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The PRIDE Reader
Summer - 2009
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 Tips on Helping a Child With ADHD Follow Directions
By Karina Richland M.A., E.T.
Following directions is one of the most difficult tasks for a child with ADHD to master. Children with ADHD are easily distracted and have a tendency to get sidetracked a lot. With a lot of patience and support, you can help your ADHD child learn to follow directions using these very simple ideas.
1. Organize and simplify the directions:
Keep the directions as simply stated as possible so that your child can remember them easily and not get lost in your words. Make the most important information stand out. "Sara, I want you to get your jacket, get your backpack and put on your shoes, then come back here to me. Got that? Jacket, backpack, shoes. Go!"
2. Use multisensory strategies to help the memory:
· You can sing and dance the directions with your child. "jacket, backpack, shoes, yee-hah!"
· You can have your child clap his hands or tap the table for each step he needs to do.
3. Teach your child to repeat the directions:
Have your child repeat each direction a few times. "get out a piece of paper, a pencil and write my name at the top of the paper. Paper, pencil, name. Paper, pencil, name."
4. Make charts for procedures or routines that are repeated:
This is especially helpful for organizing and keeping a routine. For example if you have a list of items that need to be done each day before school you can create a checklist.
1. _____ make my bed.
2. _____ put dirty clothes in the hamper.
3. _____ feed the cat.
As your child completes a step, he/she can check that step off the list. This will give your child some direction and keep the attention on the task at hand.
5. Be supportive and stay positive:
Nagging your child is not going to assist them in learning strategies and skills to follow directions. You can provide support for your child by:
· prompting your child for listening skills. "I am going to give you the directions, I would like you to please look at me so I know you are listening."
· asking your child how you can provide a reminder for them without nagging them. They might suggest a hand gesture or a tap on the wall, a wink of the eye, etc
· offering understanding when your child feels frustration. " I understand it is hard to keep track of doing so much at once. Would you like me to help you put together a list that we could start checking off after each step?"
· praising your child often. If they don't complete the task praise them for making an effort. If your child fails to complete a task, encourage her/him to try to get it finished. Use positive encouragement.
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Karina Richland, M.A., E.T. is the Director and Founder of Pride Learning Centers. A former teacher for Los Angeles Unified School District, Ms. Richland has devoted her life to the field of reading and learning disabilities, working as an educational therapist and director of Pride Learning Centers. Ms. Richland speaks frequently to parents, teachers, and professionals on learning differences, and writes for several journals and publications. You can reach her by email at karina@pridelearningcenter.com
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Strategies for Strengthening Your Child's Production Controls of Attention
By Dr. Susan E. Cozolino / Clinical Psychologist
The production controls of attention regulate the quality and efficiency of our output - the creations, activities, and behaviors that we produce. They promote good judgment, effective problem solving, and sound decision making. Based on the work of learning specialist, Mel Levine, MD, I will describe four common forms of production control and provide strategies for strengthening these controls at home.
Previewing control enables us to look ahead and foresee an outcome, a likely result of something we're about to do or attempt.
Options control entails thinking about choices rather than doing the first thing that comes to mind.
Pacing control regulates output speed, so actions are not too fast or too slow.
Quality control involves monitoring quality of output, so improvements can be made. In performing a task or trying to behave in a certain way, it is important to know how we are doing (self-monitoring).
Strategies for Parents:
*To help develop previewing skills, parents can encourage their kids to come up with a plan before writing a report, starting a project, or drawing a picture. Children need to preview consciously, to visualize and describe what the outcome or result is likely or desired to be.
*It is often helpful to stress previewing in a child's area of talent. For example, a child who is good at carpentry might be asked to draw a rough sketch of what the final product will look like prior to starting the actual work. Parents should spend time discussing this sketch and helping the child think through possible revisions in advance.
*Kids can be helped with previewing as part of their summer reading. Before reading a book, they should try to preview what its content is going to be based on the book's title.
*To work on the aspects of options control, parents can ask questions like: "What are the different ways we might do this? What do you think is probably the best way? What would be the worst way to go about this?" This sort of reviewing of alternative strategies can occur before preparing a report or studying for a test. Such techniques can also help with overall problem-solving skills.
