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Showing posts with label ASD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ASD. Show all posts

EMOTIONAL EDUCATION is stressed at the Blue School, a private school in Manhattan founded by members of the Blue Man Group in 2006. Now with 200 students in preschool through third grade, according to The New York Times, "the school has become a kind of national laboratory for integrating cognitive neuroscience and cutting-edge educational theory into curriculum, professional development and school design." Making kids aware of emotions supposedly helps the academic education process in the school, which is largely child-centered.  Read the article.
AUTISM AND THE BRAIN. NPR's show "To the Best of Our Knowledge" on Sunday, April 15, focused on autism and the brain, including interviews with a variety of experts. From the program blurb: "We explore the frontiers of brain science, from the neurobiology of emotions to recent discoveries about autism.  Renowned neuroscientists Richard Davidson and V.S. Ramachandran reveal new insights into the brain, and we'll hear the story of one marriage saved by a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome." Find the program. (The first segment on autism diagnosis is, in the opinion of 2e Newsletter editor L.C. Neumann, perhaps the most relevant to the 2e community. Decide for yourself.)
PREDICTING PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT. A Finnish longitudinal study has established that that the use of psychiatric treatment or meds as young adults may be predicted by signs and symptoms at age 8. According to Science Daily, "The parents and the teacher completed questionnaires with items concerning family structure, parental education level, conduct problems, hyperactive problems, emotional symptoms, bullying, and victimisation of bullying behaviour. The children themselves completed questions regarding depressive symptoms, bullying, and victimization of bullying behaviour." Find out more. 
HOAGIES' PAGE. Don't forget that webmistress Carolyn K is always updating her ginormous website on all things gifted -- including 2e. What we see on the "What's New" page at the moment is a video of top 10 myths in gifted education; and a list of recently added pages and pointers. Find "what's new."
MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS. The Dana print newsletter Brain in the News pointed us to an article called "How the Brain Learns," about timing, sensory systems, and neural interconnectivity. Find out about the research -- and about some of the ways the research can apply in the classroom -- at the US News site. 
NAGC ANNUAL AWARDS. Each year at its annual conference NAGC presents a variety of awards. The nomination process for the 2012 awards closes on May 1. Award categories include those for educators, researchers, scholars, advocates, and those who otherwise serve the gifted community. Find out more.
NEW SURVEY. A PhD student at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is conducting research to find out about theabilities and achievements of twice-exceptional individuals on the autismspectrum and to find ways that strengths and abilities of people on the autismspectrum can be developed. Participantsare sought from the following five groups:
  • Adults with an ASD
  • Parents
  • Teachers
  • Psychologists
  • Mentorsand coaches
According to the researcher, the study involves an online questionnaire(approximately 15 minutes) and an option to take part in interviews conductedby e-mail. Full details of the study can be found in theexplanatory statement by following the link to the online questionnaire http://tinyurl.com/monasheducation.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

GROWING RECOGNITION OF SPD. An article in the Chicago Tribune noted how more and  more parents and therapists are aware of sensory processing disorder. The article profiles several families who have SPD kids and describes approaches to treating the condition. Read the article.
AD/HD. Readers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter know that experts recognize at least three subtypes of AD/HD. Recent research indicates that AD/HD is an entire family of disorders. Further research is needed to better understand the subcategories in terms of both diagnosis and treatment. Read more. Separately, the title of an opinion piece in the Washington Post by Katherine Ellison is "We're not paying enough attention to AD/HD." She notes, "A conservative study in 2007 estimated the annual U.S. costs of AD/HD treatment and other related expenses, including parental work loss and juvenile justice, to be as high as $52.4 billion." And she urges parents, doctors, and schools to all pay more attention to ways to reduce that financial and emotional burden on all involved. Read the article.
DYSLEXIA. Other recent research indicates that visual attention deficits may be predictive of dyslexia even before children learn to read. The researchers tested children's ability to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant visual cues. Read more.
GENDER IN AUTISM. More boys than girls are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, and a psychiatrist explores that issue at CNN.com, including differences in expression and possible explanations for a lower rate of diagnosis among girls. Read the article.
ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. The March edition of David Rabiner's newsletter has been posted, and in it he examines a study of the over- and mis-diagnosis of AD/HD by clinicians. Find the newsletter.
GREAT POTENTIAL PRESS, publisher of books on gifted topics, is on Facebook. Drop in and "like" them. http://www.facebook.com/GreatPotentialPress,
SENG. On April 19, Terry Friedrichs will present a SENGinar titled "Teaching Academics to Gifted Youth with Asperger's." SENG says that the event is intended to allow attendees to discover "how to improve on the youths' skills in communicating, understanding directions, and predicting consequences in basic academic subjects at the elementary, middle and secondary levels." Find out more. 

