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Showing posts with label child development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child development. Show all posts

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

iPADS TO ENGAGE. A Las Vegas charter school provides each of its students with an iPad to help foster the school''s project-based learning approach, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Teachers seem impressed by the kids' rapid pick-up on the technology, by the engagement the technology seems to bring, and by the opportunity for students to learn at their own pace. The article says, "Students use the iPads to access educational websites and applications as well as electronic textbooks. They use the iPad to take notes and the tablet’s camera to photograph whiteboards filled with teacher’s lessons and chemistry formulas. Some even record lectures using the iPad’s digital voice recorder or video camera, referring to them when they review for tests." Find the article. Separately, a 40-year study of the use of technology in the classroom found a small to moderate positive effect on learning and attitude, according to an article about the study. Read more.
REBUTTAL. The Child Mind Institute carried a rebuttal to a New York Times article extolling the distraction of AD/HD and conflating it with creativity. The rebuttal accused the Times' article's author, who has AD/HD, of romanticizing his childhood, and linked the article to two other recent Times pieces, one on Asperger's and one on dyslexia, which you might have read about in this blog. Read more. Separately, the Child Mind Institute also carried an excerpt from a new book called Pride and Joy; the excerpt takes issue with the "dangers of praise," focusing instead on the ill effects of criticism. Read the excerpt.
THE IEP PROCESS. Need an overview of the IEP process? An attorney provides one at SpecialNeeds.com.
DIY DUE PROCESS. Attorney Dorene Philpot, who has written for 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter and who was involved in the case we described in our article "Fighting for FAPE," has written a book titled Do-It-Yourself Special Education Due Process, published this year by Learning Enabled Publications. According to the publisher, the book offers tips on representing yourself and your child at a due process hearing with a school district. Find out more.
GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS QUARTERLY. The Spring edition of this newsletter is out. In it, Maurice Fisher reviews a book by Joan Franklin Smutny and S.E. von Fremd, Teaching Advanced Learners in the General Education Classroom: Doing More with Less. Other articles in the newsletter focus on teaching the arts and humanities (to the gifted, of course). Find the newsletter.
SENG WEBINAR. Paul Beljan will present a webinar (SENG calls it a SENGinar) titled"Giftedness and  Learning Disabilities: Unearthing the Missed Diagnosis." The aim of the event is to empower parents, teachers, and counselors to spot and act on LDs in gifted children. The webinar is to be held during the evening of March 15. Find out more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. A new paper at the Dana Foundation site is called "Musical Creativity and the Brain" and examines what happens during improvisation, covering:
  • Creativity and prefrontal cortex function
  • Creative processes and underlying brain mechanisms
  • Perception and communication of improvised material
The authors also speculate on the future of the neuroscience of artistic creativity. Find the article.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

TWO ASPIES IN LOVE were featured in a lengthy article in The New York Times this week that examined the complexities -- and advantages -- of such a relationship. The writer obviously spent a lot of time with the young people, one of whom is the son of John Elder Robison, author of Look Me In the Eye: My Life with Asperger's. Read more.
ASPERGIRLS is the title of a book by woman who, in her 40s, discovered she was on the spectrum. She interviewed women formally diagnosed with Asperger's to fill "a gap in the literature on females on the spectrum." A Time "Healthland" interview reveals her findings from the interviews and gives a preview of the contents of the book. In the interview the author, Rudy Simone, addresses differences between girls with Asperger's and typical girls; challenges; advantages; possible connections to anorexia or sensory issues; socializing; and support. Find the interview. 
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD. Got a kid between 5 and perhaps 12? You might be interested in an article explaining the physical and mental changes that take place during those years, set in the context of other species and other cultures. An excerpt: "Middle childhood is when the parts of the brain most closely associated with being human finally come online: our ability to control our impulses, to reason, to focus, to plan for the future." Find the article. 
PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS are important in shaping the relationships that kids have with their peers. According to Time "Healthland, "New research shows that adolescents who quickly backed down during an argument with their mother had a harder time resisting peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol than teens who were able to calmly, persuasively, and persistently argue their point with Mom." Evidently, the right kinds of arguments are beneficial. Read more. 
PREMATURE BIRTH RISKS. A study of babies born three to seven weeks early showed sleep and attention problems in such children by age four. According to a write-up of the study, "Preterm boys suffered more sleep and attention troubles than their full-term peers, but the effect in girls was more dramatic. Preterm girls were significantly more emotionally reactive, depressed and withdrawn than full-term girls, and over all they had about 20 percent more sleep problems, attention problems and aggressive behaviors." Read more. 
WE WISH "HAPPY NEW YEAR" to our friends and subscribers all over the world!

