By DeAnne Joy Experts estimate that 6 to 10 percent of the school-aged population in the United States is learning disabled and approximately 3 to 10 percent of the population as a whole is diagnosed with ADD. This growing problem impacts many areas of society and there is a growing need for effective solutions. Parenting or teaching a child with ADD or learning difficulties can, no doubt, be an enormous challenge. It requires patience of you that you may not have thought you had; persisten

By Nelle Frances Children with Asperger’s Syndrome the world over share a common trait – meltdown – otherwise known as a tantrum, a “birko”, a “go-off” or “spack-attack”. The visible symptoms of meltdown are as varied as the Asperger children themselves, but every parent is able to describe their child’s meltdown behaviour in intricate detail. Meltdowns can be short lived, or last as long as two hours. They can be as infrequent as once a month (often coinciding with the lunar cycle/full moo

By Nelle Frances Children with Asperger's Syndrome respond well to visual cues, so a visual timetable in the classroom and home is a beneficial communication tool that can be easily modified to meet the needs of children with Asperger's Syndrome of all age groups. The kind that has removable, Velcro pieces is most versatile. A "bank" of appropriate, laminated pieces can be kept and added to as needs change and grow, with some 'blanks' for unexpected tasks. Pictures work well fr

By Robert Schpok Out of school suspensions have become a major disciplinary action engaged in by public schools in Illinois. Suspensions produce poor results with regular students and are educationally unsound for students in special education. Yet schools continue with this dreadful disciplinary action and then justify it with: "we don't have many other options" or "we have a large number of other students to consider". All the while, failing in their task to provide FA

By Glenda Thorne, Ph.D., Alice Thomas, M.Ed., Candy Lawson, Ph.D. The following strategies are offered for enhancing attention and managing attention problems. This listing is by no means exhaustive, but rather is meant as a place to begin. The best resources for strategies are the creative, inventive minds of enlightened assessment professionals, teachers and parents, in partnership with the students they serve. Together they can create multiple alternative strategies. 1. Take the Mystery

By Paul Mackie Most parents ask themselves this question, "What can I do to help my child develop, to grow, to be the best that they can be?? ?What should I teach?? ?Do I have time to teach?? The answer is a simple one: give your child as much play-based quality time as you can spare. Teaching Autistic children on a daily basis, I have found repetitive stories seem to work very well, Most children prefer Robert Munsch storybooks. I find the reason for this is the reader can change voic

By Ben Sidman There are a hundred reasons why you should organise yourself and your autistic child. But it was best put by the US writer, Florynce R Kennedy who said ?Don?t agonize, organize.? If you don?t organise yourself you are going to be dealing with all kinds of problems such as lost papers, untidiness, being late and many others. So here are seven ways that you can very easily organise yourself so that you can cut the number of problems that you have during the day. 1 ? Make a Sched

By Karen Simmons Children with autism have a much harder time with their self-esteem. They often perceive the constant correction of their behaviors and their social interactions as criticism. The frequent visits to doctors, or speech therapists, or OTs, the testing and the stream of interventions that we try with them can easily leave them feeling like they're under the microscope, a specimen that warrants investigation, a person who needs fixing. Expressive and comprehensive communication

By Ruth Wells If you are a teacher who finds that "nothing works" to manage some students, this article may help. It's way past time for you to learn about ODD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder. In college, you probably got very little training on basic mental health, but if you've been teaching for more than five minutes, you know that little bit of training wasn't enough. Here's just a quick peek at what they should have taught you in college about basic juvenile mental health. Be

By Ruth Wells ** Recap: In the an earlier article entitled "Conduct Disordered, Oppositional Defiant, Violent, Disruptive Students: Must-Know Safety Information You May Not Have," we explained conduct disorders (C.D.s), the child at highest risk of extreme violence, and emphasized how you must work differently with C.D.s compared to any other kids. Hopefully, we successfully conveyed how critical it is to thoroughly understand what makes this kid "tick," and to work with