Break Time or Learning Time?

Fun Holiday Family Activities for Kids

Is it best to let my children take the whole holiday season off from learning? Bonnie Terry, America’s Leading Learning Specialist is on FOX Morning News sharing her insights and activities with you.

There is a simple answer to that no, but what you can do are some fun activities that will create family memories as well as build skills: memory skills, factual knowledge skills, and ultimately improve reading comprehension skills when your children go back to school.

The longer you let your children take a break from learning skills the longer it will take them to get back into the ‘groove’ of learning. I think you know exactly what I mean by taking awhile to get back in the groove – we’ve all been there before. It is always difficult to get back in the swing of things after a holiday break. So, I suggest doing at least 3 family activities that will promote fun family time as well as learning. And you know as well as I do that holiday time is the perfect time for family activities. Your children are primed for that extra family time and they know it is only a few weeks and they will be back at school. It’s different than looking at several months off during the summer.

Fun Holiday Family Activities for Kids

Watch the interview on FOX Morning News where Leading Learning Specialist Bonnie Terry shares both indoor and outdoor family activities for kids that your family will enjoy.

Family Activity Book…

I recall so many wonderful activities my family did when I was growing up: ice skating, seeing the Christmas lights, visits to my grandparents or Aunt and Uncle’s house, trips to the Art Institute or the Field Museum in Chicago, and of course baking those delicious spritz cookies! My children recall many of our family holiday activities in the Sacramento area. We did go ice skating in downtown Sacramento- they set up an ice rink downtown. We also went to the Crocker Art Gallery and the Railroad Museum; we made lots of Christmas crafts and collages, and of course we baked and decorated those same spritz cookies my mom had taught us to bake. I can even smell them now. So, my Christmas gift to you is the BT Family Activity Book where there are over 80 fun family activities in 7 different categories.

1. Weekly Trips
2. Nature Activities
3. Outdoor Activities
4. Do at Home Activities
5. Recommended Games
6. Recommended Books According to Grade Level
7. Award Winning Books

You can download it here: BT Family Activity Book

The Ultimate Must  Do to Make Your Holiday Family Activities Count

And, remember to take that last step with your holiday family activities: create a family scrapbook or collage that covers the activities you did. That is where the true learning of the activities takes place. The scrapbook or collage can be kept from year to year and even added to over the years. When you go back and review those places you went to or activities you did, the memory system is enhanced which improves learning skills. Family activities are a great way to build learning skills.

What is ADD or ADHD?

Bonnie Terry, America’s Leading Learning Specialist is on FOX Morning News again, this time talking about attention deficit disorder often referred to as ADHD.

First off I have to say that ADHD isn’t a child’s fault. Attention Deficit Disorder is a brain disorder that causes youngsters to have trouble with concentration, ability to complete tasks, or plan for the future.  It affects 5% to 10% of the population. And there are 6 different types of ADD – not all ADD children or adults have the hyperactivity component.

6 Types of ADD or ADHD

Some experts such as Dr. Daniel Amen classify ADHD (attention deficit disorder) in 6 ways.

1. Classic ADD
2. Inattentive ADD
3. Over-focused ADD
4. Temporal Lobe ADD
5. Limbic ADD
6. Ring of Fire ADD

Other doctors classify ADD in these 3 ways:

1. Combined Type which is a combination of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
2. Hyperactive and Impulsive Type where children or adults are both hyperactive and impulsive but can pay attention.
3. Inattentive Type which used to be known as ADD. These children are not overly active. They don’t disrupt the classroom or other activities. This is the child or adult that may seem to stare off into space. They are usually compliant so you don’t even realize they have an attention deficit disorder. There symptoms are often not noticed in the classroom.

The important thing to note here is that no matter what type of ADD or ADHD children or adults have, they may not perform as consistently as peers who have no problems with focus and concentration.

 What are the common symptoms of ADD or ADHD?

