Latest Posts
Showing posts with label 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter. Show all posts

From the Publisher of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

THIS ALIEN PLANET CALLED SCHOOL. A mom and college teacher writes about what school must be like for her son, who has Asperger's. In "Learning with Asperger's: A Parent's Perspective," published in Education Week, she describes the challenges faced by Aspies and some of the consequences -- and offers a plea for change. Find the article.
12TH-GRADE 2e STUDENT REFLECTS. "The system has failed me," says a young man about to graduate from high school. In a familiar story, he relates how attention and learning issues compromised his Mensa-level abilities. Interestingly, he rails against an over-emphasis on accommodations; along with that, he says, his strengths were un- or under-recognized. You must read this. (Note: the author was previously published in 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter.)
AUTISM DIAGNOSIS RATE RISES. The figure used to be 1 in 110. Now it's 1 in 88, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. At that rate, about one million children and teens in the United States are affected by ASD. Wider screening and better diagnosis may be the reason. Find out more.
DAVIDSON INSTITUTE. This organization's eNews-Update for March is out, with information about the Intel Science Talent Search, the Khan Academy, NSGT scholarships for gifted students, and more. Find  the newsletter.
THE GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER has published its March communique, noting that GDC now offers all of their articles as free downloads from their website. Also in the newsletter: Anne Beneventi writes on the Annemarie Roeper method of qualitative assessment. Read more. 
UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED. Tamara Fisher notes how the advent of RTI has displaced gifted programs in some schools. She is not enthusiastic about the movement, and asked current and former students to tell her what they got from GT programs that they didn't get anywhere else. She got lots of answers; find them. 
JUDY WILLIS. If you're a fan of Dr. Willis, be advised that her current RAD Newsletter previews her free upcoming webinar on the teen brain, and also points to other Willis resources, such as her February 1 TEDx talk "From Neuroscience Lab to the Classroom." Find the newsletter.
PRUFROCK PRESS is offering a free PDF download of two chapters from the book Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students, by Christine Fonesca. Find it at the Prufrock website.
AD/HD AND LEARNING TO DRIVE. When one of our kids had a learner's permit, he would sometimes scare the devil out of whichever parent was riding with him by apparently failing to notice relatively important road cues such as stop signs. The New York Times recently examined the issue of learning to drive with AD/HD and listed many, many factors affecting a young person's likely success -- or failure -- in the process. Find the article. Our young person did not get his license for several years after he was eligible, but increased maturity and better judgement have -- so far -- precluded tickets and accidents.
LABELING. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran an article about labeling kids, something all parents and educators of 2e kids have to grapple with. The main point of the article was: don't use a label as the child's defining characteristic. Read more.
PANDAS TO PANS. An expansion of the definition of Pediatric Acute-onset Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorderr Associated with Streptococcus (PANDAS) is called simply PANS -- Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome. It involves the sudden onset of OCD symptoms without a known cause. Find out more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. Via press release, we've learned that "moms are not afraid to hire a hot sitter." From the release: "Shattering the old cliche that moms don't hire beautiful sitters, a new survey reveals that today's moms would hire a good looking sitter. A survey commissioned by Sittercity found that only 7 percent of respondents stated they would not hire a beautiful babysitter or nanny. In fact the most important attribute when looking for a childcare provider is that they engage, educate and enhance their children's lives." Interestingly, sitter gender is not mentioned in the press release.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

