Education Learning Issues

BULK UP THAT HIPPOCAMPUS. Kids who are more physically fit have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on memory tests. The hippocampus is a part of the brain important in learning and memory. Ergo, exercise can lead to better fulfillment of your bright child's potential. Find out more.

SENG WEBINAR. The organization Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted is sponsoring a free webinar "Family Event," intended for parents and children, or students and teachers, to watch together. The purpose of the Family Events: to give gifted children "relateable role models who have experienced great success in navigating the world as gifted individuals and implementing out-of-the-box thinking in their lives." The first event features Phil Gordon, former National Merit Scholar and renowned poker player. The webinar is on September 30 in the late afternoon/evening (or the middle of the night), depending on where you are. Find out more.

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE. The substantial Magazine section of the Sunday New York Times, which we sometimes skip because we find it intimidating, last weekend featured education. Among the articles:

• One on the LiveScribe pen that records sound along with what you write; we blogged about this recently (we say smugly)
• One on the history of classroom technology, from the writing slate onward
• One on using video games to teach
• And one on how technology is "redefining what it means to be a student -- or a teacher.

WE RECENTLY TALKED TO A MOM of a 2e child who really didn't want to go to school because of challenges he faced there. A New York Times article deals with the issue of school refusal, or school avoidance. Sometimes the problem, says the article, can be traced to anxiety or depression, but there are many factors at play. Read the article.

OCD, TOURETTE'S -- parents who have bright kids with either of those conditions might be interested in recent articles on their basis and therapy, according to a piece in Science Daily. The entire current issue of Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology is devoted to the topics. Find the Science Daily piece, and from there the link to the Journal.

SPOTTING DEVELOPMENT, DISORDERS, IN CHILDREN'S BRAINS. Advances in interpreting data from brain scans may offer ways of detecting abnormalities in development. Researchers have constructed a "normal" development curve with which individual scans can be compared. Find out more.

WRIGHTSLAW AND IDEA. Here's what Wrightslaw promises in the current edition of Special Ed Advocate: "...you will learn how to use IDEA and state academic standards as a tool to negotiate a better educational program and develop your child's IEP. Find out how to use IDEA and the No Child Left Behind Act to improve educational outcomes and results." Find the issue.

DIFFERENT LEARNERS, and how to teach them, is the topic of a new book by a Canadian educator. If you're looking for ways to motivate and engage learners who seem to struggle in "traditional" settings, find out more about the book and the author.

EDUTOPIA features three pieces on teaching to the individual -- two on differentiated instruction/personalized learning and one on "embracing individual smarts." Plus you can vote in a poll on whether multiple intelligences can be cultivated in one classroom. Find the issue.

COMPETITION FOR EDUCATORS -- specifically, for educators using UDL in the classroom. CEC describes the contest and how The National Center on Universal Design for Learning is soliciting entries from educators on the use of UDL. Find out more.

THE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ISSUE of 2e Newsletter just was emailed to subscribers. If you're a paid subscriber and didn't get your copy, let us know.

CHECK DELICIOUS to find pointers to news items that didn't make it into this blog postings -- postings dealing with AD/HD, Tourette's, ASD, and more. Our Delicious bookmarks are here.

NEW AD/HD RESOURCE CENTER. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has just launched a resource center on AD/HD. The center includes sections for frequently asked questions; facts for families; video clips on certain AD/HD topics; pointers to clinical resources; pointers to research and training; books, and the importance of getting help, along with a list of child/adolescent psychiatrists by geographic area. The center joins others offered by AACAP in the areas of anxiety, autism, bipolar disorder, conduct disorder, depression, disaster, military families,and ODD. Find the centers.

TODDLERS ON ANTIPSYCHOTICS. By the time he was three, the subject of an article in The New York Times had five different diagnoses and five different medications. It all started with the toddler screaming, throwing objects, and even hitting his head on the wall or floor. But those behaviors prompted a pediatrician to apply a label of autism and prescribe Risperdal, an antipsychotic which has never been approved for children younger than five. And the diagnoses and drugs kept coming. Finally weaned off drugs at a university-affiliated program, he is now described by his mother as "an intelligent person. He’s loud. He’s funny. He’s smart. He’s bouncy. I mean, there’s never a dull moment." He has even earned an "A" and praise from his kindergarten teacher. Read the article.

ADOLESCENT MINDFULNESS. It can help boys, according to a new study at the University of Cambridge, giving them "increased well-being, defined as the combination of feeling good (including positive emotions such as happiness, contentment, interest and affection) and functioning well." Read more.

