Success Skills Blog

Presuppositions in School Part 2

2011-01-09T16:55:00Z

Highly Effective Presuppositions of Rediscover the Joy of Learning

Imagine for yourself what it would be like to be in a school system operating out of the following presuppositions as a student, a teacher, a school official, a parent, or the public at large:

All behavior has a positive intention behind it

We all want to do the best we can. When we are faced with a problem or task for which we do not have a solution, we find one the best we can. If it works, even if only a little bit, it is still the best solution we have, so we use it over and over. The fact that a student acts in an inappropriate way, does not mean that his intentions are bad. He or she may just need a more creative way or a different way to do the task.

If we accuse them of inappropriate behavior, they become resistant or fight back. If we look for the deep down positive intention behind the behavior and help them find better ways to satisfy that positive intention, then we become their allies and they don't have to fight us or resist us. They also won't keep using the inappropriate behavior, since they now have a better way of doing the task.

If it is possible in the world for anybody else to learn, then it is possible for us to learn

This presupposition opens up the world of possibilities and keeps us away from limiting beliefs about ourselves. It leads us to openness and finding solutions rather than rigid ness. It puts us in other wonderful states such as curiosity, joy, delight, and positive thinking.

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Anything can be learned if it is chunked properly.

Sometimes the biggest obstacle to learning is that the amount or scope of material is overwhelming to the learner. By learning how to chunk down (or break down) the material into more manageable sizes, the task becomes more achievable.

This presupposition, coupled with the previous one, allows us to learn how to learn and succeed in any situation. Also, these two presuppositions are how we think and feel about learning BEFORE we get into school. We learn many very complex and complicated things prior to school such as talking, walking, and social skills. We do this primarily by imitating how others do it and by learning the small sub-skills first, then larger skills. The point is, in our early years, when we see and hear others do it, we figure we can learn to do it and this engages our wanting to learn. We need the same attitude in our schools in our students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

There is no such thing as failure, there is only feedback.

One of the biggest detriments to learning is how we accept feedback. When we attempt to learn or do something, we have to stop periodically and check our progress and see if we need to make any adjustments. This is called feedback and it is an essential part of the learning process--IF it is delivered and received properly. So many times, students will take feedback personally and think of themselves as a failure if they score poorly on schoolwork. So, rather than using feedback to make adjustments in what they are doing so they can do it better, they become traumatized by a feeling that they, as a person, are a failure. This then goes to their sense of who they are or their self-esteem and becomes a part of their identity and personality. They tend to carry this into the rest of their life.

Unfortunately, our grading systems in many of our schools encourage these inappropriate feedback responses. So, instead of feedback being a one-time adjustment to a learning activity, it becomes a life-time label. We need to have a system that will focus on the adjustments to make to be successful and only that.

We choose the best behavior we know based upon the choices we have in our model of the world.

This presupposition is closely tied to the notion of positive intention. When we are faced with a problem or task, we decide upon the best approach available to us, or that we can think up. We then try it out to see if it works. If, in our opinion, it works, we keep going back to it until it becomes a habit. Rarely, do we re-evaluate. Obviously, the choices we originally had might have been limited. We intend to behave the best we know how, but because we did not have all choices available to us or we are locked into a past habit, others may think the behavior is inappropriate or even bad. Unfortunately, many judge the behavior and find fault with the individual rather than help find a better way to solve the problem. This presupposition frees us up to look for positive intention and help solve problems rather than assume something is wrong and place blame.

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More choice is better than limited choice.

This presupposition evolves out of the last one. The more choices we have, the better our ability to behave appropriately and succeed. It also directs our ways of dealing with students who are having problems--figure out their positive intention and give them lots of choices in how to solve the problem, so they can choose the best one.

The way students experience the world is only a perceptual model.

Too many times we lock in a student's way of thinking or learning as though it was some reality that can't be changed. The student is "just that way." We may tribute it to his or her family, background, socio-economic status or even race or cultural influence. In reality, it is only a perceptual model of their world that they have formed over the years and PERCEPTION CAN BE CHANGED. In fact, perceptions are changed naturally all the time. As we learn about the world about us, we upgrade our perception and outlook. It is a natural part of maturing and growth. When a student (or teacher) is stuck in a limited perceptual model, wouldn't it be nice to recognize it and help them in changing the limited perception to one that would empower him or her in the learning process.

Success Skills specializes in helping struggling students of all ages who are experiencing all sorts of different kinds of difficulties. Penn Henthorn currently runs Success Skill, Inc., and the processes that he uses are very different from the normal type of help struggling students receive. He is a Personal Development Coach. He teaches students HOW to use their mind to succeed in school. He teaches them learning strategies that really work. He also teaches them ways to think about school and learning that "turn them on" to school and motivates them to want to succeed.

He also specializes in helping students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Contact Penn Henthorn today for a free initial interview to find out how he can help by calling him at 1-405-562-6670 or by e-mailing him at info@nlpok.com. More information can also be obtained off of the web site www.nlpok.com.

Presuppositions in School

2011-01-09T16:52:00Z

The Current Ineffective Presuppositions in our School System

Our school systems are based upon a shaky foundation of bad assumptions or presuppositions that dictate how we behave and operate the system. These faulty presuppositions have been inherited through the years and feel natural as though "they are just the way we do things". Taking a hard look at them gives us a real opportunity for some significant changes. Some of the presuppositions are:

Students naturally know how to learn in the classroom.

I have been in education for many years and this never occurred to me until I started noticing that what students would attempt to do to accomplish the academic tasks we gave them would not work and they did not know what to do differently. Then it dawned on me that NOBODY (or at least no official part of the system) was taking responsibility for teaching children how to learn in the classroom. Sure, some individual teachers would share some of their learning strategies with students that struggled, but no part of the school system does it on a systematic basis.

The result is devastating to students because they assume something is wrong with them if they can't do the tasks assigned to them. So do their parents. So does everybody else. The truth is that most students do the best they can with what they know to do. If it doesn't work or if it doesn't work very well, they don't know they are supposed to do something different. The idea hasn't been broached because we have presupposed they already know how to learn in school.

All students learn at the same rate and in the same way.

