Education Learning Issues

DON'T PRAISE INTELLIGENCE in your gifted, high-ability kids. It makes kids want to protect the idea that they're smart, and that can lead to lost confidence, lost interest in challenging tasks, and plummeting performance. So says psychologist Carol Dweck in an interview published in a University of Illinois publication. In the article, Dweck also discusses the fixed mindset versus the growth mindset and how they apply to children and students, among other areas. Find the article.

THANK THAT EDUCATOR OF 2e STUDENTS. The website MyTeacherMyHero.com is offering a way to fund school projects and supplies by posting a video thanking your favorite teacher. By thanking your favorite teacher in a video at the site, you can earn a $25 "Giving Card" from DonorsChoose.org. You can then donate the Giving Card to a project, school, or teacher you want to help -- and multiple videos from friends and colleagues can increase the funding for the project you choose. Find details.

FUNDRAISING IDEA FOR YOUR GIFTED SCHOOL. A private school in Vail, Colorado, is raising money by raffling off a $1.3 million ski home plus cash to pay the income tax on it. And you thought the fruit basket you gave to your school's last silent auction was something -- next time, donate your home. Read more, or enter.

BRAIN SCIENCE, STRESS, AND DISCIPLINE. An article in the Providence Journal tells how a consultant teaches educators how to apply brain science to reduce stress in schools and to help discipline. The article recounts the disruptive effects of stress on education, describes the importance a nurturing relationship with a non-parent adult (eg, a teacher) can have for a child, and describes how ritualized actions and nonverbal gestures can speak directly to the amygdala, calming kids when used properly. Read the article.

DUMPING THE ASPIE LABEL. An opinion piece in The New York Times about eliminating Asperger's as a separate condition in the next DSM and lumping it with ASDs generated lots of letters to the editor. If this issue interests you, check out the letters.

AT-RISK VERSUS AT-PROMISE. Washington Post columnist Jay Matthews writes about how some schools are changing the "at-risk" label to "at-promise." The rationale? Intimations of deficit model versus strength model. Silly? Read the column.

TEEN BRAINS. Are they wired differently? A recent study indicates they might be. From the study: “Our work on the amygdala revealed that the neuronal pathways that carry sensory information to the amygdala directly, bypassing cortex, are more plastic in the juvenile than in adult mice...” This could mean that teens are driven more by subcortical, less rational parts of the brain. Find out more.

THE DOCTORS EIDE, FERNETTE AND BROCK, of the Eide Neurolearning Clinic and authors of The Mislabeled Child, have established the "Dyslexic Advantage Community" on Ning, a social networking site. They call it, "a community on the Internet that celebrates the gifts and talents of dyslexia as much as its challenges." (And we've learned from the Eides that "dyslexia" is much more than the classic letter/word confusion.) Go here to find out more or to join.

THIS HARVARD-BOUND VALEDICTORIAN IS DYSLEXIC. In middle school, her low standardized text scores kept her out of gifted classes, according to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But in high school she worked extra hard (taking 15 AP classes along the way) and was inventive in her learning techniques, depending heavily on flashcards. She discovered she was dyslexic, ironically, through her studies in an AP psychology class. Read the article.

RIGHT BRAIN, LEFT BRAIN -- WRONG? A neuroscientist rants a bit on The Huffington Post about right brain/left brain distinctions, partly in response to a new, best-selling book proclaiming the right brain as the way of the future. Joseph LeDoux, who also plays in a rock band called The Amygdaloids, points out that what we have are brain systems, sets of interconnected neurons. Systems beget brain functions. Both systems and functions, says LeDoux, "span the brain vertically and horizontally -- they are not isolated in one hemisphere," although systems may be preferentially located in one hemisphere or the other. The point: it's not one hemisphere or the other that performs a function, rather a system that may be located in one hemisphere or the other. Go here to find the seemingly well-reasoned rant.