PRUFROCK PRESS is offering another free partial download from one of their books, this one School Success for Kids with Autism. Go there.  


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

ELIGIBILITY FOR SPECIAL SERVICES. In raising or teaching a twice-exceptional child, one basic consideration is whether the child is eligible for special services, for example under IDEA. The current edition of Wrightslaw's Special Ed Advocate provides answers to three questions regarding eligibility: who determines it; what the law says; and what the school must do before determining a child is not eligible. Read the newsletter. 
AUTISM SPEAKS now has over a million fans for its Facebook page; check it out. 
SPOTTING AUTISM DEVELOPMENT. Researchers have found significant differences in brain development in infants as young as six months old who later develop autism, compared with babies who don’t develop the disorder. The imaging study, by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the University of North Carolina, and other centers suggests autism doesn’t appear abruptly, but instead develops over time during infancy. Read more. (From materials provided by Washington University.) 
GAME ADDICTION can be real, according to a researcher who studied more than 1,000 8- to 18-year-olds and compared their behaviors to those common to any addiction. The behaviors are: "excessive use that impedes other aspects of life, increasing tolerance in order to obtain the 'high,' withdrawal symptoms, and a willingness to sustain negative consequences in order to maintain the habit." Got a bright gamer kid? Read more. 
TEXTING AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. Text more, lose some linguistic ability. That's the conclusion of a study comparing university students who text more or less frequently. The study author suggests that "reading traditional print media exposes people to variety and creativity in language that is not found in the colloquial peer-to-peer text messaging used among youth or 'generation text.' She says reading encourages flexibility in language use and tolerance of different words. It helps readers to develop skills that allow them to generate interpretable readings of new or unusual words." Find out more.  
MORE TO WORRY ABOUT. Mice genetically engineered to be susceptible to autism-like behaviors that were exposed to a common flame retardant were less fertile and their offspring were smaller, less sociable and demonstrated marked deficits in learning and long-term memory when compared with the offspring of normal unexposed mice, a study by researchers at UC Davis has found. The researchers said the study is the first to link genetics and epigenetics with exposure to a flame retardant chemical. Read more at the UC Davis press release, from which this item was taken.

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

RITALIN NAY-SAYER. Yesterday's New York Times contained an opinion piece by a psychologist who is down on the use of drugs to help AD/HD. He writes, "...when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth. Sadly, few physicians and parents seem to be aware of what we have been learning about the lack of effectiveness of these drugs." He contends that the drugs are only effective for a matter of weeks or months, and disputes certain findings of brain differences based on brain imaging. Find the article. 
UNIVERSITY PROGRAM FOR ASPIES. Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, has established a program to help high-functioning autistics for the "real world." From an article about the program, which also featured a highly intelligent young man: "Mercyhurst's program, which costs about $4,000 a year above tuition, includes social tutoring and the option of not having a roommate, but pushes students toward self-sufficiency. Students, with varying levels of monitoring, become responsible for their own food and medication -- often for the first time -- and must adhere to the same code of conduct as every other student." Read more.
AUTISM DIAGNOSIS. A new study indicates that brainwave patterns can indicate a risk of developing autism as early as six months of age. The study found differences in the waves between at-risk and "typical" children when they were shown pictures of of faces looking at the child... and then away from the child. Read more.
DYSLEXIA DIAGNOSIS. MRI scans can show differences in the brain activity of children at risk for dyslexia even before the children learn to read, according to a study at Children's Hospital Boston. Find out more. Separately, a blogger at the NY Times site responds to a mother's request for apps to help a dyslexic child with reading and math. The blogger suggests a few and readers provide many more. Find the blog.
THE DAVIDSON INSTITUTE eNEWS UPDATE for January is out, featuring information about challenging summer programs, the Google 2012 Global Science Fair for gifted kids 13-18, and more. Read the newsletter. Separately, a thread on the DITD Gifted Issues Discussion Forum begins with a post from a mom worried that her gifted daughter might get an AD/HD diagnosis... and then continues in a discussion of "AD/HD versus gifted" and possible confusion between the two. Find the thread.
THE SHARPBRAINS NEWSLETTER, just out, features an article on dyscalculia and working memory and one on neurofeedback for AD/HD. Go to the newsletter.
AND FINALLY, THIS. As we ready the upcoming issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter, featuring in part apps for 2e kids, we received a press release on something that sounds like a sure-fire winner --  a $14.95 app for the iPad called "Inside the World of Dinosaurs." According to the release, it features hundreds of interactive 3D models of dinosaurs, 200 pages of original text, five hours of narration, and dozens of videos, pictures, dinosaur sounds (really?), and descriptions of dinosaur hunters (modern-day, presumably). What we'd guess will be the biggest attraction: "40 fully interactive 3D recreations of dinosaurs in mid-fight," viewable from any angle. What gifted kid will be able to resist? Find the app's website. 

