Growing up Differently

Learning disabilities and ADHD belong to a group of difficulties that pose many hardships to children and adolescents in various areas. These problems are heightened especially when children and adolescents are required to adjust to social and learning environments. Even though they are not always overtly visible, these difficulties may cause unique mental and emotional states in children and adolescents, since emotional and behavioral development is closely linked to mental development. The book examines through a multi-disciplinary developmental approach, the entire development of a child from birth to adulthood; utilizing an integrative model to describe the effects of these difficulties on the child, his family and social interactions. The parental role is highlighted including description of various intervention models that parents can implement to help their children. The author offers unique models of intervention to help the child at home, at school and with other children. These models help parents, educators and professionals work together using the same language stemming from a deeper understanding of the problems, avoiding the pitfalls of misjudgment of the overt behaviors. Creating a new language for parents and educators, the book provides a practical and optimistic handbook for helping children and adolescents with ADHD and learning disabilities. The author, Ronit Plotnik PhD, is an educational and developmental psychologist, a therapist who has been helping children and their families for many years, and lecturer at Teachers College. She has published many books on various developmental subjects, amongst them her very successful book for parents of twins.