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Showing posts with label attention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attention. Show all posts

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

COLLEGES WITH GOOD LD PROGRAMS. A 2010 article from the Huffington Post, newly discovered on our computer, profiles 11 universities that go out of their way to support students with LDs. Find the profiles.
THE CAUSES OF AUTISM aren't simple, says an article by a pediatrician who covers the relative roles of genetics and environment. Find out more about inquiries involving twin studies and find out what kind of environmental influences might play a part.
GOT AN IEP? Or, rather, a kid with an IEP? Wrightslaw, in its most recent edition of Special Ed Advocate, covers the importance of writing follow-up letters after IEP meetings. Why? Because a well-written letter can be of great use in a due process hearing, should your situation ever devolve into such a thing. Find Special Ed Advocate.
THE BRAIN SCIENCE OF ATTENTION is part of the lengthy title of a book to be released this month: Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. The author, an academic, is dyslexic. Her premise: kids are wired differently. (You knew that.) A quote  from the book: "If you are a successful entrepreneur in the United States, you are three times more likely to be than the general public to have been diagnosed with a learning or attention deficit disorder." Find out more at a Huffington Post blog.
FILE UNDER "C" FOR "CYNICAL." Or maybe "P" for "practical." Kids are now planning experiences that will give them fodder for a "standout" college application essay. From an article on this: “Students are planning their summer experiences to augment who they are and discover who they are, and that absolutely helps the college process.” Read the article to find out what kinds of experiences kids are cultivating.
AND FINALLY, THIS. The words "back to school" figured prominently in many of the press releases and articles we read as we prepared this posting, but the best back-to-school story was in an article in the Chicago Tribune about dropping off kids on the college campus. A college counselor related an incident where, as the parents were driving off, the father "rolled down the window of his car and shouted out to his son, 'By the way, you have a learning disability and Asperger's syndrome.'" Cool move, dad, to wait until such a moment to bring up those issues. Read more about how to act (and not act) during the big moment.

GOT AN IEP for that bright but struggling child? Here's what Wrightslaw says about the IEP: "The success of your child's education may depend on how well you document what happens during the IEP process." This weeks' issue of Special Ed Advocate covers how to create a paper trail that supports your position. Find it. 
SHARE A SUCCESS STORY WITH CEC. CEC is the Council for Exceptional Children, with activities in both the area of special ed and the area of gifted ed. As part of its advocacy for stakeholders, CEC is looking for success stories from programs such as IDEA or Javits grants. Here's the back story, in words from a CEC solicitation for those stories: "Every year, CEC publishes the Federal Outlook for Exceptional Children, providing an overview of federally-funded programs - IDEA and Javits grants - that impact the lives of children and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. The Outlook is distributed to members of Congress, federal agencies, and other leaders in the education community with the hope that a better understanding of such programs will lead to increased federal funding for special/gifted education programs... Throughout the Outlook are personal stories and photos of children and youth participating in special education, early intervention, and gifted education programs across the country.  These success stories help put a human touch on the graphs and charts that typically illustrate the need for increased funding for programs such as IDEA and the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act." So if you have a twice-exceptional child or student who has benefited from IDEA or Javits funding, let CEC know. Read more about CEC's request here. Find a story submission form here. 

BELLYACHES IN KIDS. Are they real, especially in light of normal test results? Such a condition is called "functional abdominal pain, and some parents and clinicians may tend to write them off as imaginary. But a recent article suggests that some children may be especially sensitive to sensations transmitted by the enteric nervous system, which controls the gastro-intestinal tract. Further, such problems may be best treated through the brain -- by guided imagery, hypnosis, or even low doses of SSRI anti-depressants. If your bright child is troubled by bellyaches, check out the article. 

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION AND THE BRAIN. The neural networks involved in language comprehension have been mapped using MRIs of brain-injured and normal subjects, and it turns out to be complex: "The network included a core region within the left mid-temporal lobe of the brain, and extended to the frontal and parietal cortex in both halves of the brain -- all connected by long distance communication pathways." Future studies will look at the networks involved in talking, reading, and writing. Read more.

CREATIVITY, PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. Scientific American teases us by posting part of an article called "The Mad Artist's Brain: The Connection between Creativity and Mental Illness." It turns out, according to a new study, that people who think in a divergent, out-of-the box fashion have lower dopamine receptor activity in the thalmus -- just as do people with schizophrenia. The article quotes the study author: "Thinking outside the box might be facilitated by having a somewhat less intact box.” Find the start of the article. 

