Show # 101- Updates and Our Holiday Book Give-Away!

Firstly, we have a new voicemail line- (206) 350-8626 Please call us- and remember we may answer your questions or use your comments on the show!


Holiday Book Giveaway!
Just like last year, we have books to give away this Holiday season! Marcus Buckingham and his publisher sent us 5 copies of his latest book, The Truth About You. I have a few copies of Marcus' "Go Put Your Strengths to Work" to give away as well. We also have books from Rick LaVoie, Dr. Edward Hallowell, Mel Levine and more- including a few cassette audio books for those that prefer audio books!

In order to win, here's what you need to do:

Step 1: Call our Voicemail line at (206) 350-8626 and leave us a comment or question, OR leave a review of the show in iTunes.

Step 2: Send us an email at LDpodcast@gmail.com with your name and mailing address, so we can mail your book to you! I've mailed books all over the world last year, including South Africa, so everyone is eligible!
The first 15 responders will receive a prize!

In today's show, I talk a bit about the recent seminar I atteneded given by Russell Barkley, one of the leading authorities on ADHD. Much of what I heard made me rethink how I think about ADHD and its wide-spread affects on functioning. I got a chance to interview Dr. Barkley in person, and will share that in upcoming shows. I also included a clip from an interview I did a while back with Rick LaVoie, who even mentions Dr. Barkley, and how we sometimes forget how much of our frustrations daily with our kids may be, in part, the learning disability, not just them trying to drive us crazy- something I think we can all use the occasional reminder about- even me.

Thank you so much for listening to the show and making everything we do to keep the show going worth while. Spread the word, and we'll keeping making the lives of kids struggling in school better, one child at a time.

Click here to listen to Show #101- Annual Book Giveaway

Show # 86 Jenifer Fox- Your Child’s Strengths

This week’s show features the second half of my interview with Jenifer Fox. Jenifer’s new book, Your Child’s Strengths is one of the best books I’ve read this year, and it provides a blueprint for changing your child’s experience in school. This seems like a radical notion at first, but very small changes, such as looking at your child’s true strengths and giving them opportunities to do what they do best can change the way a child sees themselves and the world.

The Search for Strengths

One of the first steps in finding a child’s strengths starts by talking to them, listening, and looking for some patterns in their natural interests. Jenifer and I talk about how to find out more about your child, and how unstructured time can sometimes be a great place to begin looking and observing your child’s natural interests and proclivities. While there’s a trend to make sure children have structured play and are adequately supervised at all times, this doesn’t give them a lot of time or choice to really discover what makes them special as individuals.

This also means allowing your child to be disappointed and learning how to deal with that- positive psychology and reinforcement is NOT about making their lives perfect and happy all the time, but helping them develop a sense of solving their problems and be willing to take the risks necessary to learn and grow.

If we make our approach in schools more “project-based” (and please, no, I am not recommending any more posters or dioramas on the Book Report for the month…) meaning that children learn from examples and by doing as much as possible, we may be able to make the education they receive more meaningful. By the way, the case-based or project-based learning approach is one used in graduate schools, from business schools to law schools, currently. We just need to begin to apply this to younger students!

We need to collect specific information about what a child does well-this is essential to finding ways to build on the successes, and clues to other talents that might be hidden otherwise.

We also talk about what to do when teacher- student relationships are rocky, and how to go about trying to reach some sort of working relationship- what Nancy Hennessey from the IDA calls “Dystechia” It’s tough, but sometimes it seems we do have to teach our kids how to work the system or play the game. We also talk about the difference between entertainment and engagement, and how teachers need to be able to parse the difference, as do parents.

Recommended books and links in this episode:

The Unhurried Child

Dr. Bob Brooks- Raising a Self-Disciplined Child; Raising Resilient Children

Affinities Program at Purnell School

The Gates Foundation Report on High School Dropouts

Sara Lawrence Lightfoot- The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn from Each Other

BBC Article on Basic Sums Stressing Adults

ooVoo- online interactive chat (free service) for up to six people at a time

The Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia and Chris Lehmann- His blog is Practical Theory

Click here to download Show #86- Jenifer Fox

Show #68 Conversation with Rick LaVoie

In the second part of my conversation with Rick LaVoie, we discuss ADHD, organization, seeing things from your child's perspective, how we need to set a good example for our kids, helicopter parenting and how to motivate them.

