ADHD/ADD

On 504 Plans & Finding the Right Accommodation

by | Nov 17, 2017 |

Many people come in inquiring about a 504 Plan for their child.  It’s important to know what you are seeking.

With 504 plans (which come out of Americans with Disabilities Act  legislation  or ADA , we are saying that the child  has a disability and needs to have accommodations to assist the child enough so that the playing field becomes leveled.

The notion is that without such accommodations, it would be fundamentally unfair for the child with the disability.

Finding the right accommodations for your child can be tricky.  Too often a 504 Plan becomes a boilerplate check-off exercise that is not necessarily related to the child’s needs or may be simply too accommodating.

For example, some years ago I remember a mom insisted that the school provide an extra set of books for the child because his ADHD precluded him (theoretically) from being able to remember to take his books home for his homework.

I happened to know this kid quite well.  When he left the school building carrying nothing (because the school had to supply an extra set of materials at home), I imagined this kid was saying something to himself like, “Haha you suckers…you have to carry your books home, but I get to go home without them.”

For this individual, even if he did have “ADHD,” which I questioned, I never thought the accommodation was necessary and always perceived that it fit into his general sense of over-entitlement.

In short, the accommodation was the wrong message to give the kid.

Another child tested recently was extremely rapid on almost all of the tasks that he completed.  Calling him “impulsive” was an understatement.

The parents reported that he was given a 504 plan because of his ADHD (previously diagnosed by the neurologist.)  At the top of the accommodation list on the boilerplate document was “extra time.”

Extra time???  As he  blitzed through his work at light speed, the last thing he needed was extra time.

Takeaway Point

Accommodations are tricky.  Sometimes they just don’t hit the mark. 504 Plans are meant to be individualized (in theory).  Ask yourself what can be done to help “level the playing field?  What does my child legitimately need to help him function better in the classroom?”

Draining the Car Battery – #ADHD

by | Feb 2, 2017 |

When it comes to kid issues, too often I hear simplistic answers to issues that can be very complex.

My favorite answer to almost everything is,  “My kid has ADD.”

Listen up everyone.  With determining ADD/ADHD  it’s not like a dental X-Ray, where there is objective proof of something  like a cavity or some other dental anomaly.

Even when some doctors trot out fancy (very expensive, I might add) electrode type of testing with the semblance of objectivity (“See it says here on this bar graph based on the electrode neuro- testing that we did that your child has this thing called ADD or ADHD.”), there may be many, many other reasons why kids are not functioning well with school.  I listed many of them in a recent post so I will not repeat here (see  20 REASONS KIDS DON’T PAY ATTENTION) .

Think of kids’ brains somewhat like a car battery.  There are a slew of things that can be draining the battery.

Part of what inspired this post was a 13 year old girl that I consulted with recently who has a myriad of “girl drama points” occurring in her life.  All of these drama points are draining her mental energy.

She recently underwent one of these fancy neuro-electrode types of ADHD assessments and was told, “Yep, you’ve got it.  You’ve got ADHD,” as the physician scratched his beard,  wisely.”

When I probed further and asked about her social life and how she was feeling about it, she started to cry.  When I asked if any of the professionals that “diagnosed” her asked her about her social life, she shook her head no.

From where I was sitting, her social life was greatly draining the car battery.

Takeaway Point

It’s really easy hooking electrodes up to a kid’s head.

Travels in 3rd Grade Boy Brain: On the Rougher Side of the Road

by | Nov 11, 2016 |

It’s not easy being a kid.  It’s particularly tough if you’re one of those types that are on the rougher side of the road.

If you’re one of those types you have lots of people getting irritated with you or making fun of you.

Let’s travel in George’s brain for a little bit and get a glimpse of some of his 8 year old boy thoughts while he is in his third grade class.

George thinks:

“Wait, did the teacher just say something?  I see kids getting books out.  What did she say?  Oh, right. Open up your journals and start writing something.  I didn’t hear what.  I heard the word Thanksgiving.  I will ask Malik…Jeez….he just told me to shut-up.  What did I do? Maybe Zinnia knows.  She always knows what to do.  She just gives me a dirty look and tells me to stop tapping my pencil and that I’m ‘so annoying.’”

