As humans, we naturally like to move and use our hands! Do you ever notice yourself moving a part of your body (shaking your leg, biting your lip, playing with your fingers, touching your hair) or touching something in your environment (a soft couch, the tv remote, a cup, a fidget toy, a blanket, your phone). We also like to …
Research-Based Program ‘Read Naturally’ Leads to Significant Improvements in Fluency and Comprehension
Read Naturally is meant to be used as a supplement to your child’s reading curriculum. It aims to improve reading fluency, accuracy, and comprehension of students in elementary school through adulthood. Research studies on Read Naturally indicate that students who progress through the program make significant gains in reading comprehension and oral reading fluency. Read Naturally uses a combination of …
What is an IEP and How Do You Know if Your Child Needs One for School?
Intro Are you wondering if your child needs special education services or an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or how children obtain an IEP? In order to qualify for an IEP, your child needs to receive an evaluation in school (or at home if your child has not started school yet or attends homeschool or cyber school). Depending on your child’s …
21 School Accommodations Available for Children with Special Needs
*This article pertains to U.S. public schools. If your child attends private school or school outside of the U.S., talk to the school team to find out which accommodations they are able to provide. Parents may not always know what accommodations or modifications are available to their child with special needs in school. This article provides that knowledge, along with …
Orton-Gillingham-An Instructional Approach to Teaching Students with Dyslexia
Orton-Gillingham is an instructional approach mainly intended for use with individuals who have difficulty with reading, spelling, and writing associated with dyslexia. Dyslexia makes it difficult for a person to connect sounds to letters and/or blend combinations of letters quickly and fluently in reading. Dyslexia can effect phonemic awareness, the ability to hear and separate the smallest sounds in a word, which can …
Learning Disabilities: What Are the Signs & What Can You Do? (With Interactive Checklist)
What is a Learning Disability? A learning disability interferes with one’s ability to receive, process, recall, or communicate information. Learning disabilities can primarily affect an individual in the areas of reading, writing, math, speaking, and listening. Focus, reasoning, memory, coordination, social skills, and behavior may also be impacted as a result of a learning disability. Research shows that students who …
Is Labeling Children Good or Bad? The View of a School Psychologist
I am a school psychologist. My main job is to evaluate students to see if they are eligible for special education. In order for a child to be eligible they have to meet criteria for one of 14 disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). If they do not meet criteria for at least one of these …
What Can You Do if Your Child is Having Persistent Problems in School? (Tips for Parents)
The contents in this article refer to public schools in the United States. If your child attends private school or school outside of the United States, speak to your child’s school to find out if their policies for addressing the matters discussed in this article are the same or different. When Would You Request an Evaluation by a School Psychologist? …
Top 10 Tips to Get the Most from Your Child’s IEP
Published in Autism File Magazine Aug-Sept 2014 Issue 57-Republished with Permission When I first thought about the content of this article, I thought, well, this will be easy, I will just tell parents what I have found to be the key steps to take at Individual Education Program (IEP) meetings. After all, I just wrote a book that shows the reader, …
How to Use the Visualizing and Verbalizing Strategy to Improve Reading Comprehension
Visualizing and Verbalizing (V/V) is a research-based reading strategy for parents and educators to utilize with children (or adults) who have trouble with reading comprehension. Visualizing and Verbalizing was created by Nanci Bell, an expert in the treatment of language and literacy disorders. Many readers can read words and have a developed vocabulary, but still struggle to comprehend sentences or …