1.    Attention span difficulties
2.    Distractibility
3.    Impulsivity
4.    Restlessness – fidgets or squirms in their seats
5.    Doesn’t seem to listen to instructions
6.    Have problems completing things

What are the Treatment options for ADD or ADHD?

First remember that attention deficit disorder, no matter what type, isn’t a child’s fault. It is no one’s fault and there are many things you can do to live well with it.
Treatment Options
1.    Diet
2.    Behavioral Therapy
3.    Supplements
4.    Medication
5.    Tutoring – Educational Support
6.    Improve Parenting Skills
I always say to try everything else first, but if you need medication you need medication. If your child needed eye glasses you wouldn’t deprive them. If they needed a hearing aid, you wouldn’t deprive them. So if you have done everything and still need medication, do it. But remember, medication is not used alone. You still need to work on behavior, classroom as well as home management – at home you will want to do short activities that build skills – that will help your ADHD child with the instruction that is often missed due to the inattention in the classroom.

What can you do at home to help your ADHD Child?

Additionally, things you can do at home are to provide short quick activities that will also improve your child’s skills. Hands-on games will also improve your child’s attention span. Some great ones are checkers, chess, playing cards – even fish or The Math Zone as well as board games like the Comprehension Zone, and The Sentence Zone.
There is a hands-on exercise – Brain Efficiency Exercise that you can do to help with listening skills. This easy exercise helps you to focus attention on hearing and relaxes tension in the cranial bones for clearer focus. It also improves your ability to focus on relevant information. We teach parents how to do this as well as other tips and tricks to help their ADD or ADHD child in our coaching program Awaken the Scholar Within.

Tips for Parents:

Parent Teacher Conferences

 
Getting the most out of parent teacher conferences with Board Certified Educational Therapist Bonnie Terry. She talks about how parents should prepare for parent teacher conferences to get the most out of the conference. When you prepare as a parent for parent teacher conferences you help set your child up for a better school year. Taking the time to prepare lets your child’s teacher know that you are an aware parent that is caring and concerned about your child whether they are doing great and making all a’s or if they are struggling. There are some specific things you can do to create a partnership feeling with the teacher so that your child has a terrific school year.

Parents Checklist for Parent Teacher Conferences:

Here is the quick down and dirty list of what you need to let the teacher know during parent teacher conferences:
1. if your child has allergies or frequent ear infections
2. if you suspect any learning problems
3. how much time it has been taking your child to do their homework
4. If your child is under a 504 or an IEP, give the teacher a copy of the 504 or IEP
5. show the teacher samples of homework-
i) an assignment that was very hard
ii) an assignment the really enjoyed doing

Parent Teacher Conferences Tip 1

What are some things you want to tell your child’s teacher during your parent teacher conferences that will help your child learn easier?
If your child has allergies, has frequent ear infections or had them in the past, if you suspect there might be a learning problem, and how much time it is taking your child to do their homework – whether it is done very quickly or it takes a long time is important. If your child is completing their work correctly and quickly they may not be challenged enough. If they are taking a long time there may be a learning problem hindering there ability to complete the work in a reasonable amount of time. Again, parent teacher conferences give you the parent the opportunity to have these kinds of discussions with your child’s teacher.

Parent Teacher Conferences Tip 2

Why do you need to tell the teacher if your child has allergies or has had or has frequent ear infections during your parent teacher conferences?
When your child has allergies or ear infections their ears are often plugged up and then they aren’t hearing the instruction as clearly as they should, so teachers need to be aware of that – teachers can check to be sure they understood the instruction. Your child may need preferential seating to help out with this too. If your child had frequent ear infections when they were in the primary grades they may have missed out on some critical instruction regarding reading such as phonics. Their ability to speak clearly, spell, and sound out words may have been compromised by the plugged up ears. Sometimes children even need speech therapy as well as tubes in their ears to correct the loss of instruction they had during this time.

Parent Teacher Conference Tip 3

Why is it important to tell the teacher how much time your child is spending on homework – does that have anything to do with a possible learning problem?

