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Seth Perler video on helping teachers support students with emotional regulation challenges 

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Seth Perler video on helping teachers support students with emotional regulation challenges 

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Please CLICK above to share.

In this video, I discuss:

What Emotional Regulation is

How "safety" is a key message

The stress kids deal with nowadays

What teachers are expected to do

How to help these kids

What's going on with the brain and nervous system

Fight, flight, freeze, faint

The amygdala

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To support me, please CLICK at the bottom to share. Click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you - Seth

Reading the transcript? Great! We're currently uploading hundreds of transcripts so you can read them asap, but they are NOT all edited yet. This is a big process. If you notice anything wrong and want to help us, feel free to click this Google Form to share it. Thanks so much for pitching in! - Seth
Video transcript:
Hey, what's up teachers? This is toughest up pro.com and I'm here to talk to you today about something called emotional regulation something that I wish that they did better training for teachers on. So I I have a picture here of the head in the heart the heart in the brain because we're not just dealing with the brain these kids, but we're dealing with a heart to so emotional regulation. How do kids regulate emotion? So the first thing I'm going to tell you is that a lot of kids in school as you well know are stressed out kids dealing with school nowadays are dealing with a tremendous amount of input the amount of details that they are required to manage is astounding so you guys are teachers off and get caught in the middle of it because you guys have to cram as much in and cover as much content as you can and get there is all kinds of work that is being piled upon these kids and sometimes you guys don't have a lot of choice over how much you have to deliver while these kids are overwhelmed. No kids some kids with strong executive function deal with it very, well. Of course, a lot of the kids used to have great executive function end up being overachievers perfectionistic and end up suffering in adulthood because they have complied too much and have not learned enough about self-care, but those aren't generally kids that I'm working with. I'm working with the kids that are struggling. I'm working with the kids with executive function problems. I'm working with the kids with ADD autism ass was dyslexia sensory integration disorder bipolar all kinds of things like that in these kids as far as executive functions concern. The details are coming at them. It's like drinking from the firehose. They cannot manage all the details. They start falling behind about a third of the way through the semester becomes very apparent that they're swimming Upstream the whole rest of the semester they buy middle school, they're off and really frustrated by High School lot of them have given up on trying or figure out just how to navigate as best they can and you know, these kids are stopping. So emotional regulation though has to do with the emotions. So when they're overwhelmed that is in emotional experience. So what happens when a kid is overwhelmed will first while sometimes visible sometimes is not a big kid is outwardly stress and you can look at them until or they're acting out or something and you can tell that there's a lot of stress wild and that's fairly easy to at least identify although a lot of Kids are punished rather than supported at this time, but you can tell when kids are hourly stressed that a lot of these kids hold it in and they withdraw and they don't have a poker face and you can't tell that something's going on with them, even though they're emotionally dysregulated quite often. So what happens with emotional dysregulation is best is that the nervous system has a lot of purposes but one of the the purposes of the nervous system is to determine when there is an unsafe situation and when kids are overwhelmed by all the details there they feel unsafe even though there's no tiger chasing them. There's nothing unsafe going on that part of their brain doesn't know that and I'll explain how this works. So it's emotional regulation. There's a message in the brain that says, oh my gosh. We are not safe something bad's going to happen. So what happens is this little part of the brain called the amygdala and amygdala means almond in Latin and it's about that big. It's a little part of the brain. Pretty small they're about the size of an almond. And here's the brain here are the eyeballs. Here's the ear in the amygdala. Is this little area in the brain that they found and what they found is that the amygdala it gets a message. So here safety. We are safe. And all of a sudden the brain the senses some house and or the thought somehow since we are not safe now that could be stressed because there's a test coming up in 5 minutes that could be stressed because there's so much I'm working. They're falling behind their just frustrated. They're constantly running hot or any number of things but somehow a message is in their mind that oh my gosh. We are not safe for the nervous system needs to be able to deal with this effectively and what we do in order to deal with the lack of safety as we check with the prefrontal cortex to see if it's realistic and of course as we know the story and a lot of kids heads and you is an adult and he is an adult we blow things out of proportion sometimes so sometimes these kids are feeling less safe than they need to be because their head is making a huge story out of it, but the brain goes in a text with usually prefrontal cortexes are we really safe? And of course in a lot of situations does no, we are not. So what happened. It sends a message to the amygdala the amygdala then says, holy crap. Something bad is going on. We need to protect ourselves know what happens is is that that part of the brain then tells the body that we need to go into fight flight freeze or faint and how does it do that? While the amygdala sends a message to the adrenal glands? What you're located on top of the kidneys the adrenal gland send adrenalynn to the heart and the hearts then that adrenaline to the muscular system at the bicep with a fist. Okay, you like my drawing I've been practicing his drawing for a long time. It's getting better. Huh. So the amygdala says the brain says, we're not safe. Okay, cool. I got this. All right, I'll send a message to the adrenals. The adrenal say, oh, we're not safe. Okay, we'll send adrenaline to the heart. The heart is all we're not say poke will send them into the muscular system. That way we can fight flight freeze or faint in order to ensure our safety, but the child is sitting in a classroom and they are perfectly safe. They're having Emotional experience they are now emotionally dysregulated. Do you think they're going to be able to focus and concentrate in class? They're emotionally dysregulated if they got screamed at by their parents in the morning or they had a great experience with their parents in the morning and then they got into class and they got yelled at by teacher or they perceive they got yelled at or their bullied or they're just sad and depressed and lonely or they're angry or anxious. Who knows what's going on. But either way if they are in a classroom and they are emotionally dysregulated their prefrontal cortex is not in a learning mode. They're going to try to be learning in in class as much as they can. But if you imagine that it's like a whole bunch of filters in Den not lot of learning is getting through those filters then that it because they're emotionally dysregulated that is obviously interfering now. What can you do to help kids who are emotionally dysregulated, how can you help kids to regulate emotion while breathwork meditation something called co-regulation where use the adults? Model your own regulation help them just by modeling it and and then any number of ways, but I'm not going to get into too much of that on this video, but I will say this this is my opinion. But the number one most important thing schools going to be starting a couple weeks to do in any classroom is to get kids to know that they are emotionally safe and to me it takes four to six weeks our kids to really get to know, you know that they're emotionally safe so that building of emotional safety in the beginning of school. So critical and some teachers do it some teachers don't do it some teachers feel a lot of pressure to dive straight into curriculum cuz you just got out of training then you have so much to cover your so overwhelmed and some teachers really really focus on spending that time building that emotional regulation building. Safe environment in the classroom to me is the number one biggest priority at the beginning of the year because that will set the tone for the whole rest of the year the safer they feel in your class the more Going to be able to learn throughout the year, and he had just want to do a quick video on that. I hope you like it. Please comment below and tell me what you think teachers. Tell me what videos you want. Tell me what you think of this. Tell me what you need to know about emotional regulation. How can I help you? All right. I hope you have a great school year take.

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Teachers: What is EMOTIONAL REGULATION and why should you care? - Seth Perler

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Please CLICK above to share. In this video, I discuss: What Emotional Regulation is How "safety" is a key message The stress kids deal with nowadays What teachers are expected to do How to help these kids What's going on with the brain and nervous system Fight, flight, freeze, faint The amygdala Love my work and [...]

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This is what it’s really like to live with ADHD

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At 32, Jessica McCabe’s ADHD brought her to the darkest point of her life thus far. At 34, she was thriving both personally and professionally, producing a successful Youtube channel about living with ADHD. In this deeply personal talk, Jessica describes how she turned things around through community and education.

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Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

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Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

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There's nothing more frustrating than watching your bright, talented son or daughter struggle with everyday tasks like finishing homework, putting away toys, or following instructions at school. Your "smart but scattered" child might also have trouble coping with disappointment or managing anger. Drs. Peg Dawson and Richard Guare have great news: there's a lot you can do to help.

The latest research in child development shows that many kids who have the brain and heart to succeed lack or lag behind in crucial "executive skills"--the fundamental habits of mind required for getting organized, staying focused, and controlling impulses and emotions. Learn easy-to-follow steps to identify your child's strengths and weaknesses, use activities and techniques proven to boost specific skills, and problem-solve daily routines. Small changes can add up to big improvements--this empowering book shows how.

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Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential

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There's nothing more frustrating than watching your bright, talented son or daughter struggle with everyday tasks like finishing homework, putting away toys, or following instructions at school. Your "smart but scattered" child might also have trouble coping with disappointment...

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Finally, a groundbreaking book that reveals what your dyslexic child is experiencing-and what you can do so that he or she will thrive he shares his personal triumphs and failures so that you can learn from his experiences, and provides a three-step approach for success: By mapping your child's strengths and weaknesses and assisting her to better understand who she is, you can help your child move away from shame and feelings of inadequacy and move toward creating a powerful program for learning. Coach your child to become his own best advocate by developing resiliency, confidence, and self-awareness, and focusing on achievable goals in areas that matter most to him.Dyslexic children are not broken, but too often the system designed to educate them is. Dare to change your school so that your child has the resources to thrive. Understanding your rights and finding allies will make you and your child feel connected and no longer alone.(starred review)

More than thirty million people in the United States are dyslexic-a brain-based genetic trait, often labeled as a "learning disability" or "learning difference," that makes interpreting text and reading difficult. Yet even though children with dyslexia may have trouble reading, they don't have any problems learning; dyslexia has nothing to do with a lack of intellect.

While other books tell you what dyslexia is, this book tells you what to do. Dyslexics' innate skills, which may include verbal, social, spatial, kinesthetic, visual, mathematical, or musical abilities, are their unique key to acquiring knowledge. Figuring out where their individual strengths lie, and then harnessing these skills, offers an entrée into learning and excelling. And by keeping the focus on learning, not on standard reading the same way everyone else does, a child with dyslexia can and will develop the self-confidence to flourish in the classroom and beyond.

Packed with practical ideas and strategies dyslexic children need for excelling in school and in life, this empowering guide provides the framework for charting a future for your child that is bright with hope and unlimited potential.

"A passionate and well-articulated guide . . . This extremely practical and motivational book will be welcomed by parents of dyslexic children."

