Writing or composition is one of the most difficult tasks children with developmental problems can do, especially those with Language Learning problems. Several  of my students have this problem, with grades in the Language subject bordering on the failing status. Why does this happen? Read here.

Yes, some of them have difficulty understanding the grammar rules or the syntax. The fact that they have difficulties understanding some of the finer skills in language like pragmatics and semantics, writing seems not a priority.

Many times this has happened to several of my students, they are able to explain in detail what was asked of them. But when they were asked to write down what they have just explained, they look blankly at me and ask: “What am I going to write?” When I tell them to write what they have just said, they really have that blank look on their faces like I have said something foreign to them.

Writing is a complex task and there are several ways to do this, to teach this:

• Plan what to write. making a graphic organizer or writing down key words and concepts would be a great help.

• Be sure that basic grammar rules, particularly subject-verb agreement is understood. Sometimes children can do this in drills but can not apply what has been learned in writing.

• Write in drafts so that corrections are easier to spot.

• Clear rules for what needs to be revised should be made known. It is also important to explain why the revisions need to be done.

There are many ways to encourage children to write and here are some suggestions:

• writing down a telephone message.

• Writing ideas, thoughts, dreams, quotations heard,movie or TV lines heard and even writing down information like phone numbers and addresses are just some examples.

• Writing down instructions like when to take the medicine and how to operate something.

continue reading this entry »

Dear readers of my Special Education posts, especially those who read about my special education topics (personal and close virtual friends not included):

You write comments in my posts, asking for help. I email you back, most of these were privately sent. Sometimes I answer immediately, sometimes I reply belatedly. This depends upon the availability of time I got.

You ask for these things and these are my replies:

• Therapy centers and services, and if possible somewhere near your areas. I do not readily give the contact number of the center I work for because that might be like fishing for clients. I even give numbers of centers where you can be most conveniently given services.

• Advice on how to deal with your children or for families that you know of have developmental problems with their children. I give these based on my experiences with my students. Children are dealt with differently, depending on their levels of understanding and behavioral issues. How I dealt with my students may not work with the difficulties that you are facing.

• You even give me your contact numbers, emails, home phones, mobile phones. More often, I do not publish these comments with your personal information. If I do, I remove your private and personal information details.

• You even ask where you can go for doctors or other professional who can help. I can only give the names of doctors that I am familiar with. Your preference is up to you.

• In all of these things, I feel great that I was able to help you. I do not ask for any monetary contributions nor public acknowledgments, in return I hope you tell me what has happened or what had not happened, that you somehow give me feedback when I ask you how is everything after you made the inquiry and after I have answered your questions.

That is all I ask and I hope its not too much.

Sit.

One of the first things children need to do before they are ready to do some learning.

Sit.

One of the precursors in determining the attention span of a child.

Of course,not because a child is sitting down does not mean that the child is ready to learn.

For children with language processing problems, this is how to tell them to sit down. Not “Come sit here on the red chair.” or “I need you to sit now so we can start our lesson.” Chances are they will not be able to grasp if the message was about coming, sitting, the red chair, the starting, the lesson.

Why do children need to learn how to sit?

They sit when they eat. They sit when they do table top activities. They sit when they need to have a haircut. They sit in church. They sit when they are traveling. They sit when they wait for their turn at the doctor’ clinic. They sit when they watch tv and play with their computer games.

On the other hand, sitting does not mean that there is learning happening. There are those who just sit and not squirm but are not really learning anything.

Some children learn better when they are on the move.

Those schools that have the “Sit-down-and-listen-to-the-teacher” method should be avoided, if there are other alternative school. Children are active individuals and they won’t sit still for a long time. It is important to alternate both movements and table-top activities for them.

Click these Symptoms of ADHD and What to do if you Suspect Your Child has a Learning Disability?

This article, A Letter to My Grandmother by Dale S. Brown describes what she went through when she was growing up.

Another wonderful read: Beware the Sitting Trap.

The world is abuzz with the news about Michael Phelps. He who won eight (Beijing) Olympic gold medals in swimming, surpassing and breaking the record of Mark Spitz who had 7 gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics. All in all, he has 14 gold medals, the most any Olympian has ever won.