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

A GRAMMY AND AD/HD. About.com, in its AD/HD section, provides an interview with a Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter who was diagnosed with AD/HD in his early teens.Adam Levine, of Maroon 5, describes  his early difficulties, how AD/HD has affected his adult life, and his advice to kids or teens with AD/HD. Read more.
GIFTED RESOURCE. Thanks to Carolyn K for pointing us to Cogito.org, an online community for gifted kids interested in math and science. Sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, the site features interviews, news, forums, links to sites and tools, and extracurricular programs. Go to the site. 
DAVID RABINER pointed us to a free download from ADDitude, titled "40 School Accommodations for Your ADD/LD Child." If your gifted young person is of the AD/HD persuasion, check it out.
UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED. Tamara Fisher writes about using Symbaloo in gifted education. Symbaloo, she says, is "a place where you can collect a plethora of links on various topics and organize them however you want."  She has created one containing resources for her gifted students to use then they do projects. Find out more.
THE WEINFELD EDUCATION GROUP has created a blog on topics related to its areas of expertise. The first posting is by Russell Barkley and titled "Understanding AD/HD -- Part 1." Find it.
PREDICTOR OF MATH LD. Young children who cannot associate small quantities with the numerals that represent those quantities are more likely to develop math LDs, according to a new study. The study also identified other predictors of later math difficulty. Dyscalculia in your family? Check out the study.
THE DANA FOUNDATION has posted two new articles on its website. One provides evidence about how childhood trauma -- physical or sexual abuse -- leads to later psychopathology; read it. The other provides a tutorial on brain imaging technologies and  how they are used in neuroscience; it looks like a must-read for all neuroscience mavens. Find it. 
SHARP BRAINS has posted articles on the impact of stress, emotion, and self-regulation on the structure and performance of the brain. Find them. 
TESTING AD/HD DRUGS. Researchers used used brain scans on mice to determine whether treatment drugs increased dopamine levels in the brain, and thus would be effective. The study concerned a type of attention deficit caused by "neurofibromatosis type 1" -- NF1 -- which affects about 100,000 people in the U.S., according to Science Daily. Find out more.
NOT TO LATE TO GET IRATE. If you live in the U.S., you may -- once again and maybe for the last time ever -- attempt to block legislative attempts to scuttle the Javits Act, which is, according to CEC, "the sole Federal investment in gifted education." Seems that the Javits Act is one of 43 programs deemed "inefficient and unnecessary." CEC has more.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