GENES, NEUROTRANSMITTERS, AND INATTENTION. Researchers have discovered a gene that could lead to increased inattention by allowing competition between brain networks. Researchers say the gene is neither a cause nor a diagnostic marker for AD/HD, but that the gene's effects on neuronal signaling could help explain AD/HD. Find out more. 
CAFFEINE AND SUGAR WORK? SAY IT AIN'T SO! A recent study shows that caffeine and glucose combined can improve attention and working memory. Does this mean that the proverbial cup of coffee and a donut boost mental processing? Maybe -- glucose is the form of sugar that is "brain food," and it's a component of sucrose, or table sugar. Sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose in the stomach, and the resulting components rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine. Maybe your AD/HD kid who demands caffeine and sweets has a biological reason. Read more.

ATTENTION SPAN AND TECHNOLOGY, PART I. A looong article in The New York Times examines the effects of technology and immediate reward/feedback on young people. The issue: whether "developing brains can become more easily habituated than adult brains to constantly switching tasks — and less able to sustain attention." The story profiles several students, including one "whose ability to be distracted by computers is rivaled by his proficiency with them"; his grades range from F to A. Also profiled: a young woman who sends and receives 27,000 texts a month. Find the article, and consider what it means for your twice-exceptional child or student.
ATTENTION SPAN AND TECHNOLOGY, PART II. Are attention spans increasing? Being diminished? A short essay in The New York Times Magazine considers "attention span." From the essay: "A healthy 'attention span' becomes just another ineffable quality to remember having, to believe you’ve lost, to worry about your kids lacking, to blame the culture for destroying." The author's conclusion? Find it.
AD/HD PERSPECTIVE. The author of the new book Buzz about herself and her son as the family dealt with his (and her) AD/HD wrote a column in the Washington Post summarizing some of her experiences and her opposition to the $5B "AD/HD-industrial complex." If you thought you spent a lot of time and money as you tried to deal with your gifted-AD/HD child, check out her column.
GIFTED COMPETITORS. The annual Siemens Foundation competition in math, science, and technology is coming to a close. Regional winners are being announced, and the final judging occurs on December 6th. If you'd like to read about some amazing young people and some amazing projects, check out a press release about regional winners from New York and Indiana; and see other press releases at the Siemens Foundation site. Separately, the Wendy's  High School Heisman competition, which recognizes high school seniors for excellence in academics, athletics, and leadership, has posted state winners at the competition's site. 
IDEA'S ANNIVERSARY. The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) is 35 years old, and the U.S. Education Secretary expressed his commitment to it while also acknowledging that not every child with a disability gets a "world-class education."  Read more. Separately, an Education Week writer notes that the number of students identified with specific learning disabilities has dropped in recent years; find out how and why. 

October 18, 2009

LD AWARENESS MONTH is October in the US and Canada, points out the LD Online Newsletter. Find out more.

CHINESE DYSLEXIA IS DIFFERENT than dyslexia in English speakers, contend two researchers at the University of Hong Kong. The researchers explain English dyslexia as a "phonological disorder" only, a problem mapping speech sounds onto letters. Chinese dyslexia, they say, combines a visuospatial deficit and a phonological disorder. The difference is related to the characteristics of the two languages. Read more.

VIDEO GAMES AND ATTENTION. Science Daily reported on a study showing that video game experience has a negative impact on the player's "proactive attention," which is defined as "gearing up" or planning moves in games. It contrasts with "reactive attention," which is "just in time" attention manifested in reaction to events such as dealing with a monster that suddenly appears in one's path. The researchers say their findings are in line with other studies showing a relation between frequent gaming and AD/HD. However, the report goes on to say, "This negative relationship between action games and proactive attention can be contrasted with the beneficial effects of these games on other aspects of visual processing." Find the report.

THE DUKE GIFTED LETTER, Fall edition, has been emailed, and one article in it is "Overexcitabilities and the Gifted Child," which describes overexcitabilities and offers ways to support a gifted child with overexcitabilities. Find it. Also in the issue, an article about praise and gifted children -- benefits and pitfalls.

KIDS' SCIENCE CHALLENGE is an NSF-funded competition, now in its second year, for students in grades 3 through 6. According to "Science Friday," a program on NPR, "Teams this year will focus on topics including bio-inspired designs, sports that would be suitable for play on Mars, and forensic science." You can find out more and listen to the program at NPR.

THE ONLINE BARGAIN BASEMENT is the title of a webinar to be presented by Gifted Online Conferences and featuring Carolyn K, webmistress of Hoagies' Gifted Education Page. Here's what the Gifted Online Conferences page says about the webinar: "The online bargain basement with classes, curriculum units and enrichment materials for all grades K-12, all totally accessed on the Internet for free. Curriculum libraries, containing units from English to Social Studies, Science to Math, even the Arts, all organized and including the instructional
standards met for each grade level. Interactive enrichment materials supplement any subject, and free textbooks and classroom materials round out the Bargain Basement offerings." Register ($10) or find out more.

