When I was in middle school, I began having trouble with reading. Specifically, I was having trouble seeing the text in my textbooks. When I looked at a page, I would see a glare of white light slithering between the text and reflecting back at me. It was very distracting and painful…in the same way that seeing a camera flash in the dark would hurt your eyes. What I was seeing, however, was constant and debilitating.
Mom took me to an eye doctor. “Everything’s fine,” he said.
For the last two weeks, I have been writing about a 9 year-old boy named Will who is struggling with reading. I prepared a short video explaining some basic, yet very important information about the biology of the brain. I am sending this video to Will because I believe it will give him hope and build his confidence. As a wise friend told me last year, when I was smack in the middle of trying to find help for my son, “Once you identify the problem, 50% of it is solved!” So true!
I hope this small snippet gives Will, and other students who struggle like Will, a better understanding of what their dynamic brains are capable of! Please, please, please share this with anyone you know who may be struggling with a learning disability.
In last week’s article, I wrote about Corinna, a heart-broken mother who is watching her bright son, Will, struggle with reading. She is out of options and feeling very hopeless.
Today, I am going to share some general recommendations that will help Will “catch up” and read on grade-level within the next 12-18 months. The following information may sound a little overwhelming at first, but I will pull it all together in a simple and manageable plan at the end.
Last weekend, I was visiting a ski area in northern Michigan for a few days and met Corrina. She was working the front desk and checked me in as I arrived. We were chatting as the paperwork was processing and Corrina asked what I do for a living. I told her about my work with study skills as I casually turned to grab something behind me. She replied with great interest and, while my back was momentarily turned, she explained, “My son is illiterate.”
“My Son Is Illiterate.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. In her four words, I could sense all of the worry and anxiety from which I am just emerging. I shared some of my stories in this newsletter last spring, explaining that my son was diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, and anxiety. From the point we determined we needed help, it took over a year to get the proper resources aligned.
Have you ever seen a dog chase its tail? The dog keeps going round and round, presumably thinking that, any moment now, he will actually catch that tail behind him. He expends a lot of energy, but has nothing to show for it.
People with ADHD often describe a similar sensation of spinning around in circles. This how students feel with nearly every task related to school: organizing and managing papers, assignments, time and due dates, reading textbooks, taking notes, studying for tests and even, taking tests.
For the last 14 months, we at SOAR® Learning have been working diligently on a new project. This project represents a big step in my dream of becoming a very serious advocate for study skills!
It represents countless hours of dedication and energy from the people on our crew who share my passion for study skills and the horizons they can open for students.
A few years ago, a friend of mine was working as a grad-assistant to Bonnie Cramond, a professor at the University of Georgia. They surveyed hundreds of teachers, asking half of the teachers to list words that described “creative” students. The other half were asked to list words that described students with ADHD.
The two lists of characteristics overlapped by 95%!
We’ve done a few “special article” series before, but nothing has lit up the blog comments like the topic of ADHD. I’ve enjoyed the questions and feedback. There are excellent questions coming through and I hope to expand on most of them in future articles. Keep them coming!
One of the comments came from Rita, who wrote the following:
Our first home as young newlyweds was a small bungalow built in 1942. We purchased the house in the month of August, many months before we discovered the drafty windows. As the Michigan winter rushed in, it literally rushed right through our house. Day after day. Month after month. Winter after winter.
It took a few years, but we finally saved enough money to buy new windows… five-thousand dollars! The windows were installed one summer and we looked forward to FINALLY being warm as winter approached.
Welcome to everyone who joined The ADHD Circuit® in the last week! If you are just joining this series, you will probably want to start with the first article, available here.
I would also like to send a special call-out to my cousins! I am the youngest of 32 “first” cousins; Minta, a cousin by marriage, says that we all have the same eyes. Apparently, the genetics do not stop there because many of us -and our children- have ADHD. There was a lot of buzz about ADHD (and my party lights) over Thanksgiving weekend. My mom encouraged them to join The ADHD Circuit®. Having my cousins subscribe will certainly keep me honest. They’ll likely keep me humble, too!
One of the best educational conferences I have ever attended!
Angela K.
Tobi Flair
Public Middle School
New Orleans, LA
Tobi Flair is the principal at Harry Hurst Middle School in Destrehan, Louisiana. Her building has built a 20-minute session of “SOAR time” into their daily schedule.
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This turn-key teacher's guide is loaded with tools to make study skills instruction easy!
