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Category: IDEAS TO HELP LEARNING DIFFERENT CHILDREN or CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES 

Too often children are labeled as being DISABLED. When I was teaching,  I called these children LEARNING DIFFERENT.   First of all not all “learning different” children are poor students. Some of them are in honors classes and demonstrate great knowledge or ability in certain fields and not in others. We need to respect the abilities they have and help them to succeed in different areas as well. We can discuss more about this later. A great number of these students have abilities that do not manifest themselves when forced to learn in an environment which ignores the abilities they do have and which focus instead on their “disabilities.”  When I tested students who came in with backgrounds that revealed learning difficulties, I learned that some had strengths that manifested themselves when learning “kinesthetically” or “hands-on.”  Very few were auditory learners.  I realized I, too, have not ever been an auditory learner for the simple reason that I am often distracted by the many thoughts entering into my creative brain at one time. This is what happens to children with what is called ADHD, or those diagnosed as having “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder."  Yes, some of us are "hyperactive” and can’t sit still.  But, perhaps that has been of the most benefit in my successes throughout the years as a mother who espoused many causes before I went back to work, as a teacher, as a professor, as  teacher trainer, paid speaker, published author, artist, acknowledged strategist for learning, student interventionist, and now publisher in a company which is considered a medium sized traditional publishing company with over 150 authors. What fun it is. Lots of work and people can’t understand how I can do it all. I just say: I believe I have ADHD.   I was a poor listener and did very poorly in math until a very intelligent professor diagnosed me as having Discalcula when I was getting my doctorate and had to get a B to pass with credits in a class of upper level statistics. I had great grades in everything else and already had a specialist degree in reading and a masters in English.  This convinced me that some students need special help and we should try to understand them and help them use other abilities to succeed.  My distraction did not help in class, but i tried at home slowly and finally realized i could understand the concepts and used his idea of using graph paper to anchor the numbers.  As simple as that.  My dissertation had 25 pages of statistics to prove a specific learning strategy I was using, which we now use with some of our published materials, has been  very successful in the schools in which it was used  for ten weeks. I earned a publishing contract, a number of grants, and a number of speaking engagements to speak in the US and Canada about the learning strategy to increase reading scores. We owe it to our children to help them do their very best.  With the help of experts in the field of learning, we are now opening up a weekly blog and will link to other blogs to help parents, teachers and students.  We will open up an exchange  of questions, answers, and hints.   This week we are sending you a blog link to exceptional resources from Ms. Jenny Wise, who shares a number of hints and resources on her blog for children with Autism. Some of  her ideas can fit  children with different abilities for learning.

ADHD: What Parents Need to KnowCabin Fever: 9 

Indoor Activities for Hyperactive Kids 

How to Create a Safe Space in Your Home When Your Kids Reach Sensory Overload 

A Guide to the Best Sports Activities for Children with ADHD 

How to Create a Backyard Sanctuary for Kids with Disabilities 

50 Smart Discipline Tips for Your ADHD Child

Blessings.