PORTLAND SCHOOL FOR BEHAVIORAL ISSUES. A school in Portland, Oregon, is often an interim stop for K-12 students who have behavioral problems that may include AD/HD or ODD. The school's goal is to reintegrate its clients with mainstream schools, but some students stay until graduation from high school. Some of the students at the school are at the AP and honors level academically. Read more. 
DYSLEXIA AND JAPANESE. Some students with dyslexia do much better writing in Japanese or Chinese than they do in their native English. In Japanese and Chinese, according to an article on the topic, "characters represent complete words or ideas," as opposed to languages like English, "which use separate letters and sounds to form words."  Evidently dyslexics use different parts of their brains when reading in Japanese than in English. Find out more.
WAS YOUR KID A LATE TALKER? No worries, according to a study published in Pediatrics. Even if issues were present at age 2, the children in the study appeared not to be at increased risk for AD/HD or other issues as they grew up. As many as 18 percent of children are apparently late talkers. Read more.
THE ENVIRONMENT AND AUTISM. A newly-published study indicates that some environmental factors might be at least as important as genetic factors in the development of autism. The twin-based study included kids with Asperger's as well as "classic" autism. Some of the environmental factors -- which were not specifically listed -- occur prenatally. Read about the study.
NEW GIFTED SCHOOL IN ARIZONA. Arizona State University will open an on-campus school for gifted students who have completed at least a sixth-grade curriculum. Herberger Academy will accept up to 40 students per year for "an accelerated, five-year program that is not for the faint of heart." Find out more.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG. A gifted young man who has dyslexia has established a blog to inform others about technology which may assist in reading and writing. Included are reviews of hardware and software. Begun last week, the blog already has 18 informative posts. Check it out. 
EXERCISE AND ADDERALL -- those are the two things that 674 people at CureTogether say are most popular and most effective as treatments. Apparently least effective for this group: Strattera and Wellbutrin. Find the report. CureTogether is a site where patients with any of 500 conditions may share with others information on their particular condition and treatment.
2e RESOURCES. The Lang School has posted on Facebook a list of resources for those in the 2e community. Check it out to see if they offer resources you might find useful.(Thanks, Micaela!)
SHOULD YOU SCREEN YOUR TODDLER FOR AUTISM? A new report suggests a couple downsides to early screening. The tests might not  be that accurate, for starters. And they apparently may lead to false positives up to 25 percent of the time, leading parents to believe their child has autism when that's not the case. Read more.
BOOKS AND BOYS. Reading is good for boys, in the sense that it can help develop reading skills, an area where boys may lag girls. But reading may not be perceived as "cool," according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, and may compete poorly with other activities more favored by boys, especially during the summer. The article offers ways to encourage summertime reading by boys. Find the article.
THE LEAD SAYS IT ALL: "Some 2 million Americans adolescents experienced a bout of major depression last year, but only about a third of them got any help in dealing with the sadness, irritability,  anxiety, guilt and loss of interest and energy that are the hallmarks of such episodes, a report says." If you have a teen at risk for depression, read the article.
SUMMERTIME BOREDOM can be an opportunity for creativity, says the author of a book on "dialed-down parenting" who recommends that a child's life be one-third busy time, one-third creative time, and one-third down-time. The author suggests that allowing a child to "dwell in the Land of What-to-Do" will soon result in self-generated, imaginative activity. Seems that this advice should surely apply to those gifted kids you know.  Read more.
EIDE BLOG POST REVISTED. A printout of an Eide Neurolearning Blog posting from January of 2009 somehow resurfaced on our desk, and it's titled in part "A Brain-based Framework for Understanding Twice Exceptional People." The post covers general characteristics of 2e students (intellectual strengths and deficits, along with social-emotional concerns), notes familial influences on the development of 2e traits, and points to research on asynchronous development (eg in prefrontal cortical thickness) in high-IQ youngsters. Read this blog post.
AND FINALLY, THIS. The U.S. government has released figures on the cost of raising a child from birth to age 18. A child born in 2010 to a middle-income family will cost $226,920 -- and that's without college. Expenses vary by geographic region, family type, and family income. And how might the child-rearing budget be different for families in the 2e community? Think "medications," "counseling," "private schools," and so forth; you know the affected household budget categories. Read more; if  you're interested in the details, find the government report.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

ATTORNEY/ADVOCATE MATT COHEN recently posted a rather impassioned plea for -- well, lots of change in the way we educate our children and in the ways we treat learning challenges. Cohen, a special ed attorney who has written for 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter, begins with five examples of how "different" kids could -- and should -- have been served better at school. The examples range from dealing with bullying to acknowledging that a bright kid with Asperger's might need some help; each example is drawn from a client served by Cohen. The attorney then begins a litany of "we must's" that represent his imperatives for improving the educational system for all involved. If you're concerned with educational reform -- or just with good education -- read Cohen's blog posting from May 14. (A bonus: His preceding post is titled "Myths, Legends and Realities -- Legal Rights of Kids with AD/HD at School.")
OPTOGENETICS is a technology that combines light and genetic engineering to allow the control of selected neurons. By changing cells in a particular neural circuit to be sensitive to light, and then implanting optical fibers to stimulate those cells, scientists were able to make anxious mice behave in a less anxious manner. One of the researchers discussed the specificity of the treatment, compared to flooding the brain with psychotropics: “Psychiatric disorders are probably not due only to chemical imbalances in the brain. It’s more than just a giant bag of serotonin or dopamine whose concentrations sometimes are too low or too high. Rather, they likely involve disorders of specific circuits within specific brain regions.” The technology is seen as a way to investigate -- and, eventually, to treat -- a variety of mental problems. Read more.
COMPETITIONS. The winners of the 2011 Siemens "We Can Change the World" competition have been announced. Go to the competition website to see what kind of environmental solutions competition entrants from high school, middle school, and elementary school came up with.
ARE YOU HAPPY? Is your child happy? Psychologist/author Martin Seligman's book "Flourish" defines five crucial elements of well-being: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Seligman has consistently urged his colleagues to focus on more than mental illness; this book is one result of his belief in "positive psychology." Find an interesting article about Seligman's ideas.
ARE YOU DEPRESSED, MOM? Successfully treating depression in mothers benefits her children as well. According to a Wall Street Journal article, about half of kids whose mothers are depressed will develop depression. The article quoted a Pediatrics study: "As early as two months of age, the infant looks at the depressed mother less often, shows less engagement with objects [and] has a lower activity level." Researchers are looking into the link between depression in fathers and kids as well. Read the article. 
GENETIC PATTERNS VERSUS DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEMS. Sometimes they don't coincide -- that's the suggestion in a Scientific American article on using  CNVs (copy number variations), deletions or repetitions of stretches of DNA on chromosomes. For example, it turns out that people with one particular CNV deletion may be diagnosed with schizophrenia, autism, or AD/HD. The author's contention: "...it may be that these diagnostic categories are just describing particular symptoms of certain genetic disorders." Read more.
AD/HD DRUGS may present no risk for heart problems in kids, according to a study reported in HealthDay. Find it.
AND FINALLY, THIS, today's story from Storypeople.com: "There are lives I can imagine without children but none of them have the same laughter & noise."

