Very often, parents are willing to accept the professional opinions of administrators at their children’s school.  Many parents are very quick to agree to learning ability testing without conducting their own investigations.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Diagnosis, the most common misdiagnosis, can lead to the placement of children in special education classes.  As a result, children are under challenged and deeply scarred about their abilities.  The criteria for ADHD is very general, and the diagnosis is not objective—it is merely the professional opinion of a child psychologist.  A student can be misdiagnosed with ADHD, simply because they are the youngest and most immature kid in the classroom!!

PARENTS…when a child’s learning abilities are questioned, it is important that you be involved.   Before a child is tested, please conduct your own investigation. 

Kinesthetic Learning Diagnosed as ADHD

Exploring your child’s learning style can help prevent misdiagnosis.  There are 3 types of learning styles:  auditory, visual and kinesthetic.

• Auditory learners prefer to learn by listening. They benefit from lectures, recording lectures and reading out        loud.

• Visual learners learn best from visuals, such as graphs, charts and outlines.

• Kinesthetic learners are “Body smart” people.  They benefit from physical experiences, such as touching,             feeling, holding and role playing.

Kinesthetic intelligence is typically diagnosed as ADHD because they are constantly moving or fidgety. These types of learners are the most misunderstood. 

Many of history’s celebrities were kinesthetic learners…Jim Carrey, Charlie Chaplin and Michael Jordan just to name a few! If you are faced with the unfortunate experience of a teacher identifying your student as one with learning difficulties, BE PREPARED TO ADVOCATE.  DO NOT LET SOMEONE ELSE’S DIAGNOSIS BECOME YOUR CHILD’S DESTINY!