When children are diagnosed with special needs (e.g. dyslexia, ADHD, autism etc.), the initial efforts to support them almost always revolve around helping them to fit in with the environment around them.  This of course is very important, but it leaves out a much-needed corollary to these efforts and that is:  changing the environment to...Read More

Let’s face it, folks, there are a lot of kids out there who are read-i-phobic because books are full of words – those squiggly markings on the page that don’t make sense when you’re just starting out to read, and for some kids, don’t make sense even after spending quite a bit of time trying...Read More

Nothing has been more disconcerting to me in my forty-five years as an educator than to ask a parent or teacher:  ”What is your child’s (or teen’s) strengths?” and have them answer:  ”He hasn’t got any.”  I’ve actually heard this several times in my career.  It was such responses that motivated me to come up...Read More

Imagine that Leonardo da Vinci was a child growing up in contemporary times and school authorities had to determine whether or not he should receive an IEP (Individual Education Plan).  Here’s what it might look like. Principal:  ”Okay, I think we’re ready to start.  Who wants to get the ball rolling?”‘ School Psychologist:  ”Well, I ran...Read More

Here’s an article that I did as a guest blogger for National Autism Resources, an organization that provides tools and products to help make the world of kids diagnosed with autism more in sync with their unique challenges and gifts.  In it I describe a new way of explaining to kids with brain differences how...Read More