Mrs. Pryor comes over to talk to George. She sounds a little irritated.

“Wow.  I’m in trouble again.  Mrs. Pryor said she might have to send a Class Dojo*** message to my mother telling her I’m not paying attention again.  She said we’re supposed to write something about Thanksgiving.  Like, what’s our favorite part of Thanksgiving.  I have no idea what to write.  What can I say?  I write, “turkey.”  I can’t think of anything else.  Zinnia laughs at me and says I’m so stupid and to stop playing with my pencil because it is getting on her nerves.  I don’t know what’s so annoying.  I was just clicking it.”

Mrs. Pryor tells George that he will either have to finish his Thanksgiving essay during free play or for homework.  Mrs. Pryor puts something on the top of his paper.

“Oh no!!!!! A frowny face on my paper.  I wrote, “turkey.”  What else is there?  Writing during free play!!!  Oh man, she’s getting out class Dojo again….I think I’m in trouble…my mom told me I needed to pay attention more or she was taking me to this doctor…Malik tells me to cut it out…I don’t know what he means.  He says I was picking my nose.  I was not.  He’s lying again.  Oh no, Mrs. Pryor is asking people to start reading their Thanksgiving papers out loud.  I hate Zinnia….she’s all done and she wrote a whole page.  I just wrote “turkey.”  I hate Zinnia.”

Mrs. Pryor says it’s time to line up to go to library.

“Oh, man.  I’m almost at the end of the line again.  I hate being at the end of the line.  I’m never first.  It’s not fair.  Mrs. Pryor said I was pushing somebody.  I was not. I just bumped into Spencer.  Spencer yelled out, ‘He hit me!’  She’s going to Class Dojo again.  I didn’t do anything.  Nobody believes me.  Zinnia is all the way in the front.  I hate Zinnia.”

Takeaway Point

It’s not easy being a kid, especially if you are on the rougher side of the road.

(***Class Dojo is an online tool that keeps track of behavior.)

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To consult with Dr. Selznick, you can reach him through email: contact@shutdownlearner.com

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20 Reasons Kids Don’t Pay Attention

by | Oct 20, 2016 |

In no particular order here are 20 reasons why kids don’t pay attention:

  1. Perhaps the work is too hard.
  2. There may be are far too many worksheets – perhaps the kid has worksheet burnout.
  3. Maybe the kid is asked to write when he has little capacity to even write a sentence.
  4. Perhaps his reading skills are weak.
  5. Some might be spatial thinkers (Lego Kids) and their language system isn’t well tuned while there is a whole lot of talking to sort out in the classroom.
  6. Maybe he is one of those “all boy” types (yes, they exist) and the curriculum isn’t matching their interests.
  7. There may be a lot of distraction in the atmosphere.
  8. For many kids, it’s just a long day – their batteries run down.
  9. Maybe they have become a bit too wired to “screens.”
  10. Perhaps the work is boring – for some kids it may be fine, for others it’s not
  11. Perhaps the kid is just one of those variable types – significant highs and lows in the profile that lead to inattention.
  12. Maybe the kid is the the worrying type.
  13. Perhaps he has bad sleeping habits.
  14. It could be that there is stuff going on in the family.
  15. Perhaps he is not understanding what he  read and the content is not connecting with him.
  16. Perhaps he really hates math (especially all of the word problems that they have to sort through).
  17. It could be that some of the other kids have been mean and have made some unkind comments.
  18. Perhaps the teacher is on the boring side.
  19. It might be that the kid is day dreaming about all kinds of things other than the task in front of him – it’s kind of human nature to do that.
  20. Maybe he doesn’t follow directions too well – it’s just not one of his top strengths.

Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot.  Maybe the kid has ADD/ADHD.

Too bad, though,  we often jump to that conclusion all too quickly before considering all kinds of other factors like in the above list.

Take Away Point

There’s a lot going on inside and outside a kid’s head.

To consult with Dr. Selznick, you can reach him through email: contact@shutdownlearner.com

To receive blogs and other updates, sign up at Shut-Down Learner.