Back in the industrial age, we designed our schools to resemble factories. We placed students in the same room according to age and proceeded to teach the content of that particular grade level. This presupposes that all the students learn in the same way and at the same rate of speed. We know this is not true, yet we continue the practice. This presupposition combined with the next one practically guarantees that many students will be traumatized and do poorly or fail.

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A certain percentage of students will fail and/or do poorly in school.

The bell curve has become almost an icon in education which justifies the presupposition that some students will fail and/or do poorly. In fact, if a teacher gave all A's and B's, they would be accused of being too easy or of grade inflation. But what if we assumed that all students were capable of learning equally well and we taught them to succeed in the classroom? What if we expected all students to learn easily and quickly in the classroom? What would we do with the bell curve? How would the different attitude affect our schools? How would it affect the students? How would it affect parents and our society?

How long would any business expect to last in the corporate world if 20-30% of their product was expected to be shoddy or poorly made?

The school system is more important than the individual student

The most common response to some of these presuppositions is "How else could we operate the schools?" Even if we know we are hurting students, we continue the practice so that the system can operate. We seem to be in some sort of denial regarding the trauma we are causing students.

More money will solve all the problems of our schools.

Asking for more funding for schools dominates our lobbying and legislative activities and even our public relations. My concern is that more money is just going to be used to perpetuate the current system. And, if these presuppositions truly are symptomatic of the faulty foundation on which our schools are operating (as I believe they are), then more money will simply deter us from dealing with serious defects and we will not look for structural solutions.

Students are motivated only by punishment and/or reward.

Our whole grading system is based upon this presupposition including the threat of suspension, expulsion, and other radical punishments. The truth is that there are far better ways to motivate students that will fit into their natural motivation strategies. Natural motivation strategies which utilize the highly valued criteria of the student provide a win/win situation that offers valued and motivating choices.

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Learning activities cause learning to occur.

So many times I have had students tell me that they were good at learning spelling words or vocabulary words, etc. And yet, in my experience, the student's learning strategy for these tasks was inadequate. When I would inquire further into how they were judging the success, I would find that they would be handing in assignments that did not contribute to the learning process but yet would be easy to do. For example, they would be asked to simply copy down each spelling word 5-10 times and hand it in. Or, asked to look up definitions of vocabulary words in the text glossary or dictionary and copy them down and hand them in. When the student would do this boring task as asked, they would get high grades but very little learning would occur. Since most teachers are not trained in how the mind works or how learning occurs at the process level, they are left to assignments designed by textbook publishers. NLP has a golden opportunity to be a major force in teaching others how learning best occurs.

Something is wrong with a student who does poorly in school.

We are a society accustomed to placing blame or finding who is at fault when something goes wrong. Unfortunately, when a student is doing poorly in school we almost automatically blame him or her. Usually, we accuse the student of not studying hard enough, or of not being motivated, or of being lazy, or of being rebellious or stupid. Many times we will label them with some form of learning disability. After a while, when the feedback becomes overwhelming, the student starts to believe the labels and it affects their self-esteem in a devastating way and many students will start acting out in an anti-social manner.

The better the teacher, the better the learning.

The reason I include this is not to demean great teachers but because it takes away from where the real responsibility lies in the learning process-- with the student. Also, believing that it depends upon finding the right teacher keeps us from solving the real problems that are limiting our schools. Besides, if we did change the presuppositions that form the foundation for how we conduct our schools and how we treat each other, the great teachers would really be empowered and could do their job even better.

Presuppositions of Rediscover the Joy of Learning

These are discussed in more detail in the article "Presuppositions in school - Part 2 " to be released soon.

All behavior has positive intention behind it.
If it is possible in the world for anybody else, it is possible to learn.
Anything can be learned if it is chunked properly.
There is no such thing as failure, there is only feedback.
We choose the best behavior we know based upon the choices we have in our model of the world.
More choice is better than limited choice.
The way we experience the world is only a perceptual model.

He also specializes in helping students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Turning Students On To EFT

2011-01-04T22:07:00Z

When I am telling another person about how I use NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming to help struggling students with school, I always mention how I am also increasingly using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) to help them with stress, anxiety and other emotions and traumas. One of the distinctions of my work with students is my desire to teach them to use EFT on themselves without waiting for an "adult or counselor" to help them out of an emotional or stressful situation. I consider it as one of my personal gifts to a young student.

Many times, students are stressed out or overwhelmed by the demands of school, teachers, parents or life in general. This is particularly true since our "schools" do not seem to get around to teaching students HOW to learn the academic subjects. We leave it to the student to figure this out and the lack of effective learning strategies is one of the primary factors that leads to confusion, stress, anger and sometimes depression in our students in school. Teaching students how to learn the different academic subjects alleviates much of this emotional wear and tear, but there are many other factors that create emotional stress that are "just part of the growing up process."

Two of the many questions I am frequently asked are "How do you turn students on to EFT, especially younger children? And, "After you teach them EFT, how do you get them to use it on themselves?"

The short answer is: Very tentatively. The long answer is: I carefully break the process down into sub-lessons or very short segments that are fun in and of themselves and then I chain the sub-lessons all together and show them how to do it to themselves until they can see and feel the difference. Only after they are turned on to it and what it can do for them do I label it "EFT" or try to partially explain it.

The specific sub-lessons mentioned above happen ONLY after I have solid rapport and credibility with the student. This "student" can be a person of practically any age—very young to very old. The approach will vary to fit the age and life experiences of the student.

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First sub-lesson—I introduce them to the concept of body energy without naming it or explaining it. I like to give them an experience of body energy and I do this with "muscle testing." There are many, many ways to muscle test but I find that the more physical it is, the better it works with youth—especially if the student has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or ADHD. So, we are standing and moving around in my office when we are doing this. My only criteria is that it fits the age of the student and the affect of it needs to be dramatic enough to get the attention of the students. They also need to be able to duplicate what I do and see and feel the differences when certain internal states are compared, as explained later. One of the most common muscle testing techniques is as follows:

A. Stand slightly to the side of the student, looking over their arm as the arm is extended horizontally —either left or right arm.