"Accessible and reassuring."
After years of battling with a school system that did not understand his dyslexia and the shame that accompanied it, renowned activist and entrepreneur Ben Foss is not only open about his dyslexia, he is proud of it. In The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan * Identify your child's profile: * Help your child help himself: * Create community: Praise for The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan - Publishers Weekly - Library Journal

"This step-by-step guide will become a go-to resource for parents." -James H. Wendorf, executive director, National Center for Learning Disabilities
"I study dyslexia in the lab and am a parent of a wonderful daughter who fits this profile. Ben Foss's book should be considered essential to any collection on the subject. It was extremely useful, especially for a mom." -Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, UCSF, Memory and Aging Center -James Gandolfini, actor,

"As someone with a learning profile that made school tough, and as a parent, I know kids need the right support. Ben Foss knows how to get access to education because he's been through it. I was thrilled to read this book. It offers a wise collection of insights that are both practical and touching." The Sopranos

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The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning

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Buy The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Finally, a groundbreaking book that reveals what your dyslexic child is experiencing-and what you can do so that he or she will thrive he shares his personal triumphs and failures so that you can learn from his experiences, and provides a three-step approach for success: By mapping your child's strengths and weaknesses and assisting her to better understand who she is, you can help your child move away from shame and feelings of inadequacy and move toward creating a powerful program for learning. Coach your child to become his own best advocate by developing resiliency, confidence, and self-awareness, and focusing on achievable goals in areas that matter most to him.Dyslexic children are not broken, but too often the system designed to educate them is. Dare to change your school so that your child has the resources to thrive. Understanding your rights and finding allies will make you and your child feel connected and no longer alone.(starred review)

More than thirty million people in the United States are dyslexic-a brain-based genetic trait, often labeled as a "learning disability" or "learning difference," that makes interpreting text and reading difficult. Yet even though children with dyslexia may have trouble reading, they don't have any problems learning; dyslexia has nothing to do with a lack of intellect.

While other books tell you what dyslexia is, this book tells you what to do. Dyslexics' innate skills, which may include verbal, social, spatial, kinesthetic, visual, mathematical, or musical abilities, are their unique key to acquiring knowledge. Figuring out where their individual strengths lie, and then harnessing these skills, offers an entrée into learning and excelling. And by keeping the focus on learning, not on standard reading the same way everyone else does, a child with dyslexia can and will develop the self-confidence to flourish in the classroom and beyond.

Packed with practical ideas and strategies dyslexic children need for excelling in school and in life, this empowering guide provides the framework for charting a future for your child that is bright with hope and unlimited potential.

"A passionate and well-articulated guide . . . This extremely practical and motivational book will be welcomed by parents of dyslexic children."

"Accessible and reassuring."
After years of battling with a school system that did not understand his dyslexia and the shame that accompanied it, renowned activist and entrepreneur Ben Foss is not only open about his dyslexia, he is proud of it. In The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan * Identify your child's profile: * Help your child help himself: * Create community: Praise for The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan - Publishers Weekly - Library Journal

"This step-by-step guide will become a go-to resource for parents." -James H. Wendorf, executive director, National Center for Learning Disabilities
"I study dyslexia in the lab and am a parent of a wonderful daughter who fits this profile. Ben Foss's book should be considered essential to any collection on the subject. It was extremely useful, especially for a mom." -Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, UCSF, Memory and Aging Center -James Gandolfini, actor,

"As someone with a learning profile that made school tough, and as a parent, I know kids need the right support. Ben Foss knows how to get access to education because he's been through it. I was thrilled to read this book. It offers a wise collection of insights that are both practical and touching." The Sopranos

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Buy The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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Podcast: Classroom Strategies for Students with ADHD or Executive Skill deficits 

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Podcast: Classroom Strategies for Students with ADHD or Executive Skill deficits 

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1. All Episodes

2. 189- Best Behavior: Classroom Strategies for Students with ADHD

Education specialist Shari Gent, M.S., NCED, shares parent-teacher guidelines for managing ADHD behavior at school, such as trouble handling transitions, interrupting, losing focus (and distracting others in the class), and more.

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189- Best Behavior: Classroom Strategies for Students with ADHD

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Education specialist Shari Gent, M.S., NCED, shares parent-teacher guidelines for managing ADHD behavior at school, such as trouble handling transitions, interrupting, losing focus (and distracting others in the class), and more.

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In order to do their best in class, children need to be motivated and encouraged. Too many teachers focus on changing the child - instead, it may be more efficient to change the policies and procedures in the classroom. Here's how.

Child in blue shirt holding glue stick doing crafts

The key to motivating the child with attention problems is to modify and adjust the learning environment. Many teachers invest significant time and effort in attempting to change the child. Their time might be better spent trying to change the practices and procedures that they are using with the child.

As much as possible, the curriculum should be stimulating and relevant to a child's life experiences. Research has shown that a curriculum that is irrelevant to the student's social and economic interests generally results in disruptive behavior, poor academic performance, limited progress, and dropping out. These children live very much in the present. Therefore, long-term goals and rewards (grades and report cards) are often ineffective motivators.

The child with attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD) will respond positively to a curriculum that allows him choices and options. He will also be more likely to participate actively in tasks when there is a degree of creativity and novelty (presenting a history review as a Jeopardy! game). In order to maintain the motivation of this child, the teacher must simultaneously consider what is being taught and how it is being taught.

Among the teaching strategies that may foster motivation are:
1. Provide a structured, predictable environment. 2. Give simple single-step instructions.
3. Simultaneously provide verbal and visual input (dictate instructions as you write them on the board).
[Free Poster: What Every Teacher Should Know About ADHD]
4. Clearly outline rules, limits, and expectations. Post them.
5. Allow for an occasional break to let the child relax and reenergize.
6. Legitimize the child's need for movement and activity by designing classroom activities that allow and encourage movement.

7. Have the child's attention before giving him a direction or instruction. This can be done by calling his name or using a hand signal. After the instruction has been given, have him repeat it back to you before carrying it out. Many children with ADHD are adept at appearing to understand when they do not.

8. Use a cue or a private signal that you can send to the child if her behavior or attention is beginning to deteriorate.
[How to Use Project-Based Learning in School]
9. Do not emphasize quality and quantity at the same time. Lengthy, complex assignments are difficult for a child with attention challenges. It is better to assign five math problems and emphasize/expect accuracy than to assign 20 problems that will overwhelm the child and result in 20 inaccurate responses.

10. Provide the child with several (10 to 15) seconds to respond to verbal questions. It may take him that long to process and comprehend the question. Whenever possible, supplement verbal questions with visual input.

11. Avoid attributing judgmental reasons for the child's inconsistency and impulsivity. Remember that these behaviors occur through no fault or choice of the child's.

12. Remember that hyperactive behaviors during seat work (drumming fingers, pencil tapping, squirming in seat) are a release for a child's hyperactivity. Unless the movements are distracting or disruptive to others, ignore them.

13. Provide the child with ADHD opportunities to show divergent, creative, and imaginative thinking and to receive recognition for his originality.

14. Follow difficult activities with more interesting or rewarding activities: "Joseph, when you finish the math worksheet, you can feed the gerbil."

15. Try alternative methods of assessment, such as oral testing or demonstration testing. Written tests and assessments are difficult for children with attention problems because of their language and organizational weaknesses.

16. Never take good behavior for granted. Praise and reinforce the child for not interrupting, for working patiently, remaining in his seat, and cooperating.
[12 Teachers Strategies to Inspire Listening and Self-Control] Excerpted from The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child, by RICHARD LAVOIE. Copyright 2007. Reprinted by permission of Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Classrooms and ADHD: A Mismatch

If you consider the skills and abilities that a child needs to succeed in the classroom, and consider the challenges inherent in ADHD, you will recognize that there is a mismatch. The expectations of the classroom are in direct conflict with the limitations of the child. For example:

Classroom Expectations ADHD Symptoms That Interfere

"Wait until you are called on."
"Don't interrupt."
"Read the directions carefully."

Impulsivity

Updated on August 30, 2019

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Motivating a Child with ADHD in the Classroom: Teacher Tips

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In order to do their best in class, children need to be motivated and encouraged. Too many teachers focus on changing the child - instead, it may be more efficient to change the policies and procedures in the classroom. Here's how. The key to motivating the child with attention problems is to modify and adjust the learning environment.

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Do rewards and punishments - standards in every neurotypical parenting arsenal - actually inspire better behavior in children with ADHD? What about positive reinforcement? The answers to these questions from parents and educators, like most things ADHD-related, are nuanced.

Science suggests that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) differ from their neurotypical peers in their responses to positive reinforcement and punishment. The central differences: Children with ADHD are not effectively motivated by promises (of privileges to be earned or lost); and positive reinforcement is particularly powerful, but also ephemeral, in ADHD brains. Researchers have made these conclusions after studying children's performance on cognitive tasks and monitoring their physiological responses.

Altered sensitivity to rewards and punishments may be a core characteristic of ADHD. Prolific research on how changes at the brain's cellular level explain individuals' responses to rewards may offer compelling clues to the neurobiology of ADHD, and they may suggest effective approaches to behavior modification for children with ADHD.

Dopamine, Rewards, and the ADHD Brain

In primates and rats, dopamine neurons in the brain get a boost when they are given an unexpected reward. When a reward is expected, after repetition and training, these dopamine boosts occur when the brain receives cues that predict the reward. This anticipatory dopamine boost helps to propel the action that will unlock the reward.

Similarly, it is hypothesized that neurotypical brains experience a surge of dopamine when they predict a forthcoming reward. This provides immediate and continuous reinforcement at the cellular level even when the reward is delayed or discontinued.
[Get This Free Download: 50 Tips for How to Discipline a Child with ADHD]
In children with ADHD, it appears, this process is incomplete. When rewards are slowed or stopped, there is a delay in the dopamine signal of the ADHD brain, which has an increased preference for immediate rewards. When rewards are withheld or efforts go unrewarded, the result is poorer learning and performance.

Positive Reinforcement Fuels Learning

Few behavior-management programs take into consideration how children with ADHD respond differently to rewards and punishments, and how to modify reinforcement accordingly. It's well-established that positive reinforcement increases performance across a range of cognitive tasks. Studies show that under continuous positive reinforcement, children with and without ADHD learn tasks more quickly than they do with less frequent reinforcement. When offered only partial reinforcement, children with ADHD show poorer sustained attention and demonstrate less predictable responses to tasks, the research shows.

In the absence of reinforcement, children produce fewer correct responses; they don't learn tasks as quickly or as well. Children with ADHD who are struggling to learn a task under these circumstances may feel increased frustration and simply stop engaging. This behavior may look like poor motivation, but it is actually a neurological response to poor reinforcement from caregivers and educators. With partial reinforcement, a child with ADHD may learn a task or skill more slowly - but they retain more of their learning for a longer time than with constant reinforcement.

Several studies also show that children with ADHD are less able to adapt to demands when expectations change ; when expectations are very clear, they are better able to meet demands. It is critical for children with ADHD to fully understand rules and expectations, especially when they change. Frequent reminders from caregivers and teachers can help.
[Read: It's Not Bribery. It's Brain Chemistry.]
ADHD Brains Prefer Immediate Rewards

In one study, children with and without ADHD were asked at the beginning of a task to choose between a smaller immediate reward and a larger delayed reward.The reward alternatives were available throughout the task, and the amount of time that the children had to wait for the reward varied.

