Have you ever met a person who has no capacity for empathy? I have a friend that absolutely cannot understand how others can have a different opinion that she does. I don't like crafts. I'm telling you, she absolutely thinks I am brain deficient because I don't enjoy cutting out little tiny color coordinated pieces of paper for a scrapbook. Truth is, many of our children are like my friend, making them appear insensitive, stubborn, or even dense. One of my boys, in particular, has little capacity for feeling. We've tried to foster a bit of sensitivity in him in several ways. First of all, … [Read more...]

Don't fold wash cloths. If the kids lose their pencil, give another from the endless supply you keep on hand. Don't put top sheets on beds. So what if report cards have C's. Paint all your walls the same semi gloss color. Only buy one color/brand of socks. These are things that would have been unacceptable to me in the past, but my focus has changed. These things aren't really that important to me, and to keep sanity, I opted for the easy way out. I lowered my expectations. To help sort out which standards were too high, I asked myself one question over and over: "What's more important?" To … [Read more...]

Is this your Kid? He loses stuff. She stares into space. He takes hours to do simple chores. Homework never ends. One day she makes A's and the next fails the same subject. He's the personification of disorganization. But he's not hyperactive. And she really isn't a discipline problem. Still, last week you found the ketchup in the medicine cabinet. Maybe it's ADHD Inattentive. Labeled lazy, unmotivated, or maybe just a little bit 'slow', these children often fall through the cracks. Yet perhaps, just like their hyperactive classmates, there is a chemical imbalance in their brain that is … [Read more...]