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Showing posts with label brain-based education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brain-based education. Show all posts

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.

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

THE AAP, KIDS, AND SOCIAL MEDIA.  Recognizing the increasing importance of all types of media in their young patients’ lives, pediatricians often hear from parents who are concerned about their children’s engagement with social media. To help address the many effects—both positive and negative—that social media use has on youth and families, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a new clinical report, “The Impact of Social Media Use on Children, Adolescents and Families” in the April issue of Pediatrics (published online today, March 28). The report offers background on the latest research in this area, and recommendations on how pediatricians, parents, and kids can successfully navigate this mode of communication. Find the report. 

FOOD DYES AND AD/HD. Whether artificial food dyes may trigger hyperactive behavior in kids with a predisposition may get a look from the US Food and Drug Administration. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has petitioned to have certain food colorings banned from foods. Is hyperactivity a problem in that gifted kid you raise or teach? Find out more about the issue. 

TREAT KIDS AS IF THEY'RE SMART is the premise of a North Carolina program for at-risk students. At the beginning of the study, no third-graders in the program had been identified as gifted. But when 5,000 K-12 students were taught and treated as if they were gifted (by specially trained teachers), it turned out that by third grade 15 to 20 percent were evaluated as gifted. Seems to us that this study is not only a validation for training teachers in gifted education techniques, but also (perhaps) for playing on strengths. Read more.

VISUALIZING HOW WE READ is the title of a new article at the Dana Foundation site. The article describes what imaging tools can tell about the way the brain works as it processes letters and language sounds. The article notes differences among dyslexics in terms of brain structure and the probability of reading improvement, and calls for more research on "how neuroscience can inform education." Find the article.

EDUCATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE. A SharpBrains.com blog posting notes that teacher ed programs are now being encouraged to include neuroscience relating to child and adolescent development. The blogger then lists 24 books for educators and for general readers. Find the list.
ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. In November's edition of this e-newsletter, David Rabiner examines a study in which parents were enlisted as "friendship coaches" for their AD/HD offspring in the hopes of helping the children achieve greater social success. The study indicated that parent friendship coaching helped kids with AD/HD in their social skills and peer relations, although not to a "normal" -- non-AD/HD -- level. Read Rabiner's newsletter.
WRIGHTSLAW. A late November edition of Special Ed Advocate noted the 35th anniversary of IDEA and provided a history of the legislation. Find Special Ed Advocate.
EDUCATION WEEK CALENDAR. The bastion of education-related news Education Week encourages organizations to share upcoming events with them for possible inclusion in a variety of calendars appearing in Education Week, Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook, and edweek.org. The deadlilne for submissions is December 15. Find out more.

WOULD YOU USE A VIRTUAL PEDIATRICIAN? One of the applications covered in a New York Times article on artificial intelligence (AI) was that of a computerized medical assistant who greeted mother and child, asked questions, understood and interpreted the responses, and decided on the seriousness of the condition. The "assistant" was an avatar on a computer screen. Read the article.

OVERCOMING DYSLEXIA. LD Online Newsletter pointed us to two items about dyslexic achievers -- one the popular actor/author Henry Winkler (ex-Fonze), who read his first book in his 30s and later began writing children's books, the other about Bob Clausen from Clinton, Iowa, who was in his 30s when he learned to read. Clausen spent three years acquiring the skill and has spent the last 30 years fighting illiteracy. Read about Winkler; read about Clausen.

AUTISTIC APPROVED FOR NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY. Ari Ne'eman's nomination to the National Council on Disability has been confirmed after being held up for half a year, possibly because of his view that "autism should not be cured, but instead should be accepted and accommodated," according to Disability Scoop. Find out more.

THE DAVIDSON INSTITUTE ENEWS UPDATE for June has been posted at the DITD site. In the news are honors received by a Davidson Fellow and Davidson Academy students at the 2010 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair; notice of the upcoming deadline for applications to the Davidson Academy for 2010-11; and information about the free, nationwide Davidson Young Scholars program for profoundly gifted young people. Find the newsletter.

AUTISM/ASPERGER'S BARNSTORMERS. A team of experts is being featured in a series of summer and fall conferences on autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Among the experts featured at the conferences by Future Horizons are Temple Grandin, Tony Atwood, and Jed Baker. Venues include Seattle, Denver, Wichita, and Dixon, Illinois. (We know where Dixon is. Do you?) Find out more.

RUSHING THE FALL. It's a little early, but the U.S. Census Bureau has released a collection of statistics concerning the 2010-11 school year.

  • The number of students projected to be enrolled in U.S. elementary and high schools is 56 million.
  • The percentage of students enrolled in private elementary and high schools is estimated at 11 percent.
  • About 19 million students are expected to enroll in colleges and universities.
  • And, looking back, per-pupil expenditures in public elementary and high schools in 2007 was $9,666.
Read the press release.

COULDN'T READ, BUT SURE CAN WRITE. A 10th-grade student in Fort Worth, Texas, has won a national award for an essay recounting her experiences growing up with dyslexia. According to the article, the young woman now "writes tirelessly." Previous winners of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition include Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford, and Andy Warhol. Read more.

2e SUMMER CAMP IN CARROLLTON, TEXAS. Brainworks' Carla Crutsinger tells us that her 29-year-old company is holding its 24th summer camp for twice-exceptional students. According to the company's website, "Brainworks has developed and uses a systemic approach to teach skills that result in life-changing behaviors. Brainworks offers instruction during the school year as well as an accelerated summer program" -- the summer camp. Find out more at the Brainworks website.

BRAIN-BASED EDUCATION is the "engagement of strategies based on principles derived from an understanding of the brain," according to a several-years-old article we found while browsing for items for this blog. The article, in the Phi Delta Kappan, defines the practice and its interdisciplinary foundation, points out critical interconnections and inter-influences between the brain and the classroom (stress, social conditions, etc), urges experimentation with brain-based teaching techniques, and provides some "credentials" for brain-based education. Find the article.

ACCELERATION RESOURCE. Can't say it any better than they do; from the website of the Acceleration Institute: "Guidelines for Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy provides guidance and encourages the systematic adoption and practice of acceleration in schools across the nation. The Guidelines document can assist schools in writing and modifying acceleration policy that is suited to local needs and adheres to research-based best practices. Guidelines is co-authored by IRPA, the National Association for Gifted Children, and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted." The guidelines are downloadable in PDF format. Find the site.

EDUCATORS GUILD NEWSLETTER. The Spring edition of this publication from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development focuses on programs for early entrance to college. If your gifted child is emotionally ready for such a possibility, check out the articles in the newsletter. It also provides links to other DITD resources, such as the Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.

READERS IN AUSTRALIA -- don't forget to check Jo Freitag's site for gifted- and 2e-related events and resources in your fair country. Find it. You may also sign up there for her monthly newsletter.