The Source for Nonverbal Learning Disorders

A lot of parents struggle with the homework question. Children often think there is too much. Studies tell us though that our children do less homework than children in other countries. As new standards are implemented the homework problem becomes even more daunting. Homework can be a real struggle for students who find school difficult—especially for students with LD and/or ADHD. This guide offers basic strategies. In one sense this is nothing new. In another way, however, it makes the strategies concrete with step by step advice on how to solve the homework wars.

In this essential work the authors lay out a complete, step-by-step approach for parents, educators, and others who work with developmental problems. Covering all kinds of disabilities — including autism, PDD, language and speech problems, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and ADD — the authors offer a new understanding of the nature of these challenges and also specific ways of helping children extend their intellectual and emotional potential. The authors first show how to move beyond labels to observe the unique profile — strengths and problems — of the individual child. Next, they demonstrate the techniques necessary to help the child not only reach key milestones but also develop new emotional and intellectual capacities.

This book is an engaging, reader-friendly work which guides parents through the formative years of a child’s life. This well-regarded book is now available in paperback, newly revised to reflect the most recent studies. The new edition features information from the latest research, including traumatic events in the news, television and learning skills, physical activity, and temperament.

With a specific focus on the brain, the book takes the reader through specific phases of child development beginning with Life in the Womb an going through the first six years of life. Each chapter ends with a section “To Think About,” addressing such practical matters as good-night rituals, reading books together and coping with conflict.

Author Rondalyn Varney Whitney, a pediatric occupational therapist, is the mother of Zac, a child who suffers from nonverbal learning disorder, or NLD. By definition, NLD is a neurological defect in children who are unable to recognize the nonverbal clues that make up 50 percent of communication. In Bridging the Gap, Whitney seamlessly weaves practical professional advice throughout the account of her passionate involvement with her son. She writes, “I believe that NLD, now thought to be as prevalent as dyslexia, is a difference and not a flaw.” She also warns parents and teachers that kids with NLD are likely to be misdiagnosed as lazy or defiant, so she urges readers to consider both the strengths (high intelligence and advanced verbal skills and memory) and weaknesses (low visual, spatial, and motor skills and deficits in social communication) of these kids.

Thoughtful and practical, this book will appeal to today’s busy parents, with its concise, easy-to-read style. Now in a convenient format, Don’t Miss the Bus! is even more accessible to parents with no time to spare. Smialek offers her expertise as a parent and teacher and shares her methods and anecdotes from her own home and classroom. She advocates a win-win approach with a concise action plan to prevent problems before they happen and maintain dignity for both parents and kids. Don’t Miss the Bus! focuses on children’s strengths rather than their weaknesses, resulting in happier, more knowledgeable, and more resilient parent-child-teacher relationships.

The third edition of this classic resource is a comprehensive source of information, strategies, and activities for working with learning disabled students. The book offers special educators, classroom teachers, and parents a wealth of new and proven suggestions and ready-to-use materials for helping LD students of all ages learn and perform at their fullest potential.