Question: What’s a good gentle way of telling a sensitive seven year old boy that he’s going to be tested for learning disabilities? My answer: He is probably well-aware that something is not typical about him. I’d say the thing to do is to use that knowledge to inform him of why he’s going to […]
NVLD and other disabilities
March 17, 2017 by 1 Comment
Question: How does nonverbal learning disability differ from other disabilities? My answer: In what we are disabled about. The differences with physical disabilities are pretty clear, so I won’t go into them. Perhaps the condition we are closest to (whether you regard it as a disability or not) is autism or the autism ballpark. But […]
On superiority
March 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Question: Is it wrong to accept that due to your disability, another person will be superior? My answer: “Superior” is much too broad a term. Some people are better than I am at some things. Some of this is due to my learning disability, some isn’t. On the other hand, I am better than some […]
Frequency of dyslexia and dyscalculia
February 8, 2017 by 2 Comments
Question: Why is dyslexia more common that dyscalculia? My answer: We aren’t even sure if it is more common. In fact, some people think it is just as common (see ref 1) However, it is less diagnosed for several reasons: It is less known and less understood. The definition isn’t as clear, at least in […]
A saying I really don’t like
February 5, 2017 by 2 Comments
Did you ever hear someone say If you say “I can” or “I can’t” you’re right ? Well, I think this is a terrible saying.
Valentine’s day and the NLD child
February 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Valentine’s day is an odd holiday. Schools are open, work is open, everything is open, yet it’s celebrated anyway. And it’s a horrible holiday for many NLD children (and adults) because we often have problems with friendship and romance and Valentine’s day is all about romance in adulthood and the precursors to romance in kids. […]
Why can’t you be less organized?
January 19, 2017 by
Say WHAT? Less organized? Has Peter finally flipped his lid? Well …. maybe :-)! But let me explain.
With 2E kids, should we treat the gift or the deficit or both?
January 15, 2017 by 1 Comment
Children who are twice exceptional (2E) by definition have areas of great strength (gifts) and areas of great weakness (deficits). The traditional model, inasmuch as there was one at all, was to treat only the deficits, figuring that the gifts would take care of themselves. This ignored the fact that the gifts often made the […]
Don’t tell me to try harder!
January 14, 2017 by
When I was a kid, my report cards often had comments like “Peter would do better if he applied himself”. This always made me want to apply my fist to the teacher’s face! (I never actually hit a teacher, I made their lives miserable other ways). It’s the same message as “try harder”. No. You […]
Juggling for the special needs child (or adult)
January 9, 2017 by 4 Comments
Juggling is an interesting activity that can be helpful to many special needs children (or adults). It’s got several advantages, which I spell out below, and is much easier than most people think. MANY people can learn to juggle. If you can toss a ball from hand to hand, you can learn to juggle. If […]
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