One of the challenges associated with ADHD and ADD is “executive functioning”. I have talked about this before. This like so many other things is a confusing element to ADHD but one that I feel is really important to be aware of and necessary to understand the challenges of your child holistically. In fact, many experts in the field of ADHD/ADD are starting to suggest that ADHD be re-conceptualized as an “executive disorder” and deemphasize the focus on hyperactivity and attention. Problems with executive functioning are not limited, however, to only those with ADHD or ADD. Executive dysfunction sometimes is the only problem and sometimes is part of a larger problem.

The easiest way to think of executive functioning is that it is the administrative or managerial part of the human brain. Executive functioning has to do with organization, planning, self-control, and time management, for instance. Like anything else, any individual with executive functioning issues will have areas of strength and areas of weakness within the broad spectrum of executive functioning.
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MEET CHARLIE OUR GUINEA PIG

As many of you know, having a child with ADHD or working memory issues creates a challenge when trying to get them to take responsibility for multi-instruction tasks. We have had a difficult time getting our son to be independent and to take on responsibility. Some of this is probably our fault. He works so hard with his learning disabilities and ADD that we probably baby him too much otherwise. However, he was begging – BEGGING for a guinea pig. Even though we really did not have ANY desire to have another pet in the house (we have a Havanese dog and a Beta fish), we decided to use the opportunity to teach responsibility and to increase his independence.

At the pet store, we made a very hard deal with my son. He had to take responsibility for caring for the guinea pig with my help. If he did not, then we were going to give the guinea pig away and he was going to have to pay us back for the cost out of his allowance. We emphasized the deal several times and made him repeat it back to us several times before we even bought the guinea pig. So we bought the guinea pig and named him Charlie.
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Recently a question was posed on the web which asked, as a mother of a special needs child, what would you want a mother of a typical needs child to understand? As a mother to both a special needs child and a typical needs child, I found the question very difficult to answer.

Recently there was a discussion question put out on the web which asked what I would want a mother of a typical needs child to know about mothering a special needs child. As a mother to both a typical needs child and a special needs child, this question is really difficult to answer. Our son has both learning disabilities and ADD.

I have to say that I have written and re-written my answer probably a dozen of times. Finally, I think my answer comes down to what I feel is obvious. What mothers of typical needs children, family and friends need to understand is that we, families of special needs children, need understanding and consideration of our situation. Not unlike those with physically visible handicaps, those with invisible to the eye special needs require consideration, accommodations, respect and understanding. Invisible special needs can make daily situations no less daunting than for those with physical handicaps.
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Working memory problems seem to be prevalent in those with ADHD and learning disabilities. Mainstream thinking to date has been that a person’s working memory is rigid and cannot be changed. Recently research is changing that thinking and software based training may, in fact, improve an individual’s working memory. I will share my experiences in future videos and I try out what is currently available.
 
 

 
 
I am soooooo confused!! I have heard so many terms associated with our son’s issues that I am really really confused. ADD, language processing issues, expressive language processing issues, receptive language processing issues, Dyslexia, and visual memory processing. Then there is the list of potential problems – dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dysphasia. What the h— does it all mean? You read the symptoms of any number of issues and you start to believe that you are a hypochondriac!! I know hypochondriac is not the right word here but you get what I mean.

So 6 nights a week, we work together for an hour and a half. Reading, writing, word rings, spelling words, math problems, and language arts work sheets. It is all about repetition, repetition, practice and practice.
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http://dyslexiaparents.blogspot.com/

Dyslexia Blog
SHARING RESOURCES AND INFORMATION ABOUT DYSLEXIA FOR PARENTS

Ann shares wonderful information that has helped her work with her son. She also offers a very unique perspective of an ex-pat living in Turkey!!

Betul / Ann

I am a parent of a child with dyslexia. I am English but have lived in Turkey for many years. I met Betul who works with children with dyslexia, and now we have started this blog together in order to try to give information about dyslexia and learning disabilities.

Sample Blog Post
http://dyslexiaparents.blogspot.com/2009/08/telling-time.html

TELLING THE TIME

Many children with dyslexia struggle to learn to tell the time easily.
Dyslexics especially have problems telling the time on a clock with hands:

They may be able to tell whole hours and half hours (5:00, 5:30, etc.) but not smaller chunks, such as 8.04.
They often find it difficult to distinguish between the minute and hour hands.
Concepts such as before ( to )and after (past) on a clock are confusing for them.

As a parent there are several ways you can help them to learn to tell the time.

You could buy a teaching watch for your child. I obtained one which is produced by ELC ( Early Learning Centre) from Leonardinis.This watch has different coloured hands – for the minute hand and for the hour hand. There are a set of numbers for the minutes as well as for the hours.Also the watch face has ‘past’ and ‘to’ written on it in different colours.All these things make it easier for your child to tell the time.

http://www.leonardini.com.tr/

When I go out with my child I make him the ’official time keeper’ – and ask him at frequent intervals what the time is in order that he practices !!!

In addition there are many online free games which children can do to practice telling the time .
In a previous blog entry I wrote about online maths computer games,including ones to practice telling the time.

I found a very good puzzle by Larsen . The child has to match the correct clock faces to the right time.The puzzle contains 42 different clock faces with both the 12 and 24 hour time written on it.

I found an interesting article Charlottes clock taken from the Special Children Magazine,issue 166, May/June 2005 ,which is written by a mother of a child with special needs. In this article she explains how she approached teaching the time to her child. The techniques she described could be used with a dyslexic child.

http://www.mathsextra.com/articles.htm

www.mathsextra.com/documents/CharlottesClock.pdf

http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/

Eric Wolf is a professional storyteller and uses that capability to share his personal story of dyslexia coupled with awareness, education and compassion. Anyone with a dyslexic in their life should read this blog.