Lots of good items today...
STEPHEN HAWKING ON DISABILITY. Scientist/cosmologist Stephen Hawking was profiled and interviewed in Wednesday's New York Times. In the interview, Hawking, who has Lou Gehrig's disease and communicates using a computer-generated voice, covered his daily life, his condition, his works, and -- most interesting to us -- his advice on disability. He said, "My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with." Find the article.
2e-FRIENDLY SCHOOL IN CONNECTICUT? A member of the 2e community who is moving her family to Connecticut is looking for a 2e-friendly school there for her 6YO son. If you can help, please sign up at the 2e Newsletter Network on Ning.com (http://2enewsletter.ning.com/?xgi=5fRjVktrpoYhb5) and respond to her query in the Forum, or else contact us directly to relay your referral. Thanks!
MATT COHEN ONLINE. Special ed attorney Matt Cohen, who has contributed to 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter, offers a column of legal advice at LDOnline.org. In May's column he covers a number of issues of interest to parents of 2e kids, among them: how schools are required to use peer-reviewed, scientifically-based programs, when possible, to help students; whether a school can deny an IEP because of academic success; the assumption that colleges are required to comply with 504 plans; whether a school counselor may suggest medication; and the extent to which a school must accept an evaluation from an independent professional. Find the column.
WRIGHTSLAW. On the  topic of education law, in the current issue of Special Ed Advocate, the Wrights comment on Compton v. Addison, where a school allegedly failed to evaluate a student for disabilities and is being sued for negligence. They also cover the Child Find Mandate, meant to identify children who might need special ed services. Find the issue.
MOMS WITH AD/HD was the topic of a recent NPR program. NPR interviewed the writer and the subject of a recent Washington Post article on the topic. Read about the mom's discovery of AD/HD and what it means to her and her family (which includes an AD/HD son).
NCLB AND GIFTED CHILDREN. Education Next discussed the issue of whether gifted kids in the U.S. have been shortchanged by NCLB. Members of the discussion noted, among other things, that top-performing 17-year-olds in the U.S. perform no better now than 20 years ago, and that the U.S. is 41st out of 56 participating countries in one measure of advanced mathematical achievement. Find the discussion.
BIOMARKER FOR MAJOR DEPRESSION. A study by scientists at Wayne State University has revealed a new way to distinguish children with major depressive disorder (MDD) from not only normal children, but also from children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).The study found different patterns of cortical thickness for patients with MDD versus OCD. Researchers call the results "an exciting new way to identify more objective markers of psychiatric illness in children." Read an abstract of the journal article announcing the study. Read an article based on the press release by Wayne State. Separately, an Oxford University study of depression finds that "overgeneral memory" -- where past events are recalled in an overly broad manner -- is linked to depression. Studies are underway to determine whether overgeneral memory in teens foretells later depression. Read about it.
PAYING ATTENTION TO THE SCREEN. Parents of twice-exceptional children often notice that many kids are able to pay tremendous amounts of sustained attention to those glowing screens. A recent article on the topic explains a variety of views on why this might be so -- video games as self-medication; video as an ameliorative for poor social skills, etc. Read more.
THE BEST BOOKS MONEY CAN BUY. The American Coal Foundation got caught spreading its "clean" view of coal to school kids by paying Scholastic Corporation to write materials for 4th-graders called "United States of Energy." Three advocacy groups took note of how the materials seemed to fail to mention the negative effects of coal and are drawing attention to the collaboration between Scholastic and the foundation. The larger issue is, how many "educational" materials produced and distributed to students are similarly biased. Read more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. If your 16-year-old kid's only out-of-school activity is reading books, know that your child has a better than average chance of becoming a manager or professional later in life, according to an Oxford University study. No other studied activities had such a correlation. Reassuringly, however, the study also found that computer gaming did not decrease a child's chances for later managerial or professional status. Read about the study.


