Walking in Their Shoes: ADHD and Learning Disorders

Have you ever wondered what it is like to have ADHD or a learning disorder like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia?

The PBS Misunderstood Minds website offers a number of experiential activities along with a wealth of other useful information and resources.  Try a few of the links below to walk in their shoes for a moment:

1.  Visual Activity: Reading with Distractions “simulates what a child with an attention problem might experience during a classroom reading assignment”

2.   Auditory Activity: Listening to Directions “attempts to illustrate what it might be like for a first-grader with an attention disorder to try to concentrate on a set of oral instructions amidst a cacophony of classroom distractions”

3.  Decoding Activity: Recognizing Phonemes simulates dyslexia by having you try to sound out words without automatic decoding abilities

4.  Memory Activity: Recall and Understanding“simulates the effect that memory and attention problems can have on reading comprehension”

5.  Graphomotor Activity: Tracing Letters “is designed to simulate what a child with a graphomotor writing disability might experience every day”

6.  Composition Activity: Putting Ideas in Sequence “is designed to simulate what a child with a writing disability might experience during a classroom writing assignment”

7.  Arithmetic Activity: Using Basic Facts simulates dyscalculia by having you solve math problems without efficient recall of basic math facts

8.  Spatial Activity: Making 3-D Inferences simulates dyscalculia by impairing your ability to visualize “three-dimensional objects presented on the flat surface of a piece of paper or computer screen”

9.  Sequence Activity: Multistep Problems “is designed to evoke in you the intimidation and frustration a young student with a math disability might feel working out a problem that requires the integration of mathematics skills”

If you believe you or your child suffers from ADHD or some other condition that impacts learning, the first step is to seek out a comprehensive psychodiagnostic evaluation to clarify diagnosis and document and to generate treatment recommendations.