Blog
Inside Out 2 Helps Kids Label Their Emotions – Is That a Good Thing?
Is it healthy to label emotions, or are we over-clinicalizing childhood?
Dyslexia – Labeling or Describing
“Identifying a label for student’s type of learning disability is not the key issue. Use of the label dyslexia may not even be necessary. Describing the phenomena observed in the child should be the goal of the diagnostic assessment, especially in an area as muddled...
Parenting Styles
As part of my constellation of professional activities, I often talk to parents about their child’s behavior. Frequently, I find myself highlighting two fundamentally different styles of parenting. With “Reactive Parenting,” as the name implies when a negative...
Comprehension – Sometimes Forgotten in #Dyslexia Land
Those of you who have followed this blog or any of my stuff over the years, know the importance I place on the development of decoding skills and reading fluency. In fact, I have viewed the mastering of decoding as a possibly the central task or hurdle for a child to...
Screen Junkies?
Here are a couple of things to consider from an informal survey I have conducted with kids and the parents regarding the children they know in their social circle and at school: 95-99% of the kids starting at age 12 have cell phones. 95-99% of kids age 4 – 7 are...
The Curriculum Ship Leaves Port
It’s early September. The “Curriculum Ship” is leaving the dock. This ship moves full steam ahead with its goal of getting to the distant shore on the other side by about June 1st. About 70% of the kids can ride the ship pretty well. While there may be a few ups...
The Billionaire & the Gift of Dyslexia
This week on my Twitter feed, I came upon an article that talked about a billionaire who felt that his dyslexia was a "gift." In his mind, it was the primary reason for his success as a businessman. Many businessmen and women get their inspiration to start their own...
Hooks in the Mental Closet
As part of an assessment I recently asked 17- year-old near senior, Bethany, “Who wrote Hamlet?” Looking bewildered, she said, “I have no idea.” Then, when asked to define the word “tranquil,” she could not further no guess. Bethany had no association to the word....
“Help, I’m Being Held Hostage to My IQ!”
(The following is a modification of an earlier post.) Sometimes I think that we have the notion that all of us before being born line up in heaven to receive our IQ scores. You can almost imagine hearing the announcement from one of God’s helpers, "If you are about to...
Slow “Clock Speed” & “RPMs” – “My kid is making me crazy.”
I evaluated a middle school kid recently who was recently “diagnosed” with ADHD. You know the drill. The school told parents that, “We’re not doctors and can’t diagnose, but we think you should see your child’s doctor.” (Translation: “Go to your doctor now and get...
What’s in Your Child’s Pie Chart?
When talking to parents about their children I am continually using metaphors, imagery that can help parents to better understand their children. One of the favorite images I use refers to the “pie cart” of childhood. How we divide up the pie is the concern that I...