*The same kind of help can be related to behavioral and social planning (e.g., "What's the best thing to do about that girl who called you a bad name in school today? What are some other things you could consider doing? What would work best? Which of these possibilities is a bad idea?").
*To help children with improper pacing, parents should discourage frenetic work patterns by avoiding statements such as: "You can watch television when you finish your work." Offers of this kind may inadvertently encourage children to work as quickly and carelessly as possible.
*It can help a child's pacing to set aside a certain amount of time each evening (or each weekday evening) for cognitive work. The whole family should be engaged in such activities. There is then no incentive to finish quickly, since it will only mean having to find some other brainwork to do.
*Kids who need specific help with self-monitoring and proofreading (quality control) can benefit from looking for discrepancies or errors in their work or in the work of others. They should be required to proofread their own work but only after an interval of hours or days has passed since the work was completed. It is very tedious for anyone to correct something immediately after completing it.
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Dr. Susan E. Cozolino is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who has a private practice in Beverly Hills. She specializes in the assessment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Disabilities in students ages 6 & up. Dr. Cozolino helps students understand and address learning challenges by conducting thorough assessments, creating individualized learning plans, and recommending and advocating for educational services, modifications and accommodations. Dr. Cozolino is also an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Dr. Cozolino can be reached at (310) 592-7299 or saevich@earthlink.net or learn more at www.adhd-ld-evals.com
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Seasonal Allergies
By Noah Samuels is a Licensed Acupuncturist
In the spring and the fall seasonal allergies tend to come on strong for many people. If you're one of the unlucky ones, you may be suffering from allergies all year long. Hay fever, aka allergic rhinitis, is an allergic reaction to proteins in the pollen of trees, grasses, plants, or mold that affects the mucous membranes of the nose, eyes, and air passages.
General symptoms include itchy, red eyes; watery discharge from the nose and eyes; sneezing; fatigue and nervous irritability. Hay fever for some can be quite severe affecting their personal and professional lives. In addition, due to the chronic inflammation of the nasal membranes and immune system fatigue, hay fever can make one more prone to acquiring colds and flu's.
There are several supplements on the market that do a terrific job at clearing up those pesky symptoms, while protecting the immune system, and without the side effects of the standard antihistamines. I will list them here:
1.) Quercetin-This supplement is at the top of the list. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid that stabilizes the membranes of the cells that release histamine. In addition, quercetin is also an antioxidant so it protects your cells and your immune system while combating the hay fever symptoms. A standard dosage is 400mg twice daily in between meals.
2.) Bromelain-Bromelain reduces inflammation associated with hay fever. You can take up to 1,000mg 3 times daily in between meals. To make things easier for you there are companies that make a combination quercetin/bromelain product so you don't have to take them separately.
3.) Vitamin C-Vitamin C provides crucial immune system support. Vitamin C is also an anti-inflammatory, reducing the inflammation involved in allergies. Even if you are taking a multi-vitamin, you can take quite a bit more Vitamin C than what is in that multi-vitamin. I would recommend between 3,000 to 10,000 mg daily during allergy season. You can buy Vitamin C in 1,000mg doses and take one pill several times daily. It's best to purchase a Vitamin C product that includes bioflavonoids. It's also good to get Vitamin C in an esterified form-Ester-C. This will protect your G.I. tract from the acidity of the vitamin (which can cause loose stools in some.)
You can purchase all of these products from your local health food store. It is my recommendation, though that you go to a high-end store like Whole Foods, as they will have top line products.
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Noah Samuels is a Licensed Acupuncturist, herbalist and nutritional counselor specializing in the natural treatment of ADD/ADHD, Autism, and other learning differences in pediatrics and adults. He graduated Magna cum Laude from Emperor's College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Santa Monica. Noah is currently seeing patients at his Santa Monica office. For more information about his practice, Turning Point Acupuncture, you can check out his website at www.NoahSamuelsLac.com for more information.
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Contact Information
Pride Learning Centers LLC
Rolling Hills Estates, El Segundo, Santa Monica
Karina Richland E.T., M.A.
Director
phone: 1-866-774-3342 ext. 1
info@pridelearningcenter.com
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