Chandler, Steve, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself  (1996) Franklin Lakes, NJ:Career Press  I see these 100 strategies not so much as ways to motivate yourself as to reconnect with motivations which you already have.  This may be a useful browse if you or your child  feel bogged down and unproductive at any age. 

Conners, Keith,  Feeding the Brain New York: Plenum Press (1989)
 I would not so readily recommend a book on this topic published so long ago, but recent research has supported Conners’ key points, such as the importance of protein.  There are several promising possibilities noted here for helping individuals with ADHD.

Janda, Louis,  The Psychologist's Book of Self-Tests  New York; A Perigee Book (1996)
 Twenty-five self-tests have been provided with explanations.  Readers do not have to be psychologists.  This book can give you some idea of what is involved in some psychological tests without telling you enough to invalidate any testing you might do later on.

Rosemond, John,  Parent Power (1980), and Ending the Homework Hassle (1990)
 Rosemond’s approach emphasizes the importance of young people respecting authority and taking responsibility for their own achievement.  Readers may wish to use some of his ideas without necessarily agreeing with them all.  Some readers may already be quite familiar with Rosemond's approach from his advice column, which appears each Sunday in the Hartford Courant.

Sells, Scott P., Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager - 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority & Reclaim Love (2001) New York: St. Martins Press   I believe there are some very useful ideas here.  Dr. Sells is the founder of the Savanah Family Institute.  He also has published workbooks and study guides to accompany this text. 

Armstrong, Thomas The Myth of the A.D.D. Child - 50 Ways to Improve Your Child's Behavior and Attention Span Without Drugs, Labels, or Coercion (1995)  New York: the Penguin Group  My recommendation of this book comes with the same caution that appears on the front page of this book.  If your child is receiving medication for A.D.D or A.D.H.D. , do not assume you can simply discontinue it while implementing this book's suggestions.  But, like the Conners Book, this is a good book to read through if you are wondering if there was any strategy for helping your child which you haven't tried yet. 

"Every 'no' is a 'yes' to a different question."  Anonymous

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.”  William James

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only at night.”   Edgar Allan Poe

Two other tests are often given for hand-eye coordination.  They are the Beery Developmental Visual-Motor Integration Test, and the Bender Gestalt Test.   Both require students to copy designs.

Some evaluation tools are not tests.  Questionnaires are used to find out what concerns a student, his parents, and his teachers have.  Projective exercises, such as story telling, are helpful in showing a student's imagination and coping styles.

Because knowing a lot ahead of time about a psychological test can make the results invalid, most tests used by psychologists have copyright restrictions on the contents.  However, a fairly good idea about our tests can be obtained from reading The Psychologist’s Book of Self-Tests, noted above.

It should be noted that testing with a battery like the WISC-IV takes time, and usually means that the student being tested will miss several class periods.  This kind of testing is usually utilized as part of a comprehensive evaluation to determine if a student should be receiving special education services. It is typically not  done unless there has been a referral following a prereferral procedure to  explore ways of ameliorating any concerns. 

My avocational interests include kayaking, gardening, woodworking, and playing my flute.  I also play in a dance band based in Granby, Connecticut, known as Heart's Ease.

    By Surface Mail: 
                    Stafford Middle School 
                    21 Levinthal Run, 
                    P.O. Box 106 
                    Stafford Springs, CT 06076 

    By e-mail: 
               woodruffn@stafford.ctschool.net