From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

2e AND AP. A mother at the 2e Newsletter Network at Ning.com is looking for input from others on "successful scaffolding for a 2e student taking AP classes."  If you have experience in this area, consider sharing at the "Forum" section of the online 2e Newsletter Network. Free registration is required at http://2enewsletter.ning.com/?xgi=5fRjVktrpoYhb5, but you may use a screen name rather than your real name.
BULLYING AND THE BRAIN. Being bullied can actually alter the molecular chemistry of the body, according to a recent study. According to one of the researchers, "We found that chronic social stress affects neuroendocrine systems that are paramount for adaptive mammalian social behaviors such as courtship, pair-bonding and parental behaviors. Changes in components of these systems have been implicated in human disorders, such as social phobias, depression, schizophrenia and autism." Read more.
MRI-ASSISTED NEURO-FEEDBACK. Researchers have discovered that providing real-time, fMRI-based feedback to subjects engaged in a task allowed them to better control their thoughts and perform the assigned task. The study results may have implications for improving everyday life, says the writeup, and also for the clinical treatment of conditions such as depression, anxiety, and OCD. Find out more.
IF MOM'S HAPPY, KID'S HAPPY. A British study of over 40,000 UK households has found that children's satisfaction with their lives is closely linked to the mother's happiness. Researchers found that "the happiest children are those living with two parents... with no younger siblings, who do not argue with their parents regularly, who eat at least three evening meals per week with their family and whose mother is happy in her own relationship." Got that, June? Got that, Beav? Read more.
RESILIENT KIDS. A final study reported recently may explain why some kids are more socially resilient. The study involved kids with "problem parents," those less available than "regular" parents. Kids with a specific gene variant were more likely than their siblings without the variant to have better relationships with those problem parents. Read about the study.
AND FINALLY, THIS. Are you a political liberal? You might have a larger anterior cingulate cortex than that political conservative you know or married, who, in turn, might have a larger amygdala than you do. No kidding -- we read it on the Internet, so we know it's true. Actually, says a report on the study, "Based on what is known about the functions of those two brain regions, the structural differences are consistent with reports showing a greater ability of liberals to cope with conflicting information and a greater ability of conservatives to recognize a threat." Okay, if you don't believe us, read it for yourself.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

