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Showing posts with label 2e. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2e. Show all posts

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

RITALIN NAY-SAYER REBUTTED. The New York Times opinion piece "Ritalin Gone Wrong" has drawn firm responses from a variety of people and organizations. The Child Mind Institute posted a point-by-point commentary on its website. Letters to the editor of The New York Times on the topic are here. And Dr. Edward Hallowell (author of books on AD/HD) has written a response to the opinion piece that  you may find here. 
AD/HD AND THE DSM-5. One observer contends that the next edition of the DSM might have the effect of increasing the chances that a child may be diagnosed with AD/HD, the opposite of what observers fear will happen with ASD. Will "lowering the bar" for an AD/HD diagnosis lead to more diagnoses, more help -- and more meds? Read more.
SPEAKING OF ASPERGER'S, we found three pieces over the past few days dealing with the diagnosis of that condition in the past and in the future. In one article, the writer recounts how "For a brief period... I had Asperger syndrome" -- diagnosed by his mother, a psychology professor and Asperger's specialist, of all things. Read how the writer says after college his symptoms vanished. In another article the author claims that the Asperger's label is perhaps overused, calling it a tide of pathologizing; find the article. And finally, Atlantic ran an article called "Can My Kid Still Get Treatment? Why Autism's Definition Matters," explaining the positive impact of a diagnosis on the author's own child; read it.
AD/HD DRUG WARNING. Reuters reports that advisers to the U.S. FDA have asked that Focalin carry a warning about the risk of suicidal thoughts in those who take the medicine. The number of instances involving those thoughts appears to be small compared to the number of children taking the drug, four linked to the drug and four others where the link was not clear. Read more.
MORE ON SPECIAL SERVICES. We recently posted that the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has changed the definition of who should get special services under 504 plans. Read more about it, including pointers to the guidance issued by OCR and a list of questions an answers on the topic.
SSRI's FOR ANXIETY. A psychiatrist recommends that clinicians should be "pushing the doses of these [SSRI] medicines so that you can give kids a chance to respond the best they can," contending that the usual "start low, go slow" advice might not lead to anxiety being controlled adequately. Got a bright but anxious kid? Read more.
SMARTKIDS YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. The organization Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities has opened nominations for its annual Youth Achievement Award, $1000, which "recognizes the strengths and accomplishments of young people with learning disabilities and ADHD." The deadline for nomination is February 28. Find out more.
AD/HD SCHOLARSHIPS. About.com has news of the Shire AD/HD Scholarship for those with AD/HD pursuing higher education. Fifty scholarships are awarded, each including $2000 plus a year of AD/HD coaching. Find out more.
NEAR DURANGO? Colorado, that is. Liberty School in that area is holding a dyslexia conference on March 16-17. Find out more.
GEORGIA SCHOOL FOR DYSLEXICS. A private school for elementary and middle schoolers with dyslexia is in the works in Marietta, Georgia,and scheduled to open in the fall. Read more about it.
EDUCATION WEEK OPEN HOUSE. Until February 5, Education Week is hosting an "open house" on their website. One feature there is titled "The Virtual World of Learning," and visitors may also download a white paper on online education. Go there. 
RTI WEBINAR. RTI (response to intervention) can help all kids, including those who are gifted or twice-exceptional. One of NAGC's Webinars on Wednesdays (WOW) will address the topic on March28 at 7:00 pm. Titled "What Parents and Educators Should Know about RtI," presenters include Mike Postma, MinnetonkaPublic Schools, Minnetonka, Minnesota; Bobbie Gilman, Gifted DevelopmentCenter, Denver, Colorado; Dan Peters, Walnut Creek, California; and Kathi Kearney,Project Excel, Berwick, Maine. Find more information.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