FROM SHARPBRAINS come two new articles, one on why working memory matters in the knowledge age and the other on what everyone should learn about the brain.

NINE PERCENT DYSLEXIC. So says Dr. David Marks, Director of the Learning and Development Center at Mt. Sinai in New York, when it comes to the incidence of dyslexia in the general population. In an article in the New York Daily News, he defines dyslexia, gives signs and symptoms, describes traditional treatment and recent breakthroughs, and what parents can do in terms of questions to the doctor, communicating with school, and getting informed. Read the article.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR TWICE-EXCEPTIONALITY -- NITE. The Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Iowa is establishing a national resource for 2e children. According to the Center, "The goal of NITE is to provide services for students who are twice-exceptional and training to increase the capacity of psychologists, counselors, and educators nationwide to better serve K-12 twice-exceptional students and their families." Find out more.

WANT TO KNOW YOUR LEARNING STYLE? Or your child's? Take a quiz consisting of 24 questions at Edutopia.org to "learn more about how you learn," according to the site. Take the quiz. (But remember: according to some researchers, learning styles don't exist.)

DOPAMINE AND IMPULSIVITY. A study at the University College London has shown that increased levels of dopamine in the brain make people more likely to choose instant gratification. AD/HD is characterized by high levels of dopamine. The researchers also say that sensory inputs and cues can increase dopamine levels. On the other hand, the researchers found little effect when subjects were given a dopamine suppressant. Read more.

BABY BRAINS. One of our favorite researchers, Alison Gopnik, has an article in the current issue of Scientific American titled "How Babies Think." The article postulates that children learn about the world "in much the same way that scientists do—by conducting experiments, analyzing statistics, and forming intuitive theories of the physical, biological and psychological realms." See the article preview at the magazine website. Take along your credit card if you want to read the full article.

POINTER TO RESOURCES. The Dana Foundation has on its site a PDF called "Brain Connections," a compendium of resources for a wide variety of brain-related conditions, including AD/HD, autism, learning disabilities, and Tourette's. Find it.

BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK IS MARCH 15-21. According to its sponsor, the Dana Foundation, "Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is the global campaign to increase public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. Every March BAW unites the efforts of universities, hospitals, patient groups, government agencies, schools, service organizations, and professional associations worldwide in a week-long celebration of the brain." Find out more at the Dana Foundation site.

SCIENCE VIDEO CONTEST. If your bright young student is engaged by science -- especially by nuclear and other energy sources -- Westinghouse offers a contest for middle- and high-schoolers. The press release announcing the contest says this: "To be eligible, each video must outline three key advantages of nuclear power and two other forms of energy. The video can be staged as a short play, commercial, news broadcast, talk show, music video, documentary, etc. Students are encouraged to be creative, yet informative." Find out more.

SELF-ADVOCACY. Wrightlaw's Special Ed Advocate for March 2nd focuses on ways to allow a child with an LD to advocate for him- or herself -- so that "a student understands her strengths and needs, has knowledge about her legal rights and responsibilities, can identify personal goals, and has the chance to participate in decisions that are being made about her life." Find this issue.

SPD AND DSM? We've posted about AD/HD and the new DSM, as well as Asperger's. An article in the Boston Globe points out how "a group of researchers, families, and occupational therapists is aggressively lobbying to get sensory processing disorder included in the next edition of the association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." The article covers both sides of the issue of SPD's inclusion in the next DSM. Read it.

EDUCATION, GIFTEDNESS, AD/HD, AND CORTICES. The noted Doctors Eide comment on a recent research report on "cognition without control," control being the function of the prefrontal cortex, which theorizes about why our prefrontal cortices develop somewhat late. The Eides take the interpretation a step further, noting that children who are gifted or have AD/HD typically have later-developing prefrontal cortices. The Eides reflect on the application of the theory to the timing of stimulants for AD/HD, and to education. Find the Eide blog.

EDUCATOR RESOURCE. The National Autism Center has published a manual for educators called Evidence-Based Practice and Autism in the Schools. The Center says that "The manual outlines relevant topics, including the current state of research findings, professional judgment and data-based clinical decision making, values and preferences of families, and capacity building." The 245-page manual is available for purchase or as a free dowload. Find out more.