THE GT LABEL is the subject of continuing debate in Montgomery County, Maryland. According to an article at the Maryland Gazette.Net, "critics say the Gifted and Talented, or GT, label is damaging students because it ends up dividing them along racial lines and makes those who don't get identified as Gifted and Talented — typically about 60 percent of students — feel inferior. They also argue that what constitutes Gifted and Talented curriculum in Montgomery County Public Schools, such as critical reading skills and research projects, should be taught to all students." Read more about the controversy.
SOCIAL SKILLS IN AUTISM. A Scientific American article covers "how social intuition goes awry in individuals who have autism," touching on typical development of social behaviors and hypothesizing on the link with a certain cerebral structure (Con Economo spindle neurons) which shows disruption in autistic individuals. Find the article.
NASA'S INSPIRE program is accepting applications for the program through June 30. The selected students and their parents will participate in an online learning community with opportunities to interact with peers, NASA engineers and scientists. The online community also provides appropriate grade level educational activities, discussion boards, and chat rooms for participants to gain exposure to careers and opportunities available at NASA. Visit the NASA site for more information.
ON TEACHERS, THEIR BURDENS, AND THEIR REWARDS. Teachers, whether of the gifted or not, have come under lots of fire lately as states try to balance budgets. We offer pointers to several recent articles that might provide perspective to those interested in the issue. One is a New York Times article titled "Teachers Wonder, Why the Heapings of Scorn." Interesting reading after that is reader reaction to the Times article. And an article in The New Republic gives some international perspective on the issue of teacher pay and reward.
RESEARCHERS HONORED. Two researchers who devoted their careers to child development and mental health have been honored by the Child Mind Institute. Dr. Judith Rappaport did some of the earliest research on AD/HD, OCD, and child-onset schizophrenia. Dr. Jerome Kagan was a developmental psychologist; we've pointed to some of his articles from this blog. Read more at Medscape.com.
DIRECT LINE TO THE WHITE HOUSE -- at least, for education. We found out about this resource from a Mensa listserv. At a White House site, parents, teachers, and students have the opportunity to opine on education -- what's working and what needs change. It looks as though the topic is education for this week only, so if you'd like to share your opinions, do it quickly. Find the site and sound off about gifted education and  education for the twice-exceptional!
GOT A LEFT-HANDED KID?  You might be interested in an article on the topic that covers historical background (how it's been viewed in past times), the role of the brain (it's less asymetrical), and the fact that a high percentage of achievers seem to be left-handed -- including seven presidents as well as some dynamite baseball pitchers. Find the article.
NUTRITION. The American Pediatrics Association is using the book The Hungry Caterpillar in a campaign for healthy eating. Read more about how the book provides "teachable moments." Separately, eating apples -- or the antioxidants contained in them -- apparently extends the life of test animals by 10 percent. So there's evidently truth in that old saw. Read more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. Do you, O Parent of a Twice-Exceptional Child, complain about the property taxes used to fund education in your community? Then read an article that almost made us feel good about the amount of tax we pay, an article about a community where property taxes approach the level of the median annual US  household income.

EARLY SELF-CONTROL. The results of a long-term study published yesterday indicate that "Children with the most self-control at 3 years old become the healthiest, wealthiest and most successful adults," according to US News and World Report. The study followed about 1,000 children until they were 32, measuring self-control at various points. Who had the greatest self-control? Kids with high IQs from well-off families. The article also addresses what constitutes poor self-control. We remember one of our children as an-out-of control toddler in the check-out line of the supermarket, loudly declaring one of his parents to be a "butt-head."  You can find out from the article if that single incident doomed our child to dropping out of school, breaking the law, and financial ruin.
HANDWRITING VERSUS TYPING. There is some evidence that the physical act of handwriting may strengthen the learning process, when compared to keyboarding. According to a report of a study, "different parts of the brain are activated when we read letters we have learned by handwriting, from those activated when we recognise letters we have learned through typing on a keyboard..." The research is in the field of haptics, the part touch plays in our communications and perceptions. Find out more.
EXERCISE AS A TREATMENT FOR AD/HD is the title of David Rabiner's December, 2010, Attention Research Update, now posted. The study he reviewed indicates that exercise may be beneficial for behavior and neuropsychological functioning -- and, of course, for fitness. Find Rabiner's review.
WRIGHTSLAW treats the topic of advocacy in its current edition of Special Ed Advocate. The issue includes "10 Tips for Good Advocates" and "What Parent Advocates Should and Should Not Do." Read the issue.
THE NATION'S REPORT CARD has been updated, and education wonks can read about results and trends in a variety of academic areas. Also available: state profiles, state-to-state comparisons, and some district summaries for large cities. Find out more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. Are you a procrastinator? Do you have one in your house? Wisconsin Public Radio's program "To the Best of Our Knowledge" recently did an in-depth examination of the topic. The program is not available for download, but you can order a copy. Plus, there is a free procrastination survey for you to take to find out if you procrastinate -- but don't put it off too long!

