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Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

DIET AND AD/HD. Does that gifted kid you know have AD/HD? A study at Northwestern University in Chicago reviewed past research on the effectiveness of diet in controlling AD/HD symptoms -- and the news isn't that promising. The study found conflicting claims, and suggests that nutritional interventions -- while simple and inexpensive -- probably should be considered only as an alternative to therapy and medication. Read more, or find an NPR program about the study, which appeared in the journal Pediatrics.
2e VALEDICTORIAN. A young man in Michigan diagnosed with LDs and autism as a child went on to be valedictorian of  his high school class, and his mother has told the story in a book called My Child Wasn't Born Perfect, published by a Grand Rapids-area firm. Find out more.
WORKING MEMORY TRAINING. David Rabiner pointed us to a webinar from Cogmed on working memory training. Originally directed at professionals, the webinar is now viewable at no cost at the Cogmed website. Find it.
NC SCHOOLS CATER TO ASPIES. Two Asperger Connection schools catering to students with Asperger's have opened in the North Carolina, and a third is in the works. The founder of the school has Asperger's, as do her two children. An article on the school notes that "Each Asperger Connection staff member is required to either have the syndrome, have children with the syndrome or have worked with Asperger students for at least 10 years." Read more.
EXERCISE is good for the brain and grades. Maybe you knew that, but now there's a study backing up that conclusion. Find the ammunition you need to get that gifted kid off the couch.
ASPERGER'S AND DRIVING. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (which evidently calls itself CHOP for short) has studied teens with Asperger's and the way they approach driving. The study looked at characteristics of those teens who were likely to become drivers, and also touched on a couple things parents can do to make sure their teen with Asperger's is ready to drive. Read more.
COMPETITION. The 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition is underway. If your gifted high school child is interested in robotics, find out more about this competition. 
MATT COHEN, special ed attorney based in Chicago, has formed his own law firm "to better serve my clients and to improve and expand the services I have provided in the past," he says. "We will continue to provide special education and other legal advocacy, risk management, policy consultation and related client services, as well as training that I have provided to countless individuals and families, advocacy and professional groups, mental health and social service agencies and private practitioner for thirty years." Find out more in his January newsletter.  
AND FINALLY, THIS. The makers of Play Attention have developed and are marketing a wearable (on the arm), wireless sensor that can report levels of attention, cognitive processing, relaxation, or anxiety and stress to a nearby PC, allowing its use in a variety of applications related to education,attention management, sports training, driving safety, or stress management. At the moment, however, the device and system costs $1795. Find out more at the website of Freer Logic, the developer, or read a press release about the product.

From the Week of June 7th

GIFTED EDUCATION QUARTERLY'S Maurice Fisher is the subject of an interview at EdNews.org. Fisher talks about starting the publication, the current issue, and his choices for topics which need more discussion in the area of gifted education. Find the interview.

FOLLOW-UP. Our posts during the week of May 17th included one about three high-achieving Emanuel brothers, one of whom, Ari, has AD/HD and dyslexia. A New York Times article this week profiling Ari includes mention of the difficulties and quotes Ari as saying that, for dyslexics, efforts to overcome their disabilities “actually provides them with insight to find inventive solutions to life and in business that others when they’re in those situations probably never find." The article also mentions a YouTube video in which Emanuel discusses his dyslexia. Find the article (it's mostly on Emanuel's business activities). Find the YouTube video (Ari is about 5 minutes into the video).

FOR PARENTS. The issue of the extent of parental control exists in any parent/child relationship, but with gifted children it may take on additional significance. A movie called "Vitus" portrays a young man who is intellectually and musically gifted. His parents put a lot of pressure on him in terms of how he should use his gifts; and Vitus' reaction to that pressure is at the crux of the movie. From a review in the Los Angeles Times: "It's admittedly cynical and materialistic when it comes to some of the things Vitus uses his brilliance for, but its warmth and allure takes your mind off its baser instincts. So few films successfully capture the wonders of childhood or the challenges faced by families with gifted children." Read the review. Your amateur movie critics at 2e Newsletter recommend this movie.

DO YOU FOLLOW HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS? Newsweek has issued its annual ranking of public high schools; find it.

PROFOUNDLY GIFTED? Check out the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG) at Mary Baldwin College. But be forewarned, it's for young women only. The typical student starts after middle school and graduates in four years. An article in Education Week describes the program; find it.

MORE ON MUSIC THERAPY. You might remember two mentions of music as therapy in previous posts. An article in the New York Daily News describes how one doctor contends that music can help people with different kinds of brain damage and conditions such as autism and AD/HD through such effects as establishing new pathways, increasing dopamine production, or coordinating areas of the brain. Read it.

ADAPTING TO LEARNING PROBLEMS. One of the lead paragraphs in an article in the Pennsylvania Patriot-News went like this: "'She seemed to struggle and yet was so very bright,' said Jenny Rubin of Harrisburg. 'On one of her first spelling tests, all the words were correctly spelled but were mirrored letters.'" The article went on to discuss parents' reactions to the discovery of LDs, reading problems and interventions, and how kids can adapt or overcome such problems. Find the article.

EXERCISE AND LEARNING. Exercise helps students in lots of ways, and here's a kernel from an article in Edutopia that says it all. "Not only can regular workouts in the gym or on the playground improve attention span, memory, and learning, they can also reduce stress and the effects of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and even delay cognitive decline in old age." Find out more at Edutopia.

EEG TO DIAGNOSE AD/HD? We've mentioned in previous posts that most doctors don't recommend brain imaging as a diagnostic tool, but that may be changing. An article in MIT's Technology Review describes a product from an Israeli company that builds on recent enhancements in the technology to detect brain patterns characteristic of conditions such as stroke victims and individuals with AD/HD. The company hopes to have a product ready for clinical use in 18 months. Read the article.