visual learners who can't learn visually

I especially like the quote, “just varying delivery style may not be enough and... the unit of analysis must be the individual rather than the group.”

One phenomena related to visual learners is, what I call, "the visual learner who can't learn visually". However common, this paradox is frustrating and most likely perplexing to both student and teacher alike.

Understanding this phenomena is the difference between a D+ student and an A+ student. No matter how "visual" a student might be, if he can't "see" or "hold" the images steady in visual memory, if he can't integrate visual and auditory information, there will be little or no learning regardless of the student's intelligence.

Overcoming Addiction

A good first step to overcoming addiction is to release the neg. K and integrate parts. However, as almost everyone have also pointed out, there still seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle which is where the NLP model leaves off. The missing piece that that addiction is a psychological disorder, the source of which is how the personal processes information.

A basic presumption of NLP is that we all have the resources we need and that by removing the "blocks", then everything will be just fine. This is simply not the case with addicts. We are not the same as 'normal' folks.

It took me 48 years to see that the source of my addiction had little to do with emotions, eating habits, savoring my food, drivers, self love, etc. The source of addiction is how the addict processes information and perceives the world. The process must be changed to provide the 'relief' that the the addict is seeking.

Again, getting rid of the 'triggers' is a good beginning and will produce some positive results. However, as with other psychological disorders, ADHD, OCD, ASD, addiction cannot be fully addressed unless the underlying process is addressed. http://www.swish4fish.com

TV and video games like cocaine?

TV and video games are like cocaine to ASD children--Very addictive. given the opportunity, some ASD children (and adults) will be happy to replace all human interaction with TV and Video Games.

Several things contribute to this phenomena:
1) the Light Emitting Diodes that make up TV and Computer screens emit rather than reflect light. This is very different than the way we normally see (think of it as staring into a flashlight) and can have a stress-inducing effect on the nervous system.
2) The flicker of the screen also has a stress-inducing effect. Some epileptic children can be thrown into seizures by the flicker of a computer screen.
3) The average cartoon or children's program changes the screen every 0.8 to 1.5 seconds. This has the effect of making everything more exciting and, again, has a stress-inducing, attention-robbing effect on the ASD child.
4) Finally, in order to appeal to both adults and children, most children's programs contain adult languaging and adult references. These references can be extremely confusion or disconcerting to ASD children who are already often struggling with understanding social conventions.

My experience is that most ASD children will benefit greatly from limited (one hour a day) TV and Media up through the age of twelve.

While I may be convenient for parents to use the TV as a babysitter (even I do it on occasion), we, and our children, will likely pay a high price in the long run for excessive Media exposure.

how to improve IEP's

The problem is public schools have their way of doing things and everything else is essentially off limits or disregarded. In a one-size-fits-all model, recognizing different learning styles and using brain-training and educational coaching to improve a child's ability to learn are simply not recognized.

Understanding a child's learning style and teaching them HOW to learn, is key to their improvement.

ps: I'm NOT talking about the outdated learning style model (visual, auditory, kinesthetic). I'm referring to a new model that uses 4 distinct learning styles, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

Schools need to STOP trying to change children into something they are not. They need to STOP teaching to a child's weaknesses. They need to understand and appreciate a child's strengths.

Here's an example: A child is identified as having ADHD (possibly Dyslexia). Everyone's talking about what he can't do. He can't focus. He can't pay attention. He can't retain what he reads (probably mis-read and poor comprehension). EVERYONE is focused on what he can't do.

That same child probably has exceptional puzzle-solving skills and pattern recognition. He has amazing visual-spatial acuity, IF he can be taught to use it. With brain-training and some stress-reduction exercises, he could be taught to focus. If taught to read and spell visually rather than auditorally, he can memorize anything. given simple strategies to organize his thoughts, he can be an amazing writer.

Hope that helps.
swish4fish

I recently heard, "The relationship with the therapist is more important than the therapist's intervention."

With convention cognitive therapy, I would completely agree with that statement. This requirement is but one of the limitations of conventional therapy and speaks directly to its ineffectiveness in cases like these.

