It’s been a long year here.
As with all years, there are good and bad things that happened; Some big and minor crises, and so many adventures and misadventures. 2018 has been a wild ride.
One of the massive good things has been my fellowship with Writers Victoria. It’s been fantastic to work with the wonderful people there in the Write-Ability team, and I am thoroughly enjoying it – with the usual caveats for my own anxiety, imposter syndrome and general ADHD-ness which always adds interesting flavours to anything.
So, there has been, as usual, a lot of work happening behind the scenes, which I will hopefully I be able to share with you all soon.
In the meantime, here are the top posts at Yellow Readis for the year.
Top Posts for 2018
ADHD and Giftedness: It’s Complicated
For gifted ADHD kids, their hyperactivity is in their brain – not their body. So they may never get referred for testing.
This goes doubly for ADHD girls. I was in my late 30s before I was diagnosed. And that only happened after both of my kids were diagnosed first!
Executive Functioning isn’t Magically Fixed by ‘Higher’ Behaviour Standards
For a gifted ADHD brain, the doing is the easy part – the starting is the mountain. And though the talking may pause, the inner monologue never, ever stops.
Twice-Exceptional in Plain Sight: We Missed it.
Eventually we realised the simple truth: Twice-exceptional parents have twice-exceptional kids. And quirky people like hanging out with other quirky people.
We are what we are.
We didn’t miss it because we were terrible parents. We missed it because our kids . . . are just like us.
ADHD and Giftedness: Strategies That Work
There are strategies that work for gifted kids. There are strategies that work for ADHD kids. But sometimes, it’s not an easy copy/paste to find learning strategies for gifted ADHD kids.
Best Books for Parents of Highly Gifted+ Kids
If you are a parent who has been plunged off the deep end, I think these books can really make a difference. I know many of them helped me a lot. And some I wish I had found a lot earlier.
Honourable Mentions from 2017
And some honourable mentions from 2017 as well, as I didn’t do a best-of post last year! Yes, we have had more than a year of chaos and weirdness. Also: organising, it’s not my strength.
Gifted Vs. Gifted
I think it is vitally important to understand exactly what we are talking about when we talk about gifted kids.
Before we can make decisions on what to do about helping gifted kids, we need to understand exactly which group of kids we are talking about. We’ll have the same circular arguments again, and again, if we don’t. We’ll fling facts, not listen and get nowhere.
Teaching a Child Who Won’t Be Taught
Today, I’m going to talk about a few of the strategies I use to create a welcoming learning environment that steers my kids in the direction they need to go, without explicitly ‘teaching’ them.
Advantages of Minimalism for Executive Functioning
Due to ADHD, the kids and I all have trouble concentrating . Things are very distracting, whether it’s mirrors, paintings, or seeing toys and clutter.
As we were homeschooling, finding a spot where I and the kids could concentrate was a high priority. Minimalism gave us a framework for figuring out how to do that.
And that’s a wrap!
Hoping everyone has a wonderful, peaceful and not-too-stressful holiday break. And then it is onward to 2019 . . . for better or worse. I’m crossing my fingers for better!