We at the Health Blog are not afraid to admit that we devoured Rick Riordan’s blockbuster “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series of kids’ books, despite being a few decades older than the target demographic.
So we were intrigued to read that the series sprang from the bedtime stories the author used to tell his son Haley, who — like Percy — has dyslexia and ADHD. And as Riordan writes today on WSJ’s Speakeasy blog, Haley, now 16, has become an avid reader.
(We’ve written about the drug treatments for ADHD, which are a big driver of increased spending on kids’ meds.)
Riordan offers up four tips he’s gleaned from being a dad and a classroom teacher for encouraging a reading habit among kids with ADHD, dyslexia or other learning “differences,” as he says. We think they sound like good advice for any parent trying to get any kid — ADHD or not –to put down the Nintendo Game Boy and pick up a book.
First, Riordan recommends parents model reading at home to give children the “sense that it is a valuable part of your daily routine.” He continues:
Sometimes the Riordan family will read books together. Sometimes we?re all reading different things. But we value books, and we have great conversations about our favorite authors and stories.
To read all of Riordan’s suggestions, check out the Speakeasy post.