Posted on 6/6/2018
Rates of child and teen depression and suicide continue to rise, as they have for fifty years. As regular readers of this column know, I do not agree in the least with current explanations, much...
Read MorePosted on 5/30/2018
Q: I am a grandmother with custody of my two grandsons, six-year-old twins. Because of behavior problems at home and school and difficulties relating to other children (they play and communicate...
Read MorePosted on 4/17/2018
Q: Our son, age 8, did fine in school in first grade, but has struggled in second. We’ve taken your advice and not helped much with his homework other than occasional and brief “consultations.”...
Read MorePosted on 4/11/2018
Do we – here in the USA, that is – or do we not have a child and teen mental health crisis and if the answer is yes, we do, then what should be done about it? Without doubt, the...
Read MorePosted on 1/10/2018
My critics are providing me much material of late for this column and my weekly radio show (Saturdays, 6:00 ET, AFR). Most recently, a family therapist in Kentucky pleads with the Lexington...
Read MorePosted on 11/29/2017
An interesting, and telling, tale: As part of a recent speaking engagement sponsored by a regional medical center in the west, I was scheduled to address a gathering of local pediatricians. Two...
Read MorePosted on 11/8/2017
Q: In the school district where I used to teach, I attended many meetings concerning children with special needs. Many of the kids in question were said to be "on the [autism] spectrum." In...
Read MorePosted on 10/11/2017
Q: After two years of chemotherapy for acute lymphocytic leukemia, our 6-year-old daughter is now in remission. We’ve recently noticed she has difficulty focusing and staying on task. Otherwise,...
Read MorePosted on 6/7/2017
Q: Our 4-year-old prefers solitary play over play with other children. It’s been this way from early on when I began arranging play dates for him. When those really didn’t work, I enrolled him in...
Read MorePosted on 5/9/2017
I fully expected my recent column on ADHD—in which I expanded upon noted Harvard psychologist (emeritus) Jerome Kagan’s contention that it is an “invention”—to stir the pot. Kagan said what I’ve...
Read MorePosted on 8/19/2018
Where can I find John's thoughts on disciplining children with ADHD? I remember reading in one of his books that they can learn how to behave with the same disciplinary methods used with "normal"...
Read MorePosted on 7/25/2018
My granddaughter is 5 1/2 yrs old. She has a movement disorder called Complex Motor Stereotypies and along with that is a sensitivity to loud noises. She will be going to kindergarten in a few...
Read MorePosted on 6/21/2018
My almost 12 year old daughter has been having issues with visual/hearing/touch sensitivities that started when she was 9. These issues have gotten to the point of disrupting not only her life,...
Read MorePosted on 5/27/2018
Continuing on concerning twin boys. One boy tends to shake hands over and over. Should we gently ask him to stop? It’s happened more when he’s excited about something he’s watching or waiting for....
Read MorePosted on 5/19/2018
How do you feel about diagnosis of autism. 6 year old twin boys have been diagnosed. They function fairly well. They have received extra help. I’m their grandmother. I sometimes need help!!
Read MorePosted on 4/19/2018
Our daughter is in Kindergarten. Her school wants her assessed for support services. She is having behavior issues in class. (Which we are trying to have her held accountable for, but the school...
Read MorePosted on 4/16/2018
what resources do you recommend for the parents of a 14 year old boy who is engaged in an eating pattern which is headed to anorexia. we have a medical doctor, dietitian, and a sports trainer...
Read MorePosted on 3/29/2018
Hi, I have a question regarding my almost 7 year old daughter. Last year she got kicked out of kindergarten after 3 suspensions in the first few months of school. She was then sent to a...
Read MorePosted on 3/28/2018
The elementary teacher of our 3rd grade son believes that he may have dyslexia. We would like to see about having him tested. We don't want to get to wrapped up with physiologists and possibly...
Read MorePosted on 2/3/2018
My daughter is six and in the first grade. She will not turn seven until June. Thus far, we have had two teacher/parent conferences. The first conference in the fall, the teacher said she didn't...
Read More