Insights on ADHD and Executive Functioning (A Thinking Impairment)
Engineering INVOLVES USING OUR SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING of the natural world to invent, design, and build things to solve problems and achieve specific goals. To engineer anything, we must have a model that has repeatable patterns explained by the model and a means to make observations. A plan is a detailed proposal for doing or achieving a…
Read MoreWhen Your Teen Lacks Self-Confidence
You overhear YOUR TEEN’S FRIEND TREAT HER BADLY, yet when you inquire about the friendship, she retaliates against you. You are her cheerleader, advocate, and role model, yet she rarely listens to you, even after she admits her dismay. Often, as parents, we witness our teenager being treated badly, choosing the wrong friends, or trying so…
Read MoreThe Imagine Neighborhood, Where Children (and Adults) Learn About Feelings
Joyce Cooper-Kahn, PhD, interviews Scotty Iseri and Sherri Widen, PhD Imagination and pretend play have long been considered a foundation for the development of behavioral and emotional regulation—see, for example, the work of psychologists Dorothy and Jerome Singer. Both the process of imagining and the specific rehearsal of situations that are part of pretend play…
Read MorePut Down the Stick, Pick Up a Feather: Adult ADHD & Self-Criticism
MANAGING ADHD AS AN ADULT requires more than just taking medication and putting a few systems and structures in place. It is a complicated condition that relies on self-education, setting intentions, and exerting effort for self-management—which are not always easy for adults with the condition. But the hardest part to manage, I believe, regardless of…
Read MoreHelping Them Soar: WINGS for Kids
IMAGINE A SAFE PLACE to call home after school, a place where children in kindergarten through fifth grade can play games, have fun, make new friends, and learn social and emotional skills intended to last a lifetime. Now imagine this safe and fun place being reserved especially for low-income children who in most instances would…
Read MoreADHD and Self-Compassion
IT’S BEEN A TERRIBLY BUSY TIME AT WORK FOR YOUR BEST FRIEND. You get a panicked call that it’s her husband’s birthday and she not only forgot to pick up the gift, she never made a dinner reservation. She says to you, I’m such an idiot. I always make a mess of everything. And what’s…
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