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Also see our Testing/Assessment section. What is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
Although, no two children with ADHD have the exact same cluster of symptoms, difficulties with attention, impulsivity, disorganization, and sometimes hyperactivity characterize the disorder. ADHD can be classified by three types: Primarily Inattentive Type, Primarily Hyperactive Type, and Combined Type.
Signs of inattention include not seeming to listen, trouble staying on tasks to completion, forgetting daily errands, misplacing things, and disorganization. Impulsivity, such as impatience or acting without thinking ahead, is often present. Hyperactivity or difficulty sitting calmly may be present, although, this is not necessary to have ADHD. Intelligence is unrelated to ADHD, although, the disorder does interfere with learning.
Counseling for ADHD
Although there is no cure for ADHD, there are ways to manage it. While medication can be beneficial for some, others prefer counseling to better understand the disorder and learn organizational, memory, and other coping skills.
For children and adolescents with ADHD, parents and teachers can learn strategies to curb the child’s difficult behaviors and help the child stay on track with homework, chores, etc. For older teenagers with ADHD, difficulties in organization, time-management, and planning make life stressful. Symptoms of the disorder can affect learning and homework organization and can impair relationships with peers, teachers, and family members. Problems in these areas sometimes relate to anxiety or depressed mood, as well. In counseling, teenagers and parents learn more about ADHD/ADD and in what types of social, work, or academic situations it may play a role. Kids learn and practice time-management techniques and coping skills to help increase efficiency, meet goals, and improve relationships. In addition, therapy can help deal with depressive or anxious feelings or self-esteem issues, which often accompany ADHD (See the link for Therapy at the top of this page).
What is a Learning Disability (LD)?
A child or adolescent with a Learning Disability (LD) is likely to have average to higher intelligence, with a weakness in some specific area of learning. While no two kids have exactly the same learning issues, LDs are usually classified as a disorder in either reading, math, or writing. That is, the person performs substantially lower in one or more of these subjects than their intelligence would predict.
Having an LD can mean that there is some particular area or areas of learning that are significantly more difficult for the individual compared to other areas. Areas that may be affected include:
1. Attention
2. Language
3. Memory
4. Motor skills
5. Visual-spatial perception
6. Phonological awareness
7. Planning/Organization
8. Applying what you know to new situations
9. Processing speed
While a full assessment is necessary to verify an LD, some warning signs include:
1. Intelligent, but grades don’t show it
2. High in some subjects and low in others
3. Big difference in tasks requiring talking vs. not requiring talking
4. Big difference between talking and writing abilities
5. Big difference in knowledge of specific facts vs. ability to apply learning to new situations
6. Big difference in memory for things seen vs. things heard
7. Substantially better performance when given more time
 Counseling for Learning Disabilities
Once the specific disability is targeted, the child and parents can begin to better understand what aspects of a specific learning situation are causing the trouble. The student's strengths should also be highlighted. Once strengths and areas of challenges are understood, the student can learn compensatory techniques to work around the disability, while capitalizing on areas of strength. For example, a student that has difficulty processing instructions when there is background noise can experiment with sitting in different areas of the classroom. A student with good memory for verbal material but poor memory for visual material, can practice verbalizing charts and diagrams in a way that helps them remember. In general, focused instruction and exercises, designed to improve academic skills can be employed.
Besides practicing specific learning strategies, students and parents can learn what to ask for from teachers. Teachers are usually willing and often required to afford accomodations and modifications to students with learning disabilities. Examples of common modifications and accomodations that instructors make include increased test time, shortened assignments, being allowed to take tests orally instead of written, etc. However, it is often up to the students and parents to start the ball rolling on receiving accomodations and modifications. The support of a licensed psychologist, who knows the system and students' rights, can be of great help. |
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