Eric Wolf
Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States

Dear Reader, I awaken compassion for students with learning disabilities in themselves and those around them. Compassion is a difficult thing to teach and even more difficult to learn. By telling stories of how I struggled with my dyslexia, I help students with learning disabilities laugh at their own problems, and inspire empathy in the rest of the student body. I demonstrate that being in school is worth the hard work. I set a good example; despite my dyslexia, I graduated with a Masters of Science in Education from Lesley University in Boston. The positive influence on students of meeting someone who had similar problems and succeeded cannot be underestimated, nor can the morale-building effect on staff when they meet an adult who was helped by their profession. I speak to the staff about the issues they struggle with and I honor the place they are in. I create a unique residency experience for your school; a storytelling residency can have a powerful effect by teaching students how to effectively listen and support each other. I leave behind the ability for students and teachers to more effectively communicators. Peace, Eric James Wolf

Sample Blog Post

http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2009/07/nuts-in-bolts-of-being-dyslexic.html

Nuts in Bolts of being Dyslexic

Recently I had a classic dyslexic experience.
For the past five months my phone service has been telling that it has messages.

As a dyslexic person I have tendency to switch the audio recognition of sounds, colors or other stimulus. Red means green, black is white, t is h or yes means no. While the more obvious red and green analogy is rare for me these days. I have been known on a once every five years occasion to go through a red light. (That could be an interesting PHD for some one; Dyslexia and traffic accidents – anyone?)
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http://dyslexia-blog.ghotit.com

Ofer Chermesh is an adult Dyslexic who now works in the area of developing assistive technology for dyslexics. His company is called Ghotit. Ofer’s blog offers information and insights from the perspective of someone living with dyslexia. He shares insights on himself with the hope of helping others and educating those without dyslexia.
 
 
Ofer Chermesh and his company, Ghotit

My name is Ofer Chermesh and I am one of Ghotit founders. I have always struggled with writing and reading. When I was 10 years old I was diagnosed as a dyslexic. I have struggled with my dyslexia throughout my life, in school and in different workplaces.

I hope you will find Ghotit useful to you as it is for me.
 
 
Sample Blog Post

http://dyslexia-blog.ghotit.com/2009/08/03/dyslexia-student-exams/
 
 
No Ifs or Buts – Dyslexics Deserve Extra Exam Time
Posted by: ghotit on: August 3, 2009
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Evaluations. Academic Tests. The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III. Cognitive Testing (WPPSI-III). The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. And the list goes on …
 
Have you ever read an evaluation report sharing the results of such tests? What is desperately needed is evaluation results that are written in PLAIN ENGLISH. “Plain English” is a generic term for communication styles that emphasize clarity, brevity and the avoidance of technical language.
 
Academic evaluators should be required to report their results in Plain English. I have been through two rounds of full evaluations of my son. While I basically grasped the learning issues that my son has – I have never fully understood the results of these tests. Why? For some reason, the evaluators keep the language in the report in their academic context and do not report the results in plain English. I understand that verbal memory is the retention of the spoken word and a relative percentage score associated with that. I do not understand a scaled score of “4” on digit span!!
 
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Notes from the Cookie Jar
http://cookienotes.blogspot.com/
 
“Scattered Mom”

“Scattered Mom” is a 30 something, west coast living, cookie baking, road tripping, key misplacing, perpetually lost blogger who can sniff out a Starbucks in a 50 mile radius.

Stick around..you’ll either pick up some great recipes or laugh at her forgetting where she parked the car. Again

Scattered Mom is a beautiful writer and shares insightful stories and information on Dyspraxia and Sensory Integration Issues as well as other aspects of her life.

Sample Post:

http://cookienotes.blogspot.com/2005/10/jakes-story.html

Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Jake’s Story
I couldn’t wait to become a mother. At 24, I was ready to have that little bundle to love and when Jake arrived, I cried for joy. He was mine. I finally, was a Mom.

Jake was a happy little person, and as easy to raise as most kids are. It wasn’t until he entered school that our perfect little world began to fall apart and was fraught with joy, despair, elation, and frustration. In the past 11 years as we have journeyed through three moves, the loss of Hub’s job and his trek back to university, and almost losing Hubs himself to a rare illness, we were also introduced to the world of advocating for Jake with the school system. It all began in grade one. Jake couldn’t print like the other kids, nor did he understand the math. However he did completely understand what was going on and instead would tour through the room, helping the other children with their work but never writing anything down himself. (which, looking back is SO Jake-he does everything orally) The teacher didn’t like this, and saw it immediately as ‘behavior’. Jake began to feel that he didn’t belong. So as a 5 year old will do, he decided that rather then be humiliated, he would prefer to be kicked out of the classroom.
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Living with Learning Disabilities

http://blog.seattlepi.com/learningdisabilities/
 
This blog will highlight the painful and detailed evolution of Zion’s disability – how we discovered it, how we navigate it, how we laugh, cry, and get mad over it. This is just one family’s struggle with learning disabilities.
 
Mizz Givens tells her family’s story from an interesting perspective as both an advocate for her son as well as a professional who works in the field of education. If you are interested in hearing some one’s else’s struggles and achievements, visit Andrea’s blog.
 
Mizz Givens (Andrea Givens)
mizz.givens@gmail.com

I am a 34-year-old wife and mother of two (editorial note — now three, Mizz Givens just had another son). My days are filled with commuting, working in the field of education, the YMCA, and the multitude of tasks that being a working wife and mother require. My downtime, if there is any, is usually spent reading, or cooking, or watching great shows on cable, because I love a good story.

My daughter Maya is gorgeous and talented and typically developing. My son Zion is charming and funny and severely learning disabled. And I can’t fix it. But I can advocate for him, I can provide supplemental services to support him, I can love him.
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