The Anger River Below the ADD Swamp

by | Apr 15, 2016 |

Do you know about the river that lies below the ADHD/ADD swamp?  It’s the Anger River and it lurks down below, often unseen, but detected at times by certain actions or behaviors from either child or parents.

How do we detect the Anger River?

  • Punishments have increased – (“That’s it. You’re  off your video games for the next month.”)
  • There is a lot of forgetting and last minute revelations about a test or project the next day. (Think Sunday night at 9:00 p.m.)
  • There has been increased parent monitoring of homework. Parents feel like they are the “Homework Police.”
  • Teachers will report, “If only he/she paid attention more…”
  • There is a general tone of disconnection to school work.
  • Control battles are being waged.

To show the Anger River in action, below is a near verbatim talk I had recently with a teen, Charles,   who I sensed had the Anger River lurking below the ADD Swamp.  By his own admission Charles was unmotivated and had little energy for school.  (Charles was in high level classes by the way and there were no indicators of learning disabilities or dyslexia in the assessment I did.)

After the testing I chatted with Charles.  “I have a theory, Charles,” I started, “that your brain is kind of like a car battery and that in order to take on the demands of school the battery needs to be pretty charged.  Just like a car battery, there are many things that drain it or deplete it of energy.”

Charles looked like I perked his interest slightly.  I wasn’t giving him the usual “try harder” or “you need to take your medication” talk, both of which he had heard many times in the past.

“Yeah, like I know your parents are going through a tough time lately and that drains your battery.  You also feel like your sister is overly demanding and ruling the house which gets you mad.  On top of it you feel loaded up with hours of work and since I tested you I see that you work very slowly and methodically, so that doubles the time you have to put in. Finally, you are angry about getting punished all of the time and feeling like your parents have you on too tight a leash.  You feel over-controlled.  So with all of that going on you basically say to yourself, ‘screw it  I am not doing it.’  Does that sound on the money?”

A pretty tight kid, who was not the most verbally forthcoming, Charles gave me a nonverbal green light with a pretty good nod of his head with a slight smile.  He even admitted to lying to his parents at times about school.  (“I just tell them I did my homework to get them off by back.  I figure I’ll deal with it later when they find out.”)

“So, you see, Charles, it’s like there is this pie chart of different variables draining your battery and increasing the Anger River that lies down there. I bet you are operating at about 15% efficiency.  That F.U. River can really do some damage.”

(Keep in mind a try and use humor where I can to get the kid to lighten up and “buy in,” hence the use of the “FU River”  with Charles.)

I know.  I know.  The questions I get all of the time – “So, what do we do about it?  How do we fix it?”

I will continue more next week (I need some time), but for now at least 70% of the “fixing” (there is no fixing), is in the understanding.

Takeaway Point

Only understanding drains the river.

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For a free 15 Minute Consultation, contact Dr. Selznick: email – contact@shutdownlearner.com.

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The ADHD “Test”

by | Apr 1, 2016 | ,

Rating scales frequently are used as the “tests” to determine whether or not the child has  ADHD (as if ADHD  can be diagnosed like a broken bone).  (“Yep, it says here on these scale that your child has ADHD.”)

The fact of the matter is the vast majority of kids struggling (for various reasons) with school would have elevated spikes on scales like the Connor’s Rating Scale, one of the commonly used scales in ADHD assessment.  It would be a rare day that a child with a reading or writing disability is able to adequately pay attention in school.

There are a so many variables that contribute to compromised attention in the classroom.  Let’s look at a few of these in no particular order:   (Kid commentary follows the variable)

  • Language processing. (“I get overloaded with too much language and it makes me zone out.”)
  • Weak vocabulary knowledge (“Too many words make my head ache.”)
  • Poor fine motor skills. (“She wants me to write what?  I’m out of here and going off to explore the universe again.  First stop Jupiter. ”)
  • Weak reading skills (“These long boring stories really make me lose attention. I can’t read them.  There are a lot of stupid words on the page that I just skip over.”)
  • Spatial style preferred (“Give me more Legos!!!!”)
  • An energetic (perhaps chaotic) classroom environment. (“Hey, we’re all bouncing around in here.”)
  • Deadening worksheets (“Planet Jupiter is calling again.”)

