These are ‘hot’ topics of interest

Helping Disorganized, Forgetful, and Scattered Adolescents

/in /by

A parent described her eighth-grade son to me, “He has struggles following multiple oral instructions at the same time. His information retention in the short term is challenging especially for un-preferred topics. He has completed homework and forgot to turn it in. He waits until the last minute to start projects. What a hot mess!”

Executive Functioning Workshop Teens

This mom was describing her son’s executive functioning weaknesses.  The term “executive functioning” encompasses our brain’s ability to manage different systems such as planning, organizing, maintaining effort, remembering, self-regulating, attending, and completing tasks.  School success depends, in part, on having strong executive functioning skills.  Executive functioning weaknesses can cause smart kids to become scattered, disorganized, and forgetful.  These weaknesses might be accompanied with ADHD or learning disabilities but can also be stand alone difficulties.  Our executive functions improve with age and fully mature in our late teen years to early twenties. Thus, there’s hope for your student’s growth.

Learn Skills to Improve

Executive functioning skills can be learned, practiced and improved.  This month I am offering an in-person executive functioning course for students in grades 6 through 9.  Your student can join another school psychologist and myself for three, 90-minute sessions of fun, interactive activities to learn executive functioning skills related to Organization, Planning, Time Management, Memory, and Attention. The group size is limited to 10 students.

Grades 6-9 Mastermind Workshop

We will use games, scenarios, and videos to illustrate points and practice skills. Students receive written handouts to keep which summarize the new skills. We are approaching this mastermind course for teens using a cognitive behavioral framework. That means that if you can change your thinking and learn new skills, you can change your behavior.  Your student can learn skills for success this year and beyond.  Are you tired of being your child’s only executive assistant and ready for your adolescent to hear about success skills from someone other than yourself?

If you want to learn more about executive functioning check out my book The Impulsive, Disorganized Child: Solutions for Parenting Kids with Executive Functioning Difficulties. Call (561) 625 4125 if you would like to sign up or if you need school neuropsychological testing to give you understanding and answers.

Understanding Moody Teenagers

/in /by

Moody Teenagers by Jim Forgan, Ph.D. “My teen son has a hard time showing emotions and has a hard time to make friendships. He has a hard time to feel happy and contented. He even has a hard time to do activities that he considers useless or are mentally or physically demanding. Help me figure out what is wrong with him!”

Moody Teenagers

It’s not uncommon for teenagers to be moody since they are a ball of changing hormones, have variable sleep patterns, and are vying for independence.  All this occurs while your teen is dealing with the pressures of school, social media, and exposure to drugs and porn.  As the mom wrote, her teen was withdrawn and his behavior changed within the past few months.  Prior to this he was a happier person and a decent student.

The Root Cause

Our testing revealed this teen was depressed.  Mom had wondered if he was depressed but thought looking down at him from the 30,000-foot view he had a good life.  He had an intact family, a cell phone, nice place to live, and he was doing well in school.  She thought, “What is there to be depressed about?” Testing revealed he had very strong feelings of inadequacy and was struggling with his identity.  He believed he was not in control of his outcomes so, “Why should he try?”

It took mom a while to get dad to recognize the struggle but after our results review meeting he understood additional support was needed.  Dad actually initiated the conversation with his teen by saying, “I feel that our relationship is strained. It may not bother you but it bothers me and if you would, I’d like you to meet with a counselor. I will as well because I need some help knowing how to help you and our family.”  The teen agreed to dad’s request.

Answers

School neuropsychological testing was the process which provided answers.  Call (561) 625 4125 if you are concerned about your child and would like understanding moody teenagers. Testing is completed in one day and we test children through young adults for autism, dyslexia, ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Our approach can help you.

Why is My Child So Slow?

/in /by

My Child is So Slow! By Megan Weiss, Ed.S. NCSP.

Eve’s nickname is “Eeyore” one parent told me.  She was feeling frustration when dealing with her child completing tasks slower than everyone else. Whether it was doing homework, completing simple household chores, or getting out the door in the morning, Eve was slow or the last one to go.  It required constant reminders and mom felt like she was always nagging.  She hypothesized her daughter was perhaps lazy, unmotivated, or did not understand what to do.  But what really perplexed this mom was that Eve was slow regardless of if the activity was something fun or routine. It could be getting ready for a fun day at the waterpark and she was still slow.

Why is my Child So Slow?

