Handbook for parents and individuals with LDs/ADHD now available online
Now available online as a digital download, Carol McMullen’s comprehensive handbook, Saving Your Child, Saving Yourself: Navigating Roadblocks in Managing ADHD, Asperger’s and Learning Disabilities, has a wealth of information for parents and individuals of all ages who have LDs, ADHD or ASD.
Carol McMullen is a Learning Disabilities Specialist and a Family or Personal Coach specializing in Attention Deficit Disorders, ASD/Asperger’s, Learning Disabilities (LD), Non-verbal Learning Disabilities (NLD), and Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI). She has directed educational and mental health programs in treatment settings and at the University of Guelph and since 1987 has operated a private practice for people of all ages in Southern Ontario.
From her many years working with families and individuals, Carol has developed a unique approach and sets of strategies that her clients have used in a range of settings, including home, school, postsecondary and workplace. She prepares parents with the knowledge and confidence to become effective case managers for their children, provides numerous tips and strategies for academic learning and accommodations, and gives insights into dealing with emotional, behavioural and social issues. For adults there are chapters on coping with academic and practical aspects of postsecondary life, developing routines for time management and organization, succeeding in the workplace, and coping with the complexities of relationships.
For more information and for ordering options: www.carolmcmullen.ca/handbook
The following chapter summary gives more details on the topics covered:
- Assessment & Legal Rights
Variations in testing approaches, results, interpretations. Diagnostic implications for the IPRC and IEP. Legal rights and accommodation precedents. Informal assessment. - How to Save Your Child: Parents as Case Managers
Parent preparation, initial organization steps, planning and chairing school meetings. Handling school system administration issues. Steps to simplify family life. - Surviving at Home
Survival plan of Awareness, Acceptance, Action, and Advocacy. Morning and evening routines, family organization steps. The homework challenge. Specialized tutor roles. Pacing, parent breaks, summer program. - Getting on Top of Academics: Language Subjects
Remedial vs. compensatory approaches. Accommodations for reading and writing – for all levels – SQ4R, reading comprehension improvement, language development for writing, note-takers and spelling alternatives. Assistive technology criteria and methodologies. - Getting on Top of Academics: Mathematics and Science
Detailed strategies for basic math operations, applications for senior and post-secondary levels. Dynamic shift in approach away from speed, memory, or drill. Use of calculators, cue cards and Reference Sheets. Allowance and decimals. Role of university-level tutors. Science strategies. - Academic and Exam Accommodations
Classroom accommodations including crucial previewing of new material. Criteria and specific examples of test and exam accommodations for all levels. Error Analysis process, lower course loads, semi-audit option for grades 7 and 8. Foreign language courses, student advocacy issues. - Behaviour Problems and Medication
Basis of behaviour problems, self-esteem, motivation problems. Sibling issues. Classroom behaviour and behaviour contracts. Dealing with anger and steps for situations that escalate out of control. Older teens and early 20’s. The complex medication question. - How to Get Schools on Board
Why schools are struggling. Positive negotiation process steps for all administration levels. Supply teachers, bullying and partial home school rationale. Last resort legal options. - The (Partial) Home School Option
Arranging parent time off work, tutor assistance. Possible school or student resistance. Detailed program steps and student motivation techniques. Sharing program results for IEP revisions at school. - Social and Communication Skills
How these are related to learning disorders. Teaching strategies for parents, involving siblings. Skill development at school, recess and bus problems. Making friends, special teen issues. - Getting Through College and University
Choosing colleges and courses, living arrangements, managing a budget. Post-secondary learning strategies and accommodations, negotiating with faculty and the Special Needs Office. Separating from parents, new friends and relationships. Youth who drop out or become “stuck”. - Time Management and Organization
Complex sub-skills required to begin. Parent skill development required to teach children. Graduated levels for teens and adults, participation of spousal partners Dealing with clutter. - Adults in the Workplace
Job-specific time management and organization. Finding a job, surviving in a new job. Disclosure options. Dealing with colleagues, customers, work “politics”. Handling stress and crises. How to get promoted. Strategies for professionals, managers, business owners. Finding a mentor. - Making Personal Relationships Work
Redefining your relationship. Advanced communication skills, partner roles and survival. Dealing with outside friendships, children, and extended family. Money management. A special focus on Asperger’s challenges in this chapter.