WHY GOOD KIDS SOMETIMES ACT CRUELLY is the title of a recent NPR show hosted by Diane Rehm. NPR says about the show: "A psychologist and a school principal explain the importance of the pre-teen years in heading off mean behavior. They offer strategies for kids, parents and teachers to deal with teasing, bullying and other bad behaviors." If this is a problem in your home or classroom, check out this program.

THE RAINMAN OF FLATBUSH. The New York Times profiled George Kramer, a developmentally disabled man who has worked in a Brooklyn hardware store for 58 years. George has remarkable abilities of memory, date calculation, and location. Of the thousands of parts in the hardware store, the article says: "George can identify each nut and bolt and screw on sight... and he knows where, exactly, in the store it is kept. He can tell you its cost. And he can tell you the name — and often the phone number — of the company that made it." Read more about George and his life.

ACHIEVING IN SPITE OF AN LD, a shaky home environment, and an "at-risk" label -- it all makes for another good story from The New York Times. A year after deciding to change his attitude, Nazaury Delgado, a high school senior in the Bronx, showed some of his Photoshop-created images to his art teacher. HIs teacher showed the works to colleagues, and, according to the article, "as the teachers looked at the images, they realized that Mr. Delgado should be applying to the top art schools in the nation." Find out what happened, and be sure to check out photos of the artist and his work.

CHALLENGING BRIGHT STUDENTS. Sunday the 10th was trifecta day for The New York Times. Their third winner covered high schools that offer dual enrollment courses "as a way to challenge their brightest students and ward off senioritis once college applications are done." Students can get college courses for a fraction of their usual cost, bypass high-pressure AP programs, and smooth the transition to college. Read the article.

THE ASPERGER'S DIFFERENCE. Personnel from The Center for Spectrum Services in Kingston, New York, produced a film by that name addressing the challenges and gifts of teens with Asperger's, showing the film for the first time recently and offering a DVD version of the piece. The piece centers on interviews with three Aspie teens. Read more. See a trailer for the film.

ASIA/PACIFIC GIFTED CONFERENCE. Jo Freitag's Gifted Resources Newsletter pointed us to information about the 11th Asia Pacific Conference on Giftedness, to be held July 29th to August 1st in Sydney, Australia. Wish we could be there, but we're betting that our readers in Australia and New Zealand will find this of interest. Find out more. Also from Freitag's newsletter, news of an event in Glen Waverly, Australia, titled "Success in Teaching Twice-Exceptional Children." Find out more at Freitag's website.

ANOTHER BAD RAP FOR LEARNING STYLES. A "team of eminent researchers in the psychology of learning" has reviewed the literature on learning styles and concludes that the studies used to differentiate learners as auditory or visual, et cetera, were not properly designed and conducted to be scientifically valid. "Given the lack of scientific evidence, the authors argue that the currently widespread use of learning-style tests and teaching tools is a wasteful use of limited educational resources." Read more.

1 IN 300, 1 IN 150, 1 IN 100. That's the progression of the incidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in eight-year olds, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. According to The New York Times, ASD includes Asperger's as well as "pervasive developmental disorder," covering children with social difficulties or some learning and sensory issues. The article notes that the incidence rate is similar to that in a study published in October; in that study, almost 40 percent of those with an ASD diagnosis later grew out of it or no longer had it. Read the article.

GIFTED TIMES FOUR. A New York Times article on December 19th noted that all four quadruplets from a Connecticut family received acceptances to Yale University, based on their stellar academic and non-academic accomplishments. Will they attend? Read the article.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY. If you have a gifted or twice-exceptional child who might benefit from assistive technology for listening, math, organization, reading, or writing, check out a primer on the topic at LD OnLine.

IT'S THE LEFT FUSIFORM GYRUS -- that's the part of the brain recently determined to be essential for normal, rapid understanding of the meaning of written text and word spelling, and we thought you'd want to know that. The findings, unfortunately, came about when a patient with above-normal reading and spelling abilities had to have part of the brain removed because of a tumor. For those of you who do not read the Journal Cortex (us included), you may read about the findings at Science Daily. Separately, another report in Science Daily links psychological trauma to poor functioning of the hippocampus, a brain structure that stores and retrieves memories. The research helps explain why traumatized children behave as they do and could improve treatments, according to the report. Find it.

TREATMENT FOR MENTAL DISORDERS IN KIDS. Got a gifted kid with AD/HD? Depression? Conduct disorder? Anxiety? A combination? Overall, only 55 percent of children with those disorders receive professional treatment, according to the Los Angeles Times. Contributing factors: socio-economic status and race. Find the article.

