DON'T GET CAUGHT IN THE LAZY TRAP. That's the advice -- and the title of an article -- from 2e Newsletter publisher Linda Neumann. The article appears in a special edition of SENG Update in observation of Parenting Gifted Children Week. The article offers advice for what to do when you hear the label "smart but lazy" applied to your child. Find it.
BOOK-THEMED DAY CAMPS. 2e Newsletter book columnist Bob Seney has enthusiastically reviewed books from the "Percy Jackson and the Olympian" series for young people, which builds a world for readers to imagine and immerse themselves in, much like "Harry Potter" readers do. A recent article in The New York Times spotlights New York area literary camps structured around books and their themes. One of them is Camp Half-Blood, based on the Percy Jackson series. Read more.
TOXIC CHILD. In an earlier post we pointed to an article that perhaps absolved parents who raise a bad kid. The article generated several letters to the publisher, one letter agreeing and the other urging stricter parental oversight. Find the letters.
ARE WE TOO EASY ON OUR CHILDREN? Have we spoiled them? If you have strong opinions on this issue, read a thought-provoking article in The Washington Post. Find it.
ASD AND DIET. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can demonstrate feeding problems, food refusal, and limited food preferences from infancy, but energy intake and growth are not affected. A study published in Pediatrics showed that children with ASD ate fewer vegetables, salads, and fresh fruit, but also consumed fewer sweets and carbonated drinks. Study authors determined that even though children with ASD consumed less of some vitamins and accepted a more limited number of different foods, their intake of carbohydrates, protein, fats and total energy were similar to controls. No significant differences were apparent in weight, height, or body mass index up to 7 years of age.
TESTING FOR KINDERGARTEN is a book, and a press release for it says this: "Karen Quinn, whose own son was headed for special education until she cracked the code of kindergarten testing and boosted his score from the 37th to the 94th percentile, wrote her latest book, Testing for Kindergarten, revealing for the first time to parents what is on these tests and teaching them how to prepare their kids." If you're interested in competing equally with "wealthy families who can afford expensive tutors and enrichment activities to ensure high test scores for their kids," then check out the website for the book.
AND IF YOUR BRIGHT CHILD IS BURNED OUT by the time high school graduation rolls around, consider a "gap year." The Boston Globe describes how high-achieving students and admission officials are encouraging time off to recharge. Read the article.
AD/HD AND YOUR MARRIAGE. We're fond of an expression a 2e Newsletter subscriber once told us, that "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." If you've got an AD/HD apple in your family tree, consider the effect on the marriage when perhaps not only a child has AD/HD -- but also your spouse (or you). Read what it's like -- and what some people have done to try to address the issue of AD/HD in their marriage.
GENDER DIFFERENCES. A recent study found that males and females multitask equally well on simple math and reading tasks. The researchers also found, however, that "women far excelled men when it came to planning how to search for a lost key, with 70 percent of women performing better than their average male counterparts." (A snide interpretation of these findings would ascribe the difference simply to more previous practice on the part of females.) Read more.
ROTTEN KID? DON'T NECESSARILY BLAME YOURSELF -- at least, not according to an article in The New York Times today. The article tells the story of a somewhat "suboptimal" parenting couple and their difficult child; but the couple also had to other "well adjusted and perfectly nice boys." One psychiatrist quoted in the article said that the era of "no bad children, only bad parents" is gone. Read more and feel good about yourself -- maybe.
REGIONAL CEC CONFERENCE TO INCLUDE SUSAN BAUM. That's what one of our friends from Idaho tells us (thanks, Sherry). The conference is in Sun Valley from October 6th through 9th. A 2e strand features Baum, a member of the 2e Newsletter Educational Advisory Board. More information.
MOVING AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT. Research indicates that children whose families move often tend to not do as well academically and behaviorally. A recent article says the damage may last into adulthood. Find out more.
CAROLYN K is presenting two webinars for SENG, both Internet related. One is titled "Making the Internet Safer for Gifted Children and Teens"; the other is "Great Internet Links for Gifted Kids and Families." Carolyn K is, of course, the mastermind behind Hoagies' Gifted Page. Find out more about the webinars.
IT'S HARD TO BE A MODEL WITH MENTAL ILLNESS, says a top model of color in a article in Urban Belle. The young woman describes how bipolar disorder affects her life and career -- and her plans to become an activist for NAMI. Read more.
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.
DABROWSKI FANS may be interested in The Ninth International Congress for the Institute for Positive Disintegration in Human Development, to be held in St. Charles, Illinois, this July 22-24. Organizers call it "An interdisciplinary conference on Dabrowski’s theory of Positive Disintegration, drawing from education, psychology, religion, philosophy, counseling, spirituality." Dabrowski is noted in the 2e community for his writings on "overexcitabilities" as they apply to gifted young people. And, FYI, positive disintegration is not necessarily a contradiction in terms. Find out more about the conference.