The children with ADHD tried to wait for the larger later reward, but in the end, they were more likely to choose the smaller immediate reward. This suggests that children with ADHD are more likely to seek immediate and available rewards, particularly when frustrated or distracted.

This also suggests that children with ADHD may become more upset when they don't receive anticipated rewards, and they may give up more easily when tasks are perceived as too difficult. Teachers and caregivers should pay particular attention when the child's task persistence drops away and he begins to respond impulsively or become emotional.

There is evidence that punishment can keep a child with ADHD on task in the short term. Studies also show that children with ADHD are more sensitive than their neurotypical peers to punishment.

Punishment, or the perception of punishment, used to motivate children to learn or stay on task, may carry serious long-term consequences if the child's emotion regulation skills are weak. In most scenarios, positive reinforcement is a more effective motivator than is punishment.

Reward and Punishment: Better Strategies for Children with ADHD

1. Make sure that waiting times are within a child's capacity so that they can be successful in their efforts to wait. Consider building up a child's stamina for waiting. Start small and gradually increase waiting times, acknowledging and praising efforts to wait. Introduce strategies to make waiting easier, such as self-praise.

2. Bolster executive functions during transitions. Children who have ADHD often fail to meet behavioral demands or expectations, especially when transitioning from one activity or setting to another - and when rules are not obvious. Make sure students know the rules in different classes or settings. Praise them when they get it right and calmly remind them when they forget. Alert them when expectations change; give them time to adapt.

3. Match homework demands to a child's capacity. Many kids with ADHD are distracted by more immediately rewarding activities, or when they find the work too difficult. When the work is challenging, reduce the amount and duration of time spent on it, keep levels of praise high, and reward effort.
The content for this article was derived with permission from "From Research to Clinical Practice: Applying What We Know About Altered Reinforcement Sensitivity to the Management of ADHD" presented by Gail Tripp, Ph.D., at the APSARD 2022 Annual Conference.
Positive Reinforcement: Next Steps

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Sources
² Ljungberg, T., Apicella, P., & Schultz, W. (1991). Responses of monkey midbrain dopamine neurons during delayed alternation performance. Brain Research, 567, 337-341. ³ Mirenowicz, J., & Schultz, W. (1994). Importance of unpredictability for reward responses in primate dopamine neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology, 72, 1024-1027. ⁴ Ahn, S., & Phillips, A.G. (2007). Dopamine efflux in the nucleus accumbens during within-session extinction, outcome-dependent, and habit-based instrumental responding for food reward. Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 191, 641-651. ⁵ Tripp, G., & Wickens, J. R. (2008). Research review: Dopamine transfer deficit: A neurobiological theory of altered reinforcement mechanisms in ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 49(7), 691-704. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01851.x. ⁶ Freibergs, V., & Douglas, V.I. (1969). Concept learning in hyperactive and normal children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 74, 388-395. ⁷ Parry, P.A., & Douglas, V.I. (1983). Effects of reinforcement on concept identification in hyperactive children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11, 327-340. ⁸ Hulsbosch, A. et al. (2021). Systematic Review: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Instrumental Learning. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 60(11), 1367-1381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2021.03.009 ¹¹ Tripp, G., & Alsop, B. (2001). Sensitivity to reward delay in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42(5), 691-698. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021963001007430.

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Carrots vs. Sticks: The Science of Reward and Punishment for Children with ADHD

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Do rewards and punishments - standards in every neurotypical parenting arsenal - actually inspire better behavior in children with ADHD? What about positive reinforcement? The answers to these questions from parents and educators, like most things ADHD-related, are nuanced.

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Teaching is rewarding and challenging, but teaching children with ADHD calls for special effort to do the job well. When I homeschooled my children, all of whom have ADHD, they kept trying to show me how they needed to learn. I finally got it. I learned how to tweak the curriculum and my teaching strategies to meet the needs of my distractible students. If you're a parent raising a child with ADHD, perhaps one or two of the lessons will help you and your student at home. Talk with the teacher about using a couple of these suggestions, as well.

Show and Tell

I learned that "show and tell" is good for teachers as well as students. After showing my kids what I wanted them to do, rather than just giving them verbal directions, they were better at completing the task. Too many words can overwhelm a student who struggles to pay attention. Pair your visual and auditory cues to maximize your instructional impact. Hitting the auditory and visual buttons together increases the odds that the information will stick.

Swerve - Don't Brake

My son often stared off into the distance while I was teaching. When you notice that your student's attention has wandered, don't try to yank it back by saying, "Look at me," and repeating your request until he does. I learned that it was better to swerve than to slam on the brakes to help them circle back to my lesson. I might ask what they wanted to have for lunch or which book they would read next. After re-engaging them, I redirected their attention to the task.
[11 Focus Fixes for the Classroom: A Free Handout for Teachers]
Watch Your Praise

It is easy for a student with ADHD to become discouraged, especially when there is a lot of criticism of his work. My daughter and son were impulsive and needed adult assistance to direct their energy to get things done. I tried to balance my corrections with encouragement and praise. I learned to be careful with my praise, though. If I commented on every positive thing my children did, the praise was less effective. Too much praise can lead to less effort on the student's part. Use praise strategically to reward effort and hard work.

Don't Spoon-Feed

My children are bright, but because they are inattentive and hyperactive, I caught myself doing too much of their work for them. I learned that when I did all the talking and asked my children to complete an assignment, I had to backtrack to fill in the gaps that come when their attention had wandered.

Rather than spoon-feeding them the information again, I checked in with them as I instructed them. That way, I could tell whether they were listening to me or were on a track of their own. Asking questions or having them summarize what I'd said made the lesson more interactive and engaging, too.

Manage Monotony

I like structure and routine, and thanks to their ADHD, my children need plenty of it. They also needed variety, and, if I didn't provide it, they would find it themselves. Students with ADHD are great at coming up with suggestions about how to make things more interesting. Ask them. Using special pens with different-colored inks or moving the lesson from the dining room table to the couch will keep things interesting.
[Tuning Out Distractions, Focusing in on School]

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Show and Tell: Defeat Distraction in the Classroom

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Teaching is rewarding and challenging, but teaching children with ADHD calls for special effort to do the job well. When I homeschooled my children, all of whom have ADHD, they kept trying to show me how they needed to learn. I finally got it.

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Podcast: 7 Systems that Work for Outside-the-Box Learners

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Podcast: 7 Systems that Work for Outside-the-Box Learners

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Listen to my interview with Seth Perler, executive function coach (transcript):
It seems every teacher in every school struggles with what they might call unmotivated, lazy, or disorganized learners. These students seem to have a ton of potential, their test scores might even be pretty high, but they can't ever seem to get it together school-wise.

In my own teaching experience, I spent an inordinate amount of time on these students, giving them lists of make-up assignments to do, meeting with them at lunch or after school to help get them caught up, contacting parents, helping them go through their binders and backpacks and lockers to find missing work, and coming up with lots of different ways to basically say the same thing: You just need to stay organized.

It's not motivation; it's executive function.

It turns out this set of skills actually has a name: executive function. The first time I heard this term in Paul Tough's 2012 book, How Children Succeed, it was like a light bulb going off: Kids who struggle with executive function often have perfectly good academic abilities, but they don't have the same ability as most students to stay on top of the little details that make life run smoothly. So when we try to get them to manage those details like most other kids do, our efforts fail.

If I had known that, and if I'd had someone like Seth Perler to show me what to do differently, I would have been able to help these kids have a much more rewarding school experience.

Seth Perler is an Executive Function coach who works with these students he refers to as "outside the box learners." Because Perler was an outside-the-box learner himself, when he became a teacher, he knew how to reach this type of student. During his years in the classroom and then as an education coach, he has developed seven systems that he teaches these kids to help them meet deadlines, keep track of materials, and manage their time.

What's interesting about these systems is that although some of them may seem obvious at first, it's the little tweaks Perler gives them that actually make them work. What most of us have tried with these students turns out to be counterproductive; we've approached them in the same way that we approach our other students. For most kids, our standard methods for keeping them organized work just fine, but these kids need something different. Once you learn about these little tweaks-like why folders are far better than 3-ring binders-you'll be able to change your approach, share these insights with parents, and start to see some real differences in how these kids do in school.

Implementing the Systems

For these systems to work, Perler says, parents and teachers have to help students build them into habits. This takes patience, compassion, and more time than is typical for most students.

"It takes two good solid months of continuous effort with these kids to really build a habit," he says. "It's not easy. The brain is literally changing. The neurons in the brain are changing. They are building new networks that are helping them to execute, to use executive function to manage what are really an overwhelming amount of details we expect these kids to manage."

What does that "time" look like? Perler recommends a weekly overhaul, done on Sunday nights, to hit the reset button on all of these systems and prepare the student for the week ahead. Done consistently, this will eventually make habits out of all of these systems, and the student should start to see big improvements.

1. Paper Management
Use a separate folder for every class.
"Organized adults will often recommend that kids use three-ring binders," Perler says. "Their idea is, 'Well if it helps me stay organized, obviously it would help a disorganized kid become more organized.' But for kids who struggle with executive function, three-ring binders are horrible. There are so many details in terms of opening a big binder, finding the right place for the paper, unclicking it, putting it in with the three holes, re-clicking it, closing it carefully. These are kids who really just want to get it done."

What works better? "Cheap paper folders," Perler says. He recommends the following:

Use a separate folder for every class, with a different color for each folder.

Choose paper folders, not plastic, because plastic is too slick and can cause papers to slide out too easily.

Write the subject name directly on the folder in big letters, so it's easy to find. Then turn the folder over and write it on the back.

2. Backpack Management
Everything out, once a week.
Most kids are what Perler calls maintainers, because they are able to maintain a semi-organized backpack, taking out unnecessary items as they go and keeping things more or less organized. But students who struggle with executive function tend to be overhaulers, waiting until things get totally out of control and then doing a complete overhaul.

"Let's say you have a really disorganized kid," he says. "One day you come home, they've completely rearranged their bedroom, put all their furniture in different places, and completely cleaned out the whole bedroom. That's an overhauler. They like to overhaul."

When it comes to backpacks, however, this overhaul doesn't come frequently enough, and that results in backpacks where papers are lost or damaged. Perler recommends students do a weekly backpack overhaul:

Once a week, pull everything out of the backpack.

Throw out things you don't need, reorganize the things you do.