The time element will help the teacher to gage how your child does their work independently. The time element also is an indicator of possible learning problems as is whether your child likes reading or math – you can do an informal assessment with our Learning Disability Screening Tool to see if there might be an actual learning problem happening.

Parent Teacher Conferences Tip 4

What is a 504 and an IEP? Doesn’t the teacher already have a copy of your child’s 504 or IEP?

They are both legal documents to help your child. The 504 is done for accommodations or modifications within the classroom. An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan when your child needs additional help through a resource class or a special day class. Your child’s teacher typically knows if your child is under a 504 or an IEP, but that doesn’t mean they have had a chance to read it to see what is in it. Remember, these are both legal documents that need to be complied with, so when you had the teacher a copy during your parent teacher conferences it lets them know you are aware and it gives them easy access to the document. you do not want to create an adversarial relationship with your child’s teacher but you do want to ensure cooperation and a partnership with them. Parent teacher conferences are a perfect opportunity for you to set that relationship up for the rest of the school year.

Parent Teacher Conferences Tip 5

Why should you bring in some of your child’s homework to show the teacher during your parent teacher conferences?
Obviously your child’s teacher has seen their work before, but they don’t have your feedback then and they don’t see how your child is doing the work when they are not in a classroom situation. So, you want to bring in an assignment your child really enjoyed or found interesting as well as one that was very difficult so the teacher can get an idea of how your child is learning at home – when they are independently doing the work. When the teacher knows this, he or she can and usually does adjust their teaching accordingly. If a lot of students struggled on a particular type of assignment, they can re-teach the concept in a different manner. If your child is the only one or one of just a few, the teacher can make some slight changes for your child or those few to be sure they understand the concept.

Remember, you want to have separate folders for each of your children that contains work samples and the checklist of items you want to discuss when you go to their parent teacher conferences.

Does My Child Have a Learning Disability
 
or Learning Problem?

Bonnie Terry, recognized as America’s Leading Learning Specialist, explains the difference between a learning problem and a learning disability and then gives you several steps you can take to help your child improve their skills in just minutes a day on the FOX News Morning Show.

(There is more information on learning and how to improve learning skills below the video.)

What is the difference between a learning

disability and a learning problem?

 
The difference between a learning disability and a learning problem is how much the problem interferes with learning. It is the degree of the problem – and you can be gifted and have a problem and end up working harder than you need to. Homework time can be long and almost painful when there is something interfering with your learning. A learning disability is when you have a cluster of learning problems that impact learning. We actually find out the root cause of why you struggle.
 

What are some tell-tale signs of learning problems that may be part of a learning disability?

 
When a student takes too long to do their homework, when they don’t like reading or don’t like math – those are learning problems that may warrant looking at because there is a reason for it.  For example, children want to learn how to walk and talk – and even read early on, but when reading is hard, they decide they don’t like it – they don’t even know that it is hard – they just prefer not to do it. Same thing with math, when you don’t like math, it’s because something is interfering and making it harder than it needs to be. When you have a cluster of those learning problems, that’s when they become a learning disability.

Signs of Learning Problems:

Take too long to do their homework

Know they have an assignment but can’t remember what it is

Have trouble understanding directions

Doesn’t seem to work up to their abilities

Doesn’t like to read or struggles with reading

Doesn’t like math

Is there anything a parent can do to help their child improve their skills even if they have a learning disability?

 
Yes, there are several things parents can do to help their child with learning problems or a learning disability. For example, reading fluency, the ability to read smoothly with ease is necessary for reading success. Parents can do reading fluency training with their child very easily. We use our Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills for that. After spending five minutes improving their child’s reading fluency we suggest that you play games like the Comprehension Zone because it can be played for reading as well as listening comprehension. Finally, you can teach your child study skills – we do that with our Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills, and of course, read with your child.

We always hear that it’s important to read with your child – that just reading more will help – is there a special way to do that that will make a bigger difference?
 
