There is a big debate about the value of tests, especially high-stakes standardized tests like the ACT or SAT. Concerns about undo stress, the tendency to “teach to the test,” inherent cultural biases, and the (mis)use of test scores to re-allocate funding away from marginalized communities are valid and real.

The decision to pursue neuropsychological testing for your child, teenager, or young adult is not always an easy one. It can be a lengthy, expensive, and demanding process. Not to mention, you might have pursued multiple other evaluations and interventions, but your high hopes for “an answer” and substantive change were met with vague, incomplete, and ineffective remedies.

How much screen time is too much screen time? If this isn’t the question of the year (or the century), I don’t know what is. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limited screen use for children under two years old and no more than 1 hour per day for children two to five years old, it feels nearly impossible to adhere to these limits in the face of e-learning and social distancing.

So, how do we know where to draw the line?

It’s summer. The kids are finally out of school – or whatever that was children were sort of doing from April to June. Now, instead of setting your child’s daily school schedule, making sure they are paying attention to the teacher on the screen, and fighting with them to complete their homework, we can finally get back to normal. Okay, not normal, but you get my drift.

During April and May, Mind Chicago ran a Community Support Fundraiser for the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund (ICRF), a fund helping communities hit hardest by the pandemic.

“Rachel did it,” I, at three-years-old, insisted when my parents asked why there was blue ink on our ecru walls and white couch. I was informing them that my sister, their devious daughter, was to blame. After a booming count to three (my father’s timeframe to “come clean”), I was punished for vandalism – and lying.

You have a behavior plan that is more concrete and specific with a “short distance” between behavior and reward, you’ve framed your statements to be more positive, and you’ve upped the labeled praises. But your behavior plan still is not working!

Now that we have a behavior plan that is concrete and specific with a “short distance” between behavior and reward, what else can we do to improve the likelihood of our behavior plan’s success?

Parents and teachers, often with the guidance of a counselor or psychologist, build and implement behavior modification plans, or behavior plans.

You use these plans to help your child learn to stay on task, follow instructions, and, ultimately, succeed academically and socially. Unfortunately, despite your best efforts, your plan is failing and your child’s undesired behaviors have not changed - or are actually increasing!

Before you throw in the towel, here is the first of three reasons why you might be struggling.

Your child (we'll call him Dylan) has special needs. For example, let's say he has dyslexia. At the beginning of the third grade, Dylan was reading at an early kindergarten level. Now, at the end of the third grade, he’s reading at a late kindergarten level.

A disorder of attention occurs when an individual suffers a traumatic brain injury that leaves him or her incapable of attending to an object, person, conversation, game, or anything. If you’re reading this article, that description likely does not describe your child or student.