B. Place one hand lightly on their wrist. Place your other hand on their shoulder for stability.

C. Have them keep their body relaxed and their eyes closed while focusing on their arm and shoulder strength.

D. Whisper to them to "Be strong."

E. Briefly apply gentle downward pressure on their wrist for about 1-2 seconds or until you feel the muscle either "let go" or "lock in place". (Avoid "bouncing" or "playing war" with the arm pressure). You are looking/feeling for a benchmark "neutral" strength for when they "feel strong" without something specific to think about.

F. Internally note the strength of the arm (or lack of).

G. Demonstrate the difference in muscle strength when they access and compare some of the the following different states:

Like or dislike (eg, think of: person, food, subject in school, chore, hobby, sport, etc),

True or false (eg, "My name is true name or "My name is false name", etc.)

Yes or No (eg, "I like ice cream" or "I like vegetables", etc)

Positive or negative situation (last week "when I was sad" or "yesterday when I was happy", etc).

Zip or un-zip central meridian energy line (with their eyes closed and with your fingers about 2-3 inches from their body, rapidly lower (unzip) your fingers from their chin down to their knees—test muscle strength. Then rapidly raise your fingers from their knees up to their chin (zip)— test again. There should be a significant difference in strength).

Interrupt central energy line (trace an X in the air about 2-3 inches from their belly button—test muscle strength. Then in the same position, trace a figure 8 about 2-3 inches from their belly button—test again. There should be a significant difference in muscle strength).

Etc.

After they noticed differences, comment on various possible learnings:

a. Everybody has an energy field;

b. Everybody's energy is affected by emotions;

c. What do they think happens to them when they become--angry, have their feelings hurt, feel sad, are bullied, etc?;

d. Are they more resourceful when they are in a "negative" emotional state or a "positive" one?;

e. Getting into a "negative" state is a fact of life (ie, it is going to happen). f. Getting out of it is their choice-- "WOULD THEY LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO CHANGE IT WHENEVER THEY WANTED TO?

Get a "yes" to this question. If you do not get a "yes", you will have to do more of the first sub-lesson to convince them.

Second Sub-lessons—have them try it on somebody else (parent, friend, etc—be careful NOT to set up a competitive situation) and have BOTH notice the differences. (Personal note: With a student 18 years of age or younger, I always have at least one of the parents sit in the sessions with us. They make a perfect candidate for the student to practice on.)

Third Sub-lesson—Introduce the idea of energy meridians as the pathways through which positive energy flows through their body. Also, when they are in a positive state, energy is flowing---when they are a negative state, the energy is blocked.

Fourth Sub-lesson--tapping on energy meridians releases the block. Demonstrate what tapping is on some of the easier meridian points.

Fifth Sub-lesson—teach and demonstrate the EFT tapping sequence or procedure. (see diagram below)

Basic and Whole Lesson— Throughout the whole process, I attempt to be humorous and light hearted and give lots of examples of how I use it personally and how I have helped others, like them, use it. I treat it as one of the important lessons to be learned in life—how not to be trapped by unwanted emotions and I give them lots of examples of when we can be. I then label the EFT tapping protocol and name it as "EFT" and explain it according to their age and ability to understand (sometimes I don't even attempt to explain—I let them become convinced by the experience). I demonstrate it on several current emotional issues that they have. I then future pace how to use it on emotional issues that might come up in the next few weeks. I teach and demonstrate how to do EFT privately; when and where to use it in public and when not to and why; and how to use it covertly. I also treat it as a secret that they and very few others know. If they will share it only with those they REALLY want to know about it, it will remain their secret to use when they think they need it.

Note: The fact that they know something that very few others know helps them "buy into the aspect of using it on themselves"—particularly if they have been led by you to use it and notice a positive difference. Also, the fact that they tried it out on a parent or a readily accessible friend AND shared it as a secret, gives them great ownership and a sense of "belonging" to something outside themselves. This is a deep-seated need in most of us and is the primary reason kids join gangs and have secret handshakes, language, symbols, etc. The more you can get them to talk about this and to "invest emotionally into the shared secret" the more they will buy into using it on their self when they need it.

"Negative emotions" come with living life. Human beings of all ages experience them. Young students, though, are particularly susceptible to being pulled down by their emotional hits. It is often said that young people can be so cruel to each other—sometimes because they intend to be but most of the time because of the way the receiving child takes the offending remark or incident. The negative meaning they assign to it can make it very personal and can affect their self-esteem. It is a part of growing up. Learning to deal with these emotional hits, it seems to me, is a valuable lesson to teach our children.

My goal for teaching EFT to students is to empower them to take charge of their own life. This is a paradigm shift for many. And to have it so easily available is even further mind-boggling—especially to their parents. The notion of emotions as something to control is, for some parents, a sacred area and borders on mind manipulation. I like to explain it in a different way. That is, that negative and stuck emotions keep us from being as resourceful as we can possibly be. When we use EFT to un-block and release the negative emotions, it allows us to have access to our more positive and resourceful emotional states. Given the choice, who wouldn't rather be positively resourceful than stuck in negative emotions? I have never had a student choose negative emotions---young or old.

Besides, how many times have we, as parents, grandparents, family members, or friends or teachers watched and listened to our children and others around us get totally caught up in the emotions of some incident and "lose it!" Wouldn't it be nice if we had already taught them EFT and could just quietly suggest to them that they might want to go "tap on it" for awhile.

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■Learning to Learn - 2 DVD set

■Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.) - 2 DVD set

■Live Demonstrations with Dr. Don Blackerby - 2 DVD set

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THE EFT PROCEDURE

The Short Cut

Prior to starting the EFT Procedure, check out the strength of the problem or issue. You can do this with muscle testing or by assessing the strength in the mind from 0-10 where 0 is no strength and 10 is maximun strength.
The Setup ...Repeat this affirmation 3 times while continuously rubbing the PR Spot:

"Even though I have this __________, I deeply and completely accept myself."

or (on remaining problem)

" Even though I still have some of this remaining _____, I deeply and completely accept myself."

3. The Sequence ...Tap about 7 times on each of the following energy points while repeating the Reminder Phrase at each point.