My personal experience is that solutions to the issues we're discussing will not be found in any cognitive process. The root of these issues are the perceptions and processes which are generated in the unconscious mind. The thoughts, feelings and behaviors that result from these unconscious processes are like the caboose at the end of the train. It is the unconscious perceptions and processes that drive these thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

Trying to change someone's thoughts, feelings and behaviors without changing the underlying perceptions and processes is simply pulling on a rubber band. As soon as you let go, it will surely snap back to its original state, hence the overwhelming failure of well-meaning psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers and counselors to bring about any lasting change for these children, teens and adults.

I routinely work with children and teens who are openly distrustful and even hostile to their "enrollment" (under duress) into my program. My approach is not to work at the conscious or cognitive level with these children. Instead, I use a variety of techniques to act on the unconscious mind to bring about changes that the client, themselves, are not even aware of.

Similar to the way the brain learns to process the complex information necessary to ride, over a period of weeks or months, the clients perceptions gradually change and subsequently, so do their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Because these changes are driven by the unconscious, they occur as feeling absolutely natural to the individual.

In essence, I agree with the concept of the statement with the proviso that the rapport and feeling of trust can occur at the unconscious level. With training and practice, this unconscious rapport can be established in as little as a few minutes.

Be aware and present to what is going on with our children

My recent trip to Disneyland, showed that most trips to Disneyland are not child led but adult driven.

An critical step in effective parenting is letting go of our own agenda--what our children should be, instead seeing them for who they are.

Unfortunately good intentions, even good parenting is not enough with the children we're discussing here. While I would not attempt to adequately describe even one of those three types in this space, suffice to say they/we (myself included) are very different than 'normal' folks. We experience the world differently. I was one of these kids and now I work with them every day.

As an identifiable group, we make up 15%-20% of the children today--that's millions of children in the US, alone. Out of the millions, only a small percentage turn violent. Research show that as many as half of these children will manage to find a niche in society that allows them to be relatively successful. Many find their actions driven by fear rather than anger. Many others self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. And a fair percentage give up on the idea of succeeding or fitting in with society and wind up in our courts and jails.

Identifying, understanding and helping these children takes more than good intentions. It takes education and experience. Many of my parents are shocked at the accuracy with which I can describe the struggles their children are having and the struggles that they are having with their children with just a bit of information or a short evaluation. Every often the children are shocked. I recall one very troubled girl turning the her mother saying, "How does he know what's inside my head?"

Dr. Sears, T. Berry Brazelton and many other child specialists are awesome in their advice to parents of 'normal' children. But these children(we) are not normal. Normal parenting books don't apply. Any most of the books and advice that I've read for parenting the ADHD child, the Defiant Child and so on, are for the most part, nonsense.

They seen to be written by well-meaning folks who want to help parents or teachers or counselors turn these other children into normal children. They want to help us think, learn and act like normal children. In my experience it's not going to happen.

Probably the biggest difference between the work I do with children and the work of others is I don't make them wrong for who they are. I'm not trying to change them or help them be like the other kids. I don't compare them to 'normal' kids. I simply try to understand them and appreciate them for who they are. I help them develop their natural gifts to support them in their goals--their agenda. I help them believe in themselves.

BTW - this group of children--the same group of children that are at risk--these are the children that ultimately shape our world (for good or ill). These children are the creative, often driven, outside-the-box thinkers, who defy convention, defy 'what is' in pursuit of that which does not yet exist. They(we) are not deterred by social conventions nor are we constrained by current memes. We exist at the boundary of chaos--when new ideas and new possibilities are born.

For many Children, Negative Emotions are like Blood to a Shark

As parents, we all experience negative emotions--anger, frustration, disappointment--from time to time. It’s absolutely normal and healthy. And it’s probably important for our children to see that we are human and can express our emotions in a healthy way.

But for many children, negative emotions are like blood to a shark. In a way it makes sense. Just about any psychologist can tell you that underneath all negative emotions is fear. And we all know that if you can elicit fear from an “adversary”, you gain a distinct advantage.

