Category: Special Education

Back to School: 10 Tips for Communicating with Teachers

Parents often feel intimidated when speaking with teachers and other education professionals about their child; after all, they have advanced education degrees and we are “just” the parent. But, as the parent, you have spent more hours with your child than any teaching professional. Your observations and gut instincts about your child are valuable. These ten …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2012/09/back-to-school-10-tips-for-communicating-with-teachers/

Is the Honeymoon at School Over Yet?

Many parents tell me that they wait to see how the school year starts off before asking for meetings with their child’s teachers or calling team meetings to review their child’s 504 plans or IEPs. “I don’t want to start off as a helicopter parent” or, “I don’t want to give the teacher preconceived notions …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/11/is-the-honeymoon-at-school-over-yet/

Ten Steps To Successful Parent-School Communication

Many parents feel intimidated when talking to teachers and other education professionals. Teachers certainly have their areas of expertise after having worked with hundreds of students, but YOU are the expert in your child. Your observations and intuitions are valuable, and no one has spent as many hours with your child as you have! The …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/11/ten-steps-to-successful-parent-school-communication/

Endless Homework? Helping Kids with ADHD Learn How to Manage Time

Executive Function is a set of skills seated in the frontal lobe of the brain.  It includes skills such as sequencing, planning, and organizing.  Many children with ADHD have developmental delays in this area. But ADHD or no ADHD, organization, including time management, is not an innate skill; it must be taught. Consider yourself your …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/10/endless-homework-helping-kids-with-adhd-learn-how-to-manage-time/

An Ode to Parent-School Collaboration

A parent recently wrote to me describing her wonderful working relationship with her son’s school: “I truly cannot say enough positive things about our experience within the xxx district.  Along our journey each building principal/assistant principal/administrator has truly listened to our concerns and offered xxx the most optimal placement.  Additionally, the professionalism and compassion of the teachers, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/09/an-ode-to-parent-school-collaboration/

Helping Your Child Keep Track of Their “School Stuff”

I don’t know about you, but even though school has only recently begun and I’m still catching up on school supply purchases, my kids  have already been barraged with worksheets, new books, index cards, and calculators to keep track of.  Some kids (more often girls than boys) seem to be ‘naturally’ organized, but most need …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/09/helping-your-child-keep-track-of-their-school-stuff/

Another Back to School Tip: Have the Teachers Get To Know Your Special Needs Child Before School Even Starts. Here’s How:

Write up an “Introduction to ____” (insert your child’s name here).  Limit it to one page, no longer, or the teacher may not read it. This one page introduction should give the teacher a sense of your child as a whole child. The objective is to paint a picture of the “real” kid, not just …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/09/another-back-to-school-tip-have-the-teachers-get-to-know-your-special-needs-child-before-school-even-starts-here%e2%80%99s-how/

Low Tech Help for Writing Problems: Kids with ADHD or Tourette are more likely to have writing problems

Kids with ADHD are more likely to have writing problems such as poor spelling and grammar than their peers, suggests a new study. And the difference may be especially conspicuous in girls with ADHD. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/22/us-writing-problems-adhd-idUSTRE77L6QG20110822 Many kids with Tourette Syndrome also have co-morbid ADHD, but even those who don’t almost always have handwriting and writing …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/08/low-tech-help-for-writing-problems-kids-with-adhd-or-tourette-are-more-likely-to-have-writing-problems/

Advocating For Your Child: Back to School Tips

Tip #1: Communicate with teachers early! If things have been going smoothly for your child, you may be lulled into complacency and think that speaking with teachers during the first week of school is unnecessary or even overkill.

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/08/advocating-for-your-child-back-to-school-tips/

The new State of Learning Disabilities Report just released

Read this comprehensive report on The State of Learning Disabilities. It has national and state-by-state information on the education of our kids with LD. The picture is bleak. Boys in general, and particularly Hispanics and Blacks, are disproportionately diagnosed with Learning Disabilities (LD).  Students with LD are on the receiving end of a disproportionate number …

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Permanent link to this article: https://blog.drwalisever.com/2011/08/the-new-state-of-learning-disabilities-report-just-released/