Somehow the last year flew by, and my wedding is almost exactly three months from today.
Lengthier, learning related posts are coming! In the meantime, I wanted to take a minute to share my excitement about my wedding, and post an image of the drawing we commissioned as a celebration of our engagement. This design was rendered by the extraordinarily talented Natalya Kolosowsky, who captured our joy and flights of fancy beautifully, while incorporating the menagerie nicely.
In the past week there have been a number of op-eds in the NYT that have left me, and many of my colleagues rolling our eyes and venting in frustration.
A rebuttal to the most damaging among them can be seen here, and I recommend reading it, and skipping the original incendiary articles.
It’s critical to keep in mind that while not everyone who exhibits the symptoms of ADHD has a diagnosis, but when one is present, we know, based on peer reviewed scientific literature, that medication is the single most effective treatment.
One of my volunteer gigs entails co-faciliatating a support group for parents who are raising children with AD/HD. The topic of medication is invariably one of strong opinions – I’ve never met anyone who takes lightly the notion of giving their child prescription drugs. That said, when they help, the difference is meaningful, palpable, and often, life changing.
For additional information on ADHD, see the CHADD Resource Center online.
One point about learning differences – and I include ADHD and Aspergers under that umbrella – is that they are, in a sense, social constructs. Given an environment that is truly unrestrictive, the symptoms may well cease to interfere with one’s livelihood, and will no longer be a disorder.
This Op- Ed struck me as interesting - is it true that the author never had Asperger? Was it just that he was in the wrong place? Social isolation can have its roots in a number of different places – certainly not all kids with social skills deficits have Aspergers, and to imply such is rooted in ignorance. It’s important to look at the whole child, and take into account all variables that may contribute to social isolation – at times, it’s as simple as an individual being incompatible with their environment. On the other hand, finding social success among peers with similar interest doesn’t render a diagnosis obsolete, either. Many people with Aspergers are able to see meaning beneath the surface, but have trouble with social cues. On the whole, his point is good, but I’m not sure his argument makes sense.
Successful learning and engagement requires a sense of safety, which is cultivated over time based on positive experiences in a number of areas. It’s very difficult to learn and focus when someone feels like success or safety isn’t attainable, and this is very common for many children (and adults), not only those with AD/HD. Anxiety and AD/HD bear a striking resemblance to one another; indeed, anxiety is a very common secondary diagnosis for those who have AD/HD.
Not everyone who struggles with sustained attention has an AD/HD diagnosis, though, and it can be confusing to get to the root of someone’s challenges. This is the first in a series; AD/HD has become enough of a catchword that misinformation is as easy to come by as the facts in the story.
The ability to focus for sustained periods of time is one of the first cognitive skills to be compromised, given an illness, stress, hunger, sleep deprivation, or other challenging condition. In this modern world, a sense of security can be difficult to come by.
Note below the similarities between ADHD and anxiety. Not, in addition, the critical differences.
AD/HD
Symptoms interfere with success in at least two domains of life (ie, work, relationships, finances, or health) over time. Often includes anxiety as secondary diagnosis.
Both
Anxiety
Characterized by excessive worries and fears, which can interfere with many domains of life. Often anxiety symptoms are context-dependent, and some symptoms may be physical, such as stomachaches.
… I did try to make this into a venn diagram, and failed.
How can students get the most out of every moment spent preparing for exams?
I thought this article was relevant enough to give it’s own brief entry.. Using best practices while studying is particularly important to those who struggle with long term memory retrieval, executive functioning, working memory, or sustained attention. Students who struggle with these challenges would do well to practice recommended study skills with an specialist.
It’s in Psychology Today, and covers, broadly, some of the current research on the best practices for learning. Robert Bjork is the director of UCLA’s Learning and Forgetting Lab, and some of what he says is counterintuitive, and refutes popular convention.
Take home messages include:
1. Interweaving your focus while learning is a more effective way to advance your skills. If you make small, seemingly meaningless steps with many skills, the incremental progress you make over time in each area will be greater than the leaps you make in the single area if you narrow your focus, but only if the skills are cognitively related.
2. State dependent learning is even more important than many people believe it to be – varying your location while studying will help make the content more accessible.
3. Time study sessions such that when you come back to material you’ve already studied, you’ve almost forgotten much of it.
4. Taking notes after class, rather than during class, may actually be more beneficial since you are forced to replay the lecture. This of course, assumes the participant was able to attend in the first place.
The full article is posted here.
I was lucky enough at fifteen to know some musicians who made sure that I got a hold of Etta James’s classic CD, At Last, thereby opening an entire musical world to me. She could convey the gamut of love and anguish like no other – RIP Etta James, and thanks.
Based on a seven year long study, this article contains a really wonderful list of activities that parents can do with their kids to prepare them cognitively and socially for school. I particularly like how they mention the importance of constructive praise, unstructured creative playtime, and time for all to be present without any electronic devices.
Cheers,
Rebecca
Technology can be a distraction, but for this little girl with autism, it proved to be the road towards liberation. Would you have guessed that this child was so articulate? That she had so much brilliance inside?
Big props to these parents, too, and their determination and willingness to keep trying different approaches for their daughter. I think it’s paid off; don’t you?
When I’m hired by families, my assigned position is to work with a child over the course of several semesters to help them improve in their abilities in a specific area; for some of my students, the greatest challenge is reading comprehension, for some social skills, behavior, executive functioning, or a host of other tasks that are easy for most, but may be difficult for bright students.
All of these, but executive functioning challenges in particular, are difficult for parents to confront, particularly given when conventional assumptions tell us that for healthy kids, grades and academic performance reflect intelligence and learning capacity. It’s absolutely confusing – and for some, heartbreaking – to watch your shining, brilliant child struggle with the mechanics of learning. At the same time that they any parents go through a grieving process, with variations on the classic Kubler Ross model of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance.
A family I’ve known for some years presented me with a book called “Following Ezra,” which documents a parent’s journey towards acceptance and understanding of his autistic son. A therapist encouraged him to grieve. ”For what?” he asked. ”For the he didn’t turn out to be.” Over time, the father learns to appreciate his son’s amazing gifts, differences, and challenges. It’s a process that takes patience, honesty, and resilience.
The resilience piece is one in particular that I try to teach; in the long run it makes the difference in one’s ability to keep getting up in the face of adversity. We know that children who struggle with cognitive or learning differences tend to receive a tremendous amount of negative feedback; a good treatment plan should ensure that they have a place in their lives they can shine, while at the same time, mitigating the difficulties that come from having a brain that’s wired just a little bit differently.
My hope is that families can work through the initial phase of mystery to come to a point of equilibrium wherein a compassionate understanding informs the decisions that parents make for their child, and the child feels loved, safe, and supported.
The fundamental take home message in this post comes down to the these points:
1. Instruction: What does your child need to learn how to do to maximize their learning capacity? This one, in particular, strikes at the heart of a good educational therapy program.
2. Acceptance: Where is the sweet spot that strikes a balance between loving acceptance of your child’s differences, and supporting your child to do the very best they can? As an extension, how do you advocate for this on their behalf in the schools?
3. Resilience: Where’s someplace that your child can feel successful? How can you support this pursuit?
I love your feedback and questions, suggestions and comments.
Yours in the pursuit of higher knowledge,
Rebecca
rebecca@rebecca-robbins.com
