Raquel was a third grader reading at a first grade level when she was diagnosed with ADHD. Her parents were not sold on the diagnosis or the suggested “solution” of medication so they kept searching for answers. When we tested Raquel, we found that she actually had dyslexia. Her weak ability to process the sounds in words made it very difficult for her to learn and use phonics for reading and spelling. She tended to add, omit, and substitute sounds in words, making it look like she wasn’t really paying attention. Raquel also experienced visual disorientation when looking at the…
Read MoreAs a parent, when your child is struggling, you may feel like you can hardly breathe. You search for answers and will do almost anything to help, if only you knew what to do. When we got to the end of our parent night last week, one of the moms said, “Now, I can exhale!” We had talked about how smart kids who struggle in school are not lazy, or unmotivated, or, most importantly, not doomed to a life of continued setbacks and frustration due to learning and attention challenges. Traditional tutoring and help at school, while supportive, does not…
Read MoreMy mom is always on the lookout for articles from my hometown newspaper that she thinks I’ll be interested in. A few weeks ago, she cut out an article for me about Bonnie Landau, an Ojai mom who wrote a book for parents of special needs kids – Special Ed Mom Survival Guide: How to Prevail in the Special Education Process While Discovering Life-Long Strategies for Both You and Your Child. Bonnie tells the story of her young son being misdiagnosed and she and her husband being told to start saving because her son would need to live in a…
Read MoreI could tell that this teacher was a good one. She had a real heart for her struggling students and provided accommodations and supports to help them be more successful in her classroom. But she wasn’t talking about her students. She was talking about her daughter. When it came to her daughter – smart, social, and probably dyslexic – she felt like she knew nothing. Because in spite of her best efforts, her daughter was still struggling in school, and at 12, really didn’t want her mom’s help. So many parents of struggling students feel alone and confused. They feel…
Read MoreWe were working on reading in phrases and she was going along well, when her face started to crumple, her eyes filled with tears, and she began breathing very quick, shallow breaths. The stress reaction was becoming full-blown very quickly. Just as quickly, when distracted from the task, 10-year-old Serena recovered and became her friendly, precocious self, able to briefly continue the task. This pattern repeated itself on most tasks involving reading or spelling. So what happened? Was Serena putting on an act to get out of work? Well, yes and no. Serena was defaulting to an old coping strategy…
Read MoreREAL Changes for Struggling Students Have you ever fallen short on a New Year’s resolution? Yep! I know I have. New Year’s resolutions usually fall by the wayside because we don’t have a strong enough reason to make the change, or we don’t have a plan to get us through the tough parts of creating a new habit. Our students with learning and attention challenges have a very strong reason to make a change. They are smart, but struggling – working harder and longer than their peers day after day. It affects how they feel about themselves; it may affect…
Read MoreCreativity Abounds with Trans Siberian Orchestra and Dyslexic Thinkers My son, Kevin, works for Trans Siberian Orchestra, so when the winter tour rolled into town this weekend, I got to see both Kevin and the show! TSO puts on a spectacular show. Having a bit of an inside track on how things work there, it is abundantly clear that it takes all kinds of talents and abilities to pull it off! Only brilliantly creative minds could have conceived such a show. Some of the most creative individuals I have ever met were profoundly dyslexic. The out-of-the box, visual-spatial thinking…
Read MoreDon’t Let the Holidays Hijack Your Child! Keeping kids on track all the way to winter break Happy Holidays! The calendar has finally caught up with the TV commercials. So what does that look like for kids still in school for one more month and families still dealing with homework? Younger children get increasingly excited. Teens get busy with social events. Class routines get disrupted with art projects, assemblies, and special program rehearsals. All good stuff! Except when it comes to homework! For the next month, it will be harder for kids to settle down to do homework and harder…
Read MoreWhat Are You Thankful For? Doesn’t this look like so much fun! I love Fall and the idea of playing in Fall leaves, even though we don’t have much opportunity for it here in So Cal! Posted on the door of every station in our Chino center is a paper that says, “I am Thankful for…” It’s fun to see all of the things that students and staff are adding to those lists. We do have a lot to be thankful for! I am thankful for our incredibly dedicated parents – who never give up; who know there’s more for…
Read MoreStop the Homework Battle and Get Your Confident Child Back This is my, “I hate homework face!” If homework is a battle in your home, you probably see some version of this face on a fairly regular basis at homework time, though I’m guessing it’s not this orange! Parents just like you, exhausted by the struggles with homework and the worry over their child’s plummeting self-esteem tell me repeatedly, “I just want my confident child back.” When your bright child comes home from school and spends hours and hours at the kitchen table avoiding, arguing, or crying over…
Read More