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Showing posts with label due process hearing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label due process hearing. Show all posts

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

FIGHT OVER GT, LD SERVICES. A mom and a school district in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, have been locked in a struggle for over a decade over services for her two sons, one of whom is evidently both gifted and LD. Services for both exceptionalities are part of the dispute. The mom wanted services and requested a number of due process hearings. According to an account of the dispute, the school district called the mom's behavior "vexatious." Read the account and form your own opinions...
FANTASY MOVIES FOSTER CREATIVITY? Researchers at Lancaster University in the UK say that watching fantasy movies such as Harry Potter films may improve their imagination and creativity. The subjects, aged four to six, reportedly performed "significantly better" on creativity tests after watching 15-minute clips from a Potter film. Read more.Separately, The New York Times reports that fiction can "stimulate the brain and even change how we act in life" -- this according to research involving brain scans. Read the article.
GIFTED TESTING IN THE UK. Gifted eleven-year-olds in the UK will be administered special "SATs," or national curriculum assessments, the results of which will be part of a school's performance. The rationale for the testing: to "encourage teachers to devote more time to high ability children," according to the Telegraph. NAGC in the UK supports the move. Read more.
DSM-V AND AUTISM. If you're following the debate over autism diagnosis in the upcoming DSM-V, you might be interested in an opinion piece/debate in New Scientist. Find it.
JACK KENT COOKE SCHOLARSHIPS. The application for 2012 scholarships through the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is April 15. Eligible candidates come from low- to medium-income families and will start 8th grade this fall. Find out more. 

AD/HD AND FISH OIL An ADDitude online feature covers fish oil and other supplements as possible treatments for AD/HD. Find the feature.
WRIGHTSLAW. Special Ed Advocate takes on the issue of what to do when services specified in an IEP are not provided. Read more.
OCD WORKSHOP IN MANHATTAN. The Child Mind Institute has scheduled a family workshop on OCD on April 3 in the evening. Find out more.
ANXIETY IN DC. On April 17, Dr. Daniel Pine is scheduled to present "Current Thinking about Anxiety: The State of the Science." Read more.
EDUCATION WEEK is currently offering free downloads of some of its "Spotlight" sponsored white papers. They cover topics such as bullying, STEM, and personalized learning. Find them.
MORE AD/HD -- 66 percent more diagnosis in the past 10 years, as a matter of fact. An article at ScienceDaily attributes the change to increased awareness of the condition. Read it.

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.

IN THE OSCARS TELECAST last weekend, those watching saw one winner with a wider range of gifts and talents than most, a one-time semi-finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search. Read more about Natalie Portman and her straight-A average.
CHILDHOOD MENTAL ILLNESS. On March 1st, the Chicago Tribune hosted an online chat on the topic, featuring a couple noted practitioners in the field. The pair fielded questions from their audience, addressing topics that included AD/HD and PDD-NOS. The chat is available online. 
PRESSURED AND LOSING SPIRIT. At the Huffington Post, a Harvard grad who for years interviewed applicants to the school offers stories of those interviews illustrating the pressure and even self-deceit that some of the high-achieving applicants showed. The author, a family therapist, writes about rote responses, activities chosen only for how they'd look on a transcript, and kids whose spirits were beaten out of them at the same time they (and their parents and educators) packaged them for success. The advice offered at the end of the article -- don't frighten them; encourage a natural sense of wonder; and more -- applies to that gifted (and LD) child you raise or teach. Find the article. 
CONTINUING ON THAT HAPPY THEME, a reader jerked our chain by asking if we know about the film "Race to Nowhere." One of the partners at 2e Newsletter did; the other evidently spends too much time writing these blogs. From the film's website: "Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, "Race to Nowhere" points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired." Sounds like a film to see. Thanks, Catherine, for the email. (Catherine said in her email, "I had the opportunity to see a screening of it last weekend, and it was very informative and thought-provoking.")
RTI ENTHUSIAST? An Education Week article covers how RTI, which began as a way to help struggling learners, is being applied for all students. Find the article. 
AD/HD AND SLEEP. Losing even an hour of sleep a night affects AD/HD kids poorly, according to a study reported at Nurse.com. Find out more.
iPAD TECHNOLOGY FOR AUTISM. The Chicago-area Daily Herald ran an article on applications that can help not only young people with autism but also those with other learning challenges.  Among the challenges addressed by iPad apps: the need for structure; communication skills; and social skills. Read the article.  
SENG WEBINAR ON MARCH 24TH. "You Can't Make Me Do It," on the topic of encouraging "motivation from the inside," is to be presented by Cheryl Franklin-Rohr. The event starts at 7:30 pm Eastern time and costs $40. Find more information.
GOT THOSE DUE-PROCESS BLUES? Check out tips and advice from Wrightslaw in Special Ed Advocate. 
AND FINALLY, THIS. Dr. Seuss' birthday is today, March 2nd; he would be 107. According to The Baltimore Sun, his 60+ books sold over 222 million copies, even more than a good issue of 2e Newsletter. So today remember your favorite Seuss book or stanza, 'coz they entertained adults and kids alike. Read more.