An Insider’s Guide to Learning Disablities and ADHD

Welcome to An Insider’s Guide to Learning Disabilities and ADHD. Companion to the workshop “Learning Disabilities and ADHD: An Insider’s Perspective“.

DOWNLOAD: Handout

RECOMMENDED APPS AND SOFTWARE

Productivity

• Google Drive — Opens MS Office formats. It is free but must be on-line to use it. Available for PC, Android, iPhone and iPad.
• MS Office 365 — Cloud based; Yearly subscription required. Available for PC, Mac, Android and iPad.
• Polaris Office — Compatible with MS Office. Available for both Android and iOS.

Note Taking

• Paper 53 — Beautiful app for visual note taking, drawing, sketches, and writing. Basic program is free. In-App purchases for additional tools. It is for iPad.
• Note Everything — Versatile note taking app for Android. Notes can be organized in folders. Has text, voice-notes and drawing capabilities in the free version.
• One Note — One Note is a digital notebook that comes with Office 365.  Available on PC, iPad, Android and Windows phone. SkyDrive allows you to access files on multiple devices.

Organization

• Cozi — Cozi is a an on-line family organizer. The free version includes a calendar, shopping list and to do list.
• FlyHelper —  Great app personal organizer from the FlyLady.
• Outlook

RESOURCES

ADHD

• An Insider’s Look At ADHD: I am not expert on ADHD however I do have a degree in special education and about 15 years experience teaching. So, why I do I think I’m qualified to talk about ADHD? In two words life experience, ADHD is something I deal with on a daily basis. Read more..
• CHADD — Children and Adults with ADHD exists to improve the lives of those affected by ADHD.
• Dear ADHD — Written after a really bad day battling ADHD.
• FlyLady — Marla Cilley AKA the FlyLady is wonderful resource for controlling clutter and getting organized.  While not identified as having ADHD it FlyLady has a lot of resources that are valuable for controlling ADHD.
• Help Guide: ADHD  — Excellent collection of articles.
• How I Stay Focused – A few of my tricks for staying focused.
• National Resource Center on ADHD  — Has several articles about ADHD in women.
• Top 10: ADHD Things — A Top 10 list of  ADHD Things.
• Web MD: Adult ADHD — Adult ADHD Directory

Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

• Commas, Diagramming and Other Rants — The other day The Big Guy was reading my blog and informed me that I needed a comma for some reason or another. This lead to lively and humorous dialogue about my not needing commas and semi-colons. Nate that it would be a great topic for a blog. Of course, he thinks everything makes a great blog topic. Continue reading…
• Dysgraphia Explained — An overview of Dysgraphia.
• Dyslexia Explained – An overview of Dyslexia.
• Dyslexia and Language —  Recent studies suggest that there is a correlation between native language and the effects of dyslexia.
• Headstrong Nation — Founded by Ben Foss Headstrong Nation is an online support community for those with dyslexia.
• One Cool Kid — Michael Guggenheim is an amazing kid living with dysgraphia.

Learning Disabilities

• A Letter from the Class Dummy — I was asked several years ago to write something about my experiences in growing up with learning disabilities for a teacher training.
• Disabilities: My Story — 2nd installment in a series on disabilities.
• Hidden Disabilities — Q&A about learning disabilities from a parent an volunteer information session.
• How I Got Into Writing — Prior to blogging saying I didn’t enjoy or like writing was an understatement. Writing was something I hated and would do anything to avoid. More …
• I’m A Person Not A Label  — Recently I was reading some articles about ADHD one of the things that caught my attention was the use of ADHD in lieu of words like person or child. This really bothered me. In fact I find it offensive. Why does this bother me? Read More…
• LD Online — Extensive collection of learning disability resources.
• Myth Busters: Learning Disabilities Edition — Debunking common myths about learning disabilities.
• National Center for Learning Disabilities — Great resource for learning disabilities
• Successful People with Disabilities
• Teachers That Made a Difference — 2nd in a 2 part series.
• What Every Parent of A Child with Learning Disabilities Should Know — A guide for parents

Learning Styles

• Education Planner: Learning Styles — Learning styles inventory and other resources. Great resource for college and high school students.
• Printable Learning Style Inventory
• Reflections on the Remote Control — The other day I was looking at my remote control and noticed that it had a learn button. This got my brain to going. Thinking wouldn’t it be easier if we just had a learn button to learn new things or even better if children had a learn button. Continue..
• Thoughts On Metacognition — How do you think?
• Vark: A Learning Styles Overview — Learning styles inventory and facts sheets on learning styles.
• What is Your Learning Style?