Rick Lavoie has worked in special education for over 30 years. He has three degrees in Special Education, and has produced the single best selling educational video over the past 20 years- "How Difficult Can this Be? the F.A.T. City workshop" which shows teachers and adults what it's like to be a child with learning disabilities in the classroom.

One of Rick's greatest gifts is helping us see what the world looks lke through our children's eyes. By doing that, and illustrating his ideas in such a way that they are memorable and better still, actionable, Rick's thoughts are not just more words about what you SHOULD do, they're about things you CAN do, easily, now, to make a huge difference in your life and that of your child.

Today, we talk about a wide variety of topics. the most important of which is also the topic of Rick's new book, "The Motivation Break-through- 6 secrets to Turning on the Tuned Out Child". By breaking down how motivation works, we can understand how to help our children become motivated to succeed in every aspect of their lives (and it's pretty good for the rest of us as well...)

Most importantly, the book gives you specific pointers and action steps to take, to help your child today. He even has a great chapter in the book about explaining learning disabilities to your child,and how to explain things so it is not a "negative" just a difference, that can be dealt with, just like any other challenge in life.

If there's one gift you can give yourself this year, it's reading "The Motivation Breakthrough".

I encourage everyone to go to Rick's website and to check on his upcoming speaking dates. If he is in your area, don't miss an opportunity to see him present in person.

Next week, we'll have an interview with Nina Straightman, a reading and language specialist at the Centreville School, a school for children with language-based learning disabilities.

We are looking into doing a call-in show to answer your questions- please drop me an email if you are interested at ldpodcast@gmail.com. We also have a new voicemail numner (206) 203-4616- please call and leave your comments and questions and we'll answer them on the show!

Click here to download and listen to Conversation with Rick LaVoie Part II

Show # 67: Conversation with Rick LaVoie

In this week's show, I sat down with Rick LaVoie, to discuss why LD kids need different approaches in education that "regular" kids, self-esteem, and motivation. Rick has over 30 years experience teaching and mentoring kids with learning disabilities, has been a guest lecturer at many universities; and has made national television appearances on the CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, ABC Evening News and Disney Channel Presents.

Rick serves as a consultant on Learning Disabilities to several agencies and organizations including Public Broadcasting Service, New York Times, National Center for Learning Disabilities, Girl Scouts of America, Child Magazine and WETA in Washington DC. He is a member of the Professional Advisor Board of the Learning Disabilities Association.

Rick has delivered his message to over 500,000 parents and professionals throughout North America. He has the distinction of having delivered Keynote Addresses for all three of the major special needs advocacy organizations in the United States (Learning Disabilities Association, Council for Exceptional Children, Children with Attention Deficit Disorder).

I saw Rick speak at the Centreville School several years ago, and his talk changed the way I parent my children. Many of the regular listeners to the podcast will often hear me quote Rick, including my favorite phrases I got from him "When Elephants Fight, It's the Grass that gets Trampled" and "You need not attend every battle to which you are invited."

Rick has done us all a favor by putting some of his jewels of wisdom into two great books: It's So Much Work Being Your Friend: helping the child with learning disabilities find social success, and most recently, The Motivation Breakthrough- 6 Secrets to Turn On The Tuned-out Child. These books should be on every parent's bookshelf, since we all have times when we need help to inspire our children to do just a little more and not give up on themselves.

Rick delivers great advice in a direct, easy to understand manner, complete with examples that we all can relate to. Rick's advice has made me a better and more compassionate parent, and I hope you enjoy hearing him as much as I enjoyed talking to him. I strongly recommend his new book to every parent and educator- it's simply amazing.

Some brief news- I have recently joined the Mommycast & Friends Podcast Channel. My good friends, Paige & Gretchen from Mommycast have put together a group of the best family-friendly podcasts on the web, so parents can find the best content and the best information to make our daily lives easier and a while lot more fun, too!

Other great shows on the channel include Just One More Book! by Mark Blevis and Andrea Ross, discussing some of the greatest children books out there; Boutique Cafe; Runaway Design, TechnoGeekery- a tech show for the rest of us, delievered in plain english, and of course, Mommycast and the Mommycast Music Show. I'm really excited to join such a great group of shows, and encourage you to check them out as well!

As always, I'd love to hear what you think about the show- please email me with any feedback at LDpodcast@gmail.com.

Click here to listen or download Conversation with Rick LaVoie, Part 1