3. Planner
Keep it plain and simple.
"A lot of schools will buy planners for the entire school," Perler says. "They'll have the hall pass in the back, the school handbook in the front. They have the periodic table in the back, commonly misspelled words, famous quotes on the papers, and a bunch of colors often on the pages. It turns out that these planners are awful for the kids that I work with, for kids who struggle with executive function. It's too much. These are kids who really want to get at the heart of the matter within seconds. They don't want to have to flip pages and find things."

Perler recommends a much simpler planner for these students:

Get a month-at-a-glance planner, rip out every single page that isn't the calendar of the months they will be in school. 10 pages max. "These kids tend to be very global thinkers, so seeing the entire month is a lot easier for their brain to learn to conceptualize time," Perler says.

To make the most of the smaller spaces on the planner, develop a shorthand system for recording important deadlines and other information.

Do regular check-ins with a parent or teacher make sure the planner is being maintained.

4. Grade Monitoring
Check once a week at minimum.
Although we have discussed on this site about the danger of parents monitoring their child's grades too closely, with students who struggle with executive function, it's helpful to work with the student to develop a habit of monitoring their own grades.

Once a week (at least), go into your school's online grading portal and check all grades.

Look at the details: Are there incomplete grades? Missing grades?

If the teacher hasn't been inputting grades on a regular basis, recent grades may not be available. Check with the teacher if you need more recent grades.

5. Self Advocacy
Make an actual appointment to see the teacher in person.
Although teachers make themselves available to students for help, and struggling students may intend to see them for it, in reality they often forget or put it off. For that reason, Perler recommends students agree on a time to meet with the teacher, rather than just intending to talk with them.

"Usually I'll have them write a short email to the teacher that says, 'Hey, I'd love to see you at office hours. When's the best time for me to come in?' The teacher can then say, 'Come in at 3 o'clock tomorrow,' and it puts accountability on the situation that they didn't have before. Most of the time the student will show up, and I will tell you that I have so many kids come back to me and say, 'Wow, that was so helpful. That was so easy.'"

Perler says self-advocacy is one of the easiest habits to develop. "Once they ask for help from their teacher two or three or four times, they have crossed a magical threshold that changes their whole academic experience. They realize that teachers are not mad at them. That teachers are there to support them. That teachers will give them the time they need. And that teachers will even give them secret tips and tricks for how to pass their classes or how to do well in their classes."

6. Sacred Study Space
Establish a distraction-free space at home just for school work.
This is a classic, but it may be an overlooked factor in a student's poor performance. "We really need to help kids learn to create a space that has the supplies we need that is decluttered, that is free of distraction. And that's very hard for families, by the way. Because real life is happening."

Rather than prescribe a specific type of space, Perler recommends building sharper awareness about the choices that will work for the specific student and the kind of school work they need to do at a given time. "The couch might actually be an effective place for some students some of the time to study. But I want them to make conscious choices: 'Sitting on the couch is going to help me relax into this book, so that I can really get in the mode,' or 'Sitting on the couch, especially with the TV on, is a ridiculous idea for me to be studying this biology stuff right now.'

7. Weekly Overhaul
Choose a time once a week to overhaul all systems.
Rather than "intending" to do the weekly overhaul, Perler recommends setting a specific time to do it every week, and post that time somewhere visible. "If you miss a time or two, that's fine," he says. "It's going to happen. But print up when it is and what time, so that you don't have the argument with your child about it, and it's concrete, and it's on the wall."

Here's what the overhaul should include:

Empty out and tidy the backpack

Update the planner, tear out old pages, cross everything out that is no longer relevant. Look forward to the upcoming week.

Go through each folder and get rid of everything you no longer need.

Check grades online.

Overhaul the desk or home study area.

You can learn more from Seth Perler by going to his website, sethperler.com, and subscribing to his email updates & Student Success Toolkit. Seth has created a special Student Systems Assessment to help students determine which of these seven areas they need the most work on. You can download that here.

Learn something new every week.
Join my mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration-in quick, bite-sized packages-all geared toward making your teaching more effective and fun. You'll also get access to my members-only library of free downloadable resources, including my e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, which has helped thousands of teachers spend less time grading!

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7 Systems that Work for Outside-the-Box Learners

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Listen to my interview with Seth Perler, executive function coach (transcript): It seems every teacher in every school struggles with what they might call unmotivated, lazy, or disorganized learners. These students seem to have a ton of potential, their test scores might even be pretty high, but they can't ever seem to get it together school-wise.

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Article: 20 Classroom Accommodations that Target Common ADHD Challenges

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Article: 20 Classroom Accommodations that Target Common ADHD Challenges

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The best IEP is the one with accommodations designed for your child's very specific symptoms. Here are some of our favorite solutions for addressing common ADHD challenges at school.

A bored and unmotivated ADHD child needs encouragement to succeed in school.

Students with ADHD often benefit from special ADHD accommodations established by teachers and parents who spend thoughtful time pinpointing problematic ADHD symptoms, and then devising classroom accommodations that help solve those problems.

Following is a list of common challenges faced by students with ADHD, and the accommodations that can help bring success at school.
[Quiz: How Well Do You Know Special-Ed Law?]
Classroom Setup

Assignments
[The 10 Biggest Lies About Learning Disabilities]
Distractibility

If your child: Is unable to keep up during classroom discussions and/or note taking
Try: Providing peer assistance in note taking and ask student questions to encourage participation in discussions
[Free Guide: 40 Best Accommodations for Children with ADHD or LD]
Behavior

If your child: Is constantly engaging in attention-getting behavior
Try: Ignoring minor inappropriate behavior

If your child: Fails to "see the point" of a lesson or activity
Try: Increasing immediacy of rewards and consequences

If your child: Needs reinforcement
Try: Sending daily/weekly progress reports home

Organization/Planning

If your child: Can't keep track of papers
Try: Recommending binders with dividers and folders

Moods/Socialization

If your child: Does not work well with others
Try: Encouraging cooperative learning tasks

If your child: Appears lonely or withdrawn
Try: Encouraging social interactions with classmates; plan teacher-directed group activities

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20 Classroom Accommodations That Target Common ADHD Challenges

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The best IEP is the one with accommodations designed for your child's very specific symptoms. Here are some of our favorite solutions for addressing common ADHD challenges at school.

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1. All Episodes

2. 261- Tech to the Rescue: Create a Technology Toolbox for Students with ADHD and LD

Tapping into the right technology can make the difference between success and failure at school for students with ADHD and learning disabilities. Brian S. Friedlander, Ph.D., discusses the most popular and effective assistive technology (AT) tools.

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261- Tech to the Rescue: Create a Technology Toolbox for Students with ADHD and LD

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Tapping into the right technology can make the difference between success and failure at school for students with ADHD and learning disabilities. Brian S. Friedlander, Ph.D., discusses the most popular and effective assistive technology (AT) tools.

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Podcast: Tech Tools to help support students with ADHD/Executive Skills Deficits

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Podcast: Tech Tools to help support students with ADHD/Executive Skills Deficits

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1. All Episodes

2. 233- Tech Tools That Help Children with ADHD Learn More

Your child's IEP or 504 Plan includes the use of assistive technology. Smart. But how do you ensure that the best technology is implemented consistently, used correctly-and whether or not it's working? Janet DeSenzo offers guidelines.

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233- Tech Tools That Help Children with ADHD Learn More

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Your child's IEP or 504 Plan includes the use of assistive technology. Smart. But how do you ensure that the best technology is implemented consistently, used correctly-and whether or not it's working? Janet DeSenzo offers guidelines.

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Short Article: Assistive Technology for ADHD Challenges 

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Short Article: Assistive Technology for ADHD Challenges 

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You've spent hours working with your child, who has ADHD, on math at home. His teacher has done the same at school. You've even hired a tutor to help him improve his sagging grades. The result? He's still doing poorly, and you get on each other's nerves more than ever.

It may be time to change the program - to use software and other assistive technology (AT) to help your child with ADHD excel in school. Studies show that AT can improve certain skill deficits and increase self-reliance. Children who struggle in school are often overly dependent on parents, siblings, friends, and teachers for help with assignments. Assistive technology can help students with ADHD achieve success by working independently.

Here are some gadgets and software that have turned around the grades of many struggling students.

NOTE: Product names, models, prices, and specifications were current as of print. Please leave a comment below if you are aware of more accurate and up-to-date information.

These tools help students with ADHD who struggle with computing, aligning, and copying math problems on paper.
[Free Download: Teacher-Approved Apps & Tools for School]
Electronic math worksheet software enables students to organize and work through problems on a computer screen. Numbers that appear onscreen can be read aloud by a speech synthesizer.
Products to consider: MathPad and MathPad Plus ( cambiumlearning.com) and MathTalk ( mathtalk.com).

Talking calculators have a built-in speech synthesizer that reads aloud each number, symbol, or operation key a student presses, as well as the answer. The aural feedback lets a student with ADHD know whether he pressed the right keys and verifies the answer before he transfers it to paper.
Products to consider: Independent Living Aids ( independentliving.com) and MaxiAids ( maxiaids.com) make a range of pocket-size and desktop talking calculators - some with an alarm to keep students moving along.

If your child struggles with reading, the tools below may improve reading comprehension and fluency.

Audio books and reading software. Recorded books allow users to listen to text, and they are available in a variety of formats: audio-cassette, CD, and MP3 download. Special playback units allow users to search and bookmark pages and chapters.
Products and services to consider: Audible.com and bookshare.org allow students to listen to books on the computer or to download and burn on CDs. Kurzweil 3000 ( kurzweiledu.com ) improves reading speed and comprehension by enabling a student to convert print to electronic text. This program includes both visual and auditory feedback to help a student with ADHD understand and retain what he is reading.
[Read This Next: Math Apps That Add Up]
Optical character recognition (OCR) programs allow a student to scan printed material into a computer or handheld unit. The scanned text is then read aloud by a speech synthesis/screen reading system. OCR is available in stand-alone units, as software, and as portable, pocket-sized devices that display words on an easy-to-read screen. Scanning pens are perfect for library research and other reading that doesn't involve a computer. This device scans text as it's dragged along the page. The pen displays the words on an easy-to-read screen, speaks them aloud, and provides definitions.
Products to consider: WYNN Literacy Software Solution ( freedomscientific.com), Quicktionary 2 Scanning Translator and Readingpen Basic Edition (both available at wizcomtech.com).

Speech synthesizers/screen reader systems can display and read aloud text on a computer screen, including text that has been typed by a student, scanned in from printed pages (books, letters), or material from the Internet.
Products to consider: Aspire Reader 4.0 ( axistive.com), ClassMate Reader ( humanware.com), and Read&Write Gold ( texthelp.com).