2e ACHIEVER. The newly-elected governor of Connecticut, Dannel Malloy, recalls that he was a "floppy kid," with developmental delays in gross and fine motor skills, coordination issues, and reading problems. Although he was able to move beyond most of those issues, reading is still hard because of his dyslexia, according to an article in the Connecticut Post. He spoke of his LDs during his inauguration speech. Read more.
KNOW A DESERVING TEACHER for that 2e child? Students in grades 1-12 can write an essay nominating a teacher for a Disney vacation in Orlando through the "A+ for Teachers at Downtown Disney" contest, which runs until April 15. The essay should explain how the teacher has made a difference in the student's life and will be judged on its relevance to theme, creativity, originality, and the merit of the teacher's accomplishments as outlined in the essay. Find out more.
TIGER MOTHERING. Scientific American weighs in on the currently raging discussion of rigor in bringing up children. The magazine interviews developmental psychologist Laurence Steinberg, who has written about ethnic differences in parenting in the US. Find it. 
EDUCATORS GUILD NEWSLETTER. The January issue is out, focusing on acceleration. The Guild is sponsored by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. Find the issue.
TESTING HELPS LEARNING, according to research described today in The New York Times. Immediate testing led students to recall more information than two other learning methods -- repeated studying, and diagramming what is being learned. The article says that the latter two methods "give students the illusion that they know the material better than they do." The more successful learning method is called "retrieval testing." Find out more.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. Deborah Ruf, in her "Talent Igniter" newsletter, shares a variety of resources for enhancing the education of that gifted learner you know. The resources include The Bard Online, online lessons from the Khan Academy, and others. Find it.
TREATMENT RATES FOR MENTAL DISORDERS. A study reported by Science Daily found that only half of adolescents with severely impairing mental disorders ever receive treatment. The treatment rate is highest for AD/HD -- 60% -- lower for ODD and conduct disorders -- 45% -- and lower still for other disorders like anxiety, eating, or substance abuse. Read about the study. Separately, an NPR report indicates that depression is "on the rise" in college students. Find the report.
AND FINALLY, THIS. Do you know a kid with a pierced tongue? A study indicates that plastic studs are a better choice than metal because they reduce the risk of infection. Chipped teeth and receding gums are also more of a problem with metal studs, according to the article. Read it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We wish subscribers and friends of 2e: Twice-exceptional Newsletter a fulfilling 2011 as you raise, educate, and counsel gifted kids with learning challenges. Our best to you!
GRADUATION COACH? HOW ABOUT "GIFTED COACH." A recent article in the Houston Chronicle profiled a high school "graduation coach" employed by the Houston Independent School District. His job: to help keep at-risk kids from dropping out. There are graduation coaches at every comprehensive HISD high school. The district also has a "manager of student engagement." All of this is very neat. And it begs the question, why not have "gifted coaches" or "managers of student engagement" for gifted kids as well -- or for any student in danger of not having his or her needs met by the school?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT? An article published in a number of news outlets describes how fast-food restaurants are piling on the calories to "deploy a potent new aresenal of greasy goodness for Americans who have grown numb to mere burgers." For example: Burger King is offering the Ultimate Breakfast Platter that totals 1,310 calories (over half the daily allowance of calories for most people) along with 2,490 milligrams of salt (one gram over the daily maximum recommended  by the American Heart Association), and 72 grams of fat (possibly a day's total allowance). The staff at 2e Newsletter had a spirited discussion about who's to blame here. Are fast-food chains simply catering to the wishes of the American public and keeping up with the competition in terms of meeting those wishes? Or does the industry create the need for such excess? The article we read states, "The new items flout principles of healthful eating and instead celebrate a spirit of wanton gluttony." Read it and wonder  how fast food affects the development of that gifted child you know.
SEA CHANGE IN PSYCHIATRY? An article in Wired Magazine describes an "insurgency" against the DSM-5, under development by the American Psychiatric Association, and the effects that the DSM can and does have in our society. For example, the lead editor of the DSM-IV says the way that edition was written had serious consequences. "Diagnoses of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder skyrocketed, and [the author] thinks his manual inadvertently facilitated these epidemics—and, in the bargain, fostered an increasing tendency to chalk up life’s difficulties to mental illness and then treat them with psychiatric drugs." This is not an easy, USA Today-length article -- but read it.

