Blog
Avoiding Failure – Building Self Esteem and Resilience in Twice-Exceptional Kids
Recently I articulated a theory – something I’ve thought for a long time – but now formulated into a hypothesis and conclusion of why smart kids, with learning disabilities or differences often exhibit challenging behavior and fail to reach their potential. The...
read moreMaking an Investment in the Parent-Child-Teacher Triangle
I feel it. Looking around the pool where friends and neighbors were lounging and carefree all summer, there’s a certain change, a bit of electricity in the air. It’s the homestretch of summer break and parents and kids alike are getting that antsy feeling. In some...
read moreLeggo My Ego
Leggo my Ego There is no room for ego in parenting or teaching. Remember the breakfast waffle commercial where an Eggo waffle pops out of the toaster and siblings simultaneously grab for it and shout “Leggo my Eggo?” I imagine this going on inside a parent or...
read moreBe a Super Model … a Super ROLE Model
Ever heard your child say something in an all too familiar sarcastic or snarky tone? It’s even worse when you’re in public or at a work function and they let loose one of those zingers. Ugh. We all know kids are the best at holding up a mirror to their parents. We...
read moreThe Rotary Phone Effect
Inability to focus is a common complaint amongst parents and teachers, yet the world around us seems more and more to encourage rapid shifting of our attention. Diagnoses of children with attention deficit are steadily on the rise, and kids’ favored leisure time...
read morePerspective, Perseverance and Perfectionism
Parents, teachers and professionals spend a lot of time thinking about how to encourage kids’ resolve, keep them on track and help them recognize and reach their boundless potential. Two buzzwords in particular, “mindset” and “grit,” are used to discuss these...
read moreSmart Dog
“Poodles are difficult to train as guide dogs, they’re too smart.” So said the elderly blind gentleman who was holding the leash of a black standard poodle guide dog named Espresso. I had just crossed the street to meet Espresso – that’s what poodle people do – we...
read moreHyper Attention Activity Deficit
I just renamed ADHD. I now think of this existence (note, I avoided the dreaded word, disorder) as HYPER ATTENTION ACTIVITY DEFICIT. I’ve been thinking about the term ADHD for a long time. It implies that the affected person cannot pay attention. But for a long time...
read moreScreen Time = Scream Time
It amazes me when people purposely purchase cars with DVD players installed. Talk about a bad trip…a bad road trip. Particularly for gifted and distractible kids, after cajoling, begging and prying them off of what we call in our home, “electronics,” they are...
read moreGiftedness and Emotional Intensity
We went to see puppies the other day, a litter of 11 standard poodles. I warned my highly gifted, emotionally intense and fiercely loyal son that he was likely to make an immediate attachment to one particular puppy but that there were 5 of us in the family and we...
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