AUSTRALIAN GIFTED CONFERENCE. The 13th National Conference on Giftedness is scheduled for July 12-15, 2012, in Adelaide, South Australia. According to conference organizers, "This conference will bring together experts in the field of giftedness and talent and combine these with the latest research from around the world." Find out more.
MEDSCAPE ON AUTISM. In a series called "Game Changers in Pediatrics 2011," Medscape pointed to key findings from research  in the area of ASDs. Some of the findings show how much more there is to learn about ASD, some point out things that don't work in treating ASD. Find the Medscape article. 
PANDAS. The Los Angeles Times published an article about pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus (PANDAS), a sudden-onset mental disorder marked by OCD-type behaviors. The article also mentions the possibility that other disorders, including cases of autism, might be linked to improper immune system response. Find out more.
GIFTED AND DIFFICULT. A small school in Torrance, California, takes talented students who have difficulties in the normal classroom. For many of the 21 students at the school, The Center for Learning Unlimited, the issue is Asperger's. One "graduate" of the school is at the top of his class in middle school. Read more.
BIOCHEMICAL IMBALANCE IN AD/HD. A recent study has unveiled a new suspect in the biochemistry of AD/HD, this one the receptor protein for the transmitter acetylcholine. Children with AD/HD have about half the protein that typical subjects do. According to a study author, "This indicates that several signal substances are implicated in ADHD and that in the future this could pave the way for other drugs than those in use today." Read more.
AND FINALLY THIS. Researchers in Finland monitored subjects' brains by MRI as the subjects listened to tango music. The results indicate that music affects many areas of the brain. From a write-up of the research: "The researchers found that music listening recruits not only the auditory areas of the brain, but also employs large-scale neural networks. For instance, they discovered that the processing of musical pulse recruits motor areas in the brain, supporting the idea that music and movement are closely intertwined. Limbic areas of the brain, known to be associated with emotions, were found to be involved in rhythm and tonality processing. Processing of timbre was associated with activations in the so-called default mode network, which is assumed to be associated with mind-wandering and creativity." So much for just "listening" to music. Find the write-up.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

COLLEGE AND LD: FOLLOWUP. In our last post we noted an article in The New York Times dealing with the issue of what to disclose, if anything, about an LD when applying for college. As it turns out, the Times has made available an admissions expert to answer questions online from readers about applying to college with a learning disability. If that young person you teach or raise is nearing college age and you have specific questions, this could be a great resource. Find it. 
2e PIONEER SUSAN BAUM is presenting a workshop titled "Bright but Challenged: Understanding and Treating the Twice-exceptional Learner." To be held on December 9 in Portland, Maine, the workshop is geared to learning specialists, educational therapists, classroom teachers,  parents and mental health practitioners. Find out more. Susan Baum is on the Editorial Advisory Board of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter.
GDC'S NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER is out. It notes the 100th anniversary of the IQ test and presents an article titled "The WISC-IV Integrated for 2e Learners," with tips for identifying and accommodating 2e kids through WISC-IV results. In addition, the newsletter notes that four GDC speakers will present at the TAGT conference coming up in Austin. Find the newsletter. Separately, Linda Silverman was able to arrange a "conference within a conference" at TAGT on testing the gifted. She says, "Anyone who tests gifted and 2e kids should be there. Find more about TAGT.
GIFTED MYTHS. The Washington Post published five myths about gifted kids, offering commentary on the reality versus the myth. One myth: "Students with learning disabilities cannot be considered gifted or talented." You knew the truth about that, but it's good to see publications like the Post spreading the word. Find the article.
ASD DIAGNOSES DIFFER BY CLINIC. A study has found that clinics vary in how they apply diagnostic criteria for ASDs and in the final diagnosis they come up with. A study author is quoted as saying, "...in those borderlands of autism spectrum disorders, there is a lot of confusion." That means that where one clinic might diagnose a child with autism, another might apply the Asperger's label. Read more.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

LD ON COLLEGE APP: TELL OR NOT? A New York Times blog explored the issue of what to reveal on a college application about one's learning challenges. According to the article, whether to disclose might depend on the impact on performance of the LD; students with strong grades might not want to disclose. Also in the article: a pointer to sources of information about colleges supporting students with LDs. Read more.
COULDN'T MAKE IT TO NAGC, wrapping up this weekend? Tamara Fisher blogs about her experiences there at "Unwrapping the Gifted."
DEBORAH RUF, in  her e-newsletter, pointed us to "Nobel Conference 47: The Brain and Being Human." Not only does the conference site offer resources for each presenter's topic, but it also provides a video archive so that site visitors can view videos of presentations. The topics are more general than 2e- or LD-specific, but brain mavens might want to check out the site. Thanks, Deborah. 
MATT COHEN, special ed attorney who has written for 2e Newsletter, has an article in his November e-newsletter titled "Beware the IQ Score," discussing challenges to the common belief that IQ is constant. Find the newsletter or download the article (as a Word document) from the Monahan & Cohen website.  
ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE, David Rabiner's newsletter, has been posted for October. The subject: what's important to families as they make decisions in seeking treatment for AD/HD in a child. Find the newsletter. 
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR READERS. An article in the most recent edition of 2e Newsletter mentioned Bookshare, a tool to help struggling readers by providing books in a way that can be both seen and heard on the computer. Bookshare is free for schoolchildren. Got a problem reader? Find out more about Bookshare.
BOOKS FOR DYSLEXIC KIDS. The Telegraph of London published a column in observance of Dyslexia Awareness Week, noting books from a British publisher devoted to bringing out works for struggling readers. Find the column. Separately, The LA Times noted research from Stanford University indicating that intelligence is unrelated to dyslexia -- "evidence of dyslexia was shown to be independent of IQ scores." Read more.
THE AUTISTIC ADVANTAGE? A Canadian researcher "has strongly established and replicated the abilities and sometimes superiorities of autistics in multiple cognitive operations such as perception and reasoning," according to ScienceDaily. As in an item in one of our recent blog posts, the researcher notes that standard IQ tests can be inappropriate in gauging the strengths of the autistic mind. Read more.