I suspect that children understand this on an instinctual level. They learn very quickly how to elicit negative emotions from one or both parents and, as many parents have noticed, will quite often pass up the opportunity to receive a positive emotional response in favor of a negative emotional response.

So, what happens when a child learns that he or she can elicit negative emotions from one or both parents? What can we do as parents? How can we keep our children from making us jump through these emotional hoops?

The short answer is let go of negative emotions. Get therapy, practice yoga, scream into a pillow, do whatever you need to do release negative emotions in a way that is NOT in front of your child. Whatever your child does, remain calm and cool-headed. Remember, when you show anger or frustration, what your child sees is FEAR. In that moment, he or she will instinctively know that he or she has gained the upper hand.
Once this pattern is established, it can be very, very, very tough to break. It will take time and persistence to regain cooperation and trust—trust that you as the parent are in control. The child may continue to push those buttons for some time and may even take more extreme measures to elicit those old emotions.

The best advice I can offer is to not take things too seriously. Try to find the humor in whatever is happening. Keep those boundaries realistic and firm. And always follow through with logical/reasonable consequences when necessary. Sometimes a bit of professional coaching can help to improve communication and "break the cycle" of negative emotions. In just about any circumstance, it’s hard to beat love and affection.

ADHD and Disrespect

Disrespect is tough to deal with and there's often no easy answer.

The first thing to realize is that most ADHD children have spent their lives being disrespected. They(we) have been constantly made wrong for simply being who we are. We've been taught by example to be disrespectful. This can be a very tough pattern to break.

The second thing is that many ADHD'ers are by nature, mis-matchers. Our way of working through issues is by seeing "the other side of the coin". This mis-matching can come across as arguing (i.e., disrespectful).

A third issue can simply be the ADHD need for stimulation. Simply agreeing with people does not create any stimulation. Disagreeing with people creates lots of stimulation.

A fourth issue is that many ADHD children spend every bit of energy and self control they can muster just to hold themsleves together for the 6 hours they are forced to spend in a classroom environment that is completely antagonistic to their needs. When they get to a safe place (home) and with safe people (family), they are able to let down their guard and express the anger and frustration they've been holding in all day.

I'll stop with one more common issue, that being, lack of consistent boundaries. If a boundary is absolutely, positively firm, there is nothing about which to argue. When a child, particularly an ADHD child "smells" that a boundary may not be completely solid, he MUST push and push and push until he finds the point at which that boundary will not move.

- While established habits are not easy to break, structuring a child's environment to provide at least 80% successes and no more than 20% challenge will create profound personality changes.
- Also, learning how to communicate effectively with your ADHD child and treat him with respect can create dramatic changes.
- Boundaries must be reasonable and rock-solid--immovable.

More on parenting your ADHD child at http://www.swish4fish.com/

Disneyland: the most stressful place on earth?

It’s been 7 years that I’ve been helping children, teens and adults in overcoming the effects of ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorders—7 years since I’ve come to grips with my own struggle with ADHD. So when the wife, daughter and I arrived at Disneyland, I was happy, excited and totally expecting to have a good time. We went through the gates, walked up main street, headed for the magic kingdom. It was amazing--watching the parade, seeing the world of Disney through the eyes of our 4-year-old daughter. We were having a wonderful time.

However, after about 4 hours, something began to happen--something I was not expecting and something I'd not really experienced in a number of years.
As we weaved in an out of the crowds, I became more and more uncomfortable. My posture shifted to one that was braced for impact. My chin dropped slightly. My lips ever so slightly pursed. My eyes continuously scanning the crowd. At the time I was unaware that my unconscious mind had become more and more alert to the subtle signs of stress and anxiety among the other patrons. By closing time, even my wife noticed that I seemed to be in a world of my own and my walk had an unmistakable swagger. On a scale of 1 to 10, my hyper-alertness was about a 9.5.

