A website like LDonline.org is a great site to find out the basics, and maybe even a little more, about ADHD. The topic options range anywhere from “What is ADHD” to “Your ADHD Child and School”. Whichever topic is chosen to be read, is anywhere from 1 to 4 pages long. They are also filled with meaningful and to the point information. Each article is written in a way that anyone from any profession would be able to easily understand what they are reading. Then at the end of each article there is a see also section where it can direct the reader to other sites which may also be of interest. This website would be a great tool for parents that are new to the fact that their child has ADHD. If the parent doesn’t have a lot of time to research then this site provides easy reads with great information. It also covers all the things a parent may want to immediately know such as: what ADHD is, what causes it, who makes the diagnosis and how, what are the symptoms, treatments, and more. This site is also good for teachers and parents who want to dig in and do more research. They can do this by venturing onto other links which LDonline.org has provided. There even is a section on the side that say “especially for”, where the reader may choose to click on either educators or parents. This will give them access to more information.
This is a really good site for parents of an ADHD child of any age. It discusses the symptoms of ADHD, how it is assessed, the medication used, the behavior of an ADHD child, and has live chats with doctors who can answer your questions. This site also provides the education rights. Another group of people that would benefit from this site would be adults with ADHD. There is a section just for adults with ADHD, which tells how ADHD might be diagnosed for their age group. This section also covers topics such as: driving with ADHD and laws about carrying ADHD medications around. If this site doesn’t answer questions someone might have, then they provide a phone number or a request form so that they can get answered.
This is the U.S. Department of Justice’s American’s Disability Act website. This site is great for administration and parents mainly due to the fact that there is a copy of the Disability Rights Law available, and it deals with the legal side of ADHD. The administration of a school can make sure they are following the law and the parents can see what their child is entitled to. The copy of the rights is available in 9 different languages including Spanish. This site also contains a list of federal agencies with ADA (American Disability Act) responsibilities. There is a side note. The only problem I found with this site is that it doesn’t exactly tell you which section covers ADHD. After doing some research through another site (www.disabilityrights.org), I found that ADHD is primarily covered by Section 504. This site also contains a list of ADA designated investigative agencies for every state. This is where someone would go to file a complaint if they thought a government funded educational program was not following section 504.
This is a website for teacher and parents. It gives a very short story of a boy with ADHD. It portrays how his teachers and parents worked together to find what worked for him, and how successful they were together. Following the story, information about ADHD is provided. Some topics that are covered include: what is ADHD, how common is it, what are the signs, and treatments. This site provides only little snippets of information, so it may not be as valuable as other resources available. It would be a site for someone who needs to know a little bit about ADHD quickly. At the bottom of the ADHD section, there are a few good tips for parents and teacher who deals with children with ADHD.
This is a phenomenal website for parents and teachers. The ADHD section is broken up into 2 smaller sections. The first is “identifying and treating ADHD”. This includes an introduction to ADHD (what it is), how they use medical and educational evaluations to diagnose, a list of different treatment options, how ADHD can affect school performance, and tips for home and school. The 2nd section is “teaching children with ADHD”. This is the best source I have seen so far for teachers that have students with ADHD. It provides information on how to introduce, conduct, and conclude lessons. It also gives excellent knowledge about individualized instructional practices, how to help the student have organization and study skills, behavioral intervention techniques, and classroom accommodations (seating arrangements and instructional tools).
Children Book Reviews for ADHD
1.Waiting for Mr. Goose by Laurie Lears is a great book for young children who are recognizing that it is hard for them to be still. It is about a little boy named Stephen who finds a wounded goose. He wants to help the goose but expresses that he doesn’t have the patience to trap the goose himself. With encouragement from his parents, Stephen is able to succeed at the task. This is a great book for children to read with their parents because the symptoms of ADHD are portrayed through the character of Stephen. The child may be able to easily identify with the feelings in the book and their parents can talk with them about it.
2.The Behavior Survival Guide for Kids by Tom McIntyre is a great book for children that have behavior issues as a result of ADHD. This is a guide for older elementary students and maybe even middle school students. Some of the topics include: ways to get along better with teachers, ways to help yourself make good choices in school, ways to help the adults at home help you, seven winning ways to work toward positive change, and why they may be treated differently. Parents may also want to read this so they can help guide their child in understanding what the book is saying. It may also give insight to what questions might be going through a child head that is in this position. If a teacher notices that one of her students is having behavioral issues, this would be a great book to talk to the parents about.
3.My Friend Has ADHD by Amanda Doering Tourville is geared toward younger children. It is about a little boy who has ADHD and what he does to help his friend. For example, he will give little reminders when they are not suppose to be talking and he will play hand games with his friend in the lunch line while they are waiting. There are little fact boxes about kids with ADHD at the bottom of the pages that may have to be read with someone older. The content in the fact boxes seem to be a little harder than the story. This would be a great book to read to a child who has a friend with ADHD but isn’t quite sure how to handle them. A teacher could even read it to the whole class if the class is having a hard time accepting or understanding a child with ADHD in the classroom. I also think this book can encourage children to look at the positive side of everyone and to be accepting.
4.The A.D.D. Book for Kids by Shelly Rotner and Sheila Kelly is a great book for younger (elementary) children to read that actually have ADHD. There are lots of pictures and very few words on each page. It can be read quickly. This book is full of quotes from children about what their ADHD is like. It also has a few encouraging statements mixed in. This would be a book to read when a child that has ADHD is feeling down about their disorder. It will let them know they are not alone and it encourages them to seek help or let others help when needed. At the front of the book there are 2 pages that are for parents and teachers. It provides brief information about ADHD and some studies done in the 90’s.
5.Miss Little’s Gift by Douglas Wood is a good book for elementary students with ADHD to read, especially those that do not like how their teacher is pushing them a little harder than others. This book has potential to give children insight about how their teacher is actually trying to help them succeed. It would be a good idea for the child to read it with a parent to they can help the child understand the meaning behind the story. This also would be a good book for a teacher to read because it is based on a true story of how the teacher was so dedicated to this child’s success. This true story is about a little boy who was really struggling to read, among many other things. His teacher, Miss Little, had him staying after school every day to practice reading. In the beginning he hated this more than anything, but as time went on it became one of his favorite things to do.
