Latest Posts
Showing posts with label Assessment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Assessment. Show all posts

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

ASSESSING ASPIE INTELLIGENCE. A new study indicates that individuals with Asperger's rate higher on an intelligence test called Raven's Progressive Matrices than on scales such as the Wechsler tests. The Raven's test evidently emphasizes reasoning, novel problem-solving abilities, and high-level abstraction. A ScienceDaily report on the study concluded, "...the authors emphasize that autistic spectrum intelligence is atypical, but also genuine, general, and underestimated." Read the report.

UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED. Tamara Fisher says "gift a teacher a book about gifted education," and provides a list of books suggested  by her readers. Find it. Along with her idea, we suggest that if your child is twice-exceptional you gift a book on that topic -- or a subscription to the ever-handy 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter. 

ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. The September edition of David Rabiner's newsletter, now posted on his site, describes a study of how the "stigma" of being treated for AD/HD might affect adolescents. Got a 2e adolescent with AD/HD? Check out Rabiner's newsletter.

ANESTHESIA IN YOUNG CHILDREN can be something to worry about, according to the Mayo Clinic, becuase it can increase the chance of learning disabilities by over 100 percent.  Got a child under two? Read more.

FORDHAM STUDY. If you paid attention to the recent Fordham study that asked whether current educational practice underdevelops gifted kids, you might be interested in a discussion of the topic at The New York Times site. 

CASH FOR AP ACHIEVEMENT. The New York Times reported on a Massachusetts experiment that provided cash incentives to both students and teachers for success in Advanced Placement courses. The results? More students taking those courses, and a higher percentage qualifying for college credit. Read more.

GIFTED TEEN SURVIVAL GUIDE. Free Spirit Press has released the fourth edition of this book, which is based on surveys of almost 1,400 gifted teenagers. One of the revisions: inclusion of new information on twice-exceptionality. (Way to go, Free Spirit!) Find out more about the book at the publisher's website.

VIDEO COMPETITION. If you have a smart, young, penurious media maven in your house, the American Bankers Association has a video competition that might appeal. The competition aims to "inspire teens to explore the value of saving money and share their thoughts for all to see," according to the sponsors. Find out more at the ABA site.

AND FINALLY, THIS. Thinking of starting your child into team sports early? Say, at age 3? It might not be a good idea, according to at least one researcher, to immerse them in organized sports rather than unstructured play.  In fact, the researcher says, "Most children should not commit, or specialize, in one sport until they are age 15." Find out more in Health News from UPI.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

CALL FOR IMPROVED GIFTED ED. The president of the North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented and the president of NAGC jointly call for more opportunities for gifted students to excel. From the plea: "Contrary to the belief of some, high-ability students do not materialize out of thin air, and they certainly do not retain their capabilities absent ongoing support provided by appropriately trained teachers. They must be identified at the earliest stages possible and developed throughout their academic careers." Find out what they recommend.
E-LEARNING FOR GIFTED STUDENTS. One opportunity gifted students do have is that of e-learning. An article in Education Week describes some of the available opportunities.
ASPIE CHALLENGES. "He had all the state capitals memorized as a toddler, shortly before he read the entire dictionary." Now 23, Spencer, who has Asperger's, faces challenges at college, for example professors who don't understand how the seemingly brilliant young man can have trouble with logistics and procedure. An article in the Sacramento Bee tells more about Spencer and also about a support group, Asperger's Support for Adolescents Plus (ASAP), teens and young adults. Read more.
GIFTED AND DYSLEXIC. A young man with dyslexia who made it through the Stanford JD/MBA program tells how he did it, why he invented the Intel Reader, and why he's passionate about advocating for those with disabilities. Read the blog on CNN, and see a segment from "The Human Factor," which profiles Ben Foss.
SPEAKING OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY, Education Week describes how the the acceptance of universal design for learning -- with its emphasis on accessibility to content by all -- has affected assistive technology. The article provides examples along with guidelines for how schools can acquire such technology. Read the article.
CONFESSIONS OF AN ADDIVA is the title of a book reviewed at About.com. The book is written by a woman with AD/HD. From the review: "In Confessions of an ADDiva, Roggli shares about her journey living with undiagnosed ADHD for more than 40 years and the changes that took place in her life following diagnosis" Read more.  
GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS QUARTERLY. The Fall edition of this newsletter is out. You may find it here. 
IEP PROCESS. Autism Speaks has released a 26-page guide for parents about IEPs. Visit Autism Speaks to find out more or download the guide.
AD/HD AND WRITING. A recent study from the Mayo Clinic indicates that kids with AD/HD are much more likely to show writing problems -- 66 percent of boys with AD/HD and 57 percent of girls exhibited problems. Read about the study.