HELP THE GIFTED COMMUNITY. The organization SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) is competing for grant money in a Pepsi Cola giveaway; the money SENG hopes to receive will allow it to extend its Parent Support groups across the country, making it more of a local organization. You can support SENG by voting early and often in the contest. See SENG's Facebook page; see Pepsi's contest page.

NEW 2e BOOK COMING. Author, presenter, and 2e advocate Beverly Trail tells us that Prufrock Press will be publishing her new book Twice-Exceptional Gifted Children: Understanding, Teaching, and Counseling Gifted Students beginning in November. Find out more about the "trail" to this book in the next issue of 2e Newsletter, or learn more about the book itself at the Prufrock site.

INCLUDING AUTISTICS. The Madison, Wisconsin, public schools make an effort to include those with disabilities in regular classes, according to an article in The New York Times. The article focuses on "Garner," who a classmate says "puts a little twist in our lives." Garner's real good at memorizing public transportation routes. He enjoys running with his cross-country teammates, even though he's prone to getting lost. And he also has a thing for elevators, being able to describe features of the various types he encounters in town. Read this affirming article.

PREVIOUS BLOG POST. Back on July 2nd we posted about a study on dopamine and impulsivity. The writeup of the study we read seemed to imply -- if not outright state -- that AD/HD is characterized by high levels of dopamine. After we published the item as part of our August briefing, an astute reader questioned the item, commenting that most research shows that low dopamine levels are associated with AD/HD, and that stimulants such as Ritalin raise those levels, enabling better mental functioning. We've asked for clarification from the organization that published the press release about the study. (Read the release if you're interested and think you might have an explanation other than ignorance on the part of your blogger.)

From the Week of June 29th

SAY IT AIN'T SO! Seems like as long as we've been doing 2e Newsletter we've reported on the yearly battles to maintain Javits GT education funding in the U.S. budget. We assumed things would improve with the new administration, but NAGC reports that President Obama's 2010 budget eliminates the token amount ($11 million) that is the benchmark for the program's funding. If you're not tired of advocating for this funding, go to NAGC's site to see what you can do.

SPREADING THE WORD, ONE MEDIA OUTLET AT A TIME. The site of News Channel 5 in Tennessee has a piece introducing the concept of "twice exceptional" to its audience. We can't claim any of the credit for it, but it's great to see spreading awareness of the challenges faced by our gifted, LD kids. Find the article.

VALEDICTORY TIME. Find out what's on the mind of seven gifted high school students in New York City as they prepare to get on with their lives, courtesy of The New York Times. Of note: four of the seven are from immigrant families. One student's response to a question about how it feels to graduate and embark on the rest of your life, answerable in one word, said: "Finally?" Read it.

2e IN CANADA. At the Canadian Parents website is a forum called "Gifted and Learning Disabilities?" Not sure why the question mark is there, maybe forum members are still not convinced it's possible (any answers on that from Canada? :-) ), but we know our Canadian friends are eager for 2e news and resources in their fair country. Find the forum, which is a subset of a "Bright and Gifted Children" area.

PLACEBO IN KIDS CHANGES CAREGIVER BEHAVIOR. Science Daily reports a study showing that parents and educators who assume a child is receiving stimulant medication for AD/HD tend to view those children more favorably and treat them more positively -- regardless of whether the children were actually medicated. So instead of "seeing is believing," we have "assuming is believing." Find the article.