Portable word processors are lightweight devices that look like a computer keyboard with a screen. They can be helpful to children with ADHD who have trouble with handwriting. These battery-powered machines can be brought to school for note-taking and writing assignments. At home, files can be transferred to a PC or Mac. Some portable word processors come pre-loaded with word prediction and text-to-speech software.
Products to consider: AlphaSmart Writer Learning Neo ( renlearn.com).

Speech-recognition programs allow a student to read aloud into a microphone and see his words appear on a computer screen. The software is especially helpful for students whose oral language skills are superior to their writing skills.
Products to consider: Dragon NaturallySpeaking ( nuance.com), Simply Speaking ( simplyspeakinginc.com), and ViaVoice (#CommissionsEarned).

Word-prediction software "predicts" the word the user intends to type, expanding his vocabulary and improving written expression. These programs can assist students with ADHD in producing grammatically correct and topic-specific sentences and paragraphs on a word processor.
Products to consider: Co:Writer ( donjohnston.com), EZ Keys ( words-plus.com), and WordQ ( wordq.com).
The authors of this piece are GreatSchools.net staff. This piece is reprinted with permission from greatschools.net.
NOTE: Product names, models, prices, and specifications were current as of print. Please leave a comment below if you are aware of more accurate and up-to-date information.

Assistive Technology: Next Steps

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Assistive Technology for ADHD Challenges at School

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You've spent hours working with your child, who has ADHD, on math at home. His teacher has done the same at school. You've even hired a tutor to help him improve his sagging grades. The result? He's still doing poorly, and you get on each other's nerves more than ever.

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Article: Assistive Learning Tools for Students with ADHD

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Article: Assistive Learning Tools for Students with ADHD

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Assistive learning tools make a big difference for those with attention deficit disorder ( ADHD or ADD) or learning difficulties, and some of our favorites are small enough to fit in the palm of a student's hand. Learning apps can be lifelines for students struggling with reading, writing, math, time management, and other challenges.

These 15 ADHD tools can help learners from preschool through college access the curriculum, understand material more easily, and organize ideas and schedules. Academic success may be a touchscreen tap away.

Text-to-Speech

1. Read2Go/Learning Ally Audio
(read2go.org; iOS; $19.99)/(learningally.org; iOS; Android; free with Learning Ally membership)
Bookshare and Learning Ally, audiobooks services for people with reading challenges, are familiar names in education. Read2Go (for Bookshare) and the Learning Ally Audio app make these valuable resources more accessible. Some students with attention challenges find it tough to focus while listening to audiobooks. Read2Go and audiobooks in Learning Ally's VOICEtext format highlight each word on the screen as it is read. This innovative feature is also good for students who need to build decoding skills. Seeing a word while hearing it improves reading skills.

2. Voice Dream Reader
(voicedream.com; iOS; $14.99)
Voice Dream will read text from any source - from Microsoft Word and PDF files to webpages. Users can listen to text in one of 36 available voices, and it's easy to pause, rewind, or fast-forward. Voice and reading speed can be adjusted easily while reading text. Voice Dream makes it simple to navigate text and start reading anywhere, and users can highlight and make notes in the app as they listen.

Reading

3. Rhyme to Read
(rhymetoread.com; iOS; $10.99)
Developed by two expert educators, this app gives kids and parents access to a series of high-quality, controlled texts (short, simple stories that use a combination of patterned words and sight words). Controlled texts help young children gain fluency, automaticity, and confidence. The series is so well designed that kids who are easily discouraged will stick with it. Readers can tap target words to hear them and words they've already learned will appear in later books in the series.
[Free Download: Solve Your Child's Homework Problems]
4. iBooks
(itunes.apple.com; iOS; free)
For Mac users, it's hard to beat the simplicity of iBooks. Students can replace heavy stacks of textbooks with an iPad or an iPhone. The app makes it easy to use reading comprehension boosting strategies, like highlighting and note-taking, which are critical for students with low attention. Some textbooks go a step further, with interactive features and quizzes at the end of sections. College students will breathe a sigh of relief thanks to iBooks' update policy: it automatically replaces old textbooks with new editions.

Math

5. MotionMath
(motionmathgames.com; iOS, Android; free to $6.99, depending on game; bundle for $25.99)
It's tempting to prescribe a stack of flashcards when kids struggle with math, but students with weak attention benefit more from improving their number sense than from rote memorization. The research-based MotionMath helps to improve that. Preschoolers can begin with Hungry Guppy, which teaches basic numeracy using both objects and number symbols. As students progress, there are plenty of more difficult games. One of our favorites is Zoom, which requires players to tilt their devices to drop whole numbers and decimals on number lines.

6. Equator

( sylvanlearning.com; iOS, Android; free)

This imaginative, two-player game is sure to please students who need motivation to practice their math facts. The screen is divided into two hemispheres, so that each player can easily read his own half of the iPad as he adds and subtracts. The goal is to arrive at the same total using different numbers, but the numbers are only the beginning of the challenge. Every successful equation causes the globe to spin, turning day into night and night into day. The seasons also change, and players must survive "storms" of multiplication and division. This game is fun.

7. Math Ninja
(math-ninja-app.com; iOS; $1.99)
Making things fun is important to students with attention challenges, and Math ninja is an addictive way to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Correct answers earn more weapons for ninjas' arsenals, like ninja stars and smoke bombs, which can be fired at the evil Tomato-San and his robot cronies. The graphics are bright and cartoonish, and squeamish players (and parents) can rest assured that these battles are silly rather than violent.
[The "Write" Assistive Tech Tools for Kids with ADHD]
Writing

8. MindNode
(mindnode.com; Mac, $19.99; iOS, $9.99)
Organizing a jumble of ideas to write a book review or essay is a daunting task. Mind mapping is a good way to understand how thoughts fit together to make a coherent essay. MindNode is an excellent tool for this kind of pre-writing. Many students with learning difficulties find that visual mind maps work better than outlines. Writers begin by placing their initial idea in the center, then add ideas, color-code them, and draw connecting lines. It's easy to convert maps to Microsoft Word documents or image files, to share with parents and teachers for feedback.

9. Storybird

Writing is one of the toughest tasks for students, and the beautifully crafted Storybird provides young authors with engaging, meaningful ways to express themselves. A multitude of artist-created images are available for inspiration or as supplements to stories, making Storybird valuable to students with strong spatial skills. Images are also useful for helping to sequence events in a story. There are a variety of genres to choose from, and Storybird allows writers to share their stories easily and to comment on others' work, too.

10. SpellBetter
(spellbetterapp.com; iOS; free)
Students with learning difficulties often find writing frustrating, so poor spellers are bound to love SpellBetter as a word processor. Word prediction and auto-completion features allow writers to focus on recording their ideas instead of on spelling. SpellBetter can untangle the most mangled spelling, and its text-to-speech function makes it easy to listen to the suggested words in the word bank or proofread one's writing. SpellBetter's spell checker considers both phonetics and context, and it exports finished pieces to other formats (PDF, e-mail) for sharing.

Getting Stuff Done

11. Any.do

Sometimes there's beauty in simplicity, and it doesn't get much simpler than Any.do. For those who get lost in options and details, Any.do is the perfect solution for managing a busy life. Set up a to-do list and program the app to send reminders. That's it. Because it's sometimes easier to lay out an agenda while looking at a calendar, the Cal version (also free) combines iCal and the Any.do task list.

12. Wunderlist
(wunderlist.com; iOS, Android, Mac, PC; free)
Wunderlist is a simple, powerful way to organize lists of all kinds. But the best reason to use Wunderlist is its collaboration capability. Users can make group lists, assign tasks to different members of the group, and even arrange for the app to send reminder e-mails. The organizer can see which delegated tasks have been marked complete, and a conversation feature allows group members to discuss their tasks seamlessly, too. Parents of teens can use the app to provide the nudge many kids need, without having to nag, and Wunderlist's ability to attach files to tasks can coordinate group projects.

Gadgets

Students and professionals with focus challenges miss important content if they zone out during lectures or meetings. LiveScribe, which looks like an ordinary pen, records everything that is said, so a student can replay a lecture later to hear what he or she may have missed. Since re-listening to a whole lecture is time-consuming, LiveScribe's time-sync capability enables note-takers to tap on any word they've written in the LiveScribe notebook to listen to what was said at the moment they wrote that word.

This high-tech tool can be a great resource for readers who need help with tough words or vocabulary. This scanner, which is about the size of a marker, enables readers to "highlight" a word in a printed text to hear its pronunciation and definition. (There's a headphone jack for use in the classroom.) Because the scanning motion is somewhat disruptive to the reading process, we recommend the pen to readers who need help only with a word or two per sentence.

Time Management
(timetimer.com; iOS, $2.99; Android, $0.99; timers and watches, $29.95-$79.95)
Time Timer is a lifesaver for those who lose track of time or get too wrapped up in what they're doing. The format of the timer - a red field within the clock face gets smaller as the time passes - is simple enough for even young children to understand. Time Timer is wonderful for preventing arguments between parents and kids. When the limit is reached, there can be no real argument that a few more minutes of Minecraft are warranted. Older students and adults can use the timer to keep breaks from lasting twice as long as they should or to keep from spending 20 minutes composing an e-mail that should take five.
[3 Apps to Sharpen Reading Skills]

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15 Best Assistive Learning Tools for Students with ADHD

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Does your child or teen have ADHD? Whether they struggle with time management or need to work on their reading skills, these savvy tools include everything from free downloads to digital to-do lists. Give them a boost in the classroom and beyond with expert-approved apps and gadgets.

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1. All Episodes

2. 177- Dyslexia: Understanding the Condition, Plus Recommended Treatment Interventions

Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D., discusses dyslexia, which is the most common learning disability-symptoms, similarities to and differences from ADHD, the most effective interventions, and how to talk with your child about the diagnosis.

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177- Dyslexia: Understanding the Condition, Plus Recommended Treatment Interventions

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Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D., discusses dyslexia, which is the most common learning disability-symptoms, similarities to and differences from ADHD, the most effective interventions, and how to talk with your child about the diagnosis.

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"It's frustrating that you can't read the simplest word in the world."

Thomas Lester grabs a book and opens to a random page. He points to a word: galloping.

"Goll-. G-. Gaa-. Gaa-. G-. " He keeps trying. It is as if the rest of the word is in him somewhere, but he can't sound it out.

"I don't ... I quit." He tosses the book and it skids along the table.

Despite stumbling over the simplest words, Thomas - a fourth-grader - is a bright kid. In fact, that's an often-misunderstood part of dyslexia: It's not about lacking comprehension, having a low IQ or being deprived of a good education.

It's about having a really hard time reading.

Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in the United States. It touches the lives of millions of people, including me and Thomas. Just like Thomas, I spent much of my childhood sitting in a little chair across from a reading tutor.