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

AUDITORY SAMPLING LINKED TO DYSLEXIA. Recent research indicates that the way the brain processes auditory rhythms in phonemes may underlie dyslexia. From a write-up of the study: "Our results suggest that the left auditory cortex of dyslexic people may be less responsive to modulations at very specific frequencies that are optimal for analysis of speech sounds and overly responsive to higher frequencies, which is potentially detrimental to their verbal short-term memory abilities." Read more.
NEWS ON AUTISM. Another recent study indicates that disorders such as AD/HD or LDs may often accompany autism, complicating diagnosis and treatment. The study also indicated that some kids "outgrow" a diagnosis of ASD. Read about the study. Separately, a study of twins where only one of the twins was affected with ASD seems to indicate that the twin with lower birth weight was more likely to develop the diagnosis. To the researchers, this indicates that environmental factors also play a role in the development of ASD. Find out more. Finally, Autism Speaks has responded to the recent reports of changes in the way ASD might be defined in the DSM-5, changes some feel would leave some children ineligible for an ASD diagnosis and resultant services. The organization states, "Autism Speaks’ position is that it will be vitally important to collect meaningful information on how the change impacts access to services by those affected by autism symptoms." Read more.
GIFTED IN HOUSTON. The Houston, Texas, Independent School District (HISD) has identified about 15.6 percent of its students as gifted, more than twice the percentage in other Texas schools and  higher than the national average. The Texas Watchdog questions whether including so many students in the gifted pool allows gifted programs to truly serve the top learners. The article also includes figures indicating the composition of the HISD gifted pool: 42 percent of Asians in the district are identified as gifted, 40 percent of white students, and 7 percent of African-American students. HISD is 60-plus percent Hispanic and 25 percent African-American. Read more.
DISABILITY REDEFINED? Education Week notes that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Education has issued a letter that might expand the range of students for whom schools must provide special ed services. According to the article, the OCR's guidance states: "Students who, in the past, may not have been determined to have a disability under Section 504 [of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973] and Title II [of the Americans with Disabilities Act] may now in fact be found to have a disability under those laws." Read about it, and if we find out more we'll pass it on. 

