Talking to children about their learning differences is tricky. The Brain Building Book was built to help!
For Parents
As part of our assessment, your child and I will create a book to document what we discover about their brain and how they learn. For younger students, we use The Brain Building Book. For older students, we use Brain Building 101. You can see sample pages from each below.
Using this book as a guide, your child will learn basic neuroanatomy, explore a growth-mindset metaphor for how brains change, and identify strategies to help with learning. We will also identify specific terms to help them understand their learning differences in an empowering and positive way.
This book is a concrete tool you can bring home to continue the conversation and help them advocate for what they need over time!
If you’d like to use the book on your own, see www.BrainBuildingBook.com/Parent-Guides to order a single copy of either Brain Building book along with a Parent Guide to help you talk to your child about their diagnosis.
For Practitioners
If you are interested in using The Brain Building Books in your own practice, please visit www.BrainBuildingBook.com to learn more!
Sample pages:
Comments from parents and professionals:
“This is a great way to provide understandable explanations to kids about how the brain works, why it works the way it does, and why the planned interventions are going to be effective. I would expect it to enhance the child and family’s engagement in the intervention process.”
– Cecil Reynolds, Ph.D., ABN, ABPdNP, award-winning author, professor, and test developer
“[My daughter] was very excited about it when she first brought it home and shared it with all loved ones. She shared it with her teacher when school started and she pulls it out any time the subject of dyslexia comes up with someone new.”
– Parent of 4th-grade Dyslexic student
“One thing that is readily apparent in our work – it is very difficult to provide feedback on how children learn to children, let alone parents and teachers!! This book allows children to understand their learning strengths and pitfalls using an array of pictures and guides rather than the busy words embedded within our reports. I think it has tremendous use for clinicians, as well as therapists and educational diagnosticians.”
– Steven Feifer, D.Ed., NCSP, ABSNP, internationally renowned author, speaker, and test developer
“This book is super great! It’s simple, informative…and really needed.”
– Elizabeth Sautter, M.A., Licensed Speech and Language Pathologist, author, and mother of two children with learning needs
“…it really feels like the thing I’ve been searching for all my career. It’s fun, simple, engaging, and brain-based. And it gives you this lovely tangible thing to share with parents and teachers, who often have just as little understanding of how the brain works as kids do. I’ve had kids participate in sharing their book with adults and it’s just a great experience!”
– Sarah Wheeler, Ph.D., Licensed Educational Psychologist
“I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I would want to use this in all of my assessments and think it is really helpful and practical to demystify the assessment process and engage the students.”
– Hannah Acevedo, M.A., Licensed Educational Psychologist