The next morning I was acutely aware of my stress level as well as some very old stress-related behaviors that I had not experienced in several years. Most notably among them was unconsciously tracking my footsteps to avoid cracks and breaks in the paving as well as the myriad of invisible lines created by the corners of wall, doors, columns, furniture, and other architectural features.

If I may just to the end, I was able to walk myself through a short series of physical and mental exercises to restore myself to a relatively relaxed and focused state that was much more conducive to an enjoyable day at Disneyland.

My reason for relating this experience is that anyone, particularly children, with the physical and emotional sensitivities common to ADHD and other ASD’s, is likely to be vulnerable to this type of response to large crowds or stimulating events. (Some of you may recall my experience of becoming overwhelmed during the first game of the 2010 world series.)

It was only the result of my intimate understanding of ADHD and my extensive training in techniques to overcome the effects of ADHD that enabled me to first, become aware of my stress response and over-stimulation, and second, have the tools to do something about it.

Your typical ADHD or ASD child will have no such awareness or tools at his disposal. As his nervous system becomes more and more overloaded by the conflicting sea of emotions and unconscious sensations, he will most than likely feel more and more anxious and dissociated until, ultimately, he releases his anxiety upon whomever he feels is safe to deliver his wrath.

As parents, it is up to us to see beyond how we think our children “should” feel or should respond to a given situation and be present to how they are actually responding. As parents of ADHD or ASD children, we must be even more vigilant to those situations that will overstimulate or over-stress our children. For more information and parent training programs, visit http://www.swish4fish.com

The Animal School

Once upon a time, all the animals got together and decided that they must do something to prepare their young to face the challenges of the world, and so they organized a school. They adopted a curriculum of running, climbing, swimming and flying. And to make sure all animals were competent in all of the important skills, all the animal children had to take all of the subjects.

Duck was an excellent swimmer, better in fact than his instructor, and made passing grades in flying, but he was very poor in running. Because he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also spend less time swimming, in order to spend more time practicing his running. This was continued until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But, average was acceptable in the new animal school, so nobody worried about that except the Duck.

Rabbit started at the top of her class in running, but later she had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.

Squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in flying class, where his teacher made him start from down on the ground instead of from up in the treetops. His feelings of frustration spilled over into all his other classes and he ended up with a C in climbing and a D in running.

The newest student in the school was a strange animal called the Snakehead fish. He was very different from the other animals and often felt out of place.

At first he struggled and was behind in almost every subject. But by the end of the year the Snakehead fish, which could swim well and climb trees and also walk on land, was the number one student in the entire school and was voted valedictorian of his class.

Holidays and ASD

For me, much of the Holidays was driving (being dragged) here and there to visit with strange relatives I rarely saw the rest of the year. Some of my older relatives only spoke German and we couldn't even talk to each other. It was smiles and uncomfortable hugs. I never really knew why I was there or what was expected of me. Even when I was older and did try to fit in and participate in the seasonal customs, my attempts were often clumsy or inappropriate.


At 16, when my parents got divorced and I, along with my alcoholic father were estranged from the rest of the family, there was actually a strange sense of sadness and relief that I had not even considered until this very moment--the relief that all those family gatherings were over and sadness that my chance to experience being part of a family had expired.

PDD-NOS the Un-Diagnosis

To me, the PDD-NOS is a perfect example of what is wrong with the medical and educational communities, particularly, when it comes to Autistic Spectrum and Developmental Spectrum disorders. You just have to read the name to get it...
Pervasive
Developmental
Disorder...
NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED.

PDD-NOS is not a DIAGNOSIS. It's a NON-diagnosis--an Un-Diagnosis. It simply states that if you are kind of like these guys over here and these people over there, but you don't actually fit into any of the artificial boxes that we've created to fit these and those people into, then here's a catch-all box to put all the left-over people into.

It's like the odd-sizes bin at Walmart. Well, these pants don't match any of the REAL sizes so we'll invent this new 'size' called, "Not Otherwise Specified" and any pants that we can't fit into the real boxes will all get put into the Not Otherwise Specified box. It really is my favorite so-called disorder in the DSM.