AUTISTIC PRODIGY. An alert reader pointed us to a "60 Minutes" program which has this promotional blurb: "At age two, Jake Barnett was diagnosed with autism and his future was unclear. Now at age 13, Jake is a college sophomore and a math and science prodigy. Jake says his autism is key to his success." Find the program. (Thanks, Ida.) 
EDUCATION WEEK published an article titled "Special Educators Borrow from Brain Studies," noting as an example how kids with Asperger's can be taught to maintain self-control when frustrated. Another example: how an MIT professor is doing a longitudinal MRI study to try to predict which kids will have trouble reading. Find the article.
FUNDING FOR LD RESEARCH. The National Institutes of Health have announced funding for four centers that will conduct research on the causes and treatment of learning disabilities in children and adolescents. The centers are at:
  • Colorado Learning Disabilities Research Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder
  • Texas Center for Learning Disabilities at the University of Houston
  • NIH Multidisciplinary Learning Disabilities Center at Florida State University, Tallahassee
  • The Center for Defining and Treating Specific Learning Disabilities in Written Language at the University of Washington, Seattle.
As they report their new findings, the centers will also work to convey their findings to the public, through the media, community groups, and school systems. Read more. 
DSM-5 AND AUTISM. The article's lead sentence will tell you whether you need to read this article: "Proposed changes in the definition of autism would sharply reduce the skyrocketing rate at which the disorder is diagnosed and may make it harder for many people who would no longer meet the criteria to get health, educational and social services, a new analysis suggests." The article discusses the proposed elimination of Asperger's as a separate category. Find the article in The New York Times. 
ASPIES IN LOVE. We pointed readers a while back to an article about two young people with Asperger's who were navigating the difficulties of having a close relationship. NPR's "Talk of the Nation" included a segment on the couple in a recent edition of the program. Find out more.
APPLE AND EDUCATION. Apple today unveiled a variety of tools to facilitate learning using iPad tables, including a new release of iBooks 2 to support digital textbooks and an iTune U app for the iPad. Apple also announced partnerships with major textbook publishers. Read more. Note that the upcoming issue of 2e Newsletter will feature assistive technology and devices such as the iPad.
INCLUSIVE STORYLINES. Awards for children's books with inclusive storylines are to be presented at a CEC conference this week. Among the honored books is Mockingbird, reviewed by Bob Seney in the July 2011 issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter in his column "Bob Seney on Books." Read more about the books.
SENG has announced its new website with a new look and enhanced navigation. Read more about it in the current SENGVine newsletter or see for yourself.

GIFTED ATHLETE, AD/HD. We believe in Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, so a recent sports story was of interest to us. It's about a New York Mets baseball player who played in the minor leagues for decade before accepting a diagnosis of AD/HD and beginning to take AD/HD medications. After that, he blossomed and made it back to the majors. Read more.

PARENTING  MATTERS -- especially if the kid has a short allele of gene 5-HTTLPR,  a gene associated with a predisposition to depression. Dutch researchers have found that as far as parenting quality was concerned, “If the environment is bad, these children have worse outcomes, but if it is good, they have much better outcomes.” They called these susceptible kids "orchids" because they need a good environment to flourish, as opposed to weeds that will flourish anywhere. Read more.

PARENTING RESOURCE. The American Academy of Pediatrics has a site called HealthyChildren.org. Included on the site is a feature called "Sound Advice on Mental Health," a collection of audios by pediatricians on behavior, mental health, and emotions. Sample audio topics: adolescent mental health; how to recognize anxiety and depression; and AD/HD in children and adolescents. The site also offers transcripts of the audios for those who read faster than they listen. Find the site.

ABOUT.COM has a page called "Understanding Learning Differences" that's based on a presentation by Jonathan Mooney. Find out what he said.

AUTISM SPEAKS has issued its "Top 10 Science Autism Research Achievements of 2011." Find them.

SAYING THANK YOU is the topics of WrightsLaw's Special Ed Advocate this month. The organization offers to "learn how and why to say thank you to those who have helped your child succeed." Read more.

AT SENG. The organization Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted has posted an article by Melissa Sornik, a contributor to 2e Newsletter. The article is a primer on twice-exceptionalilty and is titled "Gifted and Underachieving: The Twice-Exceptional Learner." Find this and other SENG resources.

WE WISH YOU the best of the holiday season as you raise, educate, or counsel the twice-exceptional children in your life.

