Blog
“Takes Your Breath Away #Dyslexia”
Even though I’ve probably evaluated a few thousand dyslexic kids in my career, it still takes my breath away when I meet those who are on the more significant to severe end of the spectrum. This week my breath was taken away on back-to-back assessments. Both children...
A Few Problems With the ‘D’ Word: That’s Right – “Dyslexia”
One of the problems with the word "dyslexia" is the rampant confusion that goes along with the it. If you ask anyone you know what they understand about dyslexia, I would predict that almost without exception, you will get something like, “Isn’t that when you read...
Lifting Dyslexic Weights
A mom came in this week to talk about young Caroline, age 7, a second grader. The mom had a stack of material to show me. There was the math worksheet filled with word problems with the red 34% at the top of the page, with all kinds of ‘X’ marks throughout....
Structuring, Cuing & Guiding
“Marlene, just doesn’t follow directions. You know when she goes into fourth grade there’s going to be no more hand-holding. ” “All the kids in the class, but Benjamin, know what to do. He really should be able to do the...
The N.F.L & 504 Plans in the Real World
Sometimes I think of school 504 meetings somewhat like what I imagine goes on in the preparation for an NFL football game. The coaches (apart from the players) come up with a game plan. Then the team has to play the game and carry out the plan. The plan may work...
Does Your Child Have “Curriculum ADHD”?
A mom came in the other day to talk about her struggling eight-year-old daughter, Jacqueline, a fourth grader. Jacqueline presented with many of the common concerns- difficulty with decoding, reading fluency, spelling and writing, feeling overwhelmed by school. I...
The Parenting Dance That We Do
The Parenting Dance That We Do Parents often need help in learning how to communicate with their child. Children with learning disabilities or ADHD can be very frustrating and difficult to manage. Negative and irritable patterns of communication often play out in a...
What’s the One Thing Struggling Kids Need?
Kids who are struggling feel like they are constantly running up hill while the other kids are on an easy downward slope. In this day and age of Student Growth Percentiles, Common Core and PARCC testing what is the one thing that the struggling kids need...
“The House Looks Fine – What’s the Problem?”
Many times a parent (usually the mom) senses that something is amiss with her child and wants to have and evaluation conducted in school. If the child is getting decent grades, the response to the request is often denied. The parent may hear a version of the...
A Compound Interest Mentality With #Childhood
Change does not come easily for any of us. Think about how deeply ingrained our personalities, habits and proclivities are. Fundamentally, we are who we are. Parents spent a lot of time trying to change children and I sometimes...
In the Head & Out of the Head Factors
When parents come in to talk about their kids and why they are struggling there are the common list of factors that are usually discussed. Some of these include: Poor phonemic awareness Limited decoding skills Weak fluency Family predisposition toward dyslexia...