Author Description

Angela is ten years old. Her parents describe her as a bright girl. Yet Angela's teachers have told them that their child's reading ability is well below that of the rest of her class.Michael is eight. He is healthy, energetic, and his parents say he is "always on the go". But Michael's problems have been piling up at school--his writing is illegible, his attention span is short, and his teacher complains that he cannot sit still. A psychologist discovered that he could not form letters, no matter how hard he tried. Yet when she tested Michael's I.Q., it proved to be within the normal range.This book is about the problems of intelligent children such as Angela and Michael, who struggle to learn yet always seem to come up short. Dr. Selikowitz has written a clear and sympathetic guide to the difficulties that parents and teachers need to surmount when they are faced with a dyslexic child. The author deals with difficulties in traditional academic areas such as reading, spelling, and arithmetic, but also looks into less known conditions such as clumsiness, social unease, and hyperactivity. He describes clearly what is known about these problems, concentrating on the information that is of practical use to parents in understanding their children's difficulties and in helping them to overcome problems and improve their self-esteem. The book also provides a number of suggestions for managing difficult behavior.This new edition is fully up-to-date, drawing on the most recent research on dyslexia and some associated disorders and their treatments. The encouraging approach and easy-to-read style will appeal to parents as well as to professionals who work with such children.