Flexiture Empowers!

“Flexiture” is a unique combination of flexibility and structure that empowers parents and teachers to solve big and small problems faced by their children and students who struggle with poor executive functions because of ADD/ADHD, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, depression, and related challenges.

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An Easy Way to Improve Active Reading

It’s amazing how many kids are totally clueless about the different parts of the textbooks they use on a daily basis.   Teaching your child this information is fairly easy and it helps her become an active reader.  Introduce her to these important parts of her textbooks: Introduction – The introduction tells you how to use […]

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Best Tools to Improve Your Child’s Reading Fluency and Comprehension

As outlined in an earlier post, children with ADD/ADHD often struggle with reading fluency and reading comprehension.   If your child with attention challenges struggles with hesitant, choppy, or uneven reading fluency, consider downloading the University of Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts (UTCRLA) Fluency Instruction Guides for either elementary or middle school students. To […]

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What’s the Difference Between a Learning Disorder and ADHD?

I’m often asked, “What is the difference between the learning difficulties seen in a child with an attention disorder and those seen in a child with a specific learning disorder like dyslexia?” This is a tough question because the learning challenges brought on by an attention disorder can often seem to be the same as […]

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Final Thoughts about Social Skills

Becoming a socialized individual is a complex process. It is especially difficult for those with learning and attention difficulties.  Only the “medicine” of caring and responsible parents and teachers can transform lonely or unsocialized youngsters into involved, self-assured adults.  Teachers and parents are encouraged to go beyond the three R’s to help children overcome their […]

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Your Child’s Temper Getting the Best of You?

Because of the amount of stress some of children are under just to survive in the classroom, their tempers often get the best of them quickly.  Any little thing may seem to upset them.  Their tempers may be like a time bomb, primed to go off; just a single look or word could trigger an explosion.  […]

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Why Timing is Everything: Impulsiveness and Perseveration

Acting before they think is a common trait of youngsters with attention problems.  This causes them to speak out of turn in the classroom and makes it hard for them to stick to activities — such as games or sports — for more than a few minutes.  They may get bored and leave the Monopoly board […]

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Your Child Talking Too Much or Too Little?

Many children with attention challenges may talk constantly.  Incessant chatter may seem cute in a young child but as the child gets older it may be no longer acceptable to family and peers.  Teenagers often begin to resent an individual’s need to be in the verbal spot-light.  Some children may not watch what they say — […]

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Struggling with Expressions and Cliches?

Many children with language and learning problems may not understand the expressions we take for granted in everyday language.  They may take what people say literally. Sayings and expressions are often misinterpreted even through adulthood.  A child may hear “I wish he’d strop beating around the bush and tell me what he thinks”, and soon […]

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Why Voice Inflection is Important

Children with attention,  language. and learning problems may not pick up on the subtle differences in voice inflection that change the meaning of what another is saying.  They themselves may not use voice inflection much and so they may not understand when others use it.  For example, changing the voice inflection to emphasize one word […]

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How to Help Your Child Say the Right Thing at the Right Time to the Right Person

Children with social problems may not understand their own social image: they may not understand how others view their behavior and actions.  An important part of social language involves a child’s ability to change the way they talk depending on who they are talking to and who they are with.  They may not understand that […]

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Manners in the classroom: A Dozen Teacher Pleasing Skills

Students with attention challenges often struggle to handle themselves in the classroom.  They benefit from learning treat teachers with respect with the knowledge that their teacher is there to help them.  Your child can be taught that when she is asked a question and she doesn’t know the answer, it is appropriate to  just simply say “I […]

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