Blog
Don’t Wait For School’s Blessings: Trust Your Gut
Anxiety over a child’s school-based problems can start very early. After reading The Shut-Down Learner, a mom contacted me. "My son's drowning in in school. Do you think he could be a shut-down learner," she asked. After asking a few more questions, I was struck by...
“Meltdowny Children”
Lots of parents come to me to talk about their children who are “meltdowny” (a word I made up). To explain these “meltdowny” types, let’s look at the story of five-year-old Jared. Prone to having meltdowns when he does not get his way, Jared shows extreme reactions...
Value of Assessment & the Right Questions to Ask
Whenever I do an assessment I know that in many ways I am swimming against the tide in the way that I approach things. Parents are focused on “the diagnosis,” largely supported by the medical model. Such a model embodies a, “Yes, he has it,” or “No, he does not have...
“We Live in a Decaying Age”
Frequently, we adults are shaking our head and muttering about the state of childhood, as child behavior can “pluck our last nerves,” as the saying goes. Collectively, we “tut-tut” and wonder how it’s all unraveling around us, with everything going into a horrific...
Schools Don’t Diagnose
This is a follow up to a recent blog post – “Back in the Zone (of No Zone): Back in the Zone (of No Zone). Parents frequently talk to me about their frustration (insistence) that schools diagnose their child’s dyslexia (or other learning disorders for that matter)....
Weight Lifting
As the current “new abnormal” continues, virtually all children are receiving instruction on-line, there are a few old school considerations to keep in mind. Much of the “instruction” described to me by the parents with whom I consult with (on-line), represents a...
Back in the Zone (of No Zone)
Today I chatted with parents about their 10 year old fifth grade child, Lianna. Since kindergarten they have watched her struggle. They saw other children in Lianna’s peer group progressing, while she seemed stuck, barely moving forward. Even though they would...
Accommodations: Avoiding “Rubber-Stamping”
When a children have a learning disability like dyslexia, typically this impacts their reading fluency, spelling and writing. For those who have been “diagnosed” as ADHD/ADD their central features are distractability, inattentiveness and impulsivity. Quite often...
Accommodations “R” Us
Recently, we talked about the mythologies associated with the 504 Plan, trying to put some of these to rest (https://shutdownlearner.com/504-you/) This week we extend the discussion by talking about the realities of accommodations and modifications. Keep in mind the...
504 & You
Parents will come to me seeking a 504 Plan for their child. It is my sense that the 504 Plan, while now part of casual language, is not fully understood and is fraught with a great deal of “on-the-street” mythology. You know how it goes, your friend or neighbor...
More on “The Diagnosis”
In this business of consulting with parents about their children's struggles over the years, I have many standard lines that I find myself using over and over. One of them is that what I do is, “not like real medicine.” My point is not to be self-deprecating, but to...