EB = Beginning of the Eye Brow

SE = Side of the Eye

UE = Under the Eye

UN = Under the Nose

Ch = Above Chin

CB = Beginning of the Collar Bone

UA = Under the Arm

4. Assess the strength of the issue again. It usually has been diminished. If there is any strength left, do the EFT Tapping on the "remaining" problem. The Setup affirmation and the Reminder Phrase are adjusted to reflect that you are addressing the remaining problem. Repeat this tapping sequence until it has gone away completely or down to 1-2 strength. Sometimes a new aspect or issue of the problem will emerge when the first problem is gone. When this happens, repeat EFT on the new aspect.

By Don A. Blackerby, Ph.D. founder of Success Skills, Inc.

He also specializes in helping students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Radio interview with Dr. Don Blackerby

2010-12-21T01:09:00Z

Dr. Blackerby discusses how to help students who stuggle in school.

Copyright © 2010 Success Skills, Inc. All rights reserved

ADD Through the Template of the Logical Levels

2010-12-17T17:04:00Z

When I first started using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to model the subjective experience of those with the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), I used the Logical Levels extensively. What I found were symptoms at all the Logical Levels instead of just at the Behavioral Level. So, when I work with somebody with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), I systematically work with them through all the Logical Levels. I have found that using EFT to do this greatly speeds up the process (EFT is covered later in this booklet).

Environment Level--The person with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms can do just fine in some environments and not in others. If they are by their self and without outside distractions, they can usually stay focused and accomplish tasks. Put them in a busy school, business, social or family setting, however, and they will start displaying many of the behavioral symptoms. In fact, in many instances, the environment is the triggering cue for the behavioral symptoms.

Many of the treatments or interventions that are attempted are at this level. Students are seated away from other students so they will not be distracted by other activities going on in the classroom. Sometimes students are sent to special rooms that are especially quiet and have less auditory or visual distractions. Sometimes when they are at home they will be isolated in their rooms and told to study there and not be allowed TV or radio. Many with the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms will attempt to overly organize their environment in order to control the chaos they experience. Clearly, the attempt at all of these interventions is to control the environment in order to keep the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Behavioral Symptoms from being triggered. This is a controlling strategy rather than a solution.

Having them do the EFT tapping on what they sense around them when the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms kick in is one of the easiest interventions to do. Examples are: seeing or hearing a particular teacher, a brother or sister, a classroom, or being compelled to do a boring school lesson are just a few of the possibilities. So, ask the client the following question and listen and notice those responses that are emotion laden "When you start to experience the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptom of ______, what or who do you see or hear around you?" Get them to elaborate, so you can read the emotional response. Then lead them through EFT tapping on the environmental triggers or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Symptoms.

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Behavior Level--This is the Logical Level that is most documented in all the literature. The behavioral symptoms of: impulsiveness, hyperactivity, forgetfulness, procrastination, distractibility, and lack of organization clearly show up at this level. This level is also where most of the treatments or interventions are undertaken. Taking drugs is a behavior although the purpose for taking drugs is to deal with the next level--to be able to focus or control the mind. Many behavior modification techniques are attempted and are at this level. Attempting to organize their external environment is a behavior. The punishment and reward strategies are also at this level.

Some of the more common remedies in the Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) literature, besides taking drugs, are behavior modification techniques (like having the student study differently or sit in a different place to diminish the distractions).

Capability Level--Most individuals with the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) feel as though their mind is out of control. Their internal experience is moving so fast and thoughts are appearing and disappearing and they feel unable to manage it. They cannot do the same things with their mind that other students seem to be able to do with ease.

Learning and other academic tasks are very difficult for them because they cannot control and/or focus their mind. Drugs such as Ritalin are supposed to give them control over their mind and allow them to focus but the results are mixed. And yet, in my experience, most individuals who have been diagnosed with the symptoms of ADD are genius or near genius. It is just that their mind does not fit within our educational and social systems.

It is at this level that I begin with a student with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)ADD Symptoms. After I teach them to control their mind, I teach them my academic learning strategies, and then about motivation and on through all the issues at each of the Logical Levels. After dealing with the issues at all the other Logical Levels all the symptoms and problems seem to disappear.

At the Capability Level, I have found two phenomena in students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) that I work with. The first is the sense that their mind is out of control. What I found was that many had multiple images in their mind and they could not control them or focus on just one. Sometimes the images are flying around; sometimes they appear and then mysteriously disappear. I had a 12-year old boy one time tell me that he had 16 images at one time in the form of 4 rows of 4 monitors. Each monitor had a different subject on it. I have had others describe their subjective experience as giant light shows with images flying all over the place like shooting stars.

One of the ways I test for this is to give them a mental assignment which forces them to stabilize an image in their mind. Most of the time, I give them a word that they already know how to spell and have them spell it backwards or from right to left. If their mind is out of control, they will exclaim "I can't hold the picture, it keeps going away!" or "My mind won't let me do it, it takes it away!" I then lead them through EFT tapping on their feeling that their mind is out of control until they regain control.

Secondly, once they can control their mind, then usually I have to teach them HOW TO LEARN in the classroom. Our schools presuppose that children know how to learn in the classroom and do not accept the responsibility of teaching them effective learning strategies. Most teachers focus on giving them LEARNING ACTIVITIES (which are at the Behavior Logical Level) and leave it to chance that learning actually occurs (e.g., the learning activity of writing a spelling word down 10 times or doing countless "timed math fact sheets" or of preparing for an exam by reading study guides over and over).

This is a major void that occurs in our schools that creates much trauma in many students. This trauma occurs in "normal" underachieving students as well as those with "learning disabilities." Many if not all of those who have been diagnosed with ADD and in particular ADHD have been traumatized repeatedly in school. And much of this trauma comes from the fact that they cannot control their minds and therefore cannot effectively learn in the classroom. I tap on these traumas while I am assuring them that things will change since I am also going to teach them HOW TO LEARN and how to use their mind in school. These learning strategies are covered extensively in my book "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" and the parenting booklet "Learning Strategies for the Struggling Student." (to access the parenting booklets, go to the web site www.nlpok.com).

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Beliefs and Values Level--Most students with ADD symptoms believe that they cannot control their mind and/or that their mind controls them. They, therefore, are not responsible for what they do. They also develop limiting beliefs about the value of school and learning which guides their behaviors in school. They believe that school is dumb, boring, or at least a waste of time.