MIDWEST GIFTED AND TALENTED SYMPOSIUM. We just received notice of a five-day symposium on the needs of gifted and high-potential learners, to be held June 14-18 in Austin, Minnesota, in the far southern part of the state. The symposium is billed as an opportunity for educators, counselors, administrators, and parents. According to the website of one of the sponsors, keynoters include Dr. Jaime Castellano, Paul Douglas, Debra Frasier, Dr. Jane Kise, and Dr. James Webb. Find out more.

THE GLAMOUR OF BRAIN IMAGING. We here at 2e Newsletter are as fascinated as anyone else by the use of brain imaging in connection with giftedness and other exceptionalities; perhaps that shows in our choice of items in the blog, briefing, and newsletter. But such imaging has its limits. An article titled "Neuroimaging: Separating the Promise from the Pipe Dreams," just published by the Dana Foundation, provides important information for anyone considering the use of neuroimaging for diagnosis or treatment. An excerpt: "[A]lthough brain imaging has provided solid evidence of alterations in brain structures and functions associated with many psychiatric disorders, it can be used neither to diagnose such disorders nor to determine exactly how treatments work." Read more. (And be assured that there are clinicians out there treating 2e young people who will suggest brain imaging for diagnosis and treatment.)

AD/HD -- DISSENTING OPINION. If the concept of AD/HD did not exist prior to the middle of the 1900s, did Mozart have AD/HD? Einstein? A Canadian researcher says that while hyperactive behavior has always existed, only recently has it been pathologized and treated. According to Science Daily, the researcher says that AD/HD as a disorder depends on social context, which changed in the 1950s. Read the article.

AN HONORS STUDENT is pictured in a New York Times article about teenagers and text-messaging. The article reports that the almost 80 messages per day sent or received by the average teen might be having significant effects -- anxiety, distraction, grade problems, sleep deprivation, and even repetitive stress injuries. Is your bright child joined at the thumbs to his or her wireless device? Read the article.

AD/HD, KINDERGARTEN, AND THE FUTURE. A study reported by several media outlets indicates that a child who shows attention problems in kindergarten might not learn as much in their K-12 careers as other students. Read about it in US News and Science Daily. The US News article ends by quoting one researcher: "ADHD is underreported and under-appreciated as a source of long-term academic failure. Studies clearly show that early investment in children pays off big later on." And that quote leads quite nicely into our next item...

RABINER REPORTS ON AD/HD TREATMENT STUDY -- and not just any study, but what he calls "the largest AD/HD treatment study ever conducted." Hundreds of children diagnosed with AD/HD were assigned randomly to treatment by either medication, behavior therapy, a combination of medication and behavior therapy, or routine community care. David Rabiner's analysis highlights findings in terms of the persistence of the treatment benefits; how response to initial treatment may predict later outcomes; and the overall adverse long-term effects of childhood AD/HD. Find the analysis.

2e HUMOR IS SCARCE THESE DAYS. Check out an old highlight from Frazz, this one, as most concerning gifted kids in the strip, featuring Caulfield.

FOR MILITARY FAMILIES WITH LD KIDS, Wrightslaw took the opportunity of the recent U.S. Memorial Day to provide information about relocation and associated transitions. Summer is the peak moving season for military families. The information might be useful to any family moving with an exceptional or twice-exceptional child. Find Special Ed Advocate.

SMART KIDS WITH DISABILITIES -- the organization, that is -- recently held its annual benefit. The organization presented its 2009 LD Youth Achievement Award to a young man for his accomplishments as an Intel Science Contest semifinalist, AP scholar, Coca Cola Foundation Scholars finalist, varsity football and soccer player, and dedicated community service activist. Read more, including the honoree's statement, "maybe I don't want to be normal..."

Will more news be forthcoming this week? Stay tuned...