MORE ON THE MEDIUM WE LOVE TO BASH. Science Daily reports a "shocking" study showing that television exposure at age two forecasts negative consequences for kids, ranging from poor school adjustment to unhealthy habits. The article quantifies negative effects such as decreased activity, classroom engagement, and victimization by classmates. Read it.
SORRY, MOZART LOVERS -- NO "TWO-FERS." A recent study finds no evidence that listening to the music of Mozart can lead to cognitive enhancements. The "Mozart effect" is evidently just a legend. So just listen to the music for its own sake. Read about the study.
AD/HD MEDS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. According to a study reviewed this month by David Rabiner in Attention Research Update, AD/HD medication treatment over an extended period "is associated with significant gains in children's academic achievement." Rabiner notes caveats -- the gains were modest, for example, and the AD/HD classifications were not based on diagnostic evaluations. When the study is posted at Rabiner's site, it should be here.
BLUE MAN GROUP AND THE BLUE SCHOOL. Founders and spouses of the Blue Man Group have started the Blue School in New York City. Now comprised of pre-school through first-grade students, the school was conceived as a reaction to admissions hysteria and Ivy League college focus, an education that "you don't have to recover from," in the words of the founders. One challenge faced by the progressive school: its popularity and tuition now make the school seem "what were rebelling against," says a founder. Read the article.
WANT TO SEE HOW OTHER FAMILIES HANDLE TEEN AUTONOMY? Read about a Penn State study of 200 families concerning their children's decision making in the areas of chores, appearance, curfew and bedtime, health, schoolwork, social life, activities, and money. Researchers concluded that decision-making autonomy, a reflection of the development of youths' independence and responsibility, depended on what kinds of decisions youngsters faced, and on their personal and family circumstances. Find out more.
BEEN THROUGH THE COLLEGE TOUR PROCESS? Jay Matthews of the Washington Post wants your input on best and worst questions you've heard asked on college visits. Sample, from a parent visiting Boston College: "Do all these priests have to dress in black all the time? What if that upsets the students?" To contribute, go here.
GIFTED IN FLORIDA? Find out about a free summer academy on the campus of Florida State University. Sponsored by the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion, the academy will be slanted toward aerospace disciplines. Read more of in an interview between Michael Shaughnessy of EdNews.org and academy co-director Steven Pfeiffer.
NEW IN NEUROSCIENCE. If you're interested in neuroscience in general because of its contributions to what we know about gifted and twice-exceptional children, you might be interested in an interview in The New York Times with Princeton researcher Samuel Wang. In the interview, Wang describes the progress in the science over the past 25 years and disputes a couple brain myths. (He also describes how a visit to the vet's office led him to a goldmine of MRI data on dog brains -- without the HIPPA restrictions.) Find the article.
GENIUS: NATURE OR NURTURE? An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette examines both sides of the "cause" of genius, interviewing a few MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" recipients in the process. Most of those interviewed seemed to emphasize guidance and hard work; others, the combination of inborn talent and the environment. Read it.
CHANGING TUNE. The Boston Globe tells the story of a talented young music student/pianist at Berklee College. Diagnosed at age 3 as PDD, he made his parents' lives "a waking nightmare," according to the article. But by age 7 he showed signs of being a musical savant. He underwent therapies and dietary adjustments. Sometimes, playing professionally as a teen, he'd have emotional meltdowns backstage. His trio's bassist, also a professor at Berklee, says, “As Matt’s evolved onstage, his social life has grown too. He’s learned how to talk onstage to the point that he’s almost a ham now.’’ Read more about the growth of this young man.
A NEW DSM. The diagnosis of the young man in the previous item might have a new label after the DSM-V comes out in 2013. Asperger's Syndrome might become part of the ASD. In another example, a diagnosis would be added to avoid labeling children as bipolar, which often leads to lots of meds. Read more about the changes. Check out (and even comment on) proposed revisions to the DSM. Read a ScienceDaily piece on the topic. And read an opinion piece by a father of an Aspie child; the father says, "We no longer need Asperger’s disorder to reduce stigma. And my daughter does not need the term Asperger’s to bolster her self-esteem."
HIGH SENSITIVITY/REACTIVITY. From a ScienceDaily writeup of a new study: "Children who are especially reactive to stress are more vulnerable to adversity and have more behavior and health problems than their peers. But a new longitudinal study suggests that highly reactive children are also more likely to do well when they're raised in supportive environments." Read more.
