Back-to-School Reading Resources for ADHD

During the past week, we were very privileged to once again participate as educators in an excellent gifted education program called College for Kids. This program at the St. Louis Community College-Meramec was established 32 years ago with the inspiration and support of dedicated and committed parents of gifted children in the Greater St. Louis Area.

The courses in the College for Kids program are offered twice each year for gifted and talented elementary and middle school youth who have completed kindergarten through eighth grade. These courses, offered in the spring and summer, are designed to further challenge and advance gifted students' skills.

The students we worked with in the program this week were outstanding and most enjoyable to teach! We provided 2 classes each of ¡Hola, Mis Amigos!--Exploratory Spanish and Entrepreneurship. We certainly appreciated the enthusiasm and motivation demonstrated by these talented students. It was a GREAT week for ALL of us!

At the same time, we could not help but notice that even in this gifted population, there were more than a few students who also had additional needs. In our work, we have found that many parents and even teachers are not always aware that giftedness AND additional needs can sometimes co-exist for some students (called twice-exceptional). Very often, these needs involve attention and concentration issues for gifted children and teens. Many of their young minds require almost constant stimulation, which can in itself feed the ADHD they already may have.

For this reason and because of our experiences this past week, we thought it would be beneficial to our readers to provide a resource list for ADHD reading tips, especially during this back-to-school season. Last week's article was entitled Let's Deal with Distractions---ADHD Strategies for Home & School, which included a rather extensive list of general home and school resources for ADHD.

This week, we continue the preparation for school with our ADHD resource list for reading with more attention and concentration. It is important to note that these resources can be helpful not only to gifted children but to ALL children with focusing and attention issues. We hope the list and its "goodies" will provide you with the needed resources to help a child you know with the reading challenges of ADHD.

Helpful Reading Resources for ADHD

How to Improve Reading Skills in Children with ADHD or Learning Disabilities
by Matthew Cruger, Ph.D. and ADDitude Magazine
Guaranteed tips for improving reading comprehension in children with ADHD or learning disabilities like dyslexia.
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/983.html

Many ADHD Kids Also Have Reading Problems
by Denise Mann, WebMD Health News
About half of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may experience problems with reading, according to a new study in Pediatrics. It was found that 51% of boys with ADHD had reading problems, as did 46.7% of girls with ADHD. More information about this study and many reading resources for ADHD are offered here.
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/news/20100927/many-adhd-kids-also-have-reading-problems

Print & Use Tools: Study Skills from School Famiy
FREE worksheets, lists and activities to help children (especially those with ADHD) become better organized, more motivated and more on top of school work.
http://www.schoolfamily.com/print-and-use-tools/category/77-study-skills

Desktop APP: Reading Focus Cards (Patent 8,360,779) (Price: $5.99)
From Brennan Innovators, LLC
This desktop app is the digital version of the physical Reading Focus Cards (Patent 7,565,759), solutions for struggling readers. This app for Windows PCs and Macs provides practical READING SUPPORT for children and adults with dyslexia, ADHD, autism and other conditions that can affect reading success. It promotes more FOCUSED online reading of almost ALL digital media (webpages, PDF files, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets & more.) In addition, the Reading Focus Cards app is compatible with and supports touch-screen technology. The application can be moved on the screen over text by the fingers, mouse or arrow keys as needed.
1. For Macs (desktops & notebooks):
Visit the Mac App Store and search for Reading Focus Cards or go directly to
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read-and-focus/id920617853?mt=12
2. For Windows PCs (desktops & laptops):
Visit Gumroad at https://gumroad.com/l/ReadingFocusCards OR visit the Microsoft Windows Store and search for the app called Reading Focus Cards. (No URLs are ever provided for apps in the Windows Store.)

5 Back To School Tips for Your ADD or ADHD Child
by Dr. Robert Myers, Child Psychologist
Here are some back-to-school tips to make things seem a lot easier and smoother for parents and kids.
http://www.empoweringparents.com/5-back-to-school-tips-for-your-adhd-child.php

How to Teach a Child to Read With ADHD
by Karen Hollowell, eHow Contributor
Practical and easy-to-follow instructions for helping a child with ADHD learn to read more effectively.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6461861_teach-child-read-adhd.html

ADD/ADHD Resources for Teachers from TeacherVision
Articles and many FREE resources to help educators manage the special nature of students with ADD/ADHD.
https://www.teachervision.com/add-and-adhd/resource/5348.html

For more information on customizable reading tools for better focus & attention, please visit:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image courtesy of:
Brennan Innovators, LLC at www.focusandread.com