Reading to your child and with your child is vitally important to reading success but the next step is even more critical. The next step is to ask the right questions after reading. You can actually even just read a few paragraphs or a few pages and then ask the usual suspects – the who, what, when, where, how, and why BUT then you need to ask about sizes, shapes, colors, scenery, movement, and mood. Those questions help one to visualize what you read or listened too. That’s when you get true comprehension – when you can picture what you have read or listened too.  You can have your child write those things down in the fill-in-the-blank graphic organizers that are found in our Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills too, because writing is the doing part of thinking.

Remember, with just a few minutes a day you can help your child with their learning skills even if they have a learning disability!

Back to School Tips with


Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Bonnie Terry, America’s Leading Learning Specialist, shares some of her favorite back to school tips on FOX News Morning Show.

Watch here for 3 of Bonnie Terry’s Back to School Tips:

1. Backpack Organization
2. Time Management
3. Secret Tools to Help with Homework: the dreaded word problems and writing assignments

(More tips under the video!)

Don’t forget to sign up for additional step-by-step homework tips to your right.

Back to School Tip 1:

The school year is about to start or has just started. Be sure to let your child know how excited you are about their new school year and that you know they will have a good experience with their new teacher. You may want to meet their new teacher either a few days before school starts or during the second week of school – just to introduce yourself. That effort will let the teacher know that you are an interested committed parent.

Back to School Tip 2:

If last year was a difficult year, your child had a hard time, let them know that you remember how rough it was, but that this is a new year and you want to help them to have a really great experience this year. Ask your child for their suggestions for what they think you might do to help them have a great year.

Back to School Tip 3:

Look at the newspaper ads together, plan what kinds of supplies they may need this year. Take a trip together to get school supplies – notebooks, book covers, pens, pencils, backpack, assignment book, etc. Think ahead of time about the different subjects your child has so you get different colored notebooks, book covers, and folders – one color per subject so that all of their math books & folders are one color, English books another etc. This will help your child keep track of their work and make finding the correct folder easier.

Back to School Tip 4:

Help your child organize their backpack by using color-coded folders and book covers – and you may want to check it the first few weeks to help them keep it organized.

Back to School Tip 5:

Help your child organize their study or homework area so they have the supplies they need in one place. Keep a container filled with the supplies they need. You also want an area that is free of clutter and distractions for them to work in. It can be a desk in their room, in the family room, or even at the kitchen table. You may also want to help them organize their desk (after school) if they have trouble with it on their own.


Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills includes planning calendars and school supply lists for different grade levels. The Writer’s Easy Reference Guide is the ultimate cheat sheet for any writing assignment and the BT Easy Math Guide is the ultimate cheat sheet for any math assignment whether it’s addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, word problems, fractions, decimals, or percents.
My last back to school tip is to remember to enjoy learning, learning should be engaging, interesting, and a bit challenging. For more homework tips, don’t forget to sign up for our 10 free homework tips at the top on the right (above my photo) and start your back to school time with a bang.

Back to School Teleseminar

Thursday August 18th: 5pm PST; 8pm EST

Join Bonnie Terry, M. Ed. BCET, America’s Leading Learning Expert for a Special Back to School Homework Help Tips teleseminar.

For the first time ever, Bonnie is opening up her private Awaken the Scholar Within Call to all parents. This is a one time opportunity to have your  homework help questions answered so that you can set your child up for a successful school year. We will be going over a variety of school tips as well as tips on homework help. You will also have an opportunity to ask your own questions.

Homework time doesn’t have to be difficult anymore!

When my children were in elementary school, my stomach would start to tie up in knots at the beginning of August. I started remembering all the homework hassles we had had the previous school year. I’m a parent too, and my kids were just like yours. They did not like homework.  Eventually I figured it out, how to make homework time a good part of family time. So what can you do to make homework time more pleasurable? Join parenting coach Susan Epstein and myself for our Back to School Homework Help Teleseminar this Thursday night!

