Jul 28 2008
ADHD & LD Resource Blog Guest Post from Shane Hawk
Last week, I wrote a guest post on Shane Hawk’s ADHD & LD Resource blog. I wanted to share some of Shane’s information with you, in case you have a child with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder or learning disabilities. Our children are all unique, all special, and all should be loved and treasured. It may take a little more work to teach an ADHD and/or LD child, but it’s SO worth it in the end! And with my Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten! and my Let’s Get Ready for First Grade!, a parent of a special needs child should have the information that they need to help their child focus and learn, so they know what will be expected of them when they reach school.
Without further ado, here’s Shane’s guest blog post:
Explaining ADHD & LD to Your Child
My son was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 6 in 2003. About six months later, in early 2004, he was diagnosed with three learning disabilities. After receiving his diagnoses, I wondered how to explain them to him. After all, he was only six at the time. I didn’t want to be too technical with him, as I knew he wouldn’t understand. I also wanted to make sure he didn’t feel like he was inadequate as a person either. I wanted to emphasis that although he was “different” he was still special and had much to offer the world. I began researching how best to tell him about his new diagnoses.
I learned that while explaining ADHD and LD to him I needed to do the following:
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Keep it simple. Use terms he could easily understand.
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Keep the explanation upbeat and positive.
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Let him know that he isn’t alone. There are lots of other people in the world that have the same issues that he is facing.
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Emphasize his strengths instead of his weaknesses.
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Help him develop his strengths and discover his gifts.
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Encourage him daily to build up his self esteem.
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Make sure he understood that ADHD and LD are not who he is, they are merely a part of who he is.
While researching, I also found several books that I utilized to help him understand ADHD and LD. I read these to him over a period of time of course, making sure each was age appropriate. I have found that these books create a dialog and encourage discussion between my son, my husband and myself. We continue to refer back to these books when our son has a question or if he just wants to freshen his memory.
For more information about the recommended books, please visit my ADHD & LD Resource Blog.
hi Stacey! thank you very much for visiting my blog and for leaving me some comments. i truly appreciate it. anyway, i am so interested in this topic. my oldest son is very active right now and i’m not sure if it’s just because he’s still a kid and a boy on top of that but i’m worried that this would be the reason for my future visit/s to the principal’s office. he does learn fast though and very eager to learn as well so i hope it’s not ADHD. oh by the way, i am interested in your books. how much do you charge for them? thank you once again and have a great week!
Me too! Definitely check out Shane’s blog to find out more information on ADHD & LD topics! Google the titles as a few blogs are giving them out as prizes for Back To School. The books are always availabe on my site (www.cedarvalleypublishing.com) for $15 for Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! and $17 for Let’s Get Ready For First Grade! But in celebrate Back To School, use discount code CEDAR (all caps) for a 20% discount!!! Thanks Rissa!!
Smiles - Stacey