And this comment is not about the children or the parents or even the doctors. It is about a system which passed itself off as science when it is little more than an attempt to overlay a system of arbitrary divisions to something which effectively has no divisions--it is a continuous spectrum, be it the Autistic Spectrum or PDD Spectrum. We're talking about a spectrum of behaviors that IMHO does not lend itself to these divisions.

No where in the DSM does it indicate what the source of those behaviors might be. A diagnosis tells you nothing about the source of the child's struggles, nor does it tell you what a child's strength are. No where in the entire DSM does it talk about the gifts an Autistic child or PDD child might have--no where.

I can't speak to other interventions, but I have NEVER, EVER found any help for a child by looking at what was WRONG with the child. Whether ADHD, Autistic, SPD, APD, or PDD-NOS, virtually all the progress I have ever made with a child is focusing on their natural strengths and abilities. That is just my take on it. http://www.swish4fish.com

Why Public Schools are Failing

One the fundamental presuppositions of our current educational system is that key to educating a heterogeneous population is to 'improve' (modify) the curriculum and/or teaching methods to presumably include as many children as possible.

IMHO, this is a false presumption and our current 'institutional' model of educating our children is outdated and obsolete. It is based on a one-size-fits-all, assembly line technology that was developed to enable factories to mass-produce cars, dishwashers and hamburgers in a cost-effective manner.

The first problem with this model is that Children are not one-size-fits-all. And as we place more and more academic demands on our children presumably to compete effectively in a post-industrial economy, the more children fail to succeed in this on-size-fits-all institutional model.

The second problem with the model is that the teaching model is no longer cost effective. The time, energy and money required to remediate, accommodate and otherwise ameliorate the ever-increasing academic struggles and failings of our current student population (not to mention the social cost of these failing students) is growing at a staggering rate (more that 24% of K-12 students are experiencing significant struggles in one or more areas.

If we are to move forward and deliver to our children the education that they need to succeed in the 21st century, post-industrial age, we must get the focus off the institution, and back on to the children--not as members of a group , but as unique individuals. We must acknowledge or at least consider that unless each individual child is taught to learn effectively using his or her unique combination of skills and abilities, he (or she) will never live up to his (or her) potential. Any future success will subsequently be limited.


Therefore, unless we are willing to consider a radical change and a fundamental shift in our presuppositions about what education and learning is, our educational system will, according to the current trend, continue to fail even more and more children.

What can be done? IMHO, it is not the teachers who need more skills to teach. It is the children who need the skills to learn. If the answer is so easy and obvious, then why aren't we doing this already?

I think one answer is simply that the nature of any organization or institution is to survive and grow. In our culture, that means more clients, bigger budgets and lower costs. In our institution of public education, that means more students, larger classrooms and problems that only licensed (unionized) teachers can solve.

Consider, what would happen to our schools if students could receive the same or better education by first 'learning to learn' using their natural gifts, and second, receiving individualized instruction at home and via the internet?

There is already a great deal of evidence to suggest that many students will assimilate the same information in one-half to one-quarter of the time given the skills to learn and an individualized, self-paced online curriculum.

If this model were to grow, these huge institutions called schools would no longer be needed. The teachers and administrators who 'run the factory' would be no more needed than an auto worker in Flint, Michigan (a nod to Roger More). All the publishers of the ever-changing text books would also no longer be needed.

I'm not suggesting that every parent pull their child from public school. But I am suggesting that armed with a set of 'Essential Learning Skills', virtually any child can succeed in any school, with any teacher and any curriculum.

At the NLC, we offer parents and children the opportunity to acquire those 16 Essential Learning Skills in as little as 14 days. Visit us at http://www.swish4fish.com and download our free booklet on Understanding Learning styles and Strategies.

Business Management, Tennis and Parenting

Ask a mediocre or mid-level manager what professional coaching they've received and you're likely to get a blank stare. However, talk to any self-respecting, high-powered, top-performing business executive and ask THEM what training they've done and the odds are they will give you a list of personal and professional coaching that they've received.