Back to School Tips You Will Learn Include:

1. Tips on how to help your child organize their backpacks

 

2. Tips on setting up study space for easier homework time

 

3. Tips on managing homework time

 

FREE Teleseminar is this coming Thursday August 18th 5pm PST 6pm MST 7pm CST 8pm EST

Back to School Homework Help Teleseminar

Just enter in your name and email and you will be sent the call in information.

Game Time is Here…


Make Your Time Count


With Educational Games Part 2

Engaging in educational games to improve learning is a win-win situation because just the action of playing a game puts your body and mind into a more relaxed state. When you are in a relaxed state, it is easier to learn. Think about this, when you are scared or feel that something is hard, it is. Your mind usually becomes closed to the ideas. Your body tenses up. Sometimes your shoulders even rise. You become in a state of fight or flight rather than in a state of receptivity.
So, one of the best ways to improve learning skills is to do a learning activity that is fun and can be done in a relaxed environment. That is what playing educational games do.

How Do You Choose Educational Games?

When you are looking for educational games, think about the skill set you want to improve. For example if you want to improve sentence writing or grammar, you want to play educational games like The Sentence Zone. On the other hand, if you want to improve reading comprehension, the ability to comprehend and utilize the information you read, you will want a game that teaches you to find the main idea or details while you play. In this case you will want to play the educational games like The Comprehension Zone. Additionally, if your child needs extra practice with math calculation accuracy, The Math Zone is a perfect choice for you.

As you know, there are many educational games to choose from. Remember, you want to be sure the game is fun but will actually teach the skills your child needs extra practice with.

What Parents Have to Say About Educational Games, Specifically The Comprehension Zone

“I absolutely love games that teach. Game playing is more effective, in my opinion, as my kids tend to learn things they enjoy more quickly than things they dislike.” Lori S

“The Comprehension Zone holds the interest of my children. The long-term carry over is there. Every single solitary child improves his comprehension and his note taking and ability to condense things down into meaningful sentences. Every day we play The Comprehension Zone ends with fun and my children get to learn something without feeling like they are learning.” Marcia B

“The Comprehension Zone game has been an answer to prayer, a break-through for our child who has struggled with auditory comprehension for years. We began playing The Comprehension Zone often. The improvement was rapid and dramatic! By the end of the second time playing our child was able to play without my previous modifications and currently it is easy enough for him to pick out facts while listening and know he likes to try reading the card himself. We’ve tried things similar to this in the past, we’ve been focused on this problem for years, but The Comprehension Zone has been the first activity that has been successful.” Kimberly O

“The Comprehension Zone builds life-long skills for learning success. It carries over to all of their learning. I am so impressed. My children love playing and I love that they are learning at the same time!” Leslie K

“The Comprehension Zone game, it was fun playing but the results of playing were amazing. My son could finally pick out main ideas and details from what he read. He was excited because work that he struggled with was now easy. All from playing a game. Thanks Bonnie!” Karen M

Add The Comprehension Zone to your supply of educational games today and see your child’s reading and listening comprehension improve daily!

Game Time is Here…


Make Your Time Count


With Educational Games Part 1

Often during the school year we are so busy with school and homework and sports that we don’t either have the time to play educational games or take the time to play educational games. In fact, game playing often doesn’t enter your mind because life is just too busy. But, now it’s summer. It’s breathing time. It’s time to take a break from the routine. It’s the perfect time to play educational games.

Benefits of Educational Games

When you play games with others you learn how to get along with others. When you play games with others you learn from watching others take their turns and they learn from you taking your turn. That is what is called reciprocal teaching and reciprocal learning.

Now, what if you were to play that were educational games that taught specific skills? You would get even more benefit from educational games. You would have the opportunity to have fun and improve your skills at the same time. Your reading comprehension would improve, your writing skills and English grammar skills would improve. Even your math skills would improve. And, you would have fun with others at the same time. When you play educational games you also build learning skills.

