Giving kids the social skills they need to succeed
My career as a fortune-teller is doomed. When the COVID-19 quarantine was just getting started, I figured that kids with neurodevelopmental issues like Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD were going to have an especially difficult time of it. Gone was the routine, structure, and predictability that these kids rely on to guide them through the day. Taking their place would […]
» Read moreFor the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring a few simple, practical things you can do in order to help your organizationally challenged middle schoolers come to grips with the increased executive function demands they encounter in their schoolwork. In the first installment of this series, we discussed time and time management, focusing on strategies aimed at maximizing the effectiveness […]
» Read moreLast week, we journeyed along the “space/time/memory continuum back to the days of middle school. In that blog entry, we focused on time management issues, particularly as they relate to long-term assignments and projects your child may be undertaking. This week, we shift our attention to the matter of space. Specifically, is there a straightforward way in which parents can help […]
» Read moreI’ve met very few adults who look back on their middle school experience with anything resembling fondness. Newly raging hormones, along with healthy doses of social awkwardness, complication, and occasional nastiness can make those years a slog. You’re caught in a weird space between childhood and adolescence and it’s hard to figure out exactly where you fit in. When my […]
» Read moreA couple of weeks ago, I received a newsletter from The Asperger Autism Network (AANE). AANE’s newsletter is excellent and I make a point of reading it as often as I can. In this installment, one article in particular caught my eye. AANE is embarking on a fundraising drive to update and expand their training center and they’re going to […]
» Read moreOn Friday, May 18th, Academy MetroWest Director, Bruce Sabian, had the opportunity to sit down for a radio interview with Mark Altman, President of MindSetGo. MindSetGo is a business that helps children, adolescents, and adults learn to enhance their communication skills and differentiate themselves. The talk focused on social skills, child development, and Academy MetroWest. The interview aired on WCRN […]
» Read moreI used to work with a teenager who had a long-term plan for dealing with his social skills challenges. When things were going well, he was able to make some good connections with the other members of his group. When things weren’t going well, he took it hard. One day, he and I were talking after he had gotten into […]
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When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, Till rising and gliding out I […]
» Read moreA few years ago, I was going through some kids’ files and noticed a pattern in the results on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or WISC. The WISC is a commonly used test of cognitive functioning consisting of 10 subtests, which yields a full scale IQ, as well as 5 indexes that provide scores in more specific aspects of […]
» Read more“Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is real. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” Thus begins ADHD Nation, a challenging, thought-provoking book, written by Alan Schwarz, an investigative reporter from The New York Times. Taken as a whole, this eminently readable book traces the development of the ADHD diagnosis, the discovery and growth of medications aimed at treating it, and the emergence […]
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