Math Problem Helps: Use of Graph Paper

Children with ADHD often struggle with both poor handwriting and poor organizational skills, which can result in squashed, misaligned columns of numbers.  Often math problems are wrong because the student arranged their columns of numbers incorrectly, not because the student did not know their math facts or how to do the problem correctly. Graph paper can help solve this problem.  Arrange problems on graph...

Own It Before Someone Else Does

“Own it before someone else does,” advice I recently gave my son, new to lacrosse.  Fearing ridicule from his more advanced peers, my 9 year old son was lamenting choosing to start the game of lacrosse.  “Mom, so many of my friends are really good at catching and throwing the lacrosse ball.  They have been playing for years.  What am I going to do when I have to play them and they find out I...

Keeping the Truck Off the Cliff: Identifying Accelerators & Heading off Explosive Episodes

ODD episodes at my house look a lot like a truck run amuck- running without brakes, racing past waving construction crews and bright lights blinking “Danger: Road Ends”- all paths ending at a deep gorge. To be honest though, I don’t think the diagnosis matters, kids not coping well all look about the same, and makes the family equally miserable- what matters is sorting though the strategies that can be used...