WINTER SERIES 2020
AFTER A DIAGNOSIS
EXPLAINING A DIAGNOSIS TO YOUR CHILD | WITH DR LIZ ANGOFF
Talking to a child about their new diagnosis can be tricky. Yet, when we don’t talk to kids directly about their diagnosis they can start to create their own negative reasons to explain why they learn differently.
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Dr Liz Angoff has created a script to help guide parents through these conversations to make them positive and empowering.
FOR RESOURCES ON THE FOLLOWING LEARNING DIFFERENCES:
ADHD | ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER
ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, with an estimated 5.3% of school-aged children meeting the criteria.
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TYPES OF ADHD
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Inattentive: trouble focusing, easily distracted, forgetful & unorganised.
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Hyperactive: is restless, on the go, fidgety & impulsive.
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Combined: shows signs of both inattention & hyperactivity.
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HOW ADHD CAN AFFECT A CHILD​
Every child with ADHD is different. Your child may show some of the following challenges.
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Home: Diffulcty following routines and completing homework/chores, Messy/disorganised room. This can cause increased arguments.
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School: Difficulty remaining seated & fidgeting. Difficulty completing work within timeframes. Forgetting and losing materials.
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Social: Difficulty controlling emotions. Can also struggle turn-taking or act impulsively when talking/playing.
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​HOW CAN WE HELP CHILDREN WITH ADHD? ​
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Home: Focus on supporting the child to regulate their emotions through modeling. teaching, and positive praise. Provide supports and structures to help your child be successful. Praise your child for their strengths and provide them opportunities to shine.
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School: Work with parents to establish a realistic plan to support school behaviours and schoolwork completion. Continued collaboration is important to align strategies, monitor progress, update goals, and share success stories between home and school.
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Therapy / Coaching: Many children with ADHD benefit from working with psychologists or ADHD specialists such as executive functioning coaches. These experts can help your child develop their organisational skills, manage their big emotions, control their impulses, and improve their social skills. Support can also help them strengthen their self-esteem and manage their worries.
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Medication: Medication can be an effective treatment for ADHD. It is most effective when combined with behavioural treatments, such as coaching and therapy. Many children experience side effects from medications and there is limited research on the long-term health impacts. For this reason, every family has the right to choose for themselves if medication is right for them.
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WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ADHD?
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WANT TO FIND AN ADHD COACH?
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BOOKS ON ADHD FOR PARENTS
BOOKS ON ADHD FOR TEENS
BOOKS ON ADHD FOR KIDS
DYSLEXIA | SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER in Reading
Dyslexia describes a difference in the way that a child's brain processes information. In particular, it impacts how a child sees and remembers symbols (such as letters and numbers).
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This can lead to challenges with spelling, reading, writing, and rote learning. It can also lead to strengths, like problem-solving, creative thinking, and seeing the big picture.
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To learn more about Dyslexia you can find great resources at:
Click on the images below to access two books helping explain dyslexia and the next steps to your child.
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Students with Dyslexia CAN learn to read and spell if they are taught in the way that their brain needs. Unfortunately, this is often not how literacy is taught in kindergarten and early primary school, leaving Dyslexic kids feeling left behind. It is important that these students receive small group or one-to-one interventions using multi-sensory literacy programs that have been shown to work for students with dyslexia.
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Most literacy programs are based on the Orthon-Gillingham Approch. If you are interested in learning ore about wthis approach and what is involved in such a program visit:
Computer programs and apps can be another way to support your child at home alongside in-person support. Some great game-based programs include:
DYSGRAPHIA | SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER IN WRITTEN EXPRESSION
Coming Soon
DYSCALCULIA | SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER in Mathematics
Dyscalculia describes a difference in the way that a child learns and performs in math. It affects a student's ability to understand numbers and concepts. This can include difficulties like recognising patterns, putting things in order, counting money, or telling the time.
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​.While Dyscalculia is not as well known as dyslexia, they affect about the same percentage of students. Dyscalculia is also more often missed in young children, who may be able to memorise math facts but not truly understand the math they are doing.​
So what can you do to help?
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CHECK WHAT THEY KNOW
Often we assume that a child has developed simple math skills and so move on to more challenging ones that they are not ready for. Ask your child's teacher to provide a list of upcoming units and any pre-requiste skills required (for example before a student can start learning algebra they need to know how to use reverse operations, fractions, positive/negative numbers, and roots/exponents). Check that your child has these skills and help them build their confidence before they start a new unit.
Often the math in school moves too quickly and students are not given the time needed to secure their skills. This can cause them to develop gaps that make it harder for them to learn more advanced math in the future. At the end of a unit, look over your child's math tests and help them learn any areas that they have not yet mastered.
MAKE IT VISUAL
It is believed that individuals with Dyscalculia find it difficult to see numbers and lack an internal number line. For this reason, they can struggle when teaching moves too quickly to abstract numbers and mental calculations. Physical and visual representations of numbers help these students be successful.
Common physical objects (manipulatives):
Helpful visual tools:
PLAY GAMES
Playing math games together as a family is a great way to get your child to do math at home. Often kids who hate doing math homework will happily play a game and not even notice they are doing "tricky math". It is also a great opportunity for you to model skills but talking through how you solve the math problems on your turn.
Dice, playing cards, or a simple board game are all you need to play endless math games. You can also combing any "non-math game" with a "boring math worksheet" to create a new math game (simply have each player answer a math question before each turn, or even better cut up the worksheet to make game cards). You can find great ideas for math games here:
DEVELOP NUMBER SENSE
Many individuals with dyscalculia take longer to develop the number sense, which is the foundational understanding of numbers needed to learn math (i.e. counting, comparing numbers, ordering numbers, place value ). Programs that help students develop their numbers sense skills include:
Books:
Apps:
MAKE IT MOTIVATING
Practice is the key to developing math skills that stick. Many individuals with dyscalculia avoid doing math work and extra practice because it is challenging, anxiety-provoking, and boring for them. For these students, it is especially important to use fun and engaging ways to do math. As a parent, the most effective way to get a child to do math is using a fun game-based app, such as:
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MATH ANXIETY IS REAL
Many students with Dyscalculia begin to feel that they are bad at math. Being in math class or doing math homework can cause them to feel become anxious and worried about failing. These negative feelings often lead to avoidance, and further math challenges. It is important to support these students to not just develop their math skills, but their confidence in themselves and enjoyment of math as well.
LEARN MORE
Visit one of these websites to learn more about Dyscalculia and what you can do at home to help your child:
These books provide valuable insights into individual's experiences with Dyscalculia
