My child can focus on sophisticated computer programs, Photoshop projects, and videos without a problem, but when confronted with reading assignments, he blanks out after 15 minutes. How can I help him focus when reading?

To help a child focus on text-only activities, you can help him develop strategies that will change the information from text into a format he can better process. For instance, he may be better able to focus on long reading passages if he is creating a graphic organizer outlining the narrative (on paper or through a computer program). He may be better able to work through a math problem if he uses manipulatives or visuals to represent it. For more information and ideas about helping your child with study skills, check the LD Topics area on study skills.

He may also benefit from frequent breaks that would allow him to shift his attention before going into overdrive. Perhaps tasks could be broken up so that he is not looking at a whole page of math problems or a whole chapter of reading, but rather a more manageable segment. You could even alternate segments of these activities with a processing activity on the same subject, such as translating his on-paper graphic organizer into a 3D/Photoshop/animated one.