MORE NEWS as the week goes on...

From the Week of June 14th

CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY can make a difference for many gifted students who have receptive or expressive difficulties -- and the tech-savvy teacher can use technology to engage learners in new ways. Education Week is hosting a free online chat called "Cutting Edge Classroom Technology" next Tuesday, June 23rd. We don't know if they'll cover assistive technology, but if tech in the classroom interests you, it might be worth checking out. Find out more. (To save time, consider accessing the chat transcript after the event to find topics of particular interest to you. For example, see the transcript of a recent Education Week chat with Carol Ann Tomlinson on differentiated instruction. The down side: you lose the chance to ask questions.)

HARD WORK EXEMPLIFIED. Anyone with an LD or other cognitive/emotional obstacle to learning has to work harder than his or her peers in order to achieve. The Washington Post carried a story about a young man with TBI and his efforts to graduate from high school and enter college. Although many of his grades were Cs and Ds, he excels in a couple special areas of interest, one of which is history. According to the article, he scored a near-perfect score on a statewide history exam; "I did it with my eyes closed." Find the article.

WE DO THIS FOR YOU. Since it seems to be a slow week news-wise, let us pass on some of the world-shaking information we find in the press releases we read daily in our attempts to find items of interest on giftedness, twice-exceptionality, LDs, education, parenting, and so forth. Over the last few days we've learned:

  • That Tropicana thinks we should get more fruit in our diets, scolding us that seven in ten American adults don't get their daily four servings. Are they genuinely concerned for our health?
  • That "summer is here," lately the lead sentence in many press releases. Zzzzz.
  • And, finally, that California's Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union Elementary School District has selected Forsythe Transportation to provide bus service (honestly!). And you thought you were well-informed.
We won't even bore you with all of the releases that start, "Today, [Company Name], the leading provider of [some product or service], announced [a self-serving initiative to make more money while seeming to do public good]."

EVENT ALERT. Over on the right side of this screen is a listing for a June 18th Webinar featuring expert on 2e Mary Ruth Coleman. The Webinar is hosted by Our Gifted and Talented Online Conferences, courtesy of admin and owner Sally_L, who plans to donate proceeds from the event to establish a scholarship for a grad student in gifted education with a special interest in twice-exceptionalities. The event will be this Thursday morning, but it will be recorded and accessible to registered participants for three weeks afterward, so you can time-shift if you like. If you're interested in this event, check it out and register at the OGTOC site, then go join that organization's online social networking site to receive event information and take advantage of the other features of the site.

NO SERVICES FOR YOU -- JUST TRY HARDER. An occupational therapist in the Atlanta, Georgia, area writes in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the plight of kids with "soft" developmental disabilities. She tells of working with kids with average or above-average intelligence (and even those whose IQs astound her), kids who look and act okay and whose teachers feel should just try harder. The author notes the self-reinforcing spiral of poor achievement, poor self-esteem, and helplessness. One of her calls to action: "We are a use-and-toss society. We cannot afford to use and toss children who learn differently." Read the article.

GOT A GIFTED KID ON AD/HD MEDS? WORRIED? The U.S. FDA recommends that people continue taking stimulant meds even though a new study showed an increased incidence of sudden death in children taking the meds. According to the The Wall Street Journal, limitations in the study affect the conclusions which may be drawn. Read the article.

MORE ITEMS (if we don't die suddenly from Ritalin) as the week goes on...


From the Week of May 17th

GIFTED/LD ACHIEVER. The Emanuel family in the Chicago area has provided the nation with President Obama's chief of staff (Rahm), a special adviser to the Office of Management and Budget (Ezekiel), and the CEO of the second-largest talent agency in Hollywood (Ari), according to an article in The New Yorker. Which of the three gifted brothers has an LD? Ari, who had to achieve in spite of dyslexia and AD/HD. From the article: "Ari’s grades were invariably the lowest. Because he is dyslexic, he had trouble with words. And, because he has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, he had trouble concentrating on the words he was having trouble with." Read about some of Ari's childhood challenges.

GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS QUARTERLY's summer edition is out, with articles gifted education in China and parent/school communication in gifted education, among others. Find the Quarterly.

AUTISTIC ADVOCATE. Newsweek profiled 21-year-old Ari Ne'eman, an Aspie college student who has founded the non-profit Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. According to the article, Ne'eman champions "neurodiversity" and sees autism not only as a disability but as a different way of being. Advances in genetics related to autism bother him, and he's especially leery of any genetically-based prenatal test for autism. Read the article.