A HARVARD STUDENT diagnosed as a child with dyslexia, AD/HD, and an expressive language disorder has written a wry and insightful account of the challenges he faced growing up and the key (for him) to overcoming those challenges. "Unlike my classmates and teammates who may have spent much of their youth trying to stand out, I spent most of mine trying to fit in," writes the young man. Through sports he gained confidence, and he is now an aspiring Olympic diver. Find the article.
LD IN COLLEGE. Education Week published an article on the expansion of college options for those with LDs, describing a variety of students and their situations along with the programs they chose. Read more.
SAVE THE BRAIN. If you've got a gifted child who plays contact sports, or even soccer, you might be interested in an online library about sports concussions. There's an article about the site at The New York Times site, which not coincidentally just published a chilling, lengthy three-part series about the life and brain of the 28-year-old professional hockey player who recently died and was shown to have severe brain damage. Or, you may go directly to the Sports Concussion Library.
AUSTISM RESOURCE. A new webite, MyAutismTeam, according to Time Magazine, "is more than just a repository of recommendations about local therapists and accommodating Taekwondo studios and barbers; it's also a social-media destination. But unlike Facebook, it's intended as a place where parents of children whose developmental trajectory has taken a different turn from most of their peers can feel understood." Nothing more to say. Read about it in Time. Or, go to MyAutismTeam. 
ACCESSIBLE LEARNING MATERIALS. If the accessibility of learning materials is a concern for that twice-exceptional child  you raise or teach, you might be interested in a a report by the U.S. Department of Education on the topic. The report concerns post-secondary education. You may read about the report at  the CEC site.
LD ONLINE. The current edition of this newsletter focuses on tips for study skills: technology tips, resources for dyslexics, and more. Find the newsletter.
THE WEINFELD EDUCATION GROUP has announced the publication of its book Take Control of Dyslexia and Other Reading Difficulties by Prufrock Press. Find more information.
SENG has issued its December edition of the SENGVine newsletter. In it, Rosina Gallagher announces the end of her tenure on the SENG Board; Melissa Sornik offers an article on the twice-exceptional learner; and more. Find the newsletter.
THE GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER'S December newsletter is also out. It features an article on "the visual-spatial identifier"; observations about visual-spacial abilities, including that "twice-exceptional children are usually visual-spatial learners"; and observations from the TAGT conference earlier this month. Read more.


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

ONLINE SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED. Stanford University is about to rename its online high school for gifted youth, calling it the Stanford Online  Highschool. Five years old, the school has graduated 75, most of whom have gone directly to four-year colleges. Find out more about this and other online schools.
DOCUMENTARY ON ASPERGER'S. A video professional whose son "enjoys engineering and physics and studies Japanese for fun" but who has “zero friends” has created a documentary to fill a gap in resources for parents in similar situations. According to an article in the San Antonio Express-News, "the 68-minute documentary is aimed at families grappling with the realization that their child may take a different path in life than what they'd hoped for and dreamed of." Read more.
RESOURCE FOR CLINICIANS. The Centers for Disease Control have released "Autism Case Training (ACT): A Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics Curriculum" to help future healthcare providers identify, diagnose, and manage ASD. The curriculum is PDF based but includes videos. Find out more.
RESOURCE FOR EDUCATORS. Edutopia has assembled a free PDF guide on the topic of brain-based learning to help K-12 educators learn more about the field. Find it.
GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER. If you're a fan of this non-profit organization, be advised that GDC is soliciting donations to upgrade its computer systems, among other needs. Find more about this and other news from the GDC in the Thanksgiving edition of their newsletter.
THE DAVIDSON INSTITUTE, in its November eNews-Update, shares information about the recently honored 2011 Davidson Fellows, each awarded scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. (Remember: this and all the other contributions that DITD makes stem from the generosity of two people, Jan and Bob Davidson.) Also in the newsletter: pointers to a variety of gifted-related news and resources. Read the newsletter.
GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS QUARTERLY. Maurice Fisher has distributed the winter edition of his newsletter, which marks 25 years of publication. Among the articles: one on how Steve Jobs' ideas can be applied to gifted education. Find the newsletter.
MATH ANXIETY can be overcome, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. The trick: controlling emotions prior to doing math. Find out more. 
EXCLUSION, BULLYING, FRIENDSHIP, AND STRESS. Having friends can ameliorate the effects of exclusion or bullying, according to the results of a new study of fourth-graders. The researchers measured the level of the hormone cortisol in kids who suffered exclusion or bullying. Read more.
TWITTER AS A RESOURCE. Two items came to our attention today that promoted Twitter as a way to connect with people of similar interests -- specifically, in the areas of education or giftedness. On the Education Week site, Peter DeWitt reveals how he became hooked on Twitter for exploring elementary education resources and connections. Secondly, Joel McIntosh, head of Prufrock Press and someone whose judgement we respect, emailed about the use of Twitter at conferences, and invited attendees at next week's Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented conference to sit in on a session on using social media to connect with gifted ed supporters; find his email.
AND FINALLY, THIS. Happy Thanksgiving (Thursday) to our friends and subscribers in the United States. For those of you outside the U.S. -- take a minute to reflect on what you have to be thankful for as well; eating turkey to go along with your thanks is optional.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

TRAINS AND AUTISM. The New York Times explored the fascination that many kids on the spectrum have for trains. In particular, the New York Transit Museum is using this fascination to develop kid-friendly programs that allows kids to "connect with other people -- and the world." Anyone who knows an Aspie will probably find something to smile at in this article. Find it.