LONGITUDINAL CHILD STUDY. An obituary informed us of a study of children conducted from 1968 onward, beginning when the kids were age 3 and ending at age 32. Psychology professor Jack Block and co-researchers found indications that disruptive behavior in children could be the cause as well as consequence of parental divorce. Another finding related to personality traits at age 3 that seemed to predict political orientation at age 23. Read the obit.
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND. We always enjoy receiving the current issue of this magazine, and used to enjoy sharing links to current articles -- before the magazine restricted who can see what on its site. So while you can't yet read online a current article on exercises to help address sensory-processing deficits, you can read many other items of interest -- for example, a recent article on chemical exposure and AD/DH; more on proposed DSM changes (if you're not already tired of the topic from an earlier item in this post); or a piece on how our brains may be wired for "categorization." So go to the site once in awhile to see what kinds of interesting items you find for your family, your life, or your work.
GIFTED/2e SCHOOL IN COLORADO SPRINGS. According to a member of its steering committee, the Academy for Advanced and Creative Learning has received approval to open for the 2010-2011 school year. The charter school is to be K-8, tuition-free, and specializing in gifted and twice-exceptional children. Every child will have a personalized learning plan, and instruction will be delivered using thematic units and hands-on learning. Find out more.
DITD UPDATES "STATE MAP." The Davidson Institute for Talent Development maintains a clickable map of the United States; site visitors can use the map to view a state's gifted education policies. The map has been updated based on data from NAGC's The State of the States report. Find the map. The DITD site also has a listing of summer programs for talent development for gifted young people, residential and day programs. Find the listing.
IMAGINATION AND FANTASY. The Wall Street Journal published an article on research into make-believe in child development. According to the article, "...child-development experts are recognizing the importance of imagination and the role it plays in understanding reality. Imagination is necessary for learning about people and events we don't directly experience, such as history or events on the other side of the world." The experts suggest that parents encourage fantasy play in their children, noting in particular imaginary friends. Preschoolers who have such friends are supposedly more creative and better at seeing others' perspectives. Read the article.
READING MINDS WITH fMRI. Scientific American recently published an article titled "The Mechanics of Mind Reading." The author describes how researchers use brain imaging to try to determine mental states. For example, it's possible for a researcher to ask a subject to think either about playing tennis or roaming through the house -- and then correctly determine which mental activity the subject chose, based on brain regions activated. For those interested in this kind of mind-machine telepathy, the article covers advances in the ways researchers are interpreting the data captured by functional magnetic resonance imaging scanners.
GIFTED ED BACKLASH? Community Consolidated School District 181 serves about 4,000 students in one of the wealthiest suburban areas of Chicago. The district's vision: "To be a school district where all children experience success and exhibit excellence." Yet a local news organization reports that some district residents are calling for a reduction in the gifted education program, which costs about $1 million a year ($887,015, according to the district's website, compared to almost $6 million for special education, out of a total budget of about $50 million). The article quotes one parent as saying, “Why does such a small part of our student population get this program’s benefits? I have had children in the program, but I don’t agree with the labeling that comes with participating in the program.” Another parent thought the money could be used to reduce class sizes overall. While the number of children in the gifted program is unclear, it could be higher than 20 percent. Read the news article, and be aware that the average home price in Hinsdale, one of the suburbs in the district, is $949,610, according to Money Magazine, and the average family in Hinsdale spends over $9,000 a year on vacations. Is this protest a move for equity? Or inequity?
WE MISSED PART OF NAGC'S recent report on gifted education in the United States. In our most recent posting, we pointed to a summary of the report -- "State of the Nation" -- but did not point to the "State of the States" document, the full report; we assumed it was a for-fee publication, our bad. You may find links to the various components of the biannual report at the NAGC site. Be advised that the full "State of the States" report is 293 pages long and covers topics such as state education agencies, GT funding and mandates, identification of GT students, programs, personnel preparation, related policies and practices, and lots of tables. One table consists of state report cards. Another is a three-part, state-by-state assessment of areas needing attention. For example, in our home state of Illinois, funding for gifted education is assessed as "most in need," while the representation of minority students in GT education is assessed as "in need." You may also find the way your state defines giftedness in Table 11.
TECHNOLOGY AND READING. In past posts, we've pointed to articles about Kindle and how it might affect all students, not just GT/LD learners. An article in Education Week explores "the risks and rewards of electronic reading devices" in general. And at CNN Money, you may read about a camera that reads text aloud, the Intel Reader, a device the article calls "profoundly different" from other readers. Instead of using electronically packaged and transmitted text, as the Kindle does, the Intel Reader captures text on a printed page and pronounces it aloud. The article calls the device "a potential godsend for those who struggle to read standard text because of learning disabilities or vision problems." One drawback: the just-released reader costs $1500. Find out more from the article or from Intel.
