Dr. Larry Silver’s Advice to Parents on ADHD

Every parent eagerly awaits the day his or her child will speak for the first time. For millions of mothers and fathers, however, anticipation turns to anxiety when those initial, all-important words are a long time coming. Many worried parents are reassured that their child is “just a late talker,” but unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Gary just can’t seem to fit in. He doesn’t have any friends, his school work is always sloppy, and his teachers endlessly criticize him. But Gary has a way to escape—he spaces out. Then one day Gary accidentally hurts someone, and now he’s being sent to a new school for kids with different learning styles. Will Gary finally be able to catch up and fit in, or will he remain the Spaceman forever?

Leo isn’t reading, or writing, or drawing, or even speaking, and his father is concerned. But Leo’s mother isn’t. She knows her son will do all those things, and more, when he’s ready.

The author lays out a clear vision of what responsive middle level teaching should be. This is a book for all reasons - help for the novice teacher, support for the mid-career teacher wanting to improve her craft, and inspiration and confirmation for the later-career teacher as well. Part I creates a culture of learning, leading to Part II and many specific ideas on promoting higher student achievement through innovative and accomplished practice. Part III cycles back to the middle school context - effective teams, teacher-student advisories, outdoor adventures, and working with parents.

In America today, 43 percent of our children fall below grade level in reading. In her meticulously researched and groundbreaking work, Diane McGuinness faults outmoded reading systems for this crisis — and provides the answers we need to give our children the reading skills they need. Drawing on twenty-five years of cutting-edge research, Dr. McGuinness presents bold new “phoneme awareness” programs that overcome the tremendous shortcomings of other systems by focusing on the crucial need to understand and hear reliably the sounds of a language before learning to read. Maintaining that any child can be taught to read fluently if given proper instruction, she dramatically reveals how dyslexia and behavior problems such as ADD stem not from neurological disorders but from flawed methods of reading instruction. With invaluable information on remedial reading programs that can correct various ineffective reading strategies, this book is a must for concerned parents, teachers, and others who want to make a difference.

The prevalence of learning disabilities has provoked both the growth of research into the field and the development of educational interventions to assist those with learning disabilities. This book’s aim is to present the current state of this research and intervention ideas and programs. It includes updated material on the 1997 re-authorization of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and expanded coverage of ADHD and its relationship to learning disabilities. This book presents the latest information on the characteristics of persons with learning disabilities, the causes of their problems, and educational interventions to help them succeed in school and at work. The book is research-based, user-friendly, and practical. 

*This text refers to the Hardcover edition.