ASPIE DIAGNOSIS AT 30. According to NPR, husband and father David Finch discovered that he was "on the spectrum" when his wife asked him a series of questions that were, in actuality, a quiz for discovering Asperger's symptoms. David started writing down "best practices" for being a good husband and father, and those eventually became a book, The Journal of Best Practices. He talked to an NPR interviewer about the book and his life. Find out more.
THE UPSIDE OF DYSLEXIA is the title of a New York Times article that appeared over the weekend, and it documents differences in the ways people with dyslexia may experience the world -- for example, being able to take in a whole visual scene rapidly and being able to interpret visual images in ways that typical respondents cannot. The article concludes, "Glib talk about appreciating dyslexia as a 'gift' is unhelpful at best and patronizing at worst. But identifying the distinctive aptitudes of those with dyslexia will permit us to understand this condition more completely, and perhaps orient their education in a direction that not only remediates weaknesses, but builds on strengths." Read the article, and keep in mind the book The Dyslexic Advantage (and the website of the same name) by the Drs. Eide, occasional contributors to 2e Newsletter,  
IN NEW YORK CITY? Tomorrow, February 7, the Child Mind Institute holds an evening seminar titled "Is Medication Part of the Answer: Medication Approaches to OCD. Find out more. Separately, The Quad Manhattan is sponsoring a workshop titled "Ask the Expert: Educational Law. Find out more.
SERVICE ANIMALS. The New York Times chronicled the story of a young adoptee from Russia, probably afflicted with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, who was brought to the US and who proved to be prone to tantrums and rages. As the boy grew older, a service dog has helped him. Find the article.
2e NEWSLETTER. The January/February issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter went to paid subscribers today. It features assistive technology that can help 2e learners. Also in the issue: the third in a series of articles on helping 2e kids write, by faculty and staff at Bridges Academy; and the usual columns and features. Subscribers, please give us a few days to post content to the subscriber-only section of the website. Non-subscribers: a one-year subscription to the newsletter is still just $30.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

THERAPY ANIMALS AND CHILDREN. An article in The New York Times covers the use of therapy animals for a variety of conditions, including autism (animals can cause a drop in stress hormone in their human companions) and AD/HD (animals can help a child learn to behave more calmly). While debunking the use of dolphins ("no evidence of benefit and considerable risk of harm to the animals and to the children"), the article lists a variety of ongoing studies of the effectiveness of therapy animals with children and adolescents. Find the article.
OWNERSHIP OF EDUCATION. A recent article described what happens when students can "own" their education by designing it and actively participating in its administration.  Eight Massachusetts high schoolers -- some in danger of dropping out, some honors students -- designed and ran their own "school within a school" and accomplished "transformative" results. Read more.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY might as well just be called "educational technology" because it may benefit all students, not just those with special needs, according to an article in Education Week. One expert positions the use of such technology as part of universal design for learning. Find out more.
SNOPES FOR THE AUTISM COMMUNITY. That's how the blog "The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism" bills themselves. The blog solicits and publishes essays on a variety of autism-related topics. Find the blog. 
ACUPUNCTURE FOR KIDS. It turns out that quite a few children are being treated with acupuncture these days, for conditions such as pain, nausea, migraine, and anxiety.  Find out more.
MISCELLANY that might be of interest: If your bright child plays a musical wind instrument, check here to find out what you should know about bacteria, mold, and fungi. Or, find out how 80 percent of kids under 5 use the Internet regularly. Lastly, if that young adult gifted offspring is a boomerang kid, find out how your assistance might not be bad.
AND FINALLY, THIS. We've updated some areas of the 2e Newsletter website, as well as posting items from the March/April issue. More on what's new here.

BRIDGES ACADEMY, a school for the twice-exceptional in Studio City, California, is seeking teachers and administrators for the 2011-2012 year for the following positions: curriculum specialist; science teacher for grades 5-12; technology; high school math instructor; assistant middle school teachers; robotics and engineering teacher; and administrators. Send resumes and cover letters to the head of school, Carl Sabatino, who requests "no phone inquiries, please." Find out more about bridges at www.bridges.edu.

2e NEWSLETTER. The January/February issue was distributed to subscribers a few days ago; if you did not get your issue, please let us know. The issue included an article on the brain and AD/HD; a new feature called "What's Your Take?" where three professionals reacted to a 2e scenario; a profile of an adult 2e achiever; and articles about neurofeedback a life coaching for 2e children.  Not yet a subscriber? Find out more at the 2e Newsletter website.

AUTISM SPEAKS has published its "Top 10 Science Autism Research Achievements of 2010. They include advances in measuring language development; teaching joint engagement skills; discovery of pathways for autism genetics; and others.  Find out more.