All Educational Games Are Not Created Equal

There are many choices you have when choosing educational games. There are several very important things to consider when purchasing an educational game:

1.      Is the game fun

2.      Does it have real learning involved?

3.      What do families that have played it say about it?

“I like that The Sentence Zone can be used with any English program and does not require special equipment or supplies. The Sentence Zone is a good one and could benefit many students.”  Tina R

“Our family loves The Sentence Zone. As we were putting the game away, my children began brainstorming ideas for fun variations of it. They want to play it again with the silliest sentence receiving bonus points. They’d like to do a round where you must only use the cards on top of the deck. Another idea was to try and create the saddest sentence. There are so many ways you be creative with this game and learn while having fun. It’s a simple game but I’m impressed with how well it worked with my family.”  Lori S

“The Sentence Zone game is a relaxed, fun loving game that the family can and will enjoy. It is slow paced, so everyone can truly think their way through each level and have the enjoyment of success! After all, that is what the game is all about!” Mary P

See The Sentence Zone in action:  Children 1st through 4th grades and then 9th grade playing

Poetry Through the Colors

SAT Prep

Add The Sentence Zone game to your set of educational games today!

The following article was contributed by Jeremy Fordham

Long-Term Effects of ADHD Medication

Oftentimes when a child is diagnosed with ADHD doctors and parents alike are quick to prescribe  medication as a treatment. This is largely due to the fact that the effectiveness and safety of these medications are espoused by mental health professionals. Furthermore, medication is an easier and less time-consuming treatment than behavioral therapy or other forms of treatment for ADHD. However, as most parents who are making the treatment decisions for their children have not had the opportunity to attend Ph.D. programs in medicine, they are typically not versed enough in health care to know that there has been controversy about the long-term effects of ADHD medicine.

Most Common ADHD Medication

The most common ADHD medications children are prescribed are stimulant drugs, like Ritalin. Unfortunately, there are many different possible side effects that accompany ADHD stimulant medications, such as appetite suppression and erratic eating patterns, growth suppression, irritability when the medication is wearing off, headaches, stomach aches and facial tics. However for the most part ADHD medications are relatively safe; and if someone taking the drug does experience side effects from it, the dosage can be lowered or they can be prescribed a non-stimulant alternative.

It is generally agreed that ADHD drugs may help control symptoms and behavioral problems of some children with ADHD on a short-term basis. However as Eric J. Marsh and Russell A. Barkley point out in their book “Treatment of Childhood Disorders,” the long-term prognosis of individuals with ADHD who are treating their illness with medication is less clear. Similarly, it is also unknown what effect, if any, taking ADHD medications for extended period of time will have on a person’s health. What is known is that many patients eventually stop taking their medication after months or years of treatment. This could be due to unwanted side effects or the feeling that the medication is no longer helping to improve focus.

Ambiguous Nature of Long-term Effectiveness of ADHD Medication

Despite the seemingly ambiguous nature of the long-term effectiveness of ADHD medication, some mental health professionals argue that, on average, individuals receiving pharmaceutical treatment for ADHD do better than those without it. Yet there is one caveat: not all individuals respond to the ADHD medication that they are prescribed, and those who are good responders early on have a better long-term prognosis than those that have a hard time finding a medication that works for them.

Other mental health professionals question that point of view. A 2009 study showed that although ADHD medications were helping children with ADHD a year after therapy had begun, these same children were no different than the control group after eight years. Thus, the results of this study bring into question whether ADHD medications help on a long-term basis at all.

However one of the alternatives ADHD medication that has been proven to benefit children  on a long term basis is behavioral therapy. Likewise, certain lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet low in sugar and processed foods, getting enough sleep and exercising can also have a positive effect on ADHD symptoms.

Clearly it is very big decision to start a pharmaceutical regiment to treat a child’s ADHD. As such it is important for parents to keep in mind that ADHD medication is not a cure for ADHD and it may not even be effective in some individuals, whether they take it on a short- or long-term basis. While ADHD medication does help control ADHD symptoms in some patients and improve disruptive behavior and lack of focus in school, it is certainly not the only treatment option and others, such as behavioral therapy, may be worth exploring.

