Root causes
Get basic information on ADHD and learning disabilities like dyslexia, dyscalculia, written expression disorder, and other learning differences.
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Tips and strategies
- Quick tipGet rid of distractions.
Make it easier to “hear” directions by limiting distractions. If possible, find a space that’s away from a lot of noise, movement, or clutter.
- Quick tipBe an ally.
Even if you’re frustrated, try to offer support. Say, “If you’re not sure about what I said or what I meant, I’m happy to explain.”
- Quick tipRepeat directions.
If you’re giving cleanup directions, expect to say them more than once. People with ADHD often need reminders to stay on track. Phones are a great tool: Jot down steps in a note, use alarms to get started, or try an organization app.
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Identifying your child’s behavior triggers
Do your child’s outbursts seem to come out of nowhere? Learn what details to look for to help you spot patterns and identify your child’s triggers.
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- ADHD and seasonal affective disorder
- Understanding evaluation results and next steps
- What is AuDHD?
- Through My Eyes
- What causes left-right confusion?
- Understanding sequential memory: Challenges and strategies for support
- ADHD medication may not work. Then what?
- Understanding impulsivity in kids
- ADHD burnout
- Dyscalculia fact sheet
- Dyslexia fact sheet
- ADHD fact sheet
- I’ve heard that autism and ADHD are related. Is that true?
- What is executive function?
- Download: Log to find out why your child gets frustrated
- Download: Anxiety log to find out why your child gets anxious
- What is a functional behavioral assessment (FBA)?
- What is ADHD?
- Why doesn’t dyslexia go away after proper reading instruction?
- Can dyslexia cause headaches in kids?
- Why some kids don’t listen
- Understanding why kids have trouble managing emotions
- The difference between ADHD and executive function challenges
- A day in the life of a child with ADHD
- Why some kids get overexcited
- ADHD and the brain
- My son behaves at school but melts down at home — I found out why
- The challenges of twice-exceptional kids
- A day in the life of a child who struggles with flexible thinking
- Sensory seeking and sensory avoiding: What you need to know
- How to handle a misdiagnosis
- Can I get an fMRI scan to show that my daughter has dyslexia?
- Is dyspraxia a learning disability?
- Do kids outgrow dyspraxia?
- Why some kids talk nonstop
- Are dyspraxia and DCD the same thing?
- How ADHD can affect your sleep
- Who can diagnose learning and thinking differences in adults?
- Why kids have trouble understanding or remembering what they read
- Why is my third grader suddenly having trouble reading?
- Is ADHD a learning disability?
- What’s the difference between “specific learning disability” and “learning disability”?
- Does exposure to fluoride cause ADHD?
- Is there a “cure” for learning and thinking differences?
- What’s the difference between learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities?
- Is autism a learning disability?
- Is premature birth linked to learning and thinking differences?
- Why does my 7-year-old still wet the bed?
- Learning and thinking differences that cause trouble with math
- “If my kid is so smart, why is he so slow?”
- Written expression disorder fact sheet
- How ADHD affects sleep — and what you can do to help
- ADHD and sensory overload
- Understanding dyslexia in your child
- A day in the life of a child with dyslexia
- Video: Inside a dyslexia evaluation
- Interoception and sensory processing challenges
- A day in the life of a child with sensory processing challenges
- What causes trouble with self-control?
- Video: Dyslexia and the brain
- Is it ADHD or a sleep disorder?
- 6 steps to take after your child is diagnosed with ADHD
- “Is ADHD real?” What experts say when people doubt ADHD
- Understanding dyscalculia in your child
- Trouble with executive function at different ages
- The connection between slow processing speed and executive function
- Executive function issues: Possible causes
- Independent educational evaluations (IEEs): What you need to know
- What are nonverbal learning disabilities?
- 5 ways executive function challenges can impact reading
- 5 ways executive function challenges can impact math
- How dyslexia affects speech
- Conversation starters for pediatricians to use with families whose kids are struggling
- Do I have ADHD?
- Types of reading disabilities
- 6 benefits of having your child evaluated
- Learning about evaluations
- Requesting an evaluation
- The difference between ADD and ADHD
- What are learning disabilities?
- Is ADHD hereditary?