Similarly, if you're goal is to be a mediocre tennis player at the club level, you might be inclined to get coaching on a monthly or weekly basis. But if you're goal is to compete at the national or international level, you're looking at daily coaching. The more you want to raise your level of play, the more coaching you need. It is simply the cost of doing business.

Now, if you're goal is to simply get by as a mediocre parent, probably using your own parents or your own childhood as reference, there's really no need to receive coaching. Just wing it and do your best.

However, if your goal is to be a great parent, if you want to raise the level of your parenting, then the answer is coaching. Yes, you can read books, talk to friends, get lots of free advice on Facebook or Twitter. But the surest way to cut through the nonsense and confusion and get the right answers at the right time is to get professional coaching.

There is simply no substitute for professional coaching from someone who is specially trained; someone who has "been there, done that"; someone who can look at your issues from outside the problem, as an objective observer; someone who will often have the answers before you even ask the question.

There are very few qualifications to be a parent. And in most cases, it doesn't take that much even to be a good parent. But to be a GREAT PARENT...

Are you teaching your child to ignore you?

Many parents tell me how many times they have to repeat themselves before they can get their kids to do what they're asking. This is not healthy and could even be dangerous.

As parents, we are responsible to teach our child and keep him or her safe. We can do neither effectively if the child simply ignores us. So what can be done?

First, we must realize that our child may have a very different way of processing information. This means that we, as the parents, must find a more effective way to communicate.

Second, we should never have to repeat the same request or directive more than twice.

Our first communication should include getting the child's attention along with a clear, concise statement of the task using the communication style of the child. There should be a reasonable time frame to allow the child to transition to the new task (usually 2 minutes).

Our second communication should also include getting the child's attention, a clear restatement of the task AND the addition of the 'threat' of consequences. (Consequences, should be reasonable and appropriate.)

Finally, if the task is not begun and accomplished in the reasonable time frame, it is time to take the child and gently assist them in completing the task. At this point, the consequences must apply.

Obviously, this is just an overview. There are many variations and important subtleties to this method, including, getting to know and appreciating our child's natural communication style.

When implemented with consistency, this method should help reduce a pattern of not listening.

Oh, BTW, if you have a child who is a visually creative, outside-the-box, thinker, its almost never helpful to say, "Did you hear what I said?" or "Are you listening to me?" Try, instead to speak in short (15 second max) bursts, asking for one specific answer or task at a time, while using phrases like, "Is that clear to you?" or "Can you SEE what I'm saying?"

A Dual-Route Perspective on Brain Activation in Response to Visual Words:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2989181/
A Dual-Route Perspective on Brain Activation in Response to Visual Words: Evidence for a Length by Lexicality Interaction in the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA)

"This absence of a length effect is critical as it suggests that, in the standard lexical decision task, pseudowords are not processed by the serially operating sublexical route, but by the lexical route. This means that in the standard lexical decision task, whole letter strings of both words and pseudowords are matched against stored orthographic word representations (see Coltheart et al., 1977)."

The evidence of lexical decision by lexical route supports the use of "whole-word" or "Visual-based" reading strategies as a valid primary approach to reading instruction.

"Hence, one would expect a length effect for words even at these levels of the coding hierarchy. Obviously, this was not the case as the word length effect ceased to be reliable in the posterior fusiform ROI. This absence of a word-length effect is suggestive for orthographic whole-word recognition."

Again, supporting reading instruction by "whole-word" or visual-based reading methods.

"In general, the length by lexicality interactions in left temporal and frontal regions are broadly consistent with the position of several authors that the sublexical “phonological” reading route poses specific demands to language regions of the left hemisphere (Borowsky et al., 2006; Pugh et al., 2000; Sandak et al., 2004).

The demands that sublexical "phonological" reading places on the language regions of the left hemisphere, suggests that some persons struggling with the effects of Auditory Processing Disorders and/or some forms of Auditory-based dyslexia may have an easier time learning to read with a whole-word or visual-based approach.