………………………

Bonnie Terry’s Additional Comments on ADHD Medication…

Remember, sometimes children as well as adults that have been diagnosed with ADHD also have other learning issues that can be magnify their ADHD. These are learning problems related to auditory, visual, and tactile/kinesthetic processing. There are 9 different areas of vision, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic processing that affect learning. Often when you address these processing areas the ADHD isn’t as problematic as it was to begin with. Again, you want to check out all avenues to make learning easier for your child. You don’t want to leave a stone unturned. Your child is priceless. To find out if there are other root causes interfering with your child’s learning, see our Learning Disability Screening Tool or give Bonnie Terry, M. Ed.,BCET a call for a 30 minute complimentary consultation (530) 888-7160.

Is It ADD or ADHD? Attention Deficit Disorder

The term ADD attention deficit disorder is a common one today as is ADHD. In fact it is so common because the incidence of attention deficit disorder in 2007 of 4 year- old’s to 17 year-old’s was 9.5%. That is almost 1 out of every 10 in a classroom.

As an adult it is rare that I am out socializing and another adult refers to their own ADD. This happens at the park, coffee shop, even on cruises.The actual term ADD is now considered the “old” term for Attention Deficit Disorder. It was generally used for those of us who have ADHD without the hyper activity component. ADHD was ADD with the hyper-activity. Nowadays the ‘proper term’ is ADHD with the specifics added. Remember, there are a variety of specific types of attention deficit problems. Each child will deal with the problems slightly differently because each child is unique.

The DSMIV Identifies and Defines ADHD

The DSM IV combined ADD and ADHD into one disorder with multiple parts. So now the proper terms are:

ADHD-HI (primarily hyperactive impulsive)
ADHD-I (primarily inattentive)
ADHD-C (combined)
ADHD-NOS (not otherwise specified) It is rare to be diagnosed with this type.

What Is Combined Type Attention Deficit Disorder?

A combined type of attention deficit disorder is someone who has all the diagnostic criteria for both the HI type and the I type.

The diagnostic criteria for HI type are very different than for I type. You can find the diagnostic criteria for each type by simply doing a google search for DSM IV and ADHD.

Important Points to Remember About ADHD

• Attention Deficit Disorder has been recognized as a disorder for over 150 years.
• ADHD has gone through over 50 name changes in those 150 years, some of those names were pretty nasty.
• It is likely that there will be more tweaking of the diagnosis when the next revised addition of the DSM IV comes out.
• This is due to the debate about the difference in people who are inattentive versus hyperactive.

Here are 9 of 18 common symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder

• Not following through with instructions.
• Not paying attention appropriately to what they need to attend to.
• Seeming not to listen.
• Being disorganized.
• Having poor handwriting.
• Missing details.
• Appearing to be easily distracted.
• Appearing fidgety.
• Being verbally impulsive.

For more information on the common symptoms:

Common Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder

Diagnosis of Attention Deficit or Is It a Learning Problem or Is It Both?

One other important point that has to be made is that a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder is not the ‘end of the world.’ In fact, there are many successful business persons with attention deficit disorder, so your child does have a lot going for them. In fact, there is much you can do at home to help your child. Additionally, there are often other issues that may compound the difficulties of attention deficit such as problems in one or more areas of visual, auditory, or tactile/kinesthetic processing. And, sometimes a child is misdiagnosed due to problems in so many areas of perception. when one are is overwhelmed, it shuts down. This ‘shutting down’ can be mistaken for inattention. Identifying and addressing the underlying causes of any of those problems will make coping with any of the types of attention deficit easier.

Family Activities to Improve Learning Skills

Other things you can do to help your child is to incorporate learning games into their learning. This is because when your child is playing a learning game it is appropriate to move around while they are learning. They are also learning skills of getting along with others, cooperating with others while playing. Some great games that are very successful with ADHD children that teach learning skills at the same time are The Sentence Zone, The Comprehension Zone, and The Math Zone.