WONDERING ABOUT KINDLE and whether it will play a part in your gifted student's learning? Some of the 200-plus college students using the devices tell what they think about Amazon's e-reader. Read their reactions.

September 16. 2009

EDNEWS INTERVIEWS JEAN PETERSON. Michael Shaughnessy of EdNews.org recently interviewed Professor Jean Peterson of Purdue University. Peterson may be familiar to readers of 2e Newsletter for her work with gifted underachievers. In the interview, she describes her work, her latest book (The Essential Guide to Talking with Gifted Teens), and what she sees as concerns of gifted young people today. Find the interview.

ARTS, ATTENTION, COGNITION. In a newly-posted article at Cerebrum, two researchers argue that arts training can strengthen attention spans, improving cognition. The core of the argument: "We know that the brain has a system of neural pathways dedicated to attention. We know that training these attention networks improves general measures of intelligence. And we can be fairly sure that focusing our attention on learning and performing an art—if we practice frequently and are truly engaged—activates these same attention networks." Read the article.

PREPPING ASPIES FOR COLLEGE. A handful of college campuses in the US provide a college internship program to help young people with high-functioning autism prepare for college. The programs allow the young people to attend college while at the same time getting support in academics and social skills. Read the article.

THE PROBLEMS WITH SPECIAL ED is the title of an article in the National Review Online. The author points out discrepancies among states in the percentages of children placed in special education; the growth over the years in only two of the 13 federal categories of LDs (specifically, SLD and AD/HD); and what he calls "the misuse of special education." An example of the last point: schools that obtain extra funding from state and federal governments to address the problem. The author asserts that some special ed students struggle not because of LDs, but because of poor previous instruction or a difficult home life. Find the article.

DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES ARE BUNK? A couple weeks ago we noted in this blog a Washington Post column about Daniel Willingham and his book Why Don't Students Like School? This week, Willingham makes a guest appearance in the column to make his case against the belief that students learn best when they are taught in a way that matches their learning styles. He says, "There just doesn’t seem to be much evidence that kids learn in fundamentally different ways." Read his argument. And if he's right?

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE ON AD/HD. Do you raise or teach a gifted young person with AD/HD? David Rabiner alerted us to an upcoming conference on AD/HD scheduled for October 5-7. The fee: $197 or $297, the higher amount including transcripts of all sessions and a set of CD recordings of all sessions. On their website, the organizers offer a long list of reasons why you should attend -- including a virtual conference goodie bag.

From the Week of May 31st

GIFTEDNESS, SCHOOL, AND PERSONALITY TYPES. Deborah Ruf, whose Minnesota company Educational Options evaluates and assesses gifted children, has posted three of her articles on personality type and the school environment, according to her e-newsletter. The articles are:

You may sign up for the Educational Options newsletter here.

FIGHTING FOR FAPE, REDUX. In the May/June issue of 2e Newsletter we published an article about a family fighting their school district for reimbursement for private education, contending that the school failed to properly educate their son. The New York Times now informs us that a similar case has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In it, the family contends that the school denied special education services even though the child was never evaluated for AD/HD. The school says, cleverly, that because the child did not receive those services they are not required to reimburse the family for private education. Read more.

READING ABOUT EXCEPTIONALITIES. CEC SmartBrief pointed out to us that Publisher's Weekly just posted an article titled "Special Books for Special Needs." Along with two books addressing giftedness, the list includes books dealing with autism and Asperger's, OCD, AD/HD, and sensory integration issues. Find the article.

DISCLOSING DISABILITY. What to say, when to say it, who to say it to, and what not to say -- every parent of exceptional or twice-exceptional kids faces disclosure issues. On a site called Disability Scoop, a parent and therapist offers tips. Find it.

NEURAL GAMMA OSCILLATIONS. If you liked our item called "On the Matter of Attention" on the role of gamma waves in attention from the week of May 10th, check out a new article in Science Daily on the same topic -- gamma oscillation, attention, and intra-brain communication. Read it.

WORKING MEMORY PRIMER, STUDY. If working memory is an issue with that gifted child you know, check out an article on the topic at SharpBrains.com. According to the article, one in 10 students may have difficulties with working memory. The article covers the study findings and how working memory affects academic performance. Read it.

EDUWONK. There's a website by that name, and we like the connotation. If you're the type who might fit the label, check out "The Condition of Education 2009," just published by the U.S. Department of Education and brought to our attention by Education Sector, the owner of Eduwonk.com. The report summarizes developments and trends based on 46 indicators, the indicators being "a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available," according to the website. Go there and dig deep!

MORE NEWS as we find it...

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.