DOES NEUROFEEDBACK WORK? An article in the Washington Post covers pro and con positions regarding the effectiveness of biofeedback for conditions as varied as AD/HD, depression, anxiety, autism, and brain injuries. The article notes that the National Institute of Mental Health is sponsoring the first government-funded study on neurofeedback. The article provides several case studies -- one where an out-of-control child having difficulty with his classes turned into an AP, 3.5-average student -- and reveals that the author has also had positive experiences with neurofeedback. Read more.

RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION. Among the subscribers to 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter are parents whose gifted children, because of behavior stemming from exceptionalities such as Asperger's, may be potential candidates for restraint or seclusion in school. If this is of concern to you, check out Wrightslaw's Special Ed Advocate for this week; it deals with new federal (U.S.) legislation that will regulate restraint and seclusion in schools. Find it.

KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THAT YOUNG GENERATION. Here's the start of the current issue of "Trends & Tudes," an e-newsletter from Harris Interactive and containing results of recent surveys of youth: "It's 2009; do you know what kids today are saying, thinking, and doing? Well for starters... they are shopping, maintaining relationships, absorbing technology, worrying about the future, aspiring to greatness, and going online and going online and going online." The newsletter covers how teens and pre-teens shop and spend, their attitudes toward new technology, and their relationships with friends and family. For example, when asked who they most like to spend time with, kids 8-12 list Mom as #1; by 18-24, the top two choices are friends and boy/girl friend. Or, find out which age group most wants to be in the Guinness Book of World Records. Anyway, if you feel out of touch based on your at-home sample of 1, 2, or 3, check out the survey results.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER ISSUE OF 2e NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED. A few weeks ago we published the most recent issue of 2e Newsletter, for those who raise, educate, and counsel gifted children with learning challenges. Subscribers can also find the content of the issue in the subscriber-only area of 2eNewsletter.com, along with content from all past issues. Non-subscribers can access "Dear Dr. Sylvia," an advice column, and "Bob Seney on Books," recommendations for literature likely to appeal to young people who are gifted and 2e. Find those columns. Find other "public" content on the site.

THE BRAIN AND AUTISM. An article and video on a Philadelphia TV station's website explains recent findings about how the brains of Aspie and autistic children work. One study has found that autistic brains respond in a delayed fashion to sounds or speech, which can lead to difficulties in recognizing the sound. Another study shows underactivation in areas of the brain that understand faces and expressions. Go to the site.

BRAIN-MACHINE INTERFACE. Researchers using electrocorticography (monitoring signals from the surface of the brain) have allowed patients to "communicate" a letter to a computer via brainwaves. The computer first recorded the patients' responses to viewing particular letters. Then, when patients concentrated in their mind on a particular letter, the computer could read their pattern of brain waves and bring up the letter on the computer screen. Read more.

THE BRAIN AND READING. Carnegie Mellon University scientists Timothy Keller and Marcel Just have uncovered the first evidence that intensive instruction to improve reading skills in young children causes the brain to physically rewire itself, creating new white matter that improves communication within the brain. As the researchers reported in the journal Neuron, brain imaging of children between the ages of 8 and 10 showed that the quality of white matter -- the brain tissue that carries signals between areas of grey matter, where information is processed -- improved substantially after the children received 100 hours of remedial training. After the training, imaging indicated that the capability of the white matter to transmit signals efficiently had increased, and testing showed the children could read better. Read more from the Carnegie Mellon article/press release. Or, listen to an NPR program about the research findings.

BRAINY HIGH SCHOOLS. We see that US News has released its third annual report on "America's Best High Schools." You can find that report, along with other lists such as "Top IB Programs," here.

YOUR BRAIN ON LEAD. Science Daily reports that young adults with higher blood lead levels appear more likely to have major depression and panic disorders, even if they have exposure to lead levels generally considered safe. Cigarette smoking affects blood lead levels, and smoking elevated the risks even further, 2.5 times for depressive disorder and 8.2 times for panic disorder. The article explains that lead may disrupt brain processes involving the neurotransmitters catecholamine and serotonin. Read the article. (Note that the most recent issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter contains three articles on the biomedical/biochemical view of certain 2e conditions and treatment.)