There are many reasons why a child is completing tasks at a much slower pace than their peers.

  • One reason is your child could have slower processing speed so even simple tasks will take them longer to complete. This can leave your child feeling overwhelmed, mentally fatigued, and discouraged.
  • Second, your child could have a weak working memory and struggle to keep track of the tasks they are assigned and often forget what to do next. This can especially be noticed if you give your child multiple tasks at once.
  • Third, your child may have weaker inhibition which means that they have a hard time resisting distractors. Your child could be cleaning their room and find something they misplaced and become distracted playing with this and not cleaning up.
  • Fourth, your child might have ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Presentation or what we used to call ADD.

What Could I Do?

Seek answers and understanding so you can do something different instead of becoming frustrated with your child and straining your relationship. A school neuropsychological evaluation will help you get to the root cause of why your child completing tasks so slowly. Our evaluations assess all of these potential causes and provide specific and helpful recommendations to improve your child’s functioning in the home and school settings.

Call us (561) 625 4125 to discuss your child and your needs.

Autism or Just an Awkward Kid?

/in /by

A concerned mom came to me seeking insights on her son’s behavior.  She explained, “Sometimes Joseph can seem zoned out and not always in tune with what it going on around him. He can be socially awkward at times. Joseph can also be so hyper focused on something like his hobby and interest. He can get easily bored and likes to be pretty active all of the time which is a good thing but sometimes it is hard for him to relax.” This mom wanted to know if her son might have autism, ADHD, or anxiety so she knew how to best support him.

Upon meeting Joseph for the first time, he presented as a well-groomed and athletic adolescent.  He was slightly rigid in his social mannerisms as if he had been taught skills such as greeting someone by looking them in the eye and shaking their hand.  While this was an appropriate behavior, his interaction came across as scripted or practiced. While talking with him I learned he had an advanced vocabulary and could converse about many different topics. He understood humor and could joke around. Joseph also understood idioms such as when I was referencing a told secret and said, “She let the cat out of the bag.” He understood what that meant.

My school neuropsychological testing with Joseph revealed two main contributing factors.  First, he had low cognitive flexibility which is a fancy term for flexible thinking.  His mental rigidity contributed to him being a blacker and whiter thinker. He saw things his way which created his social awkwardness. The second factor was slower processing speed which helped explain why he seemed zoned out at times.  In certain situations Joseph quickly used up his mental fuel which resulted in mental fatigue. When his occurred he disengaged and seemed out of touch with what was going on around him.

I helped create a plan and recommended certain exercises he could do to improve these areas.  Call (561) 625 4125 if you are concerned about your child and would like understanding and answers. We test kids and young adults ages two* through college. Check out my books if you want to learn more about ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or dysgraphia.

*Autism testing is the only testing which starts at age 2.

Three Step Process for College Planning

/in /by

Planning for college does not have to wait until the senior year.  Students obtain better outcomes when college planning starts in tenth or eleventh grade.  A rising junior student I recently worked wanted to attend a large state university but he had not yet accomplished anything to position himself as a competitive applicant.  During our interview he revealed he did not participate in any school clubs, student government, sports, or arts.  He was not working or volunteering.  This put him at a disadvantage.

First Step

Working with a college planner helps students accomplish three important steps. First, resume building.  College applicants submit a resume as part of the admission process.  Teens benefit from coaching on the best activities to become involved with to include on their resume. Most college admissions officers prefer a well-rounded individual as compared to a one dimensional book worm.

Second Step

A second important step is test preparation.  Have you heard that test scores are often optional and don’t really matter for college admission? That’s not exactly true.  When applying to highly competitive universities the admission officer examines applications and when two applicants are equal on paper, the one with test scores has the admission edge. Thus, your student needs test preparation for the ACT and SAT tests.

Third Step

A third step to preparing for college is crafting an amazing essay.  Admission officers really read every applicant’s essay. They look for a distinguisher that captures the essence of the teen and how they will contribute to making the university a better institution.  Thus, participating in essay workshops and working with an expert essay college planner helps to best position your student.

Class 101 College Planning Made Simple

I recommend the one-to-one college planning services of Class 101 North Palm Beach.  They provide ten college planning services which includes the three in this article to give your student an edge in the competitive college admission process.

We test high school students who need ACT and SAT accommodations such as extended time, stop the clock brain breaks, and small group testing.  Call (561) 625 4125 to discuss your child.