Blog
“Gradations from the Middle” (#Dyslexia #ADHD #Other Stuff)
Parents commonly come in with common questions such as, “Does their child have ADHD?” or “Is my child dyslexic?” Difficulty with reading and attention occur on a continuum or a spectrum from below the mid-point of average (see bell-curve picture above), to more...
Homework: Need the Blood Pressure Medication
What is it about homework that gets everyone’s blood pressure so elevated? The kids can be slugging each other in the family room, one hair from breaking their skulls open and there may be barely a peep heard. But, when the mom goes on the internet...
The ADHD Soup Pot = A Dash of Inattention Sprinkled With a Helping of Reading Difficulty & a Pinch of Social Struggling
What comes to mind when you read the following about a 10 year old? • Trouble focusing • Doesn’t stay on task • Easily distracted • Can’t retain material Of course, you would be thinking ADHD. My problem with stopping there (as many...
Your Special Education Binder
For those of you involved in any level of special education negotiations for your child, whether it be for a 504 Plan or an IEP, the likelihood is you are accumulating quite a paper trail. Accumulating (probably in a folder), are all the IEP's, standardized test...
Being Trained By Your College Kid: Learning the Rules
My kid in college is teaching me how to behave. I keep messing up the rules, even though I am trying to be dutiful and behave appropriately. So I asked him to write a rules manual so I could keep it with me and consult it often. While he hasnt written the rules manual...
Writing With LD & ADHD: Countering the Perfect Storm
In a recent post, we discussed the perfect storm of ADHD/LD and writing. I noted that at the heart of ADHD and LD issues are deficits in active working memory. Open-ended writing can be dreadfully difficult to school-struggling children because of these...
ADHD, LD & Writing: A Perfect Storm
To stimulate me out of the late summer doldrums, I looked to this news of the day feature that came across my e-mail inbox: “Writing problems common in kids with ADHD,” said the news header. As the start of the article noted, ‘Kids with...
The Pathology of Exuberance
George is a five and a half year old boy. He’s one of those types who’s quite bright, but hasn’t yet learned how to contain his exuberance or spontaneity. For example when George is in his pre-kindergarten class, he has a lot of trouble holding...
Create Your “Home IEP”
I know it’s summer and you don’t want to be thinking about school, but I thought in these dog days of summer you could create your own unofficial “Home IEP.” This Home IEP would be your own blueprint for the coming school year. To write...
Paper Books & Traditional Media – Musings on Going Old School
Originally published as "Summer Rain and the Golf Shack - Going Old School" Last night my friend Joel and I tried to get in a few holes of golf, but torrential rains led us back to the little shack that was trying to be passed off as a clubhouse, at this point -...
School Bus Blues #1: “Riding Shotgun”
Nine year old Ashley was having a terrible time of it on the bus. For whatever reason, there were other kids who were always snickering at her. Once she gots on the bus, she sensed that they were always whispering things about her. She was never sure what the...