At this Logical Level of Beliefs/Values, I find that many students have either a void of positive and empowering beliefs and values regarding school and learning or they have already picked up "limiting" beliefs and values. For example, some ADD students who have the sense that their mind is out of control will adopt an unconscious belief "I can't control my mind!" or "My mind controls me!" or "My mind makes me do things and I get in trouble!" They will also have limiting beliefs about the value of school like "School sucks!" or "School is boring!" or "Why do I have to got to school—it doesn't help me!!!" They will also adopt beliefs about their capability like "I can't learn ____!" or "I can't do math!" In fact, they can have beliefs about any and all of the Logical Levels.

Eliciting these limiting beliefs and changing them to more empowering beliefs at all logical levels can and is a truly transforming experience for the students I work with. Coupling the learning of new and effective learning strategies with the elimination of limiting beliefs and the addition of empowering beliefs through the Logical Levels pretty well completes the transformation. (After this coverage of the Logical Levels, I will share with you a way to change limiting beliefs using EFT.)

Identity Level--Many students who have had ADD symptoms for a long time develop beliefs about their self which shows up in their self-image or self-esteem. They believe they are different or weird. Or, they will devalue their selves and think that they are worthless or that nobody likes them or accepts them. They also believe that they are totally discounted and not understood for who they REALLY are. Some rebel and fight back while others become apathetic and withdraw from society. Many turn to drugs or alcohol and/or become anti-social.

Many ADD and ADHD students have limiting beliefs at the identity level because so much of the feedback they get from parents, teachers and peers is about how different they are as a person. So, many times they will have "Identity Level" beliefs like "I am weird." or "I'm different than everybody else." or "I'm dumb." or "I'm learning disabled." or "I'm an ADDer." Changing these limiting beliefs to empowering beliefs sends reverberations through all the lower logical levels and has quite a positive impact on the student.

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Spiritual/Greater Systems Level--Some students blame God (or some other spiritual being) for creating them differently. Some blame society or schools or family for not being able to help them. They feel as though they have been let down because nobody has been able to help them overcome this malady which they did not ask for!!! They feel like an outcast from society. They will sometimes strike out at society, families, schools, God or religions (and feel justified).

When I am working with a teenager who has been diagnosed with ADD, I look pretty hard for limiting beliefs at the highest Logical Level of Spiritual/Greater System. By the time they hit teenage years they have been traumatized by the system to such a degree that they can become anti-social in many ways. You will hear them say things like "Why did God do this to me, I didn't deserve this" or "Why don't the schools help me—nobody cares about me!" They feel so much like social outcasts that they sometimes turn to gangs or other like-minded groups (many of these groups turn out to be anti-social) so that they can feel like they have a group identity and a sense of belonging

Kids Shooting Kids

2010-12-17T17:01:00Z

Ever since November 1997 I have been fascinated by the troubled youth of our land. During the month of November, I taught a 2-day workshop on my book "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" to teachers and counselors of the Utah Corrections Department. These teachers and counselors were responsible for the adolescents who had been incarcerated in the Utah Prisons. Later on in May 1998, I spoke at the statewide Troubled Youth Conference for the State of Utah—and my fascination grew even more. As I listened to the key-note speaker tell his story of growing up on the streets and his affiliation with gangs and how he turned his life around, I was struck by the insights that came from listening to his story through the logical levels. (See discussion of logical levels below.)

I also was struck by the similar patterns I had noticed in some of the students with whom I had worked. As school shootings increased around the country, I became even more curious as to what I could do.

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I was primarily fascinated by the process of HOW these adolescents got to where they were. How was it that they dropped through the cracks of our social system? Were there any patterns that would reveal fundamental problems in our social systems that could be corrected? Could I, using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) modeling processes, find these patterns? I went back to my office in Oklahoma City and started my own kind of research. As I worked with individual students who were "at risk", I started noting some patterns that I thought might contribute to these students' plight. I wrote an article that was published in the October, 1998 issue of Anchor Point, an international NLP journal. The title of the article was "Help for Troubled Youth—Finding the Missing Piece to the Puzzle." Then I wrote a sequel to the article "The Faulty Foundation of our Schools" that was published in the February, 1999 issue of the Journal of the United Kingdom Association of NLP. These articles are also posted in the article section on my web site www.nlpok.com.

I decided to widen my database of students and started working within local "Alternative Schools" which serve struggling students who are having a hard time making it in the normal school setting. I interviewed the students and teachers to see if I could find any patterns in their experience that would explain why the students had "dropped through the cracks" of our educational system. And did I find patterns! And, the patterns were consistent almost to a student! And, the patterns revealed some potential solutions in how we need to relate to students.

The major patterns that were present in all the "troubled students" that I have interviewed were:

Trauma — There was trauma in all the students. For the more severe “at risk” students, there were multiple traumas. Some of it occurred in early years in the home or with the family. Some of it occurred in relationships with peers. And, much of it occurred in school as the result of not being able to succeed in the academic assignments. With many students it occurred in all three. Some of the time, the trauma was a perception of the student, instead of an obvious physical or mental trauma. Or, in other words, it was traumatic because of the meaning the student assigned to the event.

Inappropriate feedback — There was some type of inappropriate feedback, a type of inappropriate communication that the students received from teachers, parents and peers when their behaviors were not consistent with expectations. For example, a student might make a bad grade on a test and the parent might get mad and curse him or punish him. If the feedback were perceived to be abusive or blaming or judgmental, the students would fight back or withdraw. This would attract more of the same kind of feedback and the fighting or withdrawal would escalate. The perceived unfairness of the feedback, along with the escalation, causes anger that grows into rage if not reversed.

Inappropriate meaning — The kind of meaning the student attaches to the feedback usually dictates their response. Many students “take it personally” by taking it to the Identity level (as in the example above, the student might think he is “dumb” or “stupid” or “learning disabled.”). Many times the feedback is perceived to be abusive and personal. Other times, the feedback is well intentioned and designed to help them but the student assumes that something is wrong with them. This places it at the Identity level.