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.

MISDIAGNOSING AD/HD. USA Today reports on two studies showing that the youngest kids in their kindergarten classes are much more likely to be misdiagnosed with AD/HD. The article covers the potential implications of holding a child back a year, as well as certain possible caveats to the studies. Is (or was) your bright child among them? Read the article.

TEACHER'S RESOURCE. Edutopia is offering a back-to-school guide called "Jump Start Learning with New Media," intended to provide "fresh ideas and easy-to-use tools to engage your students and make learning more collaborative." Find out more and download the free PDF at the Edutopia site.

THE VALUE OF KINDERGARTEN: FOLLOW-UP. More on the topic of the value of a good kindergarten teacher and good kindergarten learning is available at the site of the National Science Foundation.

GIRLS AND WOMEN WITH ASPERGERS -- That's the topic of a new book about women who suffer from Asperger's without knowing it. The book, called Aspergirls, reportedly "explains how the condition presents differently in girls; how they can be diagnosed and helped, and how they can help themselves." Read more.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL SERIES ON PARENTING. A press release tells us that Discovery Health will air six specials during the week of September 13, all under the umbrella "Adventures in Parenting." Here's what the release says: "With premiere specials airing nightly, ADVENTURES IN PARENTING [caps theirs] profiles parents confronting diverse family issues, ranging from raising a child genius, to tackling childhood obesity, to caring for a child with Tourette's syndrome." A search at the Discovery Health site for a series of that title yielded no results, so "stay tuned."

NEW PRODUCTS FROM DEBORAH RUF. TalentIgniter is a new site and set of product offerings from Deborah Ruf, a writer and researcher on gifted matters. (Find her main site.) She says, "My team and I developed TalentIgniter to help people discover their own intellectual strengths and talents so that they can spend their time and resources wisely toward meeting their personal goals in life." The first product provides the intellectual profile of a child compared to others the same age. Find out more at the TalentIgniter site.

HELP FOR A DIFFICULT ISSUE. Well, it was a difficult issue in our family, trying to negotiate and enforce allowance allotments and duties with two bright and articulate young boys. Now a New York Times article describes a website that offers a free allowance calculator. The article also features several dozen reader comments on the subject. Find the article.

TALK TO YOUR KID. New York Times columnist Jane Brody just published a column called "From Birth, Engage Your Child with Talk." The co-publishers of 2e Newsletter discussed this at dinner tonight, and one of the co-publishers was a little irate. "Of course we talked to our babies. How could you just wheel them around and ignore them?" That's what bothers Jane Brody, who recently personally congratulated a young mother for engaging her child with talk. Read it.

ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. David Rabiner has posted his most recent issue, titled "Are College Students with AD/HD Misusing their Medication?" And, if they are, who's doing it and what are they doing it for? Got a gifted AD/HD kid and worried? Read the column.

WRIGHTSLAW. The current edition of Wrightlaw's Special Ed Advocate contains an article called "Master of DeceptIon" about kids who don't do homework and conceal their inaction. Is that your bright but underachieving child? Read the article.

FREE WEBINAR. Fearless Sally_L, of OGTOC fame, says that thanks to presenter Deborah Ruf the upcoming webinar titled "Ruf Estimates of Levels of Giftedness" [pun there] will be provided at no charge, although donations to help recoup costs are welcome. You can find registration information here. Find information about the presenter here. And, in our experience, you can probably be certain that you won't be able to stump Dr. Ruf with a question about the assessment of intelligence.