The Mislabeled Child

An incredibly reassuring approach by two physicians who specialize in helping children overcome their difficulties in learning and succeeding in school For parents, teachers, and other professionals seeking practical guidance about ways to help children with learning problems, this book provides a comprehensive look at learning differences ranging from dyslexia to dysgraphia, to attention problems, to giftedness. In The Mislabeled Child, the authors describe how a proper understanding of a child's unique brain-based strengths can be used to overcome many different obstacles to learning. They show how children are often mislabeled with diagnoses that are too broad (ADHD, for instance) or are simply inaccurate. They also explain why medications are often not the best ways to help children who are struggling to learn. The authors guide readers through the morass of commonly used labels and treatments, offering specific suggestions that can be used to help children at school and at home. This book offers extremely empowering information for parents and professionals alike. The Mislabeled Child examines a full spectrum of learning disorders, from dyslexia to giftedness, clarifying the diagnoses and providing resources to help. The Eides explain how a learning disability encompasses more than a behavioral problem; it is also a brain dysfunction that should be treated differently.

An incredibly reassuring approach by two physicians who specialize in helping children overcome their difficulties in learning and succeeding in school For parents, teachers, and other professionals seeking practical guidance about ways to help children with learning problems, this book provides a comprehensive look at learning differences ranging from dyslexia to dysgraphia, to attention problems, to giftedness. In The Mislabeled Child, the authors describe how a proper understanding of a child's unique brain-based strengths can be used to overcome many different obstacles to learning. They show how children are often mislabeled with diagnoses that are too broad (ADHD, for instance) or are simply inaccurate. They also explain why medications are often not the best ways to help children who are struggling to learn. The authors guide readers through the morass of commonly used labels and treatments, offering specific suggestions that can be used to help children at school and at home. This book offers extremely empowering information for parents and professionals alike. The Mislabeled Child examines a full spectrum of learning disorders, from dyslexia to giftedness, clarifying the diagnoses and providing resources to help. The Eides explain how a learning disability encompasses more than a behavioral problem; it is also a brain dysfunction that should be treated differently.

This book, described by reviewers as “shocking” and “a masterpiece,” exposes the tragic tale of the millions of schoolchildren who are never taught basic skills in reading, writing, and math. With heart-wrenching stories of individual children from his own experience as an advocate and ground-breaking policy researcher, Kalman “Buzzy” Hettleman documents what can only be labeled educational abuse. It may be unintentional, but it is gross negligence because we know how to prevent it, yet fail do it. Many of the victims are “Mislabeled as Disabled.” Denied proper instruction, they fall behind in regular general education, overwhelm teachers, and hold back classmates. Out of desperation, school systems unlawfully “dump” such "Mislabeled as Disabled" students in special education, even though they do not have a true medical disability. Yet, unlike students with severe limitations who are “Truly Disabled,” the special education they receive is hardly special at all. They fall farther behind and suffer stigma and segregation. Moreover, school systems cover up this educational malpractice with misleading progress reports and data. The fact that a disproportionate number of “Mislabeled as Disabled” students are from poor and minority families is no excuse. Hettleman not only cites in detail the better instruction that will enable them to succeed; he spells out the kind of legislative and judicial civil right to learn to read that is required for reform. Hettleman also perceptively reveals how teachers, like children, are victimized by educational abuse. Dedicated frontline teachers are denied the instructional tools—the training, class sizes, and curricula—with which they can get the job done right. He concludes with a call to action by all of us. Parents, educators, policymakers, and entire communities should read this book, become enraged, and then take up the struggle for reform.

“One of the finest and most helpful books we have ever read . . . should be the first stop for any parent trying to help a struggling child.” —Brock Eide and Fernette Eide, authors of The Mislabeled Child Finally, a positive approach designed around your child’s traits and needs Many children do things that seem odd, troubling, or excessive at some point in their development, and our culture is quick to attach a label to every child who’s “outside the box” or hard to raise. Again and again, studies document the explosion in the number of children receiving psychiatric diagnoses for being intense, moody, or offbeat. In this groundbreaking book, childhood development expert Barbara Probst provides a new framework for identifying the specific traits—like rigidity, curiosity, perfectionism, intensity, slow tempo, a need for novelty, or a need for control—that lie at the root of your child’s challenging behavior. When the Labels Don’t Fit features a questionnaire for profiling your child’s temperament and more than sixty strategies for dealing with specific kinds of behavior. It’s the first comprehensive system that’s not based on figuring out what’s “wrong” with your child, but on helping you tap into your child’s strengths so you can manage, nurture, and enjoy his or her essential nature.