SENDING THAT BRIGHT, LD KID TO COLLEGE? Find out about the rights and protections your child has under Section 504 and ADA in this week's edition of the Wrightslaw Special Ed Advocate. Also read about accommodations, self-advocacy, and resources. Find Special Ed Advocate. You can also read a separate article from the Worcester, Massachusetts, Telegram about college choices for young people with LDs; go there.

SYNCHRONICITY. The last issue of 2e Newsletter featured differentiation, and last week's EdWeek chat with Carol Ann Tomlinson was on the same topic. Now comes notice that Prufrock Press is offering a 20 percent discount on a book for teachers titled Differentiation Made Simple, by Mary Ann Carr. We've not read about the book or seen reviews, but if you believe in cosmic timing or things happening in three's, you can check it out at the Prufrock site.

YOU KNOW YOUR KID'S BRAIN IS DIFFERENT THAN YOURS. A study reported in Science Daily tells how: Instead of having networks made of brain regions that are distant from each other but functionally linked, most of the tightest connections in a child's brain are between brain regions that are physically close to each other. But even though the brains may be organized differently, children as young as seven have brains that are capable. Says a researcher, "It's differently organized but at least as capable as an adult brain." Unfortunately, the article didn't say much about what the difference means in the real world of family and school. Read the report.

MORE ADVANCED PLACEMENT. EdNews.org's Michael Shaughnessy interviewed a researcher analyzing the use of AP classes and exams in the United States. Students are taking more courses and exams, evidently to help with college applications. Find out more.

ASPIES: LACKING EMPATHY OR FEELING TOO MUCH? The Toronto Star reported on a theory that Aspies feel too much -- that they are hypersensitive to experience and have an overwhelming fear response. Find the story. (On the other hand, the article also quotes an Asperger's Association official as saying, "If you've seen one Aspie, you've seen one Aspie.")

MOTHERS: HERE'S YOUR JUSTIFICATION for that morning sickness you had. You were carrying a bright kid. Researchers at a Toronto hospital studied a group of women who had morning sickness during pregnancy and compared them with a group who didn't have morning sickness. The result: the children of morning-sick mothers were somewhat more intelligent than children from the other group of mothers, as manifested in performance IQ scores and certain language skills. Read the article.

MORE NEWS as the week goes on...


From the Week of May 10th

FRIDAY: EDWEEK CHAT ON DIFFERENTIATION. The current issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter focuses on differentiation and cluster grouping and includes material by Carol Ann Tomlinson, a differentiation expert. At 3 p.m. (Eastern) this Friday, May 15, Education Week offers an online chat on the topic with Professor Tomlinson. Find out more. (Transcripts are available for completed chats.)

LAUGHING AT (OR WITH) THE GIFTED. Tamara Fisher's latest blog entry drew our attention to the network television show "The Big Bang Theory," a sitcom portraying young, gifted, academician/researchers at Caltech -- four men and a woman. Fisher says she's hooked on the program, and provides links to some episodes of the show available online. Find her post.

LAUGHING AT (THE COMIC WITH) AD/HD. In an article in the Toronto Star, a Canadian comedian describes the effect of AD/HD on his life and work. Not diagnosed -- as sometimes happens -- until an offspring received the label, Rick Green is involved in a national public-awareness campaign on AD/HD, according to the article. An interesting sideline: the article included language from an AD/HD expert who contends that attention deficit results from childhood stress, a theory new to us. Find the article.

A SECOND "e": BURNOUT? Science Daily reports a Finnish study showing that up to 20 percent of success-oriented, upper-secondary-school females suffer from school burnout, which can in turn lead to depression. (Boys, according to the researchers, "tend to develop more of a cynical, negative stance towards school.") The article also reports on higher education burnout. Read it.

FOLLOW-UP: MUSICAL PHARMACOLOGY. In an item the week of March 29th, we mentioned a New York Times article on musical pharmacology. This week, we heard from Dr. Roland Haas, CEO of a firm offering a product mentioned in the article. He suggests that those interested in more information on the topic go to his firm's site, www.sanoson.at (English version available). He and a colleague who was quoted in the Times article have also written a book; more information here. Finally, on the topic of the influence of music in education Hass suggests the writings of Hans Guenther Bastian, although a quick Google search tells us that you won't get far without a working knowledge of German.