- Understanding executive function challenges in your child
- 6 things I wish I’d known sooner about my son’s anxiety
- Understanding ADHD in your child
- ADHD and trouble with personal boundaries in kids
- What are ADHD rating scales?
- ADHD and related behaviors
- Large-scale MRI study confirms ADHD brain differences
- What is visual-spatial processing?
- Learning and thinking differences that cause trouble with spelling
- ADHD and creativity
- ADHD and eating disorders
- How ADHD is diagnosed in adults
- Moving past the guilt of “giving” my son ADHD
- What is dyscalculia?
- A day in the life of a teen with dyscalculia
- Understanding written expression disorder in your child
- A day in the life of a child with written expression disorder
- What is written expression disorder?
- My late ADHD diagnosis gave me the freedom to stop explaining myself
- Understanding behavior as communication: A teacher’s guide
- ADHD explained: A 28-minute primer
- What causes ADHD
- ADHD in girls
- ADHD in boys
- 8 things that go into an ADHD evaluation for a child
- Signs and symptoms of ADHD in adults
- 8 common myths about ADHD
- Private vs. school evaluations: Pros and cons
- How to help kids learn left from right
- How to stop procrastinating
- ADHD and menopause
- How to focus with ADHD
- What is dyslexia?
- Dyslexia signs in adults
- Is ADHD a mental illness?
- The difference between learning disorder and learning disability
- The difference between dyspraxia and dysgraphia
- Year by year: Early intervention, early screening, and special education evaluation
- Understanding developmental coordination disorder (DCD)
- I think my child has receptive language disorder. Now what?
- Trouble getting work done is real. Executive function challenges may be the culprit.
- Language disorder fact sheet
- Understanding receptive language disorder in your child
- Understanding expressive language disorder in your child
- What are language disorders?
- A day in the life of a child with receptive language disorder
- A day in the life of a child with expressive language disorder
- What is receptive language disorder?
- What is expressive language disorder?
- What your child’s anger might be telling you
- What is autism?
- I just found out my child has slow processing speed. Now what?
- 7 steps to getting a private evaluation for your child
- What is dyspraxia?
- What’s the difference between sluggish cognitive tempo and slow processing speed?
- All about twice-exceptional students
- Does processing speed vary from task to task?
- How doctors test for ADHD in adults
- Messy handwriting in kids: What you need to know
- What is sensory overload?
- 8 common myths about sensory processing challenges
- I think my child has sensory processing challenges. Now what?
- How kids use executive functions to learn
- 4 ways kids use self-monitoring to learn
- What is social communication disorder?
- Types of behavior assessments
- 5 common myths about dyspraxia
- What is auditory processing disorder?
- Everyday challenges for people who struggle with executive function
- Pediatric neuropsychologists: What you need to know
- 6 ways kids use flexible thinking to learn
- How I explain the relationship between ADHD and executive function challenges
- What is math anxiety?
- Preparing for an evaluation
- 4 ways lack of sleep affects how kids learn
- 6 common fears for kids who learn and think differently
- Stress and kids who learn and think differently
- What are developmental delays?
- What are gross motor skills?
- What is self-control?
- Learning and thinking differences that cause trouble with time management
- Sensory processing challenges fact sheet
- Motor planning: What you need to know
- What is slow processing speed?
- Heavy work and sensory processing challenges: What you need to know
- Understanding why kids struggle with reading
- What are learning and thinking differences?
- 4 ways sensory challenges impact movement
- Slow processing speed fact sheet
- Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) fact sheet
- What are fine motor skills?
- Why some kids get stomachaches before school
- Video: Dyscalculia, dyslexia, and genetics
- Why some kids struggle with math word problems
- Why kids struggle with movement and coordination
- Understanding hyperactivity
- Video: Why do ADHD and dyslexia co-occur so often?
- Video: How a diagnosis in adulthood changed one woman’s perspective
- 4 reasons kids get anxious about reading — and how to help
- What is working memory?
- Sensory processing challenges and anxiety
- A day in the life of a child with executive function challenges
- Video: Should I get my child evaluated? Advice from a mom (and expert)
- Video: Executive function and the brain
- Homework anxiety: Why it happens and how to help
- A day in the life of a child with slow processing speed
- Why do kids fidget?
- Why kids struggle with estimating quantities
- Understanding why kids struggle with math
- Learning and thinking differences fact sheet