None of this is to suggest the omission of phonics-based instruction, rather is may suggest that some individuals may benefit from a whole-word or visual strategy to reading as the primary instruction with a sublexical "phonological" strategy as the secondary instruction.

Man on a mission...
http://www.readwithdyslexia.info

Its past time to get beyond labels

Its past time to get beyond these labels, Autism, Auditory Processing Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, PDD-NOS, etc...

or at least reconsider what they mean. We take 10,000 children and based on an arbitrary distribution of symptoms, we divide these children up into groups. We tend to forget that these groupings DO NOT EXIST! We (the cultural, we) made them up.

This is exactly the reason why my next book is to be titled, "There is no IS Autism. It's like taking a field of Daisies and dividing them up into groups based on the number of leaves facing north, south, east, or west. Yes, we will find numerical patterns, just as we find patterns in children. But what do those patterns mean? Do they really provide any ability to predict (and control) the next group of Daisies?

I'd say no. Simply overlaying an inherently chaotic system with rational methodology or quanitification does not provide any measure of prediction and control despite the illusion that we have measured and analyzed the system.

Its time we acknowledge that simply placing a child into an artificially defined group does not give us any actual ability to predict or control the behavior of the individual child beyond a statistical probability (similarly to knowing the probable location of a quantum particle).

In the model we use at the NLC, there are no discrete groups (ADHD, Dyslexia, APD, SPD, AS, PDD, OCD, ODD, etc.). There is only a continuum from what we like to call Left-Brain (Auditory) Thinkers to Right-Brain (Visual-Spatial) Thinkers. There is also another continuum from Logic/Reason Thinkers to Feeling/Kinesthetic 'thinkers'.

Depending upon where a person falls along the spectrum on these two scales will dramatically effect how they think, feel, behave, communicate, and process information. Coincidentally, the patterns of Auditory vs. Visual and Logic vs. Kinesthetic remarkably coincide with the Meyers-Briggs patterns and the four Greek Temperments.

If you go too far from the center in any direction you will invariably exhibit a growing list of symptoms consistent with one and probably more than one group. The nice thing is that the dual spectrum model has, over the past six years provided the basis for helping a large number of children and teens overcome many of the effects of these challenges. http://www.swish4fish.com

ADHD: end of school year

I've been noticing that things are getting a bit chaotic at school. The usual rhythms and routines have been replaced with testing, year-end activities and anticipation of summer.

For many children, particularly those with ADHD, this sudden lack of routine cam be very disconcerting. It can cause problems with focus, concentration and even behavior.

Help your child by maintaining rhythms and routines at home.

ADHD and Homework

It seems like everyday I hear another complaint about homework. Parents asking the questiingon, "Why does my child have so much homework?" "Is all this necessary?"

The short answer is, "No, it's not necessary and it may very well be doing more harm than good." If your child has fallen behind, you need a strategy for helping them to catch up--not to simply keep treading water or worse, fall further behind while you as the parent, sit for hours, night after night, do most of your child's homework for him.

I think most teachers are well-meaning, though I see exceptions everyday. Whatever their intention, simply piling on the homework with the presumption that sooner or later the child will get it, is simply ridiculous.

Parents, once a child has fallen behind, the chances of them magically catching up are slim to none. It's just not going to happen and simply pushing them harder and harder can only lead to frustration, anger and, ultimately, resignation. And trust me, it's a tough road back from a town called, Resigantion.

If your child has been struggling for more than 6 weeks or has fallen behind to the point where they are simply not getting the current lessons, STOP!!!

Don't keep going down the same path while hoping for something to change. Stop and get help. Get tutoring, have your child evaluated, call for an(other) IEP meeting with your school (put it in writing). Take action to see that your child is given the support he needs to succeed.

ADHD: Beyond Tutoring

The Neuro-Linguistic Learning Center is adding a blog to it's support system for Parents of children with Dyslexia, ADHD and other learning challenges.

Parents can now upload their questions on ADHD, behavior and/or learning.

Gerald Hughes, Director
Neuro-Linguistic Learning Center
www.swish4fish.com