Memory Techniques to Help Your LD Child

Does your LD child have problems remembering certain facts in science, math, history or English class? Have you tried using mnemonics (pronounced ni-mon-iks) to help him recall facts?

These memorization techniques have been invaluable in my son's schooling. A few of his favorites include:

• ROY G BIV
  Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
  (This helps students remember the order of the colors in a rainbow)

• Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
  Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction.
  (This allows students to remember the Order of Operations in math)

• My Very Earnest Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles
  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto
  (This is an easy way to remember the order of the planets from the sun out)

• Thirty days hath September, ...
  (I even use this mnemonic to help me remember the number of days each month)
  Thirty days hath September,
  April, June, and November;
  All the rest have thirty-one
  Excepting February alone:
  Which hath but twenty-eight, in fine,
  Till leap year gives it twenty-nine.

• HOMES
  Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior
  (An easy way to remember the five Great Lakes)

• In 1492 Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue

For additional mnemonics and other memory techniques you can utilize to help your child, visit these websites:

• http://www.bucks.edu/~specpop/mnemonics.htm
• http://www.web-us.com/memory/mnemonic_techniques.htm

Does your child need to remember something that you can't find a mnemonic for? Visit the following site, which offers a free mnemonic generator:

• http://spot.colorado.edu/~sonderga/mnemonic.html

Book Reports and Your ADHD Child

My ADHD son is now in middle school. I was more worried about his starting the sixth grade than he was. I knew what was in his future...lockers, gym class, harder assignments and... BOOK REPORTS!

To say my son is a reluctant reader would be the understatement of the decade. How would he ever read (an entire book) and then report on what he read?! He generally loses interest in a book after just a couple of pages. I decided to cross that bridge when we came to it and not dwell on the inevitable.

Well, that bridge (and the inevitable) came the second semester of this school year. His English teacher announced that the class would be required to read any biographical book in the school library and write a book report on what they'd read. She assured me, and a few other concerned parents, that she would make it a positive experience. I had my doubts.

My son chose the biography of R.L. Stine, the author of the Goosbumps book series. Interesting, I thought. The book was around the same length of most books in the series, 136 pages. That, however, seemed insurmountable to my son.

I'm happy to report that he finished the report on time and even got a B+ on the assignment. How did it do it? With a little help from me and a lot of creativity from his teacher, it was easy.

Tips for book report success:

• Allow the student a lengthy amount of time to "read" the book. My son's teacher allowed them six weeks to read a little over 100 pages... this amounted to a little over 3 pages a day!


• Allow the student to listen to the book on CD while following along in the book. This appeals to both visual and auditory learners.


• Allow the student to type the report. The thought of hand writing a book report will overwhelm many students. Tell them they can type it on a computer and the stress will be instantly lessened.


• Allow the students to work in teams. Students will feed off of each other.


• Allow the students to give oral, rather than written, book report presentations.

These are just a few things that my son's teacher did to ensure her class' success. You can find additional tips on the ADDitude Magazine website. When your child's teacher mentions those two dreaded words...book report...there's no need to cringe!

Learning Disabilities Linked to Early Surgeries

Young children undergoing repeated anesthesia may be at increased risk for learning disabilities, researchers here said.

In a retrospective cohort study, children with two exposures to anesthesia before age 4 were 59% more likely than unexposed children to be diagnosed with learning disabilities (95% CI 6% to 137%) according to Jurajsurgery Sprung, M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic, and colleagues reporting online in Anesthesiology.

Youngsters with three or more exposures had a 2.6-fold increased risk of learning disabilities (95% CI 1.6 to 4.2), the researchers found.

I find this study to be especially interesting. My twelve year old son was diagnosed with learning disabilities at the age of six. Prior to that, he had undergone two surgeries. The first surgery was to place tubes in his ears and remove his tonsils. The second was a insert tubes for the second time and to remove his adenoids.

To think that the anesthesia from those surgeries could have possibly contributed to his learning disabilities is mind blowing. The doctors who were trying to help him could have possibly been responsible for his learning difficulties now.

I am anxious for more research to be done on this topic. Had your LD child undergone surgery prior to being diagnosed? Do you think there is a link between the two?

Full story available via: MedPage Today

Assistive Technology for Children with Learning Disabilities

I came across an article today on the Great Schools website and wanted to share it with it. It's full of information and links about the assistive technology that is out there for children with learning disabilities.

Assistive technology (AT) is available to help individuals with many types of disabilities — from cognitive problems to physical impairment. This article will focus specifically on AT for individuals with learning disabilities (LD).

The use of technology to enhance learning is an effective approach for many children. Additionally, students with LD often experience greater success when they are allowed to use their abilities (strengths) to work around their disabilities (challenges). AT tools combine the best of both of these practices.

This article will introduce parents to the role of AT in helping their children with LD.

You can visit the Great Schools website to read this article in its entirety.

Digital Library Available for Children with Disabilities

Below is an excerpt from an email I received recently. It sounds like a wonderful resource that many of your children could benefit from.


"Bookshare is the world’s largest accessible digital library for persons with print and learning disabilities (such as dyslexia). Students with qualifying disabilities get FREE access to over 43,000 digital books, textbooks and teacher recommended reading, as well as assistive reading technology to help them read and study independently. Membership for students and schools is free thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education (OSEP). Parents and teachers can sign up their children by going to registration."

Contact info:
480 California Avenue
Suite 201
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Local Telephone: (650) 644-3400
Email for Parent questions: parents@bookshare.org

General E-mail: info@bookshare.org