2e BUT COLLEGE VALEDICTORIAN -- thanks to his mother's homeschooling. A Georgia mother declined to believe early prognoses that neither of her sons would be able attend college. One son was dyslexic and dysgraphic; the other dyslexic with auditory processing issues. According to the article, the first son is the valedictorian of his class at Augusta State University, and the other son will graduate from the college this summer. Read the article. [UPDATE 5/15: Read a post-graduation article about the event and the valedictorian.]

WRIGHTSLAW THIS WEEK. Here's what's in it, according to the publishers: "In this issue of the Special Ed Advocate we answer questions about behavior assessments, positive intervention plans and support, and what you can do to get help for children with behavior problems." If the topic rings a bell with you, check it out.

LD ONLINE'S RECOMMENDED BOOKS. Books of note highlighted in an email today include: Understanding Your Child's Brain and Behavior from Birth to Age 6; A Guide to Collaboration for IEP Teams [good luck -ed.]; Levine's A Mind at a Time; Accommodations in Higher Education Under the ADA; Addressing the Challenging Behavior of Children with High Functioning Autism/Asperger Syndrome...; Attention, Memory, and Executive Function; Understanding the Social Lives of Children [scary thought]; and more. Find the recommendations here.

2e NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS, please note that the contents of the May/June issue of 2e Newsletter are now posted in the subscriber-only area of the website. You know where it is; if not, ask for a reminder. Non-subscribers may find some of the content in the public area of the site, in particular: "Fighting for FAPE," the story of a family looking for educational justice for their 2e son; Part 3 of the "Mythology of Learning" series written by experts from Bridges Academy; Bob Seney's column reviewing literature likely to appeal to 2e readers; "Ask Dr. Sylvia," advice from Dr. Sylvia Rimm; and the "Parents' Perspective" column, this one by Sarah Garrison.

SPOTLIGHT ON 2e SERIES. Many of you are aware that Glen Ellyn Media also offers a "Spotlight on 2e Series" of booklets on various aspects of twice-exceptionality. For the rest of May, we're offering free shipping on the booklets, and many subscribers and non-subscribers alike are taking advantage. Subscribers, check your email inbox; non-subscribers, go here to find out more about the booklets and see the offer.

2010 2e CONFERENCE. The Weinfeld Education Group and AEGUS (Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students) are planning a conference called "Diamonds in the Rough: Smart Kids Who Learn Differently." For educators, parents, and students, the conference is scheduled for March 11-13 of next year in Chevy Chase, Maryland. According to the organizers, highlights will include best practices for identifying the aforementioned kids; research-based strategies and interventions for helping them; the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to Dr. Susan Baum; and a presentation by Jonathan Mooney. We'll pass on more information as we receive it.

SMART, BUT NO OUTPUT. Lorel Shea, the gifted education editor for Bella Online, has posted an article about what happens and what to do when a child's input facilities work just fine, and the child is able to learn all kinds of things -- but the child has difficulty with output in the form of written expression. See the article.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR WRITING. By coincidence, we just received a press release noting that AlphaSmart's NEO 2 classroom device now has Text2Speech features that allow learners to hear back what they keyboard into the device. In addtion, NEO 2 works with Google Docs and allows students and teachers to wirelessly access, store, edit, and share documents. Looks like there are some other handy features for teachers, too. We've had personal experience with AlphaSmart's products and have been impressed. Find out more.

SO HOW'S THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR KID? Science Daily reports on a study of tension in the relationship between parents and child. Among the findings: parents are bothered more than the kids, older children bother parents more than younger ones, and daughters can be more aggravating than sons. Read the report.

RECOVERY FROM AUTISM? USA Today reports on a study of 58 mildly-autistic children with above-average IQs. At least ten percent of the children, after years of intensive behavioral therapy, were no longer considered autistic. Read the article.

ON THE MATTER OF ATTENTION. A recent New York Times article focuses on attention and concentration. The article says that novel stimuli tend to gain the brain's attention, even over something you're trying to concentrate on. The brain can override this voluntarily, but overriding involves syncing neuronal oscillation (gamma waves) to direct the brain to attend to something else. But there's more: apparently, pulses of light have the capability to induce gamma waves in the brain. One scientist foresees using low-wavelength light to penetrate the skull and help direct attention by synchronizing neurons -- no more Ritalin. Also in the article: tips for increasing concentration, and the assertion that "multitasking is a myth." Read the article.