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

My basic point is that kids can have a cluster of these variables leading them to look awfully disordered in the attention arena.  High scores (in the negative direction) on scales such as the Connors will result.

I am not suggesting that rating scales aren’t helpful.  They are very helpful and tend to offer insight into variables not easily seen during the more structured assessment.

I am just cautioning you not to think you got “the test” or “the diagnosis” based primarily on the  Connor’s, the  Vanderbilt or whatever.

Takeaway Point
There’s much more that needs to be understood beyond the rating scales.

Planet Jupiter is looking better every day.

Screens, Distractability & ADHD

by | Feb 19, 2016 | ,

“Children surrounded by fast-paced visual stimuli (TV, videos, computer games) at the expense of face-to-face adult modeling, interactive language, reflective problem- solving, creative play, and sustained attention may be expected to arrive at school unprepared for academic learning—and to fall farther behind and become increasingly “unmotivated” as the years go by.”
― Jane M. Healy, Endangered Minds: Why Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About It

I go out to the waiting room to greet young Jana, age five, a kindergarten child who is coming in for an assessment because her school thinks she is having trouble “paying attention.”

“Hi Jana, “I say in the upbeat style that usually gets kids engaged and comfortable.

Jana does not look up. Her iPad is far more captivating than saying hello to this new person. To Jana I don’t exist. The mom tries to get Jana to say hello, but she’s not budging for her either.

We go back and I offer Jana some toys (old school ones in a box – you know, different human figures animals, cars and trucks) that she shows no interest in playing. Again, her iPad is holding her riveted.

(I flash on Gollum in Lord of the Rings – ”My precious, my precious,” as he would stroke the ring. I think Jana may start doing the same the same with the iPad – ‘My precious…my precious.’)

Jana’s mom, Beth, starts talking about Jana’s focusing difficulties. She says, “I worry that it’s all the screens. She gets in the car and the TV is on the seat panels. She’ can’t even go three minutes without it on. When we get to the restaurant, she demands the iPad. We give it to her – maybe it’s helping her visual skills, I don’t know. At night she never wants to plays even though we try and play games with her. When kids come over all they want to do is have iPads.  They really don’t play with each other.   The school thinks we need to see a doctor to consider medication for her focusing.”

I don’t want to sound like an old head, but Jane Healy hit it on the head in the above quote.  (Keep in mind Jane Healy wrote Endangered Minds in 1999.)

There is a skill to greeting someone in the waiting room. There is a skill to playing with toys or interacting in a restaurant. These skills need development and practice.
If we don’t give kids a chance to practice these skills, the skills will not develop.

Simple as that.

Takeaway Point
Create “No Screen Zone” blocks of time.

Detox them.

Be firm. Be brave.

ADHD Larry and His Weekly Report Card

by | Jan 30, 2015 |

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 the teacher was getting more and more frustrated and starting to reevaluate her career decisions.

As the kid (we’ll call him Larry) was busily building some Lego figure while his mom talked to me, I could see he had a certain gleam in his eyes, laughing at some of the jokes I was making with the mom as we talked.

The mom explained, “Well, Larry is doing better now that he is on a weekly behavior report card.”

I said to the mom (to make Larry laugh), “You know, I bet my wife would like to put me on a weekly behavior report card.  There would be lots of ‘needs improvements’  if I were being watched closely.  I think I would be getting weak marks for things like, “not hanging clothes consistently…didn’t put the dishes away in a timely manner…forgot to shut the lights off at night…tracked snow in the house…not meeting potential.”

“It’s tough being a kid,”  I continued.   “They watch your every move, right Larry?  Good thing I don’t have one of those weekly behavior charts. ”

Larry laughed enthusiastically, nodding in agreement.

I was just trying to normalize things for Larry, make him not feel so bad.

I think it worked since he was cracking up while engaged with the Legos.

I was hoping that the mom didn’t think I was undermining Larry and his weekly behavior chart.

She didn’t.  She got it. She knew I would be getting a bad report card too!

