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Showing posts with label genetics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genetics. Show all posts

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

GIFTED PRESS QUARTERLY. The summer issue of this electronic newsletter is out, and it features an article on giftedness combined with AD/HD. The author points out "masking," commonalities among giftedness and AD/HD that can confound diagnosis, and AD/HD risk factors. The author, an Israeli, also includes two case studies. And, if you like, you can follow a link to the article as it appeared in Hebrew. Find Gifted Press Quarterly.

YES I CAN! Nominations are open for CEC's 2012 "Yes I Can!" awards, which honor young people with disabilities who excel in areas ranging from academics to arts to technology. Nominations close October 21 of this year. Find out more.

ASD IN COLLEGE. The Salt Lake City Deseret News noted an increase in students on the spectrum at the Utah universities. The article profiles one of those students and also explains what the universities do to help them. Read the article.

SOUTH JERSEY SCHOOL. A Quaker school in Riverton, New Jersey, offers appropriate education to 24 kids at varying grade levels who have sensory issues and language-based learning issues. The tuition is $35,000, according to a news article on the school, but home public school districts may pay some of that. The goal: to get the kids back to their original schools or into college. Find out more.

DIFFERENT GENES, DIFFERENT AD/HD TREATMENT. Researchers have discovered how various AD/HD-related gene variants affect dopamine reception in the brain, and that certain variants allow effective treatment with stimulants while others do not. Read about the study.

MEDIA BASHING. Research indicates that those who watch television an average of six hours a day (!) may be shortening their lives by as much as five years because of the effects of that sedentary behavior. Now, kids think they're immortal and wouldn't likely care about this research -- but responsible adults should care for them (and for themselves). Read more. (The research was done on adults 25 and older, but habits take hold early, right?)

AND FINALLY, THIS. From the U.S. Census Bureau's back-to-school press release of facts and figures: 52 percent of students 12 to 17 "were highly engaged in school (children reported as liking school, being interested in school and working hard in school) in 2006, up 5 percentage points from 1998. For 6- to 11-year-olds, the respective increase was from 56 percent to 59 percent." These stats beg the question, what about all those other students? Read more statistics.


From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

AD/HD, ASD: SHARED GENETIC RISK. A new study has found that some genetic variants may be common between AD/HD and autism spectrum disorders. This could explain why some traits seem common in both conditions. Furthermore: "The research results could be reassuring for clinicians who may see characteristics of different neuropsychiatric conditions in their patients -- such as ASD-like social problems in a child with AD/HD -- but are concerned that they are over-interpreting these traits." Read more.
KIDS AND FACEBOOK. Time Magazine reports that kids who use Facebook frequently may earn lower grades, be more narcissistic, and be more prone to anxiety and depression. On the other hand, researchers have also noted beneficial effects on self-identity and empathy. Find out more.
RTI WORKING? A study indicates that response to intervention is widely used and can be effective in identifying -- and ameliorating -- LDs early. Read more, and find a link to the report "National Assessment of IDEA."
FINDING GIFTED UNDERACHIEVERS. The Victorian Association for the Gifted and Talented Children is holding its biennial conference in Melbourne on September 8-0. The theme: "Unmasking the possibilities." Find out more. 
SHYNESS. Got a shy and gifted kid? NPR recently aired a program dealing with shyness. From the blurb for the program:  "Medical treatment and therapy is widely available for social anxiety, but some argue that shyness is not a sickness. They say shy people listen better and have higher levels of empathy. A look at shyness, its evolutionary basis, and why it might be an asset." Find the program.
AND FINALLY, THIS. As the parent or educator of a gifted kid, you're probably interested in out-of-the-box thinking, perhaps because of the way you've been exposed to it by that child. Technology columnist David Poque writes about an assignment he gave to a business school class: invent a better, more usable digital watch. You might enjoy some of the creations. Read the column.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