MULTITASKING AND AUTISM. A recent study suggests that young people with ASD find multitasking difficult. The reason? In performing a series of tasks, they apparently adhere rigidly to the order in which they were given the tasks.  Read more.

AD/HD THROUGH THE SCHOOL YEARS. An article in the Los Angeles Times examines how the challenges of AD/HD become apparent at the beginning of each school year, and how in later years kids might reach the breaking point, unable to cope or develop compensatory strategies. The article also points out,  however, that with earlier introduction of rules and structure even before kindergarten kids are being labeled at ages 3, 4, and 5. Find the article. 

FAMILY HAPPINESS AND THE OVERBOOKED CHILD is the title of an article on parental sacrifice for kids' activities -- and whether that sacrifice is necessarily good.  Besides financial and physical exhaustion,, there is apparently no evidence that lots of activities lead to later academic success, at least. Read more.

AND FINALLY, THIS. If worrying about whether you're giving your child the right amount of enrichment activity isn't enough, here's more fodder. A survey of adults on health concerns for children yielded this ranking for the top five concerns: childhood obesity, drug abuse, smoking, teen pregnancy, and bullying. Need even more to worry about? The next five concerns were Internet safety, stress, alcohol abuse, driving accidents, and sexting. So there -- take your pick and start worrying. Find the survey.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

AD/HD, ASD: SHARED GENETIC RISK. A new study has found that some genetic variants may be common between AD/HD and autism spectrum disorders. This could explain why some traits seem common in both conditions. Furthermore: "The research results could be reassuring for clinicians who may see characteristics of different neuropsychiatric conditions in their patients -- such as ASD-like social problems in a child with AD/HD -- but are concerned that they are over-interpreting these traits." Read more.
KIDS AND FACEBOOK. Time Magazine reports that kids who use Facebook frequently may earn lower grades, be more narcissistic, and be more prone to anxiety and depression. On the other hand, researchers have also noted beneficial effects on self-identity and empathy. Find out more.
RTI WORKING? A study indicates that response to intervention is widely used and can be effective in identifying -- and ameliorating -- LDs early. Read more, and find a link to the report "National Assessment of IDEA."
FINDING GIFTED UNDERACHIEVERS. The Victorian Association for the Gifted and Talented Children is holding its biennial conference in Melbourne on September 8-0. The theme: "Unmasking the possibilities." Find out more. 
SHYNESS. Got a shy and gifted kid? NPR recently aired a program dealing with shyness. From the blurb for the program:  "Medical treatment and therapy is widely available for social anxiety, but some argue that shyness is not a sickness. They say shy people listen better and have higher levels of empathy. A look at shyness, its evolutionary basis, and why it might be an asset." Find the program.
AND FINALLY, THIS. As the parent or educator of a gifted kid, you're probably interested in out-of-the-box thinking, perhaps because of the way you've been exposed to it by that child. Technology columnist David Poque writes about an assignment he gave to a business school class: invent a better, more usable digital watch. You might enjoy some of the creations. Read the column.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

