Heads Up!  is a company designed to provide expert information and products for special needs children. I have a son who is, we believe, ADHD (haven’t done testing yet), so I thought these products would be a wonderful line for us to review. The company extended to us the opportunity to review their products called "Frames"

and Head's Up! Top of the Line:

and Heads Up! Reader :

Does my son just love these products?  Have they transformed his schooling? Focused him in is squiggles and wiggles? Helped him to stay focused in his reading and moved up levels above where we were?

Well, no actually!  Actually he has been using them more often as bookmarks than use them in the way they were intended. I'm not sure if he has used them in the intended way at all.

Then how and why have these products transormed our homeschooling? Why am I here to rave about them?

Well, surprise, surprise, it turns out that I MYSELF am the one who is benefitting from these products.  I have long known I had trouble following a line when I was reading. When I was younger and worked as a secretary, I could skip entire paragraphs in my typing and not even realize it.  My boss was amazed that I didn't notice the context didn't flow, but I didn't notice.  I had my eyes checked and got glasses for reading.  Ithought that had solved the problem, but while it helped, I still had the problem.

This problem is particularly pronounced when this 50 year old homeschool mom tries to do read-alouds in the afternoon, when all the blood leaves my head and rushes to assist in digesting my lunch. If I'm not falling asleep and loosing my place, I'm just loosing my place, and read-alouds take forever, and who knows how difficult it is for my son to follow the context when I'm not even sure if I read all the words, or if I re-read sections three times, or skipped other sections entirely...

Now I use these Heads Up! tools interchangeably, whichever product is the first one I find.  The one that really works best for my reading issues is their Top of the Line product, but I can use the other two can work as if they are Top of the Line.  I personally don't need the color strip, to the best that I can tell, as long as I have some sort of strip to use.  But I like the color strips, and I like the grey that contrasts the color.  Everyone who uses these products tends to settle on one color that they prefer or that works best for them, and for me it is the blue, but I will use whichever color is at hand when I start reading because I absolutely prefer to do my reading with these strips, now, to keep me tracking well.

I would like Heads Up!  to consider making one addition to their product line that would help my son do math with his ADHD issues, and would have helped his ADHD sister before him.  I would like to see them create a line of "Frame"s specifically for math, that would have the frame around the outside, but that would have a cut-out section in the center so that the child could do math through the frame and not be distracted by the rest of the page.  These frames would be good in the same sizes that are currently offered, small and large, so that you could use the larger frames for page-size word problems that read right-to left, and the smaller size frames for focusing on one, or several individual math problems.  My ADHD kids easily become overwhelmed when they have to look at an entire page, front and back, of math problems.  They can't focus on one problem at a time. All they can see is, "I have to do ALL THESE PROBLEMS!?  I can't!!! I can't!!!!"   By framing one problem at a time, they would be better able to cope and focus.

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Heads Up!  has other products that I would like the opportunity to try out, if my finances can manage it sometime.  I would love to try their weighted turtle:

The hyperactive child holds the turtle in the lap.  "When placed on the lap, the deep pressure provides a relaxing sensation while maintaining a constant tactile reminder when it's time to sit still. If a child begins to stand up, the turtle begins to slide and the child has an instant nonverbal reminder to remain seated." (From theit website.)

I also think he would benefit from one of the Cushion Disks

 :

This might help him in his schoolwork, but it might also help him learn to sit still at the dinner table, and maybe I'd use it in combination with the weighted turtle, in the hopes that one day we can actually go eat at restaurants again as a family...  Description from their website:  "These sturdy, portable air cushion disks fit on top of a chair and allow for comfort and in-seat movements. Great for the child who needs to wiggle around yet remain seated in a designated spot. The degree of inflation can be adjusted for personal preference to allow for greater disk firmness or flexibility. Can also be used to improve balance or for a short exercise break. "

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Again, from their website:

Heads Up Helping!! is the story of a mother's journey as she observes her son's special learning challenges and responds with love and dedication. Drawing on her years of experience as a speech pathologist, Melinda begins her pursuit of educational methods and materials that will help her son achieve the potential she is convinced exists. With fierce determination, Melinda sought information to help her son Joshua both accept himself and find areas in which he could excel despite his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), social difficulties, and sensory issues.

Over time, and with much experimentation, Melinda recognized which strategies, materials, and instructional approaches were most effective for her son and daughters. By becoming an astute observer and student herself, she gradually distinguished those techniques that worked most frequently out of the multitude of ideas she tried and those successes are shared in depth throughout her book.

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In addition to all the wonderful products Head's Up has to offer, and some wonderful titles it makes available, it is also chocked-full of informational articles and ideas for coping with and helping your special learner. 

I am so happy to have found this company and their website.  I know I will be visiting Head's Up and using their products for years to come.  I also found the Head's Up blog, and plan to be a reguIar reader there as well.  I think there are many other parents who are educating children who would benefit from these products. If you are one of them, trust me, having specially developed tools really helps special learners thrive and grow in their ability to break through and acquire their education.  If you are where I once was, banging your head against the wall alternated with pulling your hair out, then look over this website and try to purchase some of their specialty products that seem suited to your child's particular bent. You won't regret it.