Thinking differently : an inspiring guide for parents of children with learning disabilities

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Title:

Thinking differently : an inspiring guide for parents of children with learning disabilities

Author:

Flink, David, author.

ISBN:

9780062225931

Personal Author:

Flink, David, author.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

x, 308 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Abstract:

"When parents are told their child has a learning disability, they need more information. Thinking Differently is just the resource to meet that need. David Flink, leader of Eye to Eye, a national mentoring program for children with learning differences, explains each learning disability in layman's terms to prepare parents to speak knowledgeably with teachers about their child's specific challenges..." Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Is something up? -- Learn the basics -- Take action -- Know how you think -- Seek accomodations -- Work smarter -- Find your allies -- Become an advocate -- Join the movement.

Subject Term:

Learning disabilities.

Learning disabled children -- Education.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention-deficit-disordered children -- Education.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	LC4704 .F55 2014	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

An innovative, comprehensive guide--the first of its kind--to help parents understand and accept learning disabilities in their children, offering tips and strategies for successfully advocating on their behalf and helping them become their own best advocates.

In Thinking Differently, David Flink, the leader of Eye to Eye--a national mentoring program for students with learning and attention issues--enlarges our understanding of the learning process and offers powerful, innovative strategies for parenting, teaching, and supporting the 20 percent of students with learning disabilities. An outstanding fighter who has helped thousands of children adapt to their specific learning issues, Flink understands the needs and experiences of these children first hand. He, too, has dyslexia and ADHD.

Focusing on how to arm students who think and learn differently with essential skills, including meta-cognition and self-advocacy, Flink offers real, hard advice, providing the tools to address specific problems they face--from building self-esteem and reconstructing the learning environment, to getting proper diagnoses and discovering their inner gifts. With his easy, hands-on "Step-by-Step Launchpad to Empowerment," parents can take immediate steps to improve their children's lives.

Thinking Differently is a brilliant, compassionate work, packed with essential insights and real-world applications indispensable for parents, educators, and other professional involved with children with learning disabilities.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In 1998, then college student Flink established the nonprofit Eye to Eye, which pairs LD/ADHD college student mentors with younger mentees (who have similar disabilities) to work on art projects. In this impressive guide, Flink uses lessons from leading Eye to Eye, as well as his personal struggles with dyslexia and ADHD, to advise parents, older children, and teens. The first step for a parent who suspects that his or her child may have dyslexia, ADHD, or another learning disability is to have the child evaluated. Receiving an LD and/or ADHD diagnosis may be a relief since it provides an explanation for why some learning can be so difficult. Throughout, Flink stresses that "learning disabilities and ADHD have nothing to do with native intelligence." In addition, he devotes a full chapter to discussing laws that mandate accommodation for students with LD/ADHD, and explains how to take advantage of these laws. Other chapters build on this foundation of diagnosis and securing accommodations, to discuss finding allies, becoming an advocate, and joining the larger community of people with LD/ADHD. In this inspiring book, Flink ends with a call for all with LD/ADHD to accept their condition, and share it with others so that the world will eventually accept all types of learners equally. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

How do you help a child who has been diagnosed with a learning disability, dyslexia, and/or ADD/ADHD to be successful in school and socially? Flink, cofounder of the learning disability mentoring organization Eye to Eye, has written a frank and comprehensive "how-to" guide for parents who are struggling to help children become confident, independent, and resourceful individuals despite, and, often because of, the different way their brain works. When Flink was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD as a child, he and his parents were pioneers in navigating special education services and accommodations for those with learning disabilities. Here he covers topics such as determining if there is a learning problem; the basics of learning disabilities and attention issues; how and when to step up and take action; testing and what the results reveal; how to discover the strengths and weakness of a child's brain; and what accommodations might be useful and effective. Self-confidence is a key to success for those who process information differently and the author discusses how best to bolster a child's self-image through finding allies and by being an advocate, as well as teaching children to advocate for themselves. VERDICT Flink imparts clear insights and immediate solutions for parents, educators, and professionals working with children with learning disabilities.-Lisa Jordan, Johnson Cty. Lib., Gardner, KS (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.