TEACHING THE GIFTED AND 2e is what Linda Collins, of a school in Overland Park, Kansas, does every day. In an interview with Michael Shaughnessy of EdNews.org, you can read about Collins' "Teacher of the Year" award, how she views the rewards and challenges of teaching gifted children, and her work with twice-exceptional students. We've heard Collins speak at conferences, and her sessions are always full-to-overflowing with ideas, revelations, and the results of her 20 years' experience in teaching. Read the interview. (2e Newsletter subscribers can find our coverage of a SENG conference session by Collins in the September, 2008, issue of the newsletter.)

BF SKINNER LIVES. If you believe in behavior analysis and modification, you might be interested in a panel discussion sponsored by the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles, on October 24th at 5:15 pm. The session is titled "Unraveling Autism: What's Next in Treatment and How Do We Best Train Practitioners to Provide It?" The school says of applied behavior analysis that "this therapeutic system has become known as the only effective treatment for helping children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities improve their social, motor, verbal, and reasoning skills." More information.

SERVICE DOGS GO ROBOTIC. An article in the November, 2007, issue of 2e Newsletter described some of the ways service dogs can assist children with Asperger's, sensory issues, and other problems -- for example, by interrupting behaviors leading up to a meltdown, being a calming influence, or applying "deep pressure" by snuggling. An article appearing in MIT's Technology Review this week describes how researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are developing robots to mimic the actions some service dogs perform. The robot E1-E can respond to commands given by a laser pen or by voice to do things such as fetching a towel. But will it be able to cuddle satisfactorily or provide a good lick on the face? Read the article.

AD/HD KIDS AND FAMILY LIFE. Parents with children who have one or more exceptionalities know that raising such children can lead to stress in the spousal relationship. Unfortunately, a study reported this week in Science Daily confirms this, showing that parents of a child with AD/HD are almost twice as likely to divorce by the time the child is 8 than parents of children without AD/HD. Other factors contributing to the risk of divorce included the severity of coexisting disorders in the children with AD/HD, such as ODD or conduct disorder. Do the results extrapolate to 2e families harboring issues such as Asperger's, dyslexia, sensory integration issues, and other exceptionalities? Be careful out there, parents of 2e kids.

SCHOOL FOR DYSLEXICS. Greengate School, a small private school in Huntsville, Alabama, is for dyslexics. It was founded by the mother whose son is dyslexic; many of the teachers have dyslexic children. Families of some of the students have moved to Alabama from other states so that their children could attend Greengate. According to an article in the Huntsville Times, staff and students draw inspiration from posters and quotes of dyslexics such as John F. Kennedy, Wernher von Braun, and Walt Disney. Read the article. Go to the school's website.

AUTISM MYTH-BUSTERS. Autism is an emotional or mental health disorder, right? We are in the middle of an autism epidemic, right? Well, ABC News on October 23rd published responses to what they call 10 common myths about autism. Read the myths and responses.

VIRTUAL SCHOOLING. Parents and educators of gifted students often turn to non-traditional resources in order to provide for their students' needs. Online learning is one. The fifth Virtual School Symposium (VSS) on K-12 online learning is October 26-26 in Glendale, Arizona. About 1,200 online learning experts and educators are expected. According to the symposium host, The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), students enrolled in an estimated one million K-12 online courses last year in the United States. Read about the symposium. Read about NACOL.

WORDS OF WISDOM for kids now come at the touch of a button, according to the manufacturer of Life Learning Devices (LLD). For US$29.95 parents can purchase the Secrets of Life and Words of Wisdom LLD. According to the company, "Life Learning Devices are placed on the kitchen table, beside a coffee pot, on a clothes dresser, on the desk at work or on a nightstand... [P]arents can now easily and consistently expose their children to the values and mindsets of some of history's most accomplished icons... Legendary achievers and innovators have followed certain secrets that allow them to do great things in life. This LLD delivers these secrets along with mantras and quotes that motivate people to make their dreams a reality. Belief systems and values of people who have fulfilled their dreams are shared with the touch of a button." And at $29.95, it's surely a lot less expensive than a college education. And if you find the secret of life, let us know. Visit the LLD site.