Today, Thomas is working with his tutor in an office building in northwest Washington, D.C. The suite they're in is an oasis of white couches and overstuffed pillows. In the waiting area, a kid is curled up sucking her thumb, and a mom reads a magazine quietly.

In the back of the suite - a Lindamood Bell Reading Center - Thomas fidgets with everything in arm's reach.

"All right, I am going to give you some air-writing words," the tutor says to Thomas, speaking rapidly as if daring Thomas to keep pace. She spells the first one out loud: "C-O-R-T."

With his index finger, Thomas writes the letters sloppily in the air.

Then his tutor asks a question: What sound do the two middle letters make? "Eer? Aar?"

Thomas squints at whatever visual memory he can retain from the letters he has just scribbled in the air. Then, with a burst of enthusiasm, he stumbles on the answer: "Or!"

"Good job!" his tutor replies, with what seems like genuine excitement, before moving on to her next question about the letters.

I also have a question for Thomas: What's it like to have dyslexia?

Thomas stops his fidgeting. "It's hard," he pauses. "Like, really hard."

Thomas, 9, has trouble reading, but he likes books. Just give him the audio version, he says, and he'll "listen to the book on Audible like 10,000 times."

"His comprehension is that of a 13-year-old," says Geva Lester, Thomas' mom. "He can understand Harry Potter, but he can't read it."

Before they started coming to this Lindamood Bell Reading Center, Lester says, she'd watch with alarmed confusion as her son struggled with the most basic text: "See Spot run."

She remembers trying to read with him. "On one page he would figure out the word: 'There.' And on the second page, he would see it and he would have no idea what it said."

Sitting there with Thomas and his mom, I remember doing that myself - and in some ways, I still do.

For more information and help, check out:

As a child, my dyslexia was a closely guarded secret. In kindergarten, I'd leave class to work in a tiny closet, with a space heater and a reading specialist. Walking there, down the locker-lined hallways, I'd avoid eye contact, hoping nobody would notice me.

In middle school, I struggled to read even picture books. In class, I'd pretend. Then, at home, I'd listen to my books on cassette tapes - at double speed. And during the summer, I'd go to Lindamood Bell, just like Thomas. (The reading centers, which offer tutoring and reading programs around the world, also provide financial support for NPR.)

Over the years, I survived by memorizing words. It started with boxes and boxes of index cards. I'd practice each night, looking at a word and saying its sound as quickly as I could. I memorized hundreds and hundreds - maybe a few thousand - words this way.

I've never been able to sound out unfamiliar words. And I still can't.

When I come across a word I don't know, I freeze. It's often a last name or a street name that never made it onto those index cards. It takes a great deal of focus for me to clump the letters into groups, link those groups with sounds and, finally, string those sounds together.

Since dyslexia is not something you outgrow, I have learned to work with it, and work around it. It's always there, but it is rarely the focus of my thoughts. That was true through college and graduate school, but when I became an education reporter, it changed.

As I returned to elementary school classrooms and interviewed parents and teachers, dyslexia kept popping up in places I didn't expect. I saw teachers who were mystified by their students' struggles and parents whose stamina and empathy were tested.

Dyslexia is so widespread that it forces schools and parents to take action. And yet, it is deeply misunderstood. Even basic questions don't have easy answers.

Exactly how many people around the world have dyslexia? Well, it's complicated. Estimates vary greatly, partly because it depends on what country or language you are talking about (English speakers may be more likely to have it than, say, Italian speakers) and partly because many people who have dyslexia never get a formal diagnosis. However, most estimates in the United States put it at somewhere between 5 and 17 percent of the population.

Many people think that dyslexia is seeing letters in the wrong order, or getting b and d mixed up. Not true. Researchers, experts and people with dyslexia dismiss these as common misconceptions.

So, if dyslexia isn't any of those things people think it is, then what is it?

"It's basically like looking at a foreign word," says Jonathan Gohrband. He's a videographer in Chicago and, at 31, he says dyslexia is still part of his daily life.

When reading, Gohrband says, his eyes often lurch to a stop in front of a word that looks utterly unfamiliar. His best solution, he says, is to turn to his girlfriend, asking a now familiar question: "What's this word?" And as she answers, he almost always has the same response: "Of course that's what it is!"

Here's the thing: There's nothing wrong with Jonathan Gohrband's vocabulary. Or 9-year-old Thomas Lester's vocabulary. They know what "galloping" means. And they can use the word in spoken English 20 different ways. They just can't read the word.

That's why dyslexia used to be called "word blindness." People with dyslexia don't naturally process the written word. They don't easily break it into smaller units that can be turned into sounds and stitched together.

This makes reading a laborious - even exhausting - process. Writing, too. Gohrband remembers when his former boss pulled him aside after she'd received emails littered with spelling mistakes.

" 'Hey, I know it's the weekend, but don't email when you're drunk,' " he recalls her saying. He was, of course, perfectly sober - just dyslexic. Now, he can spend hours scouring emails he's drafted, looking for typos. "It's very time-consuming and very exhausting."

Consuming. Exhausting. There's an emotional dimension, too. Gohrband recalls that when he was a child he would fantasize about not "being broken." He would avoid telling people about it: "If they know that you're dyslexic, they'll think you're dumb."

Yet, he says, there came a turning point when the shame faded. For him, it was when he found videography. There he discovered a "language" that came easily, and suddenly his talents were visible to others.

"I felt so much more confident," he says.

And with time, Gohrband says, he has found benefits hidden inside his struggles. He thinks that being pushed outside his comfort zone by dyslexia has made him more creative and less judgmental.

I've felt that myself, and as I've talked with many others, I heard one thing again and again: When things don't come easy, you learn to try new things and work hard at them.

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Millions Have Dyslexia, Few Understand It

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"It's frustrating that you can't read the simplest word in the world." Thomas Lester grabs a book and opens to a random page. He points to a word: galloping. "Goll-. G-. Gaa-. Gaa-. G-. " He keeps trying. It is as if the rest ­­of the word is in him somewhere, but he can't sound it out.

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At the beginning of the video you had the opportunity to experience what it feels like to struggle through a written text. Dyslexia for a Day: A Simulation of Dyslexia is a kit with five simulations that can be implemented by anyone. Here is the writing simulation in full. Click here for complete information about Dyslexia for a Day.
Dyslexia is a complex construct with many different facets that need to be addressed. There are the jobs of finding the right intervention, working with the school district and becoming well-versed in dyslexia. This blog post includes a plethora of websites, articles and book suggestions to find out more.
Visit the Dyslexia Training Institute to become trained in the intervention that is widely accepted in the dyslexia community (Orton-Gillingham).
Decoding Dyslexia is a non-profit movement that is led by parents of children struggling with dyslexia. They are a local resource for parents in 25 states. This is the flagship branch that can send you in the right direction.
For information about Special Education Law and Dyslexia: www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org and www.wrightslaw.com
Dr. Sally Shaywitz recently wrote, "In the case of dyslexia, (while there is always the desire for more), there is currently sufficient knowledge to do a far better job in identifying, intervening in and accommodating dyslexia. There is an unacceptable and harmful wide gap between the robust existing science of dyslexia and how this knowledge is implemented, typically not implemented, by schools. In dyslexia, there is not a knowledge gap but rather an action gap. As a consequence dyslexic children frequently go un-identified, un-remediated and un-accommodated with great harm to the children, to their families and to society. Educators must act to translate this body of converging science into policy and practice. Our children's lives and futures (human capital) is too precious to waste."

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What is dyslexia? - Kelli Sandman-Hurley

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Dyslexia affects up to 1 in 5 people, but the experience of dyslexia isn't always the same. This difficulty in processing language exists along a spectrum -- one that doesn't necessarily fit with labels like "normal" and "defective." Kelli Sandman-Hurley urges us to think again about dyslexic brain function and to celebrate the neurodiversity of the human brain.

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In her 17 years as a middle school social studies teacher in Nashville, Tennessee, Su Williams regularly encountered students who still struggled to read at a basic level, and nothing she learned in her teacher training or in her nearly two decades in the classroom prepared her to help.

"I learned in the classroom that what I was trained to do-Whole Language and Balanced Literacy-doesn't work. That was an eye-opener," she said. Without the time to teach her fifth-grade students how to read proficiently-or a thorough understanding of the biomechanics of how children learn to read-Williams kept focusing on the subject matter she needed to cover for the school year, hoping their reading would eventually improve.

It was an exercise in wishful thinking. "It was a really tough situation. I made the call to go for the content-that they needed to know about the Aztecs and the Mayans, not that they needed to be able to read the words Aztec, Inca, and Maya. But I think I did them a disservice."

A turning point-and insight-came when Williams's son was diagnosed with dyslexia. Inspired by both her own and her son's experiences, she retired from classroom teaching to get trained in reading science and strategies to help dyslexic readers.

Williams's pursuit of new training is becoming more common among educators who have found that what they've learned about reading science is limited or downright incorrect-especially when it comes to dyslexia, a disorder that affects one in every five children. Though it is the most commonly reported learning disability, misinformation and myths run rampant among the general population and even bleed into schools. Most commonly, people believe that people with dyslexia transpose or invert letters when reading, when actually it's a sound-based processing disorder.

Teachers often work tirelessly to help these students, but families typically see little improvement unless they pay for costly tutoring services, which many can't afford. Other children with dyslexia are never identified: some mask their disability by acting out in class or memorizing words to skate by. Many silently struggle-and continue to struggle with reading for the rest of their lives.

Without targeted interventions, children with dyslexia are unlikely to ever become proficient readers, which has significant long-term implications. The data shows that kids who can't read proficiently by third grade are more likely to drop out of school-and chances are triple for students who come from a low-income household. Students with dyslexia in particular are more prone to depression, anxiety, and even suicide, which can be linked to the shame and stigma around not knowing how to read.

"It's not hopeless. If struggling readers are given what they need, they can make gains and become more efficient and more effective readers," said Williams. "It's often that the intervention is just not available."

The Science Behind Dyslexia

Unlike learning how to walk or talk, learning how to read is not an innate developmental stage of a child's life-it's a skill that must be acquired. When children learn how to read, several key regions of the brain connect together-regions involving recognizing letters, mapping letters to sounds, and comprehending words and meaning-to form a complex new circuit that's primed for reading.

In typically developing brains, the circuit develops relatively quickly with traditional phonics-based reading instruction, and the act of reading becomes so fast that it feels automatic. But in the brains of individuals with dyslexia, characteristics of the brain work a little differently in key regions needed to build the circuit, according to Dr. Nadine Gaab, a researcher and neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School.