Need I mention that the predicted fortune the eight gold medals will bring him would be close to $100 million due to product endorsements?

As everybody knows by now, he has ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

So what so special about having ADHD and how does it relate to him winning a lot of gold and breaking world records?

It is NOT just having the ADHD that helped him win these, as the theme of the news reports reporting on this interesting aspect about him. It was a lot more.

His mother, Debbie Phelps was a middle school principal did her best to help her son: “I believe that appropriate treatment, including behavioral therapy and medication, can benefit children and adolescents with ADHD.” Click here to read more.

She was quoted here to have describing Michael as:

“He never sat still. He never shut up; he would never stop asking questions,” his mom says. “He just wanted to go from one thing to another.”

Debbie Phelps is a big help in developing Michael and his skills. She even wrote an article with tips on how to help manage a child with ADHD: Back to School: Help Your Child with ADHD Succeed In and Out of the Classroom.

Michael was diagnosed with ADHD and was on Ritalin until he reached 11 years old. He used to be angered easily when he losses. He focused instead, on winning, on getting his hand on the wall before anybody else does. Click here to read the article.

On dry land, Michael Phelps is said to be unsure of his footing. He even injured his wrist when he had a fall. He was hyperflexible on land, characteristic of those with ADHD who manages to trip on their own feet. Click here to read about the incredible prediction of Michael Phelp’s future victories when he was just 11 years old, written in a 2004 article.

So what does this post of mine have to do with sports and having ADHD?

continue reading this entry »

Money is always an issue when it comes to getting specialized intervention services or therapy services for special needs students here in the Philippines.

Here are the reasons why:

• For children diagnosed as having special needs, the government does not provide for, as far as I know, individualized instruction, after-school tutorial services and client-specific special education services in the schools.
• There are ( a lot) public schools that offer special education services but these are not as intensive as should be. Why? Simply because there is no budget that would allow the services to happen. Things like teacher trainings and materials require some costs.

Here is an example of how it happens with those in the rural areas. You will probably feel a pinch when you read this.

Yes, there are instances when it is the teacher who does these things and more, usually from her heart and good intentions but without compensation.

• Other therapy services like speech and language, occupational and even physical therapy services are not readily available for free in the government-run hospitals. Patients have to pay for a minimal fee but they have to be placed in a waiting list or are being given intervention in groups. There may be some hospitals that provide these services utilizing the students earning their degrees, but again, these are not enough to accommodate those who are in need of these services. Some of these hospitals are the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and the Philippine General Hospital, these are just what I know of. The Veterans’ Memorial Medical Center offers speech therapy too but the fee is not as low as the two hospitals. If I missed a hospital, please feel free to let me know.

• To even realize that it is only the University of the Philippines in Manila that offers the course of Speech and Language Pathology shows how much these professionals are in demand. I wouldn’t even want to think how many of them are still here since a lot has gone abroad already.

• Getting into a special education program is NOT ENOUGH to help children diagnosed as having developmental problems.

Why?

continue reading this entry »

I used to dream of being a journalist when I was in high school. One of the things I loved to do when I was still a student was writing research papers and essays. Going to the library and finding the books that will give me the ideas on what to write about in my research papers is both a joy and a wonder to me. I remember borrowing heavy books to bring home and reading about the topics that interest me all through the night. These times happened before the internet was finally introduced to the country and researching data and information for research paper topics has to be done manually. This was an advantage for me, because it not only taught me to be patient but it taught me to develop ,y own ideas instead of doing the “copy and paste” mentality.

During high school, I have written essays on different topics which eventually had me win some awards. I have read different sample research papers to be able to get tips on how to express my ideas better and polish my writing style which I was just beginning to develop. These aspirations were brief though because I was disappointed when a piece I wrote did not win, not even recognized, even if I know I did my very best and poured out all my thoughts when I wrote the piece. Later on, I realized that those who judged the journalistic (master)pieces we submitted were teachers employed by the state and it was possible that they found my passionate writing offensive. Did I feel negative that I didn’t win? Yes but I also felt good that I was able to express my ideas freely, even if people did not find it worth recognizing.