 

 

Learning from Detective Columbo: A Parent Approach for IEP and 504 Meetings

by | Oct 31, 2014 |

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” works.

When parents are in special education meetings they have lots of questions and concerns about what they are being told. Yet, they often feel frustrated and ill-equipped to challenge or raise questions.  A common experience is that the parents start to feel their blood pressure rising and may be come across as too confrontational or adversarial. Communication breaks down.

An alternative to such a confrontational style is to scratch one’s head a lot and look quite confused. That is, Go Columbo.

For example, a parent might say something like, “I know everything’s been explained to me but I find myself getting confused (while scratching head a lot).”   “Like I know you’re telling me that the child is average, but it says here that it his vocabulary score’s in the 16th percentile. Does that matter?” (Squint and tilt head while asking to make sure you’re coming across as quite perplexed.) “I know it doesn’t sound very good, but I may not get it… help me out… Wouldn’t that vocabulary score affect something like comprehension?” (Keep scratching your head looking more and more perplexed.)

As the meeting continues, you may need to go full-blown Columbo by using one of his famous lines –  “And wait, there’s just one more thing…”

So, the next time you are getting ready for an IEP or 504 meeting, instead of going full-frontal, practice Going Columbo in front of the mirror. Say very little and scratch your head a whole lot. You’d be surprised how effective such a communication approach can be. Ask the school to help you out of your confusion and use the phrase, “Just one more thing, I’m confused…” as often as you need.

Get very perplexed and very confused.

(If you need a refresher, I’m sure you can find some clips of Columbo on YouTube.)

Adapted from, “School Struggles,” (Sentient Publications, 2012)

 

“Lost at Sea:” Executive Function Weaknesses

by | Aug 1, 2014 | ,

Every 10 years or so in education and psychology there is a trendy hot topic or new term that was essentially unheard of the previous decade. Before learning disabilities became a hot term in the 1970s, these were virtually unknown in the public. The same was true with ADHD, which became a hot term in the mid-1980s into the 1990s. (I know, I know, I am dating myself.)

Executive function deficits is one of those terms.  Prior to 2005 or so, very few people were making reference to executive functions in the real world. Whereas now  the term is becoming more commonplace. Parents will even state upfront (before the child has even been tested) that they think the child has problems with executive functioning.

While I tend to be one who does not embrace too many hot trends, this conceptualization of  why children struggle makes a lot of sense to me and think it should be understood better.

When I work with parents, I do all I can to stay away from jargon, preferring to translate into metaphors terms that are casually tossed around with imagery that parents can better understand.

For example, trying to explain executive function deficits to parents, I use the imagery that the kid’s “boat is being steered by a very floppy rudder.”  Another image I use to explain frontal lobe, executive function deficits, is a weak “orchestra leader-one that is being ignored.”

Take Mark, age 14, a ninth grader who is bright, creative, witty, charming and personable. Mark is an absolute pleasure on so many levels. However, when it comes to managing his time and facing his “pain” (i.e.,  his homework) on a day-to-day basis, it Mark has given his parents fits for number of years. The stress level on the household has become unbearable, getting worse every grade from latter elementary school to the present day.  Mark has a very tough time steering his boat and he is drifting around at sea aimlessly.

One of the challenges, kids like Mark are almost immune to becoming organized or to steer their boat more effectively.

From what I’ve seen, change can come in small, incremental steps.  If you focus on small steps in terms of mastering and internalizing different skills, then change can occur.

Executive function coaching can make a big difference in terms of targeting the specific skills. For example, Mark can be shown how to use and color code his calendar practice this skill over time (practicing to mastery).

One word of caution though.  The odds of success are very poor if this skill is being delivered by you as a parent. Kids are wired to tune out their parents.  They will fight you, resist you and basically show you how your approach doesn’t work.  They won’t do that with “hired gun,” that is, the coach. So, even though it will cost you, you will save a lot of grief and aggravation by finding someone who gets this approach of one baby step at a time.

In summary, keep your expectations modest, do a lot of deep breathing and you will get through the coming year.

(Adapted from “School Struggles,” Richard Selznick, Ph.D., 2012, Sentient Publications)

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