LD IN COLLEGE: ADVANTAGE? That's the thesis put forth by a writer for U.S. News. The rationale:
  • Colleges look for diversity. [And 2e kids are certainly diverse!]
  • Knowing about an LD may help the college put other application factors in perspective.
The author offers advice on how to present the learning disability during the admissions process, and offers questions to help ascertain whether the school can properly accommodate an LD. Parents of college-bound 2e kids will be interested in this article. Read it. 
2e FRANCISCANS? The New York Times' Dan Barry profiled identical twins who, long ago, became Franciscan brothers and were inseparable for most of their lives; they died recently, on the same day, at age 92. According to Barry, the brothers were workers, not scholars, at St. Bonaventure University in New York, and considered shy, obedient, and guileless. Apparently bright and observant as youngsters, says Barry, the brothers did not do well in school and may have been dyslexic. Read the article to find out, however, what the twins were able to teach their better-educated superiors as the years went on. 
A CANADIAN COMEDIAN recently discussed his mental health issues (AD/HD and OCD) at the Banff World Media Festival. Howie Mandel described what it was like growing up with the disorders and how they have affected his career. Read the article. 
AUTISM AND GENETICS. Scientific American has pubished an article titled "Autism's Tangled Genetics Full of Rare and Varied Mutations." The article describes recent studies and the complexity of the genetic component of autism. Read more. 
THE GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER has issued its June newsletter, featuring its Director of Research Frank Falk, a speech by Annemarie Roeper, and reflections on the 1st International Symposium on Adult Giftedness. Read it. 
GOT A GIFTED KID WHO LIKES TO WRITE? Maybe he or she should be a member of the Scholastic Kid Press Corp, kids 10 to 14. Read about one such reporter. 
WORKING MEMORY TRAINING may help kids who need it, facilitating problem-solving skills and abstract reasoning. Read more. 
AND FINALLY, THIS. June 13-19 is Gifted Awareness Week in New Zealand. Find out more at the website of the New Zealand Association for Gifted Children.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

THE EDUCATORS GUILD NEWSLETTER, May edition, has been released by the Davidson Institute. In it are tips and resources for teachers of gifted students; and updates on various aspects of the Davidson Institute, such as Educators Guild presentations available, Davidson Fellows Scholarship applications, and Young Scholar applications. Find the newsletter.
ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE, May edition, has been posted by David Rabiner. The subject of the issue: how girls with AD/HD view their social competence. (Hint: They overestimate it.) Find out more.
OCD FLIP-FLOP. A recent study says that OCD behaviors may be precursors to obsessive fears rather than the other way around. The rationale: fears stem from the brain's attempt to justify the behavior. Read more.
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH AD/HD. The Edge foundation and Shire are offering 25 scholarships for next school year for AD/HD college students. Along with the scholarships will go a full year of AD/HD coaching services. Find out more at the Edge site.
ADVICE ON COLLEGE WITH LD. The University of Rhode Island recently held a conference in which high school seniors could receive advice from older students on how to handle college in addition to the challenges such as dyslexia and Asperger's. Also presented: sessions on avoiding some of the risks associated with various disabilities, as well as workshops on topics such as personal finance. Read more.
EPIGENETICS AND THE HUMAN BRAIN is the title of a new article of the Dana Foundation website. What is the field of epigenetics and why should we care? From the editor's note at the beginning of the article: While our genetic code determines a great deal of who and what we are, it does not act alone. It depends heavily on the epigenome, an elaborate marking of the DNA that controls the genome’s functions. Because it is sensitive to the environment, the epigenome is a powerful link and relay between our genes and our surroundings. Epigenetic marks drive biological functions and features as diverse as memory, development, and disease susceptibility; thus, the nurture aspect of the nature/nurture interaction makes essential contributions to our body and behaviors. As scientists have learned more about how the epigenome works, they have begun to develop therapies that may lead to new approaches to treating common human conditions. Read the article.
SAVED BY A SIXTH GRADE TEACHER. Here's how a man, now presumably in his 40's, described his days in elementary school: "I showed up each day, sat in my seat, stared at the chalkboard, and didn’t learn a thing." Suffering from attention issues, poor working memory, and graphomotor issues, his life was turned around by one teacher to whom he says he owes his success. (He graduated magna cum laude from college and is a successful businessman.)  Find the article.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