THE LAST POST OF 2010 is an appropriate place to mention Edutopia's solicitation for nominees for "Person of the Year in Education." Got strong feelings? Want to see whom others feel should get the title? Go to Edutopia.
MEDS AND KIDS. A Wall Street Journal article examines medications for children, noting that 25 percent of kids and teens in the United States take prescription drugs. The article points out that many meds prescribed for for kids haven't  been tested on kids -- a little odd, it seems to us. Finding the proper dosage, or finding unexpected side effects in kids, can be an issue. Find the article.
GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER CHILD? Check out a review of the book Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives. Its author checked research on a variety of in utero influences on children that potentially affect a child's weight, predisposition to diabetes, lung health, and other factors. Find the review.
THE TEENAGE BRAIN. Sharp Brains has posted on its site "Top 10 Resources to Better Understand the Teenage Brain -- Brain Health Series Part 2." The resources consist of links to features and documents on other websites, including those of New Scientist (on brain maturation), the National Institute of Mental Health (a "Teenage Brain Fact Sheet"), and PBS ("Inside the Teenage Brain," a documentary). Find the list.
THE DSM MEETS GENETICS. An illuminating article on the Scientific American website offers insight into a variety of issues that face parents of twice-exceptional children. Among those issues are: 
  • The fact that there are no validated lab tests for mental illnesses
  • The way symptom patterns commonly change over a lifetime, leading to different diagnoses
  • The heritability of traits 
  • Common co-morbidities, especially the tendency for certain disorders to "cluster" with others. 
The author, a former director of the US National Institute of Mental Health, suggests that what we know about genetics does not map well onto DSM classifications. He further recommends that DSM task forces "create chapters of disorders that co-occur at very high rates and that appear to share genetic risk factors based on family, twin, and molecular genetic studies... [This] would be possible for certain neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety disorders, the obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum, so-called externalizing or disruptive disorders (such as antisocial personality disorder and substance use disorders), and others." Find this article.

EPIGENETICS AND  MENTAL DISORDERS. The New York Times wrote about how environment and experience affect the function of genes in allowing -- or not allowing -- the expression of  mental disorders. For example, well-mothered rats alters genetic expression in offspring to better handle stress. If you're interested in how experience and environment may affect the development of your children, read the article.
ART CHASING LIFE. The television show "Parenthood" features a family in which an 8-year-old boy has Asperger's, which evidently is a focus of the program. Disability Scoop recently ran an interview with Max Burkholder, the young actor who plays the Aspie. Burkeholder tells how he's like the character and not, and how he preps for the part. Find the interview.
VISUAL VERSUS SPATIAL. Scientific American examines the topic of spatial intelligence, noting how in one long-ago study of genius two future Nobel prize winners were excluded because their IQ scores didn't place them in the top 1 percent. The article says that a possible explanation is that the Stanford-Binet IQ test, along with others, fails to recognize spatial ability, critical to engineering and science. The authors contend that "Due to the neglect of spatial ability in school curricula, traditional standardized assessments, and in national talent searches, those with relative spatial strengths across the entire range of ability constitute an under-served population..." Find the article.
STUDY AID. Scientific American also carries news that indicates a light electrical current applied to the right place in the skull can improve numerical learning. Apply it to the other side of the skull and subjects experience a fall in the ability. Is this math aid for your bright student? Find out more.
LANG SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE. The evening of November 18, the Lang School for 2e children in New York City will host an open house for parents and professionals with an interest in learning more about the school. Find more information at the school's website. 
HOMEWORK HELPERS. As The New York Times notes, "some harried parents with cash to spare have been turning to homework helpers who teach organizational skills and time management, or who sometimes just sit there until the work is finished." Want to know more? Read the article.
NUTRITION, EXERCISE. Want to know how your family stacks up against others when it comes to nutrition and physical activity. Do your children recognize what they should be eating most of ? How often to yiou eat out? Find out where you stand (or sit) with the results of an American Dietetic Association study.
AD/HD. Three items noted in LD Online's email newsletter concern AD/HD: a report that the number of AD/HD children in the US has risen by about a million over the past few years, and the consequences; an op-ed piece in the LA Times where a mother reacts to research indicating that AD/HD may be genetic; and a story titled "The Inner Life of AD/HD," where teens with AD/HD share what it's like to have it.
LD AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. There's a link. While only about 4 percent of children have hypertension, those who do are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with AD/HD or LDs. Read the article.
INSPIRATION FOR TEACHERS. At Edutopia.org, a teacher points out how the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) lectures can inspire, giving links to some particular examples. The breadth of the lectures is likely to mean that parents will find inspiring, relevant lectures as well. Find the teacher's article. Find the main TED site.