Thank you for your email.

Knowing very little about the nuances of your situation, it’s difficult to say how much educational therapy and coaching will help. It’s extremely helpful for executive functioning and ADD when the children are living at home and there is built in support. I’ve heard from many parents who’s college-aged children have ADD, and sometimes, the young adults are not ready for the degree of self-reliance and self-regulation required for academic collegiate success. There are so many factors here.

I recommend joining CHADD, perusing their information online. I also recommend finding a support group for parents, online or otherwise, and hearing about others’ experiences here. College is a tricky period for ADD youth, and it’s important to investigate all the options. Landmark College specializes in teaching students with learning differences, and some colleges are better fits for this population than others. It’s worth doing the research, as well as hiring a specialist who understands the issues.

Best,

Rebecca

I don’t know anyone in San Jose, but if you call the Association of Educational Therapy, they should be able to refer you. I’ve worked with many college students who have ADD, and they have all experienced the challenges you describe.

You’re right – it’s difficult to spot the conceptual cannons, and hard to tease apart the differences between poor visual processing, weak executive functioning, sheer boredom, and low number sense. I use 100′s charts and simple, but multi-step tasks such as the Sieve of Aristophanes as a way of learning how student around grade 4 to 6 thinks, follows directions, and approaches problems. I also watch for finger counting, and creative workarounds that fill in for a deeper comprehension.

The fact remains though, that unlike reading and cognitive processing, there’s no single surefire way to detect a weakness in mathematical comprehension.