Blog
“‘The Blind Men & the Elephant'” #Dyslexia
"It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the Elephant Though all of them were blind, That each by observation Might satisfy his mind." The above comes from the parable of "The Blind Men and the Elephant." A group of blind men touch an...
ADHD Larry and His Weekly Report Card
I met a mom and her kid this week, a wiry nine year old giving the teacher the usual amount of stuff typically attributed to ADHD. You know, calling out when he is not supposed to; talking too much; rushing through his work – those sorts of things. It sounded like...
Dyslexia Screening & Other Updates
Hi Gang: A little news and updates: Dyslexia Screening Book Released I’m excited to announce the release of my new book, “Dyslexia Screening: Essential Concepts For Schools and Parents.” In paperback, the book is available through www.shutdownlearner.com and will soon...
“But, Does She Have Dyslexia?”
Lauren is an 8 year old child in the first half of the third grade who I recently evaluated, just before the start of her school year. My evaluation found Lauren to be a somewhat inefficient reader, although almost all of the scores obtained on her fell solidly in an...
Brief Tip: Get Clear on Your Reading Remediation
There are essentially two types of reading problems: Type I: This type refers to the child who has trouble decoding words and reading fluently. They are typically viewed as “dyslexic.” Even though they are typically called "dyslexic," I like to call them "Type I...
Dyslexia Intervention: What Every Parent Should Know
As some states around the country have implemented new laws on dyslexia, some people have come to me to talk about how, “They have finally discovered dyslexia and this new method - Orton-Gillingham.” Well, not to burst any bubbles, but dyslexia has been around for a...
Reading Problems: A Brief Primer in Two Acts
I often think there is needless complication in the field relative to the varieties of issues that children present. From the perspective of having seen tons of kids over the years, I typically see two essential types of reading problems. Each one requires a different...
7 Keys to Comprehension
Recently I had the good fortune of being able to interview Susan Zimmermann on The Coffee Klatch Network. Zimmermann is the author of The Seven Keys to Comprehension: How to help your kids read it and get it! Within the interview, we talked about the challenges with...
Learning from Detective Columbo: A Parent Approach for IEP and 504 Meetings
Perhaps you are old enough to remember Lieutenant Columbo (played by Peter Falk) in the famed TV show from the 1970s. I use Columbo as a model to help frustrated parents in terms of their style of communication. I call it, “Going Columbo.” Here’s how “Going Columbo”...
Dyslexia – “We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident”
Dyslexia – “We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident” I am not pretending here to be the Thomas Jefferson of learning disabilities, but to borrow a phrase from that famous document that he authored (you know the one), where it was said “We hold these truths to be...
The Commutative Property of Childhood (and Dyslexia)
A dad came in this week to talk about his struggling 8 year old, Anna, who just started third grade. Anna has reading fluency issues, with particular difficulty managing words that are “low frequency.” Even in this early part of the school year Anna is welling up...