ASD AND FINE MOTOR SKILLS. Researchers have found that fine motor control, as manifested in handwriting, is different in children with ASD than in typically developing children. According to an article in Psychology Today, the researchers feel that the difference may provide clues about problems with socialization and communication in children on the autism spectrum. Find the article.
DYSLEXIC DIFFICULTY FOCUSING ON RELEVANT AUDITORY INPUT. A Northwestern University study reported in Yahoo News and Science Daily finds that dyslexic children have difficulty focusing on "relevant, predictable, and repeating auditory information," instead becoming distracted by sounds such as banging lockers or scraping chairs. According to the Science Daily piece, "The study suggests that in addition to conventional reading and spelling based interventions, poor readers who have difficulties processing information in noisy backgrounds could benefit from the employment of relatively simple strategies, such as placing the child in front of the teacher or using wireless technologies to enhance the sound of a teacher's voice for an individual student."
IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT WIRELESS PHONE USAGE by your child, check out an article in Science Daily about a Swedish study that found links between wireless phone usage and biological changes in the brain as well as to overall health. Find it.
FINALLY, RESEARCH RESULTS YOU WANT TO HEAR -- from the American Chemical Society and the Journal of Proteome Research, no less. A clinical trial has shown that eating an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduces the levels of stress hormones in highly stressed people. While the study did not specifically mention those who raise and teach twice-exceptional children as being highly stressed, this may be the first study to explain how chocolate has those, mmmm, comforting effects. Read about the study. Or, if you're brave and scientifically inclined, read the study.
BABY MEDIA. Seems that the Disney Company, which acquired Baby Einstein, a producer of electronic media for infants, is now offering refunds to purchasers of "Baby Einstein" videos marketed as "educational." The offer comes after pressure from public advocates and public health attorneys who threatened a class-action lawsuit. The advocate, Susan Linn, notes in The New York Times article about the matter that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 2 not watch video. So if you don't think your Baby Einstein videos truly benefited your young, high-ability child, here's your chance to get your money back. Read the article.
IT'S NATIONAL DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH, and the executive director of The Bodine School, in Germantown, Tennesee, seeks to heighten awareness of the condition in an article in the Commercial Appeal of Memphis. In the article, brought to our attention by CEC's SmartBrief, the director points out some of the features of dyslexia that differentiate it from an LD, and stresses how early intervention -- by first grade or earlier -- can allow dyslexic children to read normally. Read the article.
READER REACTION TO DANIEL WILLINGSHAM, who disbelieves different learning styles. (See our September blog posts.) Nancy Mathias took issue with Mr. Willingsham's views that "There just doesn’t seem to be much evidence that kids learn in fundamentally different ways. This is not to say," continued Willingsham, "that all kids are the same, or that all kids should be taught the same way." Ms. Mathias says: "If the idea behind learning styles is to get teachers to approach teaching in multiple ways, then Mr. Williangsham's views actually agree with the outcomes of teaching to different learning styles. What I find fascinating is I have a 2e kid who could do algebra in his head (he is a visual-spatial kid who thinks in 3d and is currently studying mechanical engineering/robotics in college), yet had difficulty showing step by step on paper how to solve problems. The teacher's solution was for him to do many algebra problems (written) because the more you do, the more you learn (this wasn't at a public school but a school for the gifted!). It was generally the drill-to-kill method of teaching. In this case, my n=1 study would indicate that teaching to any one style doesn't work. By the way, I call teaching one way 'vanilla'; it may smell good while you use it, but if you use too much it becomes bitter..." Well said.
FROM BRAIN IN THE NEWS. The Dana Foundation's print newsletter from October contained articles that might be of interest to parents and educators of high-ability children with LDs. Some of the articles were reprints of other media stories from September dealing with TBI, which we've been harping on a lot recently. Another article, reprinted from the Washington Post, is a Post staff writer's personal account of how long walks and running helped her deal with severe depression. "One day [in adolescence], particularly agitated, I fled my house and began walking toward a nearby mountain. I walked for a long while that first day, discovering some old dirt tram roads that seemed to snake all over the mountain. When I got home I was excited about my discovery--and happy. My mother was curious about how far I'd walked, so we got in the car and tracked it. I had walked 27 miles, and it did more for my emotional state than all the therapy and pills." The writer credits walking and, later, running with saving her life. Read the article.
MISSED IN THE ACTION. We missed an October 4th article in The New York Times titled "Understanding the Anxious Mind." In it, you can read how researchers have come to believe that some babies are born wired to be anxious, reacting strongly to unfamiliar stimuli, and that "strongly reactive babies are more likely to grow up to be anxious." These results are fostered by at least four major longitudinal studies, beginning in babyhood and following hundreds of young people. The article features a study by psychologist Jerome Kagan. Read it (be advised that it's long), and know that the article generated lots of reader comments.