Escalation — In all “troubled” or “at risk” students, escalation of on-going disagreements or arguments had occurred. Instead of the feedback being a “one time” event which could generate a correction, these students and their family, peers or teachers escalated the feedback to an ongoing battle. So, in the example above, if the student did poorly on another test, the parent might get even more angry and the student would react angrily to the anger. The parent then starts to react to the student’s anger. Many times the original reason for the battle was buried under the escalating battle over issues of control or of winning or of who was right or of independence. The growing rage over the perceived unfairness and a lack of anger management strategies fuels the escalation even more.

Alienation — Since the student feels attacked at the Identity level, they feel different than the other students who seem to be doing all right (the ones that the system deems okay). They feel separated and alienated. This increases the emotional impact and they become even more traumatized. As the escalation continues, they look for ways to recapture a sense of worthiness and belonging.

These patterns do not occur in a linear fashion. Many of them occur simultaneously over a long period of time. The unique role that school plays is that it is one of the major ongoing environments within which the above patterns are bred and develop. Going to school is one of the major activities of growing up. How they do in school, both academically and socially, IS one of the major concerns of youth. It is THE primary focus of concern for most youth.

As the above patterns continue to escalate to extremes, and the alienation becomes more severe, the kids group together with common feelings of being treated unjustly and unfairly. The rage becomes justified within the group. Revenge would be a common way to seek relief. When we factor in the violence of the movies and TV and computer games where these students spend a lot of time (I wrote about this in the article "Help for Troubled Youth"), shooting people who have mis-treated them previously could seem like the cool thing to do. This is particularly true when they join a like-minded group and they sit around discussing their common plight. The alienation grows and so does the demonizing of those from whom they feel alienated.

Most of the proposed solutions that are in the news are not at the appropriate logical level. To quickly review the logical levels:

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LOGICAL LEVELS

Spiritual/Greater System - Attempts to communicate or change at this level affect our experience of being a part of a much vaster system. Answers the question of WHO ELSE DOES THIS SERVE? Or, WHAT IS MY GREATER VISION?

We all live in systems. These systems serve larger systems, etc. If our lives serve something bigger than our self, it gives purpose and meaning to our lives.

Identity - Attempts to communicate or change at this level affect self-image and overall purpose. Answers the question of WHO AM I? and/or WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?

Changes at the Identity level are harder to make. When others judge who we are, we tend to get defensive and protect ourselves. When students assign feedback to this level (even if the feedback is well intentioned) and make it negative, real damage occurs to the self-esteem of the student.

Beliefs and Values - Attempts to communicate or change at this level affect the motivation and permission by affecting the reasons that we do it. Answers the question of WHY DO I DO IT?

Real and strong motivation is elicited if the academic task at hand is connected to the student's values or criteria. Unfortunately, many students, parents and teachers do not know how to elicit these criteria and utilize them.

Capabilities - Attempts to communicate or change at this level affect behavioral actions through a mental map, skill or strategy. Answers the question of HOW DO I DO IT?

For most students, this is a missing level since the schools do not officially teach them how to learn in the classroom—they leave it to the student to figure it out. The mental learning strategies that students use are often inefficient and ineffective. This missing level is the source of much of the academic trauma for students.

Behavior - Attempts to communicate or change at this level affect specific actions taken within the environment. Answers the question of WHAT DO I DO?

Students will attempt to solve problems at this level by changing the way they study or the amount of time they will study or by changing what they do to study.

Environmental - Attempts to communicate or change at this level affect the external constraints a person has to live within and react to. Answers the questions of WHERE and/or WHEN and/or WITH WHOM DO I DO IT?

Many parents or students will attempt to solve problems in school at this level by changing schools, or teachers or studying with friends or alone or changing the location of where they do their studying.

Most of the proposed solutions like tougher laws on guns, curfews, dress codes and the like are at the Environment and Behavior Levels. If you analyze the major patterns listed previously, most of the causes for the anti-social behaviors are at the highest Logical Levels. Feeling alienated from society or God (or some other higher power) is at the top logical level of Spiritual/Greater System as well as an Identity issue. Joining a group of like-minded individuals is the students' attempt at solving their problem at the top two Levels—so they will have an identity and belong. Unfortunately, that does not stop the alienation, it only perpetuates it and the rage. Albert Einstein once said "You cannot solve a problem at the level at which it was created—you have to go to a higher level." I think that is so true in this situation also.

The interesting part of this to me is how the "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" certification training graduates are SO qualified to help deal with this problem. They learn how to teach students how to learn and how to think about school in a positive manner. They learn how to give feedback in a way that builds self-esteem. They learn how to change limiting beliefs when students assign the wrong meaning to certain events. They learn how trauma affects students' lives and how to work through the trauma with the student. They learn how to deal with issues at ALL LOGICAL LEVELS—including Identity issues. They learn how to deal with anger and rage and how to clear the student's body of the emotion.

I recently had a mother call me. She had a 7-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD). He was out of control with anger and rage and would physically attack his fellow students and even the teachers. He had been expelled 3 times in the two previous weeks prior to his mother bringing him to see me. To quote her e-mail to me "Donny (not his real name) had an outburst at school. He scratched a little boy all over his face, arms, and back! He got kicked out of the after school program and is not allowed to go on any school trips unless an adult accompanies him. He is "on edge all day" at school, according to his teachers. This means he is having difficulty sharing with others, paying attention, and staying focused. He says these bad thoughts just start coming into his head and he can't stop them! He says he runs from the teachers because he thinks they are going to hurt him."

I worked with Donny primarily on his anger and the trauma he had experienced while being abused on numerous occasions as a small boy. After several weeks back home, I received the following e-mail from the mother "Thank you soooo much for the pictures! It was great, Donny immediately remembered what he was doing and saying in the pictures! He has now had 2 WEEKS of GREAT, GREAT DAYS at school, his teacher says it is incredible the changes she is seeing. She feels certain that what you did with Donny has made a definite difference."

John Bartlett, one of the graduates of a recent "Rediscover the Joy of Learning," went to work as a counselor at the Colorado Youth Challenge Corps in Ft. Carson, Colorado—a boot camp type environment for "at risk" youth. If they don't make it there, some go to prison. After reading the draft of this article, he responded with the following comments:

"Based on my experience of working for nearly one year with over 200, "at risk kids," in the Colorado Youth ChalleNGe Corp (CYCC or ChalleNGe) at Ft. Carson, CO. I find the major patterns of the students you describe in "Kids Shooting Kids" fit our youth almost exactly.