AD/HD: PARENTING TOLL. The site LiveScience has posted an article about the toll paid by parents of children with AD/HD. The particular young person profiled is gifted, and the article quotes the mother as saying, "He has a really high IQ and he's really gifted, and he comes home from school and says how stupid he is." (Sound familiar?) The article describes some research into the stress involved in parenting an AD/HD child. Find the article.
NCLD REPORT. The National Center for Learning Disabilities has published a report on the prevalence and effects of learning disabilities in the United States, as well as clarifying what an LD is. From the report: about 4.7 million Americans 6 and older are reported to have LDs; and about 11 percent of college undergraduates reported having an LD. Find out more.
ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. The July issue of this newsletter has been posted. In it, David Rabiner described a study examining the question, "Does AD/HD medication treatment in childhood increase adult employment?" While in general the study indicated that "adults with ADHD have poorer educational outcomes, report more psychiatric difficulties, and are more likely to be unemployed than other adults," it also found a correlation between treatment with medication in childhood and higher likelihood of employment in adulthood. Read Rabiner's interpretation of the study.
THE GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER has released its July newsletter. It offers a discount for GDC services for families who are homeschooling, and the "Ask Kimmy" column addresses the question "Why should I have my gifted child assessed at the GDC if I am homeschooling?" Find out why.
THE DAVIDSON INSTITUTE has issued its July eNews Update. This issue offers news of DITD programs, legislative and policy news from around the U.S., web-based resources, and pointers to recent gifted-related articles you (and we) might have missed. Read the newsletter.
UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED.  Tamara Fisher reports from Edufest, a yearly gifted ed conference held in Boise, Idaho. She shares responses to three questions she asked fellow conference-goers:
  • What do you wish the people back home knew or understood about gifted education and/or gifted students? 
  • What is an "a-ha!" moment you've had here so far this week?
  • What is something you have learned or gained that you will be taking back with you?
AD/HD AND DSM. About.com reports that the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders may include changes in the way AD/HD is diagnosed. The changes include:
  • Restructuring the subtypes
  • Adding symptoms
  • Providing more detailed symptom descriptions. 
FLORIDA SCHOOL FOR HIGH-FUNCTIONING AUTISTICS. This fall, the Monarch Academy in Daytona Beach will open to serve K-12 ASD kids who are ready for the classroom. Find out more.
AD/HD RESOURCES. A web-based community called ADDConnect offers groups centered around particular AD/HD issues; the group is for parents of kids with AD/HD and for adults with AD/HD, and is sponsored by ADDitude Magazine. Find it.
ACTING OUT can be good, find researchers, when it means physically acting out text in word problems. Students who did so solved the problems more accurately and with less distraction. The reason? Something called embodied cognition, which "posits that meaning in language comes when words or phrases are mentally mapped onto memories of real experiences and perceptions." Find out more.



From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

COLLEGE ON THE SPECTRUM is the title of a presentation by a recent graduate of Seton Hall University. In an article in the Orlando Sentinel, the graduate described some of his tactics for getting through college, such as distributing cards to professors on the first days of class explaining he has autism. The article highlights some of the challenges to ASD college students -- but also gives hints of how to overcome those challenges. At the end of the article the Seton Hall graduate is quoted: "Autism doesn't define me — I define autism." Read the article.
HEALTH CARE PRIVACY AND YOUR CHILD. An article in Monday's New York Times covers some of the trickiness involved in balancing an adolescent's privacy rights with parental concern, or even with concerns of other adults (such as college professors) who become involved in a student's emotional or mental health issues. If you've got a child in that nether zone, check out the article -- because you're likely to be affected as the child receives mental or physical health care for those other exceptionalities.
DEPRESSION. Also in The New York Times, a piece on what is apparently a recent public discussion about the effectiveness of antidepressants. We point out this article because we know that parents of 2e children are very interested in depression (along with anxiety) that may stem from the challenges those kids face. The article is authored by a clinical professor of psychiatry who is concerned about recent "debunking" of antidepressants. Find it.
SECONDHAND SMOKE may be linked to an increased incidence of AD/HD or other disorders, according to a new study. According to CNN Health, the study "found that children exposed to secondhand smoke in the home had a 50% increased risk of developing two or more childhood neurobehavioral disorders compared with children who were not exposed at home." Read more.
AUTISM CAUSES, DIAGNOSIS. A recent news item covered a study on "birth factors" as they relate to autism -- factors such as birth weight, fetal distress, etc. One conclusion: parents should not worry about the occurrence of any single factor, but that some factors in combination with genetics might cause ASD. Find the article. In another study, researchers at the University of Cambridge say that siblings of people with autism show a similar pattern of brain activity to that seen in people with autism when looking at emotional facial expressions. The researchers identified the reduced activity in a part of the brain associated with empathy and argue it may be a ‘biomarker’ for a familial risk of autism. Read University's the press release.
GIFTED EDUCATION IN VICTORIA. An item in Jo Freitag's Gifted Resources newsletter pointed us to an inquiry being held by the Australian state of Victoria into the education of gifted students. The committee on Education and Training has solicited input from the gifted community, and much of what has been submitted is on the site of the Victoria Parliament -- responses from educators, parents, and gifted organizations, more than 100 posted at this time. A quick look didn't reveal any 2e-related postings; we'll keep looking. Find the inquiry.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