Do you find yourself constantly asking your child to "pick up the pace"? Does he or she seem to take longer than others to get stuff done--whether completing homework, responding when spoken to, or getting dressed and ready in the morning? Drs. Ellen Braaten and Brian Willoughby have worked with thousands of kids and teens who struggle with an area of cognitive functioning called "processing speed," and who are often mislabeled as lazy or unmotivated. Filled with vivid stories and examples, this crucial resource demystifies processing speed and shows how to help kids (ages 5 to 18) catch up in this key area of development. Helpful practical tools can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. Learn how to obtain needed support at school, what to expect from a professional evaluation, and how you can make daily routines more efficient--while promoting your child's social and emotional well-being.

A veteran clinical psychologist exposes why doctors, teachers, and parents incorrectly diagnose healthy American children with serious psychiatric conditions. In recent years there has been an alarming rise in the number of American children and youth assigned a mental health diagnosis. Current data from the Centers for Disease Control reveal a 41 percent increase in rates of ADHD diagnoses over the past decade and a forty-fold spike in bipolar disorder diagnoses. Similarly, diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, once considered, has increased by 78 percent since 2002. Dr. Enrico Gnaulati, a clinical psychologist specializing in childhood and adolescent therapy and assessment, has witnessed firsthand the push to diagnose these disorders in youngsters. Drawing both on his own clinical experience and on cutting-edge research, with Back to Normal he has written the definitive account of why our kids are being dramatically overdiagnosed—and how parents and professionals can distinguish between true psychiatric disorders and normal childhood reactions to stressful life situations. Gnaulati begins with the complex web of factors that have led to our current crisis. These include questionable education and training practices that cloud mental health professionals’ ability to distinguish normal from abnormal behavior in children, monetary incentives favoring prescriptions, check-list diagnosing, and high-stakes testing in schools. We’ve also developed an increasingly casual attitude about labeling kids and putting them on psychiatric drugs. So how do we differentiate between a child with, say, Asperger’s syndrome and a child who is simply introverted, brainy, and single-minded? As Gnaulati notes, many of the symptoms associated with these disorders are similar to everyday childhood behaviors. In the second half of the book Gnaulati tells detailed stories of wrongly diagnosed kids, providing parents and others with information about the developmental, temperamental, and environmentally driven symptoms that to a casual or untrained eye can mimic a psychiatric disorder. These stories also reveal how nonmedical interventions, whether in the therapist’s office or through changes made at home, can help children. Back to Normal reminds us of the normalcy of children’s seemingly abnormal behavior. It will give parents of struggling children hope, perspective, and direction. And it will make everyone who deals with children question the changes in our society that have contributed to the astonishing increase in childhood psychiatric diagnoses.

Aimed at parents, teachers or therapists, this book provides cost-effective and functional problem-solving tips to use with children who have sensory issues at home, school or in a community setting.

A groundbreaking parenting guidebook addressing the trait of “high sensitivity” in children, from the psychologist and bestselling author of The Highly Sensitive Person whose books have sold more than 1 million copies With the publication of The Highly Sensitive Person, pioneering psychotherapist Dr. Elaine Aron became the first person to identify the inborn trait of “high sensitivity” and to show how it affects the lives of those who possess it. In The Highly Sensitive Child, Dr. Aron shifts her focus to the 15 to 20 percent of children who are born highly sensitive—deeply reflective, sensitive to the subtle, and easily overwhelmed. These qualities can make for smart, conscientious, creative children, but also may result in shyness, fussiness, or acting out. As Dr. Aron shows in The Highly Sensitive Child, if your child seems overly inhibited, particular, or you worry that they may have a neurodevelopmental disorder, such as ADHD or autism, they may simply be highly sensitive. And raised with proper understanding and care, highly sensitive children can grow up to be happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults. Rooted in Dr. Aron’s years of experience working with highly sensitive children and their families, as well as in her original research on child temperament, The Highly Sensitive Child explores the challenges of raising an HSC; the four keys to successfully parenting an HSC; how to help HSCs thrive in a not-so-sensitive world; and how to make school and friendships enjoyable. With chapters addressing the needs of specific age groups, from newborns to teens, The Highly Sensitive Child is the ultimate resource for parents, teachers, and the sensitive children in their lives.