The original assessment of the youth confirms the patterns and the continuous contact validates it even more. The following examples may lend some credibility to your research:

These youth seldom have one trauma that adversely affects their life and school. They have multiple traumas to deal with from all forms of human abuse at all levels. A full 95% of the youth at ChalleNGe have suffered some kind of trauma.

One young woman, a great athlete, was the victim of six rapes before she was 17 years of age. Two were from counselors, a male and one female. A coach put down her athletic accomplishments because she seemed too cocky and boastful. (Inappropriate Feedback) She responded to her traumas by running away, drugs and alcohol. (Escalation)

One young man, a Native American that I worked with, was victimized by a grade school teacher. She would take the paper from him that he had been working on, mark the mistakes and then announce to the class how poor the work was. She would tell the class that this was the best that Indians or Blacks could do. (Inappropriate Feedback) As he progressed on through school, he withdrew more and more and did even more poorly. To him it validated the teacher's words--I'm an Indian I can't do well. . (Identity issue and Inappropriate Meaning)

A young man with blue hair, a different haircut, chains and dressed in black ran away from home when approached on changing a little after the Columbine High School incident. (Inappropriate Meaning) He was totally unwilling to communicate about any of the issues. His clothes, hair, actions, music etc. were who he believed himself to be. (Search for Identity and Belonging)

We believe that a full 50% of the youth here at CYCC have been or are now affiliated with gangs at one level or another. (Search for Identity and Belonging and Group Rebellion) An additional 45% are involved with some group (e.g., skaters, Goths, bikers, etc).

Overworked, overloaded, exasperated teachers may slip up and say an inappropriate comment and/or not take enough time with a student and the student locks on to that one incident above and beyond any other thing that the teacher did or said for the entire year. (Inappropriate Meaning) One man, angry about his inability to read or spell, blamed his teachers and school. His attendance was so bad that he was dropped from Elementary School. He started smoking pot at age eight. He and his mother had the same probation officer.

Some of the processes and techniques I learned at the "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" helped me considerably with these youth. Some of the techniques were so simple but yet for these kids, they made a real difference. The Spelling Strategy, the Math Facts Triangle, The Vocabulary Strategy, the Reading Comprehension Strategy, the ADD Dance, The 6 step Belief Change, and the use of the Logical Levels are among many of the strategies which worked very well.

One young man, a graduate of the program, told me "The reason to do good in school is that the kids that do good in school get all the good friends. When I didn't do good in school my life was a mess and I couldn't do anything about it. (Alienation and Search for Identity and Belonging) The four-step thing (ADD Dance) did it for me. The Spelling Strategy got me to believe I could still learn."

One young man turned around when we identified his learning style as audio and gave him a cassette tape player and tape. He claimed the 6-step belief change did him the most good on really believing he could change. He did it four times for good measure on shifting the belief to "I can learn." He was the class honor graduate, winning two out of five positive merit awards. When asked, "What was the greatest thing you learned at ChalleNGe?" He replyed with conviction, "When I changed my life, I understood how much I really loved my family." (Search for Identity and Belonging)

Spelling was fun for the kids. The ChalleNGe spelling word was "Super cala fraga listic expy ala dos has." Speed races of spelling the word forward and backwards without making a mistake or stopping; produced speeds of 17.5 seconds as the top record. It was common to overhear spelling bee races in the halls and in the lunch line.

After the Columbine High School shootings, I had the occasion to see 95 of the youth in two days in small group sessions. It was mentioned by six different kids, "Before I came to this program, I could have been a shooter. I understand why the shooters did what they did. I know how to get weapons and I know how to make pipe bombs!"

In my contact with the youth, I found less than 3% of the kids could not be helped with the material that I learned in the "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" course. Most of the kids really turn on to learning after they are shown how to learn and believe that they can learn. The other disruptive behaviors disappear fairly quickly.

I let some of the youth read one of the drafts of this article. Of the youth that read it, there was an overwhelming 100% agreement that the Patterns were right on the money."

(An interesting note—just days after the Columbine High School shooting tragedy, the Colorado State Legislature voted to shut down the Colorado Youth ChalleNGe Corp program effective July 30, 1999.)

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If we could teach parents and teachers appropriate feedback strategies to implement on the spot, then we could head off these powerful escalating feelings of being separated and alienated. We could also teach parents and teachers how to help students find the more empowering meanings to assign to certain events. We could even teach the students how to find different and more empowering meanings for the events that occur in their everyday life. Then their self-esteem would be elevated and boosted rather than torn down. In fact, wouldn't it be nice if we taught the students how to do this for their classmates.

I am up to the task of setting this out as a vision and a mission. Help is certainly needed in this facet of our lives. The world is crying for a solution. If you are of the same mind set and if you would like to get involved with a vision such as this, come join me. Let me know how and what you can do. If you do not know yet, call me or contact me in another way and let's discuss how you can make a difference in the world! I personally think EVERYBODY wants and can make a difference in the world. Don't you? In my opinion, transforming children's lives makes a big difference in helping to make the world a better place. Come join me….

About the Authors

Don A. Blackerby, Ph.D. is founder of SUCCESS SKILLS, Inc. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He is a former math teacher and college dean and founded SUCCESS SKILLS in 1981 in order to focus on using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to help struggling students in school. In 1996, he wrote a book "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" in which he describes his NLP based strategies and processes on how he helped struggling students including those with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

John Bartlett, BA is a certified NLP Practitioner, former teacher and community college instructor and public agency training specialist. John graduated from the 14 day "Rediscover the Joy of Learning" certification training in August 1998, and has joined Don in his vision to help America's youth. He works privately with "at risk kids" and kids who suffer with ADD.

About Success Skills

Success Skills specializes in helping struggling students of all ages who are experiencing all sorts of different kinds of difficulties. Penn Henthorn currently runs Success Skill, Inc., and the processes that he uses are very different from the normal type of help struggling students receive. He is a personal development coach. He teaches students HOW to use their mind to succeed in school. He teaches them learning strategies that really work. He also teaches them ways to think about school and learning that "turn them on" to school and motivates them to want to succeed.