ACCEPTING AUTISM. A Maryland mother writes in the Washington Times about how she came to understand what it was like to have a child with autism and how she accepts it. Now, she writes, "It is hard to imagine Jack without autism. If he were typical, would he still be so gentle and kindhearted? Would he still find so much joy in very small things? Would he still come up with the delightful and quirky thoughts he manages to articulate?" Read the article.  
CHILDHOOD BIPOLAR DISORDER. In Newsweek, a psychiatrist contends that "hundreds of thousands of children in the U.S. have been wrongly diagnosed with the trendy disorder."  He calls it a "diagnostic fad" and cites differences between bipolar disorder in adults and in children. His opinion is that cases of severe AD/HD combined with severe ODD are being diagnosed, wrongly, as childhood bipolar disorder, resulting in unwarranted and even dangerous medications. Find the article.
PERSONALITY DISORDERS: A MATTER OF DEGREE. The chairman of the DSM work group on personality disorders has noted a shift in perception of those disorders: that they're not binary but a matter of degree. Some personality disorders might disappear from the DSM-5, leaving antisocial, avoidant, borderline, narcissistic, obsessive/compulsive, and schizotypal. Read more.
A NEW BOOK ON AD/HD takes a strength-based approach to the disorder, noting that many kids with AD/HD "have tremendous passion, creativity and are often outstanding individuals." Along with his approach, the author titled the book Attention Difference Disorder. Read an interview with the author, and be sure to make it to the final paragraph.
VIDEO RESOURCES. A video on the Scientific American website treats the topic of how motherhood changes the brain. A video on the website of TECCA, a technology-following organization, features a new Dutch-designed font that supposedly helps dyslexics differentiate similar letters such as v and w. And from Deborah Ruf's newsletter we learned that the American Psychological Association will be publishing videos about recent psychological research, such as a recent video about children's mental health; find it.
AND FINALLY, THIS. If your bright child is interested in outer space, note that Scientific American has posted a collection of in-depth reports on the U.S. space shuttle programs, including a visual history, the final mission, and close calls experienced by those manning the spacecraft. Find it.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

LD IN COLLEGE: ADVANTAGE? That's the thesis put forth by a writer for U.S. News. The rationale:
  • Colleges look for diversity. [And 2e kids are certainly diverse!]
  • Knowing about an LD may help the college put other application factors in perspective.
The author offers advice on how to present the learning disability during the admissions process, and offers questions to help ascertain whether the school can properly accommodate an LD. Parents of college-bound 2e kids will be interested in this article. Read it. 
2e FRANCISCANS? The New York Times' Dan Barry profiled identical twins who, long ago, became Franciscan brothers and were inseparable for most of their lives; they died recently, on the same day, at age 92. According to Barry, the brothers were workers, not scholars, at St. Bonaventure University in New York, and considered shy, obedient, and guileless. Apparently bright and observant as youngsters, says Barry, the brothers did not do well in school and may have been dyslexic. Read the article to find out, however, what the twins were able to teach their better-educated superiors as the years went on. 
A CANADIAN COMEDIAN recently discussed his mental health issues (AD/HD and OCD) at the Banff World Media Festival. Howie Mandel described what it was like growing up with the disorders and how they have affected his career. Read the article. 
AUTISM AND GENETICS. Scientific American has pubished an article titled "Autism's Tangled Genetics Full of Rare and Varied Mutations." The article describes recent studies and the complexity of the genetic component of autism. Read more. 
THE GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER has issued its June newsletter, featuring its Director of Research Frank Falk, a speech by Annemarie Roeper, and reflections on the 1st International Symposium on Adult Giftedness. Read it. 
GOT A GIFTED KID WHO LIKES TO WRITE? Maybe he or she should be a member of the Scholastic Kid Press Corp, kids 10 to 14. Read about one such reporter. 
WORKING MEMORY TRAINING may help kids who need it, facilitating problem-solving skills and abstract reasoning. Read more. 
AND FINALLY, THIS. June 13-19 is Gifted Awareness Week in New Zealand. Find out more at the website of the New Zealand Association for Gifted Children.