Special Education and the Pandemic
Three Things Parents of Kids with Special Needs Need to Know This is a difficult time for all of us. Teachers and school administrators are making great efforts to meet the needs of all students, including students with special needs. Now, more than ever, parents, advocates, and school staff should do their best to work…
Read MoreCHADD Testifies at FDA Meeting
The US Food and Drug Administration recently asked CHADD CEO Robert Cattoi to provide comments regarding the development of abuse-deterrent ADHD stimulant medications. Below is a summary of the comments he presented to the joint meeting of the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee on October 8,…
Read MoreADHD Helped Me Find Success in Pivoting a Business During the Pandemic
Louis PasteuR FAMOUSLY SAID, “Chance favors only the prepared mind.” I wish I could say that I foresaw the pandemic way back in January when there were scattered reports of COVID-19 infection overseas. Unfortunately, I was taken by surprise like pretty much the rest of the country. And with it, my business, Fitness for Health, an…
Read MoreA Tale of Rabbitry… and ADHD
We are an enthusiastic family with several children who have ADHD. Our experience with rabbitry began a few years ago with a sweet brown bunny named Thumper. He lived in a large hutch in our backyard that was handmade with much TLC and an engineer’s precision. John spent hours with each of our kids measuring,…
Read MoreUse Chrome Extensions to Reduce Distraction and Increase Productivity
You’re finally making headway on a project after putting it off for weeks and you have an urge to take a little break. Before you know it, hours have passed, and you missed the deadline. Ugh. Can you relate? Individuals with attention-related challenges often have an excellent ability to focus—it’s just that often the focus…
Read MoreParent ADHD Unmasked
It’s been said: “Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.” And: “Space is what keeps everything from happening to me!” If that’s true, then what if time and space disappear? Yikes! Well, that’s what’s happening. COVID-19 has caused a secondary pandemic of TSDD; that is, Time and Space Deficit Disorder. Parents are…
Read MoreCreate Structure
Balance Your Job and Your Child’s Educational Needs We’ve now entered the fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, following a spring and summer of lockdown and social distancing. Depending on where you live and where your child goes to school, you are likely navigating remote learning or a hybrid approach (such as two days in-person; three…
Read MoreTeaching in a Pandemic: Upheavals, Adjustments, and Moving Forward
When COVID-19 first closed our schools in March, many teachers asked, “Now what?!” Teaching special education is immensely rewarding, but oftentimes challenging even under normal circumstances. It takes a deep understanding of how the mind works along with patience and perseverance to adapt lessons, content, and tasks for multiple individuals daily. Then, we were forced…
Read MoreResilience in the Midst of Difficult Times
Providing Mental Health Support to Students with Attention Problems Schooling at Home Suddenly, we were serving our students and families from home. Regardless of all the news we had been watching about COVID-19 around the world, when it hit hard in Georgia, it felt sudden and drastic. Not only was finding toilet paper a major feat,…
Read MoreWhat Do Students with Attention Challenges Really Think About Remote Learning?
When schools were closed this past March, most of us thought the closures would be short-lived. Surely some remedy for COVID-19 would be discovered within a few months! Teachers and students stepped off into the great unknown, laptops in hand, plucking up courage, with little training, and no preparation. As time passed, and teachers attempted…
Read MoreSchool-Based Services for Children with ADHD
This research update focuses on an overarching question: what predicts school-based services received by children with ADHD? The first study examined specific factors related to receiving school-based services for children with ADHD, and the second study investigated school service use for children specifically with the inattentive presentation of ADHD. School-based interventions have been shown to…
Read MoreMountain Biking and Holistic Personal Development
The Focused Riding Program Can vigorous mountain biking help middle and high school students with ADHD improve their ability to focus in class? David Mendlewski, director of academic support at the Storm King School in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, believes it can. And he says he developed a program that can prove it. Known as Focused…
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