Many people with LD struggle with executive function, which can make activities like planning, organizing, strategizing, remembering details, and managing time and space difficult. Problems with executive function — a set of mental processes that helps connect past experience with present action — can be seen at any age and often contribute to the challenges individuals with LD face in academic learning.
What is executive function, and how it is related to children with learning disabilities? How does executive function affect learning? What are the warning signs? Dr. Horowitz answers these questions, and more, in this Ask the Expert video. More >
Executive function is a set of mental processes that helps connect past experience with present action. People use it to perform activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space.
If you have trouble with... More >
I have often written about learning strategies, and how important it is to help students become "strategic" in their approach to learning, and I discussed some ways that teachers can promote student learning by both teaching and reinforcing the use of effective strategies to their s... More >
As the parent of a school-age child with learning disabilities (LD), you know that basic patterns of thought such as controlling impulses, flexibility, planning, and organizing must steadily develop and improve as a child advances in school. If they don’t, children fail in small way... More >
Remember the day when someone rattled off a phone number while you just hoped against hope you'd recall the string of digits as you were dialing? That was working memory toiling away. With the advent of cell phones, you may no longer use it this way very often. But working memory stil... More >
Does your child have a weakness with verbal (auditory) or visual-spatial working memory? If so, you may find that it is greatly interfering with academic achievement. Fortunately, there are many ways to help — from teaching ways to compensate to lifestyle changes to brain-training t... More >
Mike’s performance has been unpredictable all year! He is so bright and creative and his teachers report that he participates in classes. However, homework is a daily battle that I dread. Mike’s teachers recently told me that he is often late with papers and projects and that he i... More >
I try to help Jan with her homework, but she gets frustrated when I show her an approach that may not be the same as the way she was taught in school. She gets stuck doing things over and over so that homework drags on for hours. (Parent of 6th grader)Cognitive flexibility, or the abi... More >
Zach never proofreads. I have to remind him to check his homework every night and I feel like a broken record! No matter what I say, his work is still filled with careless mistakes. When he has a math test, he seems to understand the concepts perfectly, but he gets so many answers wr... More >
Emily is a scattered child. She loses things all the time and is always late in the morning because she cannot find her books or her gym shoes. Last week, she missed a field trip because she forgot to hand in the permission slip and could not even find it in her locker or backpack. I ... More >
If you’d just get organized!
How can you find anything in here?The report is due tomorrow? And you haven’t started it?How could you forget to turn in your homework? I helped you with it!What’s one thing that makes for a parent’s unhappy day? Getting a phone call or email fro... More >
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 "Hidden Thoughts of LD" Art Competition! Discover these beautiful works and stories from children, teens and adults with learning disabilities.
Simple objects—like a grapefruit and a lemon—are sometimes all it takes to boost your elementary school-age child's math know-how. Don’t miss these fun ideas.
My child is struggling 
Now that my child has 