When individuals with dyslexia read, letters don't jump around or flip backward-a widely believed myth. Instead, dyslexic brains have a hard time associating the right sounds to printed letters, making reading laborious and resulting in spelling that often feels like guesswork. Even after words can be sounded out, reading fluency and comprehension can be very slow and challenging, notes Gaab.

The disorder can take different forms. Difficulty with phoneme awareness, which involves letters to sounds, is merely the most common, but dyslexia can also manifest as a problem with reading speed (reading fluency) or as an issue with linking words together too slowly to fully understand sentences (reading comprehension).

Early on, a child with dyslexia may struggle to recognize rhyming patterns, for example, or make mistakes in reading that show no correlation to the letters on the page, such as saying "kitten" when the child sees the word and picture of a cat, according to The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.

Because the reading circuit develops more slowly, children with dyslexia require much more methodical and repetitive instruction. Yet often, elementary school teachers skip or minimize the crucial first step in learning how to read-a thorough understanding of phonics-and emphasize other aspects of reading, like "learning to love reading" instead, assuming that, eventually, children will just pick up reading naturally.

That doesn't work: The wait-and-see approach is really a wait-to-fail model, according to Gaab, and typically sets children with dyslexia even further behind, with serious implications for the rest of their lives. A quarter of children with dyslexia suffer from depression and anxiety, and a third also have ADHD. Nearly half of all prison inmates have dyslexia, and adults with disabilities are 46 percent more likely to commit suicide than those without.

While dyslexia cannot be cured, there are early interventions that can help a child learn how to read-specifically, structured literacy, an umbrella term for multisensory, explicit instruction based on six specific language areas set forth by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA): phonology, sound-symbol association, syllable instruction, morphology, syntax, and semantics.

When teachers use this approach for beginning readers who show signs of dyslexia, "studies have shown that 50-90 percent of those kids will reach the range of average reading ability," says Gaab.

Teachers Pursue Solutions

Employing what are commonly known as the Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and SPIRE methods, structured literacy takes a systematic approach that starts with teaching students easier concepts-like letter sounds and pronunciation (phonology)-before moving on to harder ones like syntax and semantics, or understanding how the order of words in a sentence makes meaning.

But many elementary school teachers, along with special education teachers, say they didn't learn much about the science of reading in their teacher training programs and have had to seek out this training on their own after they started teaching.

Lindsay Peaster, a speech-language pathologist and special education teacher in Madison, Georgia, first went back to earn a PhD in special education so that she could teach struggling readers, but it wasn't enough. It was not until Peaster signed up for the Complete Reading Series, a 65-hour course on the science of reading, that she really began seeing her students' reading improve, she said.

Former teacher and creator Brenda Fitzgerald designed the intense, in-person training based on the structured literacy approach and the 1999 National Reading Panel recommendations, which emphasized the importance of explicit, systematic instruction in phoneme awareness and phonics that many classrooms are missing.

The series' six modules teach educators how the brain learns to read, along with approaches that can help both normal readers and dyslexic readers become stronger readers, writers, and spellers. The course was just what she needed to connect the dots, says Peaster, and has made a significant difference for the students she works with.
©Kelly Fitzgerald
But the Complete Reading Series is just one teacher education program helping classroom teachers.

The Dyslexia Training Institute in San Diego, California, for example, now offers both in-person training and online training supported by human moderators. The 30-40-hour online courses, which include "What Is Dyslexia?" and "Overview of the Orton-Gillingham Approach," among others, earn educators credits through the University of San Diego.

The nonprofit learning organization the Stern Center developed and launched an online coaching site in 2018 to accompany courses for educators on dyslexia provided by MindPlay. The center's online coaching can take several forms, including a virtual meeting between a teacher and a coach to review student work, videos of classroom teaching, and online seminars where small groups of teachers collaborate.

The Road Ahead

Even though dyslexia training programs provide educators with the valuable information they need to help struggling students, experts agree that the key is getting educators the training earlier, while they're still in school.

To ensure that pre-service teachers receive information on dyslexia and the science of reading, the International Dyslexia Association relaunched an accreditation program for colleges of education in December 2018-28 colleges currently meet the requirements-that doubles down on IDA's 2010 knowledge and practice standards, such as understanding the structured literacy approach.

Inspired by their own experiences, educators and parents of children with dyslexia are also influencing change at both the state and local levels. Thirty-three states have now updated learning laws to include specific provisions for students with dyslexia. Under pressure from parent dyslexia advocacy groups, Arkansas has recently revamped its focus on reading instruction with new laws requiring dyslexia screening and better teacher training in the science of reading. And new legislation that just passed in Georgia will require every kindergartener to be screened for signs of dyslexia.

Since Lindsay Peaster took the Complete Reading Course in 2016 and began receiving mentoring from Fitzgerald, her students are now making impressive reading improvements, she says. All of her students in the 2018-2019 school year have increased their "fluency growth"-a measure of words read per minute.

Yet Peaster still thinks back to all the children she worked with over the years before her training, especially one student, who was undiagnosed with dyslexia. This past fall, while teaching at the nearby middle school, she ran into the student-and he was still struggling. Peaster is now giving him structured literacy several hours a week.

"I told him, 'I didn't know what I know now when I had you the first time. We're going to make some big strides,'" she said. "I get a second chance with him."

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Unraveling the Myths Around Reading and Dyslexia

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In her 17 years as a middle school social studies teacher in Nashville, Tennessee, Su Williams regularly encountered students who still struggled to read at a basic level, and nothing she learned in her teacher training or in her nearly two decades in the classroom prepared her to help.

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These five easy-to-implement accommodations can make class less stressful and more manageable for students with dyslexia.

©Shutterstock/Ursula Ferrara

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For many of us, reading is as automatic as breathing. But for the millions of students with dyslexia, reading is a difficult task that poses constant academic and emotional challenges. To simulate the experience of reading with dyslexia, try using this key to decipher the coded statement below.

What you have just done is relearn to read. You've taken symbols and connected them with new speech sounds. Until those connections are automatic, the reading process will be laborious and draining. Now imagine reading like this-every word you encounter all day long. This is how it can feel for students with dyslexia.

Although awareness of dyslexia is steadily growing due to campaigns by grassroots movements like Decoding Dyslexia and national organizations like the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and the National Center on Learning Disabilities (NCLD), many educators are still unfamiliar with what dyslexia is and how to accommodate it in the classroom.

Here's what we know: Dyslexia is common, affecting 5 to 17 percent of students. It is the result of one or more brain-based language processing challenges in the area of rapid automatized naming (RAN), working memory, and phonological and/or auditory processing. Dyslexia is hereditary, often passed down from a parent or grandparent who has struggled with it. Dyslexia occurs on a spectrum, so some students may fly under the radar with a mild case while others are profoundly impacted.

Dyslexia can occur comorbidly with other learning difficulties like dysgraphia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyspraxia, and/or dyscalculia.

Dyslexia is not linked to intelligence, a finding supported by research from Yale University and demonstrated by the long list of successful innovators with dyslexia-including Richard Branson, Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs, and Albert Einstein-proving that the dyslexic mind can indeed be highly intelligent.

Students with dyslexia can be remediated with evidence-based, Structured Literacy programs delivered by teachers trained in reading instruction to increase accuracy, reading fluency, and text comprehension.

In addition to quality intervention, students with dyslexia benefit from classroom accommodations that take into account their unique processing challenges and allow them to demonstrate their content understanding and access the curriculum with more ease.

Easy-to-Implement Accommodations

Here are five easy-to-implement accommodations to support students with dyslexia in the classroom:

1. Provide access to audiobooks: Students with dyslexia often have an intellectual ability that is well above their academic reading level. Strengthen critical thinking, vocabulary skills, and background knowledge by allowing students to listen to audiobooks during classroom reading time.

Some great options for classroom audiobook access can be found at Learning Ally, a nonprofit provider of human-read audiobooks; OverDrive Education, another provider of human-read audiobooks; and Bookshare, a provider of computerized audiobooks (free for qualified U.S. students and schools). Another free option is to upload an e-book on a Kindle app and ask Amazon's Alexa to "read my latest Kindle book."

You can take away the stigma of "ear reading" by offering audiobooks as a reading option for the whole class.

2. Allow students to use note-taking apps: Students with dyslexia can struggle with everyday tasks like note taking, transcribing from lectures, and writing down spoken directions. Allow students to skip the arduous task of transcribing notes from the board by using assistive-technology apps like Notability or Evernote to take pictures of lecture notes to review and study later.

3. Permit students to record assignment instructions and lectures for playback: At the root of dyslexia is a language processing issue, so students with dyslexia sometimes struggle with multistep verbal instructions and paying attention through long lectures. Allow students to record important assignment instructions and lectures for playback with voice notes using Siri from Apple or Read&Write, a free Google Chrome extension from TextHelp.

4. Offer reduced homework problems: Students with dyslexia need the practice that comes with homework, but because of their processing difficulties, homework can take three to five times longer for these students than it does for their peers. Allow students with dyslexia to do every other problem or only half the problems to keep the focus of homework on demonstrating and practicing content knowledge as opposed to making it an exercise in endurance.

5. Encourage use of text-to-speech: In later grades, students with dyslexia will need to access text that is above their academic ability in order to complete class assignments, and text-to-speech can be a real game changer. Students can look for the BrowseAloud logo to find websites that are speech-to-text enabled or download the Read&Write Google Chrome extension to translate all web text into spoken words.

Dealing with dyslexia is difficult in today's text-heavy education system. These accommodations are just the tip of the iceberg for making students feel supported and accepted in the classroom.

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These five easy-to-implement accommodations can make class less stressful and more manageable for students with dyslexia.

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Assistive technology helps dyslexics save time and overcome challenges, such as slow note-taking and poor handwriting, allowing them ...

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WHAT WE DO

Laurie and Kim facilitate positive change through self-discovery and skill development. They work together with parents, teachers and students to improve academic achievement and balance in life. Individually, they coach students and adults, including those with AD/HD and learning challenges.

They also speak extensively at the local, national and international level. Click here to see a list of previous presentations.

WHO WE ARE

Laurie and Kim provide personal success, academic and ADHD coaching for students and adults.

Kim and Laurie are Board Certified ADHD Coaches and Career Services Specialists. They are also members of Jodi Sleeper-Triplett's network of coaches.

Kim and Laurie are on the cutting edge of new approaches and strategies for coaching students both in their academic and personal lives.

They have direct personal experience with over 30 Washington, D.C. metropolitan area public, private and parochial schools.

Click here to read more about Laurie and Kim.