HEALTHY BRAINS. Well, actually, this is about a new resource for healthy children in general, although we notice that the site does include dozens of articles about brain-related topics. The American Academy of Pediatrics has just launched -- just, as in today, December 10th -- a site providing pediatrician-approved health information for parents. According to the Academy, parents may browse sections such as:

• Ages & Stages: Information on the health issues of infants through adolescents, including interactive content on developmental milestones
• Healthy Living: Up-to-date guidance on fitness, sports, oral health, emotional wellness and nutrition
• Safety & Prevention: Preparing for health scenarios that occur at home, school and on the go, as well as in-depth information on the immunizations children need to stay healthy
• Health Issues: An exhaustive, A-to-Z list of more than 300 health care topics.

SMART CHILD LEFT BEHIND is the title of an opinion piece in The New York Times this past Thursday. The piece disputes what it calls an optimistic notion that NCLB is raising test scores for top students as well as low-achieving students. It points out the disparity in the gains between the two groups, and provides three reasons why gifted students are not benefiting as much. Find the article.

KIDS LEARN ABOUT LEARNING DIFFERENCES -- their own. According to an Edutopia article, a charter school in San Francisco helps kids who learn differently. The school provides a Mel Levine-inspired environment and encourages students to learn about their personal learning styles. One former student relates how he went from getting straight D's in middle school to almost all A's in high school -- and into Cornell University. Read about the school.

IT'S FOOTBALL TIME AGAIN, and if your scholar/athlete is out on the field, make sure you know the symptoms of concussion, what concussion can do to higher mental processes, and the dangers of continuing to play after suffering a concussion. Two articles this week, one in The New York Times and one in Science Daily, attest to the dangers. Sorry to nag, but as they say: "A brain is a terrible thing to waste." Find the Times article. Find Science Daily's take on the topic.

RON DAVIS LECTURE. If you're a fan of dyslexia expert and author Ronald Davis, and if you live in the Chicago area, you're in luck. He has a two-hour lecture scheduled on the evening of October 14th in downtown Chicago. Find out more.

TAMARA FISHER'S most recent entry on her blog "Unwrapping the Gifted" is on RTI -- and she's concerned that the needs of the gifted aren't represented in the three-tiered RTI model. She explains her concerns... and then proposes changes in the RTI tiers to help address her concerns. She also provides links for those who want to learn more about RTI. Find her blog.

GIFTED WITH LD? OR JUST CAN'T SEE? An article in the Arizona Daily Star relates cases of children whose classroom achievement was greatly improved by addressing vision problems. According to the article, the American Optometric Association contends that as many as 60 percent of "problem learners" have undetected vision problems. The article also recounted how one bright but reluctant learner in a gifted ed class was not participating; after vision screening and treatment, both his confidence and his grades improved greatly. Read the article.

MORE NEWS as the week goes on...

"HE JUST NEEDS TO WORK HARDER." It's not dyslexia. That's what a mother in Florida kept hearing as her bright young son went through his first years of school. Finally she arranged private testing that revealed the indicators of dyslexia, and she began tutoring her son in reading, improving his abilities, improving his grades, and improving his scores on state standardized reading tests to their highest level. Mom is now a certified dyslexia tutor and dyslexia testing specialist, according to her column in the Lakeland (Florida) Ledger. Her son has presumably stopped proclaiming that school is stupid and that he is stupid. Read the article.

NATIONAL PARENTING GIFTED CHILDREN WEEK is coming up -- the week of July 19-25, as a matter for fact. Find out more at SENG or at NAGC. Both sites suggest ways you can use the designation to increase awareness of gifted children and their education -- ways like, say, mentioning the week on your blog. :)

UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED, Tamara Fisher's blog, contains a lengthy post from July 8th in which Fisher addresses the issue of twice exceptionality and then interviews a long-time gifted friend who has mild cerebral palsy. Find it. (Fisher also mentions 2e Newsletter as a resource, along with eight other links.)

NOTHING TO DO WITH 2e but still interesting. An article in Science Daily describes how neuroscientists have located where fear is stored in the brain -- in lab rats, anyway. Turns out that a form of brain imaging indicates that "the basolateral nucleus in the region of the brain called the of amygdala [is] the place where fear conditioning is encoded." Read the article.

BOOKS FOR KIDS was the topic of a recent New York Times column by Nicolas Kristof, where he offered his list of best children's books ever. He followed up on his blog with recommendations from "some real experts on children's literature" -- his kids -- who provided more recommendations. But then Kristof invited readers to submit their recommendations. He apparently has a bibliophilic following -- as we write this posting, over 2,500 readers had responded with their favorites. Find the recommendations.

THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT will, according to Wrightslaw, help parents recover expert witness fees in due process hearings and litigation. Wrightslaw urges those potentially affected by this legislation to call their representative on July 9th, tomorrow. More information for the activists and advocates in the 2e community.

NEUROEDUCATION -- a combination of neuroscience, psychology, and education -- is moving "close to prime time as researchers gain a more sophisticated understanding of how young minds develop and learn," says an article at the Dana Foundation site. Findings from the field are influencing how classes are organized and taught. The article notes that research into specific conditions, such as dyslexia, can lead to insights that help everyone learn. The article includes examples of recent applications of "neuroeducation." Find the article.

ARE GIFTED CHILDREN BORN OR MADE? That's the question addressed by a brief article on Voice of America's website. The article focuses on talented musicians. Find it.

FREE GIFTED/TALENTED EDUCATION SEMINARS. The University of California at Irvine offers free, web-based seminars on a variety of GATE topics, including relating to gifted youngsters, differentiation, the parent/teacher connection, and IQ testing. Go here to read a press release. Find the seminars here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GIFTED/LD ACHIEVER. The Emanuel family in the Chicago area has provided the nation with President Obama's chief of staff (Rahm), a special adviser to the Office of Management and Budget (Ezekiel), and the CEO of the second-largest talent agency in Hollywood (Ari), according to an article in The New Yorker. Which of the three gifted brothers has an LD? Ari, who had to achieve in spite of dyslexia and AD/HD. From the article: "Ari’s grades were invariably the lowest. Because he is dyslexic, he had trouble with words. And, because he has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, he had trouble concentrating on the words he was having trouble with." Read about some of Ari's childhood challenges.

GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS QUARTERLY's summer edition is out, with articles gifted education in China and parent/school communication in gifted education, among others. Find the Quarterly.

AUTISTIC ADVOCATE. Newsweek profiled 21-year-old Ari Ne'eman, an Aspie college student who has founded the non-profit Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. According to the article, Ne'eman champions "neurodiversity" and sees autism not only as a disability but as a different way of being. Advances in genetics related to autism bother him, and he's especially leery of any genetically-based prenatal test for autism. Read the article.

SENDING THAT BRIGHT, LD KID TO COLLEGE? Find out about the rights and protections your child has under Section 504 and ADA in this week's edition of the Wrightslaw Special Ed Advocate. Also read about accommodations, self-advocacy, and resources. Find Special Ed Advocate. You can also read a separate article from the Worcester, Massachusetts, Telegram about college choices for young people with LDs; go there.

SYNCHRONICITY. The last issue of 2e Newsletter featured differentiation, and last week's EdWeek chat with Carol Ann Tomlinson was on the same topic. Now comes notice that Prufrock Press is offering a 20 percent discount on a book for teachers titled Differentiation Made Simple, by Mary Ann Carr. We've not read about the book or seen reviews, but if you believe in cosmic timing or things happening in three's, you can check it out at the Prufrock site.

YOU KNOW YOUR KID'S BRAIN IS DIFFERENT THAN YOURS. A study reported in Science Daily tells how: Instead of having networks made of brain regions that are distant from each other but functionally linked, most of the tightest connections in a child's brain are between brain regions that are physically close to each other. But even though the brains may be organized differently, children as young as seven have brains that are capable. Says a researcher, "It's differently organized but at least as capable as an adult brain." Unfortunately, the article didn't say much about what the difference means in the real world of family and school. Read the report.

MORE ADVANCED PLACEMENT. EdNews.org's Michael Shaughnessy interviewed a researcher analyzing the use of AP classes and exams in the United States. Students are taking more courses and exams, evidently to help with college applications. Find out more.

ASPIES: LACKING EMPATHY OR FEELING TOO MUCH? The Toronto Star reported on a theory that Aspies feel too much -- that they are hypersensitive to experience and have an overwhelming fear response. Find the story. (On the other hand, the article also quotes an Asperger's Association official as saying, "If you've seen one Aspie, you've seen one Aspie.")

MOTHERS: HERE'S YOUR JUSTIFICATION for that morning sickness you had. You were carrying a bright kid. Researchers at a Toronto hospital studied a group of women who had morning sickness during pregnancy and compared them with a group who didn't have morning sickness. The result: the children of morning-sick mothers were somewhat more intelligent than children from the other group of mothers, as manifested in performance IQ scores and certain language skills. Read the article.

MORE NEWS as the week goes on...