asked me, “Was this a problem that could have been averted?”

As I explained to her there are valid and reliable screening measures that can be given early on in kindergarten or first grade that take about 15 minutes. From such a screening, there are three general groups that can be identified.

These are:

  • Green Zone Kids: That is, those who are good to go. They represent about 60% of the population within that age range.
  • Yellow Zone Kids:  Those who show some signs of red flags, representing about 25% of the population.
  • Red Zone Kids:  Those who show significant to severe signs of difficulty, roughly 10 to 15% of the population.

For the children in the lower yellow into the red zone, just giving them the regular curriculum, such as reading stories, literature and other whole language type of activities Is not sufficient.

These children require much more “bottom- up” activities using sensible, structured methods to try and build their base of skills.

My experience is that  often this is not a model that is typically followed.

If that is the case, if you  have concerns early, then I encourage you to go out on your own and have someone within your community (e.g., a reading specialist or a psychologist) to do such a screening to determine what zone your child is in within the early grades.

For the yellow and red zone children, don’t wait. Get good tutoring.

That is the only way to try and avert a child from being in a situation like Liana’s.

(***Please note:  All blogs represent the opinion and perspective of Dr. Richard Selznick.  Comments and questions are welcomed, but are blocked by the hosting site.  Please email questions or comments: rselznick615@gmail.com)  

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

“ADD-ing”

by | Jul 20, 2023 |

Over the last couple of decades ADHD (commonly referred to as “ADD”) is frequently diagnosed with struggling children.  Within the doctor’s office, the child’s history is reviewed along with the parent filling out a rating scale (typically the Vanderbilt Scale, which is not norm-referenced).

When it comes up positive for things like “overly distractible” and “inattentive” a diagnosis typically follows.

As a result of  the considerable numbers of children diagnosed with ADHD, parents stream into schools requesting 504 Plans for their child to provide the child with accommodations.

Let’s look at Liam, a  fourth grader I recently evaluated who was previously diagnosed with ADHD  based on the Vanderbilt Scales) and it was recommended that he be put on medication.

Once getting “diagnosed,”  the mom pushed the school to set up a 504 Plan and also came to came to me to get my perspective.  (They heard of my “Pushback Disorder.”)

While evaluating Liam,  he didn’t present as inattentive or distractible.  In fact, in many ways he was quite focused, particularly for hands-on tasks.    The mom rated him pretty high on the inattentive side of things.

I saw Liam, at best, as “quasi-ADHD” (a term I made up). In other words,  it wasn’t a “slam dunk” to label him as having ADHD.

What I did learn from Liam was he was overly caught up in a myriad of screen preoccupations (e.g., YouTube, Fortnight, etc.).  School and homework were just basic annoyances that he had to deal with primarily get his mom off of his back.

Liam’s mom complained that he never seemed to know what he had to do for school and her blood pressure rose daily over Liam’s obliviousness. Frustrated that Liam never wrote down any assignments (“Why should I,” says Liam.  “It’s online somewhere.”).

To lower her blood pressure,  mom has taken to downloading the Google Classroom App on her phone so that she can try and figure out what Liam has to do (while Liam plays Fortnite).

Liam thinks that it’s pretty cool his mom has the Google Classroom App, so she can keep track of what he’s supposed to do, rather than continually ask him.

It’s the mom’s view that the school should be relaxing the deadlines in a 504 Plan due to his “ADD.”

I pushed back some on the mom.  I wasn’t buying that Liam wasn’t handing in his work due to a disability.

It struck me that the purpose of 504 accommodations in school was essentially to “level the playing field” for children with handicapping conditions, not to be giving Liam the message that he can hand in homework when he chose to  or not at all because of his “diagnosis.”

It was my view that it wasn’t a 504 issue.  It was a lifestyle issue.  That is, Liam had a pretty cool lifestyle and he wasn’t about to compromise it.

Why stress when his mother was doing all the stressing.

(***Please note:  All blogs represent the opinion and perspective of Dr. Richard Selznick.  Comments and questions are welcomed, but are blocked by the hosting site.  Please email questions or comments: rselznick615@gmail.com)  

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

 

“‘Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less'”

by | Jul 14, 2023 | , ,

A common complaint that parents bring to me is some variation on the theme of the child being poorly motivated.

Parents will say things like, “He just doesn’t seem to care about anything (other than screens).  We’ve tried everything and nothing seems to motivate him.   Now, if it’s something he likes doing like surfing at the beach, he will get up early and do it all day. For that, he’s motivated.”

One of the things that gets my back up is when professionals fall to simplistic explanations after the parents have checked off a few of the classic items on a rating scale at the doctor’s office that point to “ADHD.”

While the child may have this neurodevelopmental disorder, I could easily come up with about 20  different things that contribute to the child having low motivation.

A favorite author of mine who has written a number of excellent books on learning issues and struggling children is Dr. Ellen Braaten.

While cruising around Barnes and Nobles recently (yes, people still go to real bookstores sometimes), I came upon her latest book whose title says it all:  “Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less:  How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation.”

Even though we don’t know each other, I’d like to think we are kindred spirits.

While parents often want to focus on the question, “How do we fix it,” I try and push back and remind parents that their children are not car engines and that there’s nothing broken.

I encourage parents to follow the child’s strengths. (That is the theme of The Shut-Down Learner.”)

Following the child’s strengths is a lot easier said than done and getting a child through the rigors of school can be extremely challenging  (The last time I looked surfing wasn’t a part of most school’s curriculum.)

Dr. Braaten also emphasizes building on strengths to help break the cycle of low motivation.

One of the things I particularly liked about Dr. Braaten’s book is a chart that she includes that highlights what low motivation looks like at different ages.  For example,  how does low motivation look with a five year old compared to a 17-year-old?

If you’ve been frustrated as many parents are with issues of motivation, I strongly encourage you to get a hold of Dr. Braaten’s book.  It’s loaded with great ideas and offers good food for thought.

I believe your perspective on why your child is unmotivated will broaden once you go through her book.

(***Please note:  All blogs represent the opinion and perspective of Dr. Richard Selznick.  Comments and questions are welcomed, but are blocked by the hosting site.  Please email questions or comments: rselznick615@gmail.com)  

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

 

“‘Every Picture Tells a Story (Don’t it)'”

by | Jul 7, 2023 | ,

Picking up on last week’s theme with Marla where we talked about her “anger issues (“Marla and Her ‘Anger Issues’”), there were other interactions with the world telling a similar story.

A day or so ago, I was with our dog, Ella, in a pet store. Ella was on a pretty tight leash.

The same could not be said about the two children (probably age three and five) who surprised Ella (and me) from behind, wildly squeaking toys at her.

Worried about how Ella might react to the children surprising her, I firmly told the children to not get so close, while their mom stood idly by watching, but doing nothing.

The children seemed taken aback that I wasn’t applauding their antics.  The mom looked quizzical that there were boundaries being set. (It was like her internal computer programming was locked up with the concept of limiting her children – “This does not compute…This does not compute.”)

Thankfully, Ella was probably the most mature creature in the place (including me) and didn’t react.

Most interactions like this tell a larger story.  It doesn’t take much to reveal an underlying philosophy.  Usually, one picture tells many or in the wisdom that you may remember from the famous song by  Rod Stewart and the Faces, “Every Picture Tells a Story (Don’ it).”

It certainly did in this case.

(***Please note:  All blogs represent the opinion and perspective of Dr. Richard Selznick.  Comments and questions are welcomed, but are blocked by the hosting site.  Please email questions or comments: rselznick615@gmail.com)  

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

Categories

Latest Posts

Archive