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Board Certified ADHD Coaches Kim Smith-Kidd & Laurie Chester

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Licensed Psychologist

Psychological Testing, Educational Consultation

drfeldman@resnikpsychology.com

Dr. Feldman is a licensed psychologist who joined the practice in 2013. Dr. Feldman taught elementary school before pursuing her doctoral degree. She left the classroom in order to better advocate for children’s academic, social and emotional needs and strengths at school, home, and in the community.  Dr. Feldman is committed to unlocking each child’s potential and supporting and collaborating with parents, families, and teachers to do the same.

EDUCATION: University of Richmond, BA, Cum Laude in Psychology; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, PhD in School Psychology

INTERNSHIP AND POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP: APA Approved Internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

CREDENTIALS: Licensed Psychologist in Maryland

SERVICES PROVIDED: Psychological Testing, Neuropsychological Testing, Social and Emotional Testing, Admissions Testing

MEMBERSHIP: American Psychological Association (APA), Maryland Psychological Association (MPA)

EXPERTISE:

ADHD and Executive Functioning Disorders

Anxiety Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Developmental Delays

Disruptive Behavioral Disorders

Learning Disabilities (Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia)

Mood Disorders

Sleep Disruptions

Toileting Problems

BACKGROUND:  Dr. Feldman’s expertise is in the assessment and treatment of preschoolers, children, and adolescents presenting with a range of learning, emotional, and behavioral disorders.  Dr. Feldman’s assessment and treatment approaches are driven by evidenced-based practices. She has a range of experiences including working in public school districts, private and parochial schools, private practice, and outpatient pediatric settings.

Dr. Feldman conducts evaluations to understand a child’s cognitive, learning, social and emotional profile with an emphasis on revealing a child’s strengths.  Her assessments are comprehensive and tailored for each individual. They answer the “Why?” and “What’s next?” questions that families are asking. She uses assessment data to provide a roadmap for families and empowers them with information, resources, and concrete next steps. As a former teacher, she understands the importance of a strong home-school connection and provides consultation to schools and teachers after the evaluation is complete to help ensure that classroom recommendations are implemented with integrity. She has experience attending student support team meetings and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings to ensure the child is provided and accessing the education and social opportunities that they deserve.

Dr. Feldman and her husband keep very busy by enjoying their three young children. She loves to run, read, and cook.

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PDF of all charts/worksheets/resources from Smart but Scattered

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PDF of all charts/worksheets/resources from Smart but Scattered

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Managing ADHD in School by Russell Barkley 

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Managing ADHD in School by Russell Barkley 

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Dr. Russell Barkley, internationally respected expert on ADHD, draws on his 40 years of clinical work with thousands of students, teachers and schools to create a definitive resource for the most effective methods in overcoming impairments for children and teens with ADHD. details more than 100 evidence-based recommendations to help teachers and clinicians increase the success of children and teens with ADHD. This manual goes beyond the "what" to explain "why" the problems are likely occurring, followed up with the most effective interventions.

Managing ADHD in School

-Classroom strategies for managing ADHD
-Reward systems for good behavior
-Downloadable assessment guide and report cards
-Proven discipline methods
-Medications and how they work
-Tips for teen management

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Managing ADHD in School: The Best Evidence-Based Methods for Teachers

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Managing ADHD in School: The Best Evidence-Based Methods for Teachers [Barkley, Russell] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Managing ADHD in School: The Best Evidence-Based Methods for Teachers

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Chapter 6 from Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents

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Chapter 6 from Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents

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Chapter 6: Specific Teaching Routines to Promote Executive Skill Development

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PDF of strategies in Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents  

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PDF of strategies in Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents  

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https://www.guilford.com/add/forms/dawson3-forms.pdf

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Ordering Information Renew a Subscription Special Offers For Professors For Teachers & Schools For Students For Authors For Resellers For Librarians Treating Military Clients Conference Calendar Publicity Free Chapters, Tips, & Tools Meet our Authors Permissions Foreign Rights CE Credits Employment

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Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents 

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Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents 

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We can use excerpts from this book!

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Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series)

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More than 100,000 school practitioners and teachers (K-12) have benefited from the step-by-step guidelines and practical tools in this influential go-to resource, now revised and expanded with six new chapters. The third edition presents effective ways to assess students' strengths and ...

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Chapter 5 Executive Skills - Interventions 

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ADHD and Executive Function Crash Course for Families with Elementary and Middle School Students

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This website has a lot of great tools that can support executive skills 

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This website has a lot of great tools that can support executive skills 

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Shop recommended products from Order Out Of Chaos on www.amazon.com. Learn more about Order Out Of Chaos’s favorite products.

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Seth Perler's mini courses for teachers on supporting Executive Skills  

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Seth Perler's mini courses for teachers on supporting Executive Skills  

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Seth Perler is an executive function, ADHD, and 2e coach. He also shares weekly tips for parents, along with free resources and explanatory videos on his youtube channel.

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Welcome teachers and professionals from Seth.
DIRECTIONS

1. This page has your entire micro-course in one easy place in case you want "binge-watch" it or make it self-paced. Bookmark it if you want.

2. Otherwise, I'll email you one lesson a day for the next few days so you don't have to think about it! Just open the email each day and do the bite-sized lesson.

🤝 PLEASE SHARE THIS LINK : If you like my work, please share this link to the original signup page with other professionals, for the link. You can share in groups, via email, etc.

✅ SUPPORT MY YOUTUBE: If you like my work, please support me and subscribe to my youtube channel here. And "Liking" videos does help my work get to more people.

🍎 EF101 Course for Teachers Click here if you want to check out this course that I designed to teach you a ton more about EF. NOTE: You WILL get a special discount code for this via email as a thank you after completion of the course (5 days from today).

👉 SethPerler.com Home Click here to visit my homepage.

💚 If you love my work and want to donate, click here.

Thanks for helping kids,
Seth Perler

Intro Lesson

Teachers, after making a 4 part Executive Function video series for you, I realized I should have started with this one for context. So here's the 5th video technically, but start with this one.

Tool 1/4: How to Identify Executive Function

TEACHERS, this is lesson 1/4 in my series for how teachers can support kids with Executive Function challenges. This one will help you easily and clearly IDENTIFY students with executive function challenges. Download your Identify EF PDF

Tool 2/4: Learn 10 aspects of EF

TEACHERS, this is lesson 2/4 in my series for how teachers can support kids with Executive Function challenges. This one will help you easily and clearly UNDERSTAND 10 specific aspects of Executive Function so you can have a very clear picture of how it impacts your students' learning and success. Download your 10 Aspects of EF PDF

Tool 3/4: ACTIONS to take in your class

TEACHERS, this is lesson 3/4 in my series for how teachers can support kids with Executive Function challenges. This one will help you know what ACTIONS you can take in your classroom to help these students. Download your Actions PDF

Tool 4/4: Learn the KEY SYSTEMS for students

TEACHERS, this is lesson 4/4 in my series for how teachers can support kids with Executive Function challenges. This one will teach you the KEY SYSTEMS your students need in order to be successful. Download your Systems PDF
Download the Executive Function Quiz right here.

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Teacher Executive Function Micro-Course - Seth Perler

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Welcome teachers and professionals from Seth. DIRECTIONS This page has your entire micro-course in one easy place in case you want "binge-watch" it or make it self-paced. Bookmark it if you want. Otherwise, I'll email you one lesson a day for the next few days so you don't have to think about it!

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Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies (The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series)

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Executive Function Skills in the Classroom: Overcoming Barriers, Building Strategies (The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series): 9781462548927: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com

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Podcast: What we are doing wrong when trying to support executive functioning 

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Podcast: What we are doing wrong when trying to support executive functioning 

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Click here to listen to the podcast.
Kids have two primary areas where executive functioning skills are crucial - school work and responsibilities. I talk with Emily Kircher-Morris from Mind Matters about what many parents and professionals are getting wrong when trying to help their kids with executive function skills.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
🎦 YouTube: Visit my official YouTube channel here. Subscribe, like & comment to support my work.
👉 Share: To support me, please *CLICK* below to share on FB or Pinterest.
✏️ EF101: Here's my jumpstart course for parents and teachers.
💚 Give: Love my work and want to donate?
🙏 Thanks! - Seth

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Executive Function - What You May Be Doing Wrong - Seth Perler

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Click here to listen to the podcast. Kids have two primary areas where executive functioning skills are crucial - school work and responsibilities. I talk with Emily Kircher-Morris from Mind Matters about what many parents and professionals are getting wrong when trying to help their kids with executive function skills.

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Seth Perler video on supporting students with executive skill challenges 

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Seth Perler video on supporting students with executive skill challenges 

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Please CLICK above to share.

SHARE THIS WITH TEACHERS WHO MIGHT BENEFIT!

Here's a new vlog with Debbie Reber of the TILT Parenting Podcast.
This is not my typical vlog. Parents, this one is for teachers, BUT you will get a lot out of it. This was based on a parent question Debbie Reber and I get all the time, " HOW do we get teachers on board who don't get it? Schools just don't get neurodiverse kids! "

Teachers, we recorded this just for you to shed light on the situation, and we went in-depth for well over an hour. We hope you like it and share it. Debbie Reber is an AMAZING podcaster that brings so much to parents of neurodiverse children. She's my favorite podcaster and you should definitely check out here site/podcast/subscribe!
CLICK HERE to find this convo on Debbie's site
CLICK HERE to chime in on the Google form survey
To support my work, please CLICK below to share and please click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you -Seth

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Dear teachers, an open convo with Debbie Reber and Seth - Seth Perler

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Please CLICK above to share. SHARE THIS WITH TEACHERS WHO MIGHT BENEFIT! Here's a new vlog with Debbie Reber of the TILT Parenting Podcast. This is not my typical vlog. Parents, this one is for teachers, BUT you will get a lot out of it.

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This is a collection of video sessions, teacher strategies videos, and tips videos

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This is a collection of video sessions, teacher strategies videos, and tips videos

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username: ekempen@acdsnet.org
Password: Acdsacds1

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Strategies for students who struggle with emotional control

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Strategies for students who struggle with emotional control

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8 Tips for Calmer, Happier Children — Order Out of Chaos

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You don’t have to sit still or “om” away for an hour to get your child to be mindful and focused. Here are some fun activities from a top teacher to anchor your child’s mind.

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Strategies to support students with homework 

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Strategies to support students with homework 

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The Crumpled-Up, Lost, Forgotten Homework Problem — Order Out of Chaos

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Most students need a simple and manageable system to organize their homework and school papers. These are my general rules of thumb for helping students that struggle trying to manage notebooks, folders, binders, spirals, and more.

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Time Management Strategies for Students — Order Out of Chaos

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Time management is a challenge for everyone, but especially middle- and high-school students. What with classes, homework, extra-curricular clubs and sports, family, friends, part-time jobs and more, their time is truly NOT their own. How can you help your kid master basic time management strategies