School Psychology in the 21st Century

Great reminders!  

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"And therein lies the problem: how can we help our children (and our spouses, friends and co-workers) achieve their goals without undermining their sense of personal accountability and motivation to achieve them?

The answer, research suggests, is that our help has to be responsive to the recipient’s circumstances: it must balance their need for support with their need for competence. We should restrain our urge to help unless the recipient truly needs it, and even then, we should calibrate it to complement rather than substitute for the recipient’s efforts."

One of my favorite mantras:  "Accept what's messed up and change how you are looking at it!"

new blog entry..........

A great article discussing the pros and cons of a "Young Fives" program prior to kindergarten.   

"the dyslexic brain, which processes information in a unique way, may impart particular strengths. Studies using cognitive testing and functional M.R.I.’s have demonstrated exceptional three-dimensional and spatial reasoning among dyslexic individuals, which may account for the many successful dyslexic engineers. Similar studies have shown increased creativity and big-picture thinking (or “gist-detection”) in dyslexics, which correlates with the surprising number of dyslexic entrepreneurs, novelists and filmmakers."

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I believe that scientific evidence and social observation will continue to show that defining dyslexia based solely on its weaknesses is inaccurate and unjust, and places too grim a burden on young people receiving the diagnosis."

Great article to wake up to.  Indeed, the strengths have ALWAYS been there.  The problem is, people with testing kits tend to use a form of confirmation bias by focusing on the weaknesses and building programs around "filling the gap".  These programs essentially point out the obvious to the child several times per hour .  How does one deal with having their weaknesses given the spotlight for years on end?  Who can do that?  How can they do that?  We continue to fill our rooms for "emotionally impaired" students who cannot read or write, wondering how to unpeel the layers after 10 years of toxic environments.  

We create toxic environments for these creative children when we do not identify and enthusiastically support their strengths.  

Most people who are good at divided attention COME trained for distractions.

13 apps perfect for students with special needs.  

Blog Viewer - National Association of School Psychologists

I have struggled with understanding ADHD for decades.  

On one hand, I feel young children with driven, physical behavior; lack of  impulse control and minimal  "mindfulness" are at serious risk for other mental health issues.  I also worry about life-quality risks because of the sheer number of times people have to intervene, redirect and often "punish".  I've witnessed, first-hand, how medication can decrease all of that to a very large degree.  

Still, I've also witnessed first hand how all of this can change over time.  Impulse control and  mindfulness can increase; the physically driven behavior can decrease.  

It is a conundrum.  Medication may increase things that are good for the child and decrease the things that are not so good for the child.  But at what cost?  It truly can change 'who they are'. There is a cost.  

Loving relationships that are tolerant and non-punitive will go a long way toward teaching the child skills they currently lack.  

It is important that they emerge in adolescence still able to like the person in the mirror.