The following is a reprint of an article I wrote this year. Part of the work I do involves helping families with teens or young adults with significant emotional/behavioral struggles. I sometimes consult with therapeutic programs so that they are more sensitive and responsive to LD-related issues and how they impact therapeutic concerns. Resolving Issues [...]
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Slide above: Adapted from Exploring the Neurocircuitry of the Brain and Its Impact on Treatment Selections in ADHD, PRAKASH S. MASAND, MD; PETER S. JENSEN, MD; STEPHEN STAHL, MD, PHD There’s been a certain amount of press and attention on the intense marketing of medications for people with ADHD, and the perceived over-medication. Representing the [...]
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This is a great short video, sent to me by my friend Richard Wanderman, about a photographer/videographer named Michael Shainblum and his time-lapse work. Beautiful images. I loved listening to his explanation of how he produces his work. It’s very low tech thinking (he strips it down to some simple ideas) and them adds some [...]
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This article, from Slate, Comfort Food, hit home. Larry Lake describes the difficulty many people have with knowing how to be supportive when someone they know has a mental illness, or has a child with a mental illness. People have learned to respond supportively when there’s a physical illness, but not nearly so well to [...]
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It’s so fascinating to me to track the different attitudes and perspectives about having a learning disability. On one hand there is one that implies that having a learning disability somehow means you are brilliant in some way.” Paraphrased, that one may also be stated something like “Being dyslexic automatically means you have inherent talents [...]
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Recently, the National Center for Learning Disabilities website published an interview with new high school freshman, Jack. NCLD interviews Jack, who is dyslexic, as a real success story. And while that’s true, there’s a story and history to Jack becoming so well-spoken and such a good self-advocate. I was Jack’s literacy specialist during his 3rd [...]
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A few weeks ago my mom passed away and I haven’t felt much like writing or blogging. However that’s changed now. I want to connect the dots from something she emphasized to me a while back, and the whole idea of thinking it’s a good idea to cart out images and stories of celebrities who [...]
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Neurologists Warn Against ADHD Drugs To Help Kids Study Makes me quite nervous that there are kids who fabricate symptoms of ADHD in order to get medications. For physicians to do a collaborative and differential diagnosis of ADHD apparently takes too much time for some. Using Adderal as a “neuro-enhancer” is another iteration of, or [...]
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Judge Rules a High School Student with Disabilities Will Not Get Expelled Fascinating story and case of a high school student who was charged with selling drugs (marijuana) to an undercover deputy. The judge in the case has ruled that the school must readmit the boy because his social thinking weaknesses (autism spectrum) and mental [...]
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Teens with Learning Disabilities Benefit from Closer Relationships Teenagers with LD tend to have less secure relationships with their parents and teachers, furthering their risks of struggling with depression, anxiety and substance abuse. The study, found in the journal of Journal of Youth and Adolescence, suggests the absence of close and supportive relationships can harm [...]
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ADHD Tragedy: Poor Diagnosis or Medication Mismanagement? Once again, poor treatment management is part of a suicide for a young person with great potential.
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I love this short video clip, ADHD is Not A Gift. It challenges our tendency to embellish a condition that presents real obstacles to parts of daily life, with a super-imposed attribute of somehow being a gift. “As if Michael Phelps somehow won seven gold medals at the Olympics because of his being ADHD.” Dr. [...]
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