He also specializes in helping students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Why Struggling Students Fall Through the Cracks of Our Educational System

2010-12-17T16:49:00Z

Ever since November 1997, I have been fascinated by the troubled youth of our land. I also was struck by the similar patterns I had noticed in some of the students with whom I had worked. As school shootings increased around the country, I became even more curious as to what I could do.

I was primarily fascinated by the process of HOW these adolescents got to where they were. How was it that they dropped through the cracks of our educational and social system? After all, most of the time, when a student was dropping behind or having a problem in school, we diagnosed them as "learning disabled" or "ADD" or "ADHD" or "Dyslexia" and put them in special classes. Shouldn't that have been enough? Should we have done something else?

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Were there any patterns that would reveal fundamental problems in our social or school systems that could be corrected? Could I, using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) modeling processes, find these patterns? I went back to my office and started my own kind of research. As I worked with individual students who were "at risk", I started noting some patterns that I thought might contribute to these students' plight.

And did I find patterns!!! And, the patterns were consistent almost to a student! And, the patterns revealed some potential solutions in how we need to relate to students. Note: For a more extensive write-up of these students and solutions, go to the article "Kids Shooting Kids ."

The major patterns that were present in all the "troubled students" that I have interviewed were:

Trauma—There was trauma in all the students. For the more severe "at risk" students, there were multiple traumas. Some of it occurred in early years in the home or with the family. Some of it occurred in relationships with peers. And, much of it occurred in school as the result of not being able to succeed in the academic assignments. As noted earlier, most students diagnosed with ADD or ADHD were traumatized almost daily in all three (in school, in their families and with peers). Some of the time, the trauma was a perception of the student, instead of an obvious physical or mental trauma. Or, in other words, it was traumatic because of the meaning the student assigned to the event.
Inappropriate feedback—There was some type of inappropriate feedback, a type of inappropriate communication that the students received from teachers, parents and peers when their behaviors were not consistent with expectations. For example, a student might make a bad grade on a test and the parent might get mad and curse him or punish him. If the feedback were perceived to be abusive or blaming or judgmental, the students would fight back or withdraw. This would attract more of the same kind of feedback and the fighting or withdrawal would escalate. The perceived unfairness of the feedback, along with the escalation, creates anger that grows into rage if not reversed.
Inappropriate meaning—The kind of meaning the student attaches to the feedback usually dictates their response. Many students "take it personally" by taking it to the Identity level (as in the example above, the student might think he is "dumb" or "stupid" or "learning disabled" or "ADD" or "just a bad person"). Many times the feedback is perceived to be abusive and personal. Other times, the feedback is well intentioned and designed to help them but the student assumes that something is wrong with them as a person. This places it at the Identity level and labels them as a "bad" or "inadequate person."
Escalation—In all "troubled" or "at risk" students, escalation of on-going disagreements or arguments had occurred. Instead of the feedback being a "one time" event which could generate a correction, these students and their family, peers or teachers escalated the feedback to an ongoing battle. So, in the example above, if the student did poorly on another test, the parent might get even more angry and the student would react more angrily to the increased anger. The parent then starts to react to the student's increasing anger and rebellion, etc, etc. Many times the original reason for the battle was buried under the escalating battle over issues of control or of winning or of who was right or of independence. The growing rage over the perceived unfairness and a lack of anger management strategies fuels the escalation even more and it laps over to others who had nothing to do with the original perceived injustice. They now start to add to the escalation and rage and the list of "enemies." The student is now generally perceived as an angry and rebellious person or a person with a "bad attitude."
Alienation—Since the student feels attacked at the Identity level, they feel different than the other students who seem to be doing all right (the ones that the system deems okay). They feel separated and alienated. This increases the emotional impact and they become even more traumatized. As the escalation continues, they look for ways to recapture a sense of worthiness and belonging by looking for others who are going through the same experience or to whom they can relate.
Search for identity and belonging—Desperate to find an identity and to feel like they belong, they look around for others with whom to identify. They find others in their school and community who are going through the same type of experience and they band together. They could be attracted to each other by a common interest: a type of music, a philosophical or political position, a style of dress, hair, body adornment, recreational drugs, etc. Such forces as TV, or movies, or music groups or internet games often influence their search. This very strong need for a sense of identity and belonging has a life-changing influence on the way they decide to live their life.
Group rebellion—The group now can become the one who is doing the rebellion or striking back at family, teachers or the students and peers who used to torment them. To not only have an identity and a group to which they can belong, but also to have a common purpose is pretty heady stuff. This group level activity insulates them from the personal responsibility of their actions. This can lead to the many violent behaviors that occur, including the gang drive-by shootings and the growing number of kids who are shooting other kids. They are many times doing this within a group mentality—not always as an individual.

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2 DVD's 3 1/2 hours.

Price: $95.00

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These patterns do not occur in a linear fashion. Many of them occur simultaneously in an explosive fashion and/or occur repeatedly over a long period of time. The unique role that school plays is that it is one of the major ongoing environments within which the above patterns are bred and develop. Going to school is one of the major activities of growing up. How they do in school, both academically and socially, IS one of the major concerns of youth. It is THE primary focus of energetic outlet for most youth.

As the above patterns continue to escalate to extremes, and the alienation becomes more severe, the kids group together with common feelings of being treated unjustly and unfairly. The rage becomes justified within the group. Revenge would be a common way to seek relief. When we factor in the violence of the movies and TV and computer games where these students spend a lot of time; shooting people who have mis-treated them previously could seem like the cool thing to do. This is particularly true when they join a like-minded group and they sit around discussing their common plight. The alienation grows and so does the demonizing of those from whom they feel alienated.

This article was written by Don A. Blackerby, Ph.D. founder of Success Skills, Inc.

Success Skills specializes in helping struggling students of all ages who are experiencing all sorts of different kinds of difficulties. Penn Henthorn currently runs Success Skill, Inc., and the processes that he uses are very different from the normal type of help struggling students receive. He is a personal development coach. He teaches students HOW to use their mind to succeed in school. He teaches them learning strategies that really work. He also teaches them ways to think about school and learning that "turn them on" to school and motivates them to want to succeed.

He also specializes in helping students who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).