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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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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All articles
- What is expressive language disorder?
- Understanding developmental coordination disorder (DCD)
- Understanding executive function challenges in your child
- Preparing for an evaluation
- Understanding written expression disorder in your child
- What are learning and thinking differences?
- Understanding dyscalculia in your child
- What is ADHD?
- ADHD and creativity
- Understanding dyslexia in your child
- Understanding expressive language disorder in your child
- Understanding receptive language disorder in your child
- Is ADHD hereditary?
- What is dyscalculia?
- Understanding ADHD in your child
- 6 steps to take after your child is diagnosed with ADHD
- What is autism?
- ADHD in girls
- Signs and symptoms of ADHD in adults
- Dyslexia signs in adults
- What causes ADHD
- What is executive function?
- What is dyslexia?
- Is premature birth linked to learning and thinking differences?
- Is autism a learning disability?
- What’s the difference between learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities?
- Is there a “cure” for learning and thinking differences?
- Does exposure to fluoride cause ADHD?
- I’ve heard that autism and ADHD are related. Is that true?
- Why is my third grader suddenly having trouble reading?
- What is math anxiety?
- My late ADHD diagnosis gave me the freedom to stop explaining myself
- 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
- 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)?
- 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
- Is ADHD a learning disability?
- What’s the difference between “specific learning disability” and “learning disability”?
- 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
- 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?
- “Is ADHD real?” What experts say when people doubt ADHD
- 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?
- 6 things I wish I’d known sooner about my son’s anxiety
- 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 eating disorders
- How ADHD is diagnosed in adults
- Moving past the guilt of “giving” my son ADHD
- A day in the life of a teen with dyscalculia
- A day in the life of a child with written expression disorder
- What is written expression disorder?
- Understanding behavior as communication: A teacher’s guide
- ADHD explained: A 28-minute primer
- ADHD in boys
- 8 things that go into an ADHD evaluation for a child
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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 your child’s anger might be telling you
- 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
- 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
- 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