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Parenting a child, especially a child with special needs can be challenging for most individuals. In my previous two articles, “Being the Parent of a Child with Developmental Disabilities” and “Being the Parent of a Child with Developmental Disabilities – Part 2″, I discuss some of the things you can reasonably expect but may not be aware of when you have a special needs child. During the difficult times, it can get a little frustrating, however, when this happens, you might just want to ‘scream silently’. Here are a few examples of when this might occur:

1. You sit down with a new doctor or therapist and you hear those famous words for the umpteenth time, “Can you tell me your child’s medical history?” (You and your spouse give each other that ‘here we go again’ look — should you go through all 500 pages or give them the Cliff Notes version?). Scream silently…
2. You find out your child has food allergies and your dietician points out that one of the main foods you can feed him is sea bass (“What was that the cashier just said, $27 per pound?”). Scream silently…
3. You take 30 minutes to feed your child a meal made from sea bass and you hear one gag, then another and yes, next up comes about $6 worth of sea bass (sigh another clean up, thank goodness for hardwood floors). Scream silently…
4. You find out your child is allergic to milk and your dietician recommends cashew milk as an alternative (oh and by the way, did anyone mention they do not sell that in the stores, you have to make it from scratch). Scream silently…
5. You pay $270 for a pair of glasses for your child and he decides the lens and the frames make the best chewy toys (did someone say we need to replace them about every 2-3 months as he grows and his eyes develop, or if he chews on them until it is virtually impossible to see out of them?). Scream silently…
6. You purchase a nice new cabinet for your TV and your child decides that a layer of bite marks across it adds a nice finishing touch to the design (he also figures the door frame to the patio door and the window sills could do with one too). Scream silently…

There are many branches of psychology that suggest ways to change human behavior. The ADD/ADHD community generally follows the idea of rewarding desirable behavior and either ignoring and/or presenting consequences for undesirable behavior. Again, you know your child best. Some kids take well to praise while others seem react well by avoiding consequences at all costs. I will present you with a list of some ways to reward, ignore, and create consequences. Try them to see which work best for your child.

Rewards:

· Reward your child with verbal praise, hugs and kisses, or some quality time with someone or doing something instead of material objects.

· Change rewards as often as you can. ADD/ADHD kids will react well to the stimulation of a variety of rewards.

· Since many ADD kids are impulsive, make sure that rewards are immediate rather than delayed.

· Reward your child with something that is meaningful to him (i.e. extra time playing with Dad at night, extra video game time).

Consequences/Ignoring:

· Your child should know the potential consequences in advance so that he or she isn’t surprised when the consequence is delivered. This could prevent a potential meltdown.

· Know your child’s ‘triggers’. Don’t hand out a consequence that will devastate your child.

· Have your ADD/ADHD child verbalize what he or she did wrong and what he or she plans on doing in the future to avoid being in this position again.

The best way to incorporate these ideas is to create ADD/ADHD behavior contracts.

Educators often become frustrated by the lack of specialized services that are available for students in their classroom that suffer from dyslexia, a learning disability that chiefly affects the sufferers ability to read, write, and spell. Students with this condition often require special tutoring and teaching above and beyond any special education classes that they might attend. Being unable to spell correctly prevents the student from being able to express themselves fully, which can extend across the spectrum and cause long term problems. Children are typically only taught spelling as part of a language arts curriculum in the early grades, and generally only in the perspective of learning to read. Children who suffer from dyslexia, on the other hand, need a much more wide-ranging and broad spelling support that continues well after the time that they learn to read, and even past their tenure in special education classes.

Improving Learning Environment for Teaching Dyslexia

An important component in teaching the dyslexic child includes specialized instruction across the curriculum and throughout many grade levels. Identifying the dyslexic child early on may be fundamental to overcoming the ill effects of the condition. Spelling and phonics instruction must begin in the formative years of elementary school and continue throughout their educational years, particularly in areas of the curriculum where reading is essential to their success. Dyslexic children should always be seated near the teacher’s desk and the chalkboard, and should be kept from distractions as much as possible. The dyslexic child has an elevated difficulty focusing on the teacher when there is background noise and other distractions, in a much more pronounced way than the typical student.

Curriculum Needs

For a dyslexic student to succeed, curriculum needs must be given staunch consideration from day one, including:

· Explicit phonics instruction in both reading and spelling lessons. Children who suffer from dyslexia must learn to identify sounds and patterns among letters, especially where reading and spelling are fundamental to mastering a concept.

· Multi-sensory lessons where viable. Incorporating lessons that require the use of multiple senses other than visual cues, including sound and touch, or even smell and taste in more creative lessons.

· Focus on individual sounds and letters in spelling curriculum, mastering one before moving to the next. For example, focus totally on the letter “d” before proceeding to the oftentimes confused “b”. Never teach confusing letters or letters with similar lines at the same time.