AUSTRALIA: QUIRKY KIDS CLUB. A woman in Canberra, Australia, is forming a "Quirky Kids Club" to provide support and social opportunities for twice-exceptional children and their families. She chose the name "to project a positive image of being uniquely different, and to put a happy, fun spin on it, so that it would enhance the kid's self image of being different and help build self-confidence and a strong sense of identity. It is also meant to suggest the fun, social aspect of the club, which is what, above all else, it is intended to be." At this stage, she says, she is inviting membership of 2e children and families from anywhere in Australia, but for the time being meetings will be only in Canberra. Find out more by emailing Tracey, the group's founder. 
ASK DR. JUDY, a series of webinars from ASCD, presents Judy Willis on April 13 addressing how to strengthen the brain's executive functions. Find out more. 
PEDIATRIC PODCASTS FROM IU. The Indiana University School of Medicine offers more than a dozen free podcasts relating to children's health. Among the topics: obesity and diet; eating; teens and technology; and teen driver smoking. Find the podcasts. 
THE WEINFELD GROUP is offering a series of low-cost workshops in 2011 that might be of interest to Washington, DC, area parents. Among the topics: Finding your way through the IEP and 504 maze; resilience and stress management; and understanding the relationship between AD/HD and executive functioning. Find out more. 
STUDY ON OCD AND GENETICS. A team of Massachusetts researchers is looking for subjects to participate in a study of the role of genetics in OCD. Subjects sought are 8 years and older with a diagnosis of OCD, plus the parents of that child. While the study is based in Massachusetts, collaborating sites in other areas of the country will perform testing on families in those areas. Find out more. 
GIFTED DEVELOPMENT CENTER. The Center's April newsletter is out, with news, an insight by Linda Silverman on why gifted kids may refuse at times to do schoolwork, and requests for input on topics such as the greatest challenge of being gifted. Find the newsletter. 
SCREENING FOR DYSLEXIA. Lexercise.com, a commercial site offering language therapy services, provides on its site a free online screening tool for dyslexia. For children 6 and older, the test takes 5-10 minutes. Find the site. 
CTD BLOG. Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development has a blog with a feature called "Ask Paula." In a recent post, Paula provided resources for parents looking for help for gifted kids who have, variously, handwriting issues, writing issues, dyslexia, and AD/HD. Find out what she recommends. (Hint: One resource is 2e Newsletter; thanks, Paula.)
AND FINALLY, THIS. We thought maybe you didn't have enough to worry about with that twice-exceptional child, so here's more:
  1. Secondhand smoke may cause symptoms of AD/HD and depression, according to a new study.  
  2. Hookah bars are now popular with young adults, and they offer health risks; find out more. 
  3. Teen substance abuse is on the rise, after a decade of decline; find out more. 
Happy Thursday!

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.


MENTORS AND MENTEES. That's the subject of several articles in the  newest issue of the Educators Guild Newsletter from the Davidson Institute. Included are an interview with a mentor to one of the 2010 Davidson Fellows, tips for students on finding a mentor, and a pointer to the 41-page document Mentorships: A Guidebook, from the Institute. See the newsletter.
HEALTHCARE REFORM CHANGES. Families of 2e children often depend on healthcare professionals for assistance in terms of diagnosis, medications, and therapies. On September 23rd, some of the U.S. healthcare reform changes went into effect. Changes affect preventive care, exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and lifetime limits. WebMD has posted a new section on the reform on their website; find it.
GRADE-SKIPPING is the topic of a Jay Mathews column in the Washington Post. Although it's now out of fashion, he's for it. He cites a Belin-Blank study on acceleration, and points out that acceleration could provide academic challenge in the absence of gifted education classes, which may face budgetary constraints. Read the column.
STRESS, DEVELOPMENT, AND DISORDERS. Researchers now say that stress can affect our bodies by altering gene activity, for example turning on genes that are supposed to be silent. This affects fetal development but also the body's functioning in later life. Find out more.
NEED A SERVICE ANIMAL FOR YOUR 2e CHILD? Regulations have changed, and CEC points out that the state of Florida has developed guidelines for evaluating requests for service animals. Find the CEC comment.
SCHOOL REFUSAL. We posted about this topic on September 16, but a recent Wall Street Journal article also covers the topic. As many as 28 percent of children may exhibit this behavior at one time or another, according to the article. If your 2e child is one of them, check out the article.
ON RTI. UCLA, in the newsletter Addressing Barriers to Learning, has published an article called "Moving Beyond the Three-tier Pyramid: Fitting RTI into a Comprehensive System of Student and Learning Support." And that title pretty much lets you know whether or not the article will be of interest to you; if so, find it here.

From the Week of July 19th

TECHNOLOGY IN INSTRUCTION. In the July/August issue of 2e Newsletter, we featured the use of technology in educating twice-exceptional students. The New York Times, on July 22nd, reported on "The School of One," a summer school pilot program in a New York middle school in which students use laptops to work their way through a math program that consist of online quizzes, games, and worksheets. The students' progress on any given day determines the next day's curriculum. The superintendent of New York schools says that the program tailors lessons to student strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Read more.

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE -- A NEW PERSPECTIVE. Science Daily reports on a newly published research from the University of Iowa that calls for burying the "nature versus nurture" debate in favor of a systemic, multi-causal perspective. The research team rejects the idea of genetic expression as a one-way, deterministic mechanism. Instead (from the article): "The UI team believes genes are expressed at every point in development and are affected all along the way by a gamut of environmental factors -- everything from proteins and chemicals to the socioeconomic status of a family. These ideas are unified by a perspective called developmental systems theory." Find the article.

DISABILITY AWARENESS. Easter Seals has released Friends Who Care, a disability awareness curriculum to help presumably "normal" children understand what it's like to have a disability involving vision, hearing, AD/HD, autism, and others limiting factors. Find out more.

ASK AN ASPIE to anticipate another person's state of mind -- and the Aspie may be able to respond correctly to the prompt, even though many with the condition don't spontaneously "read" the mental state of others -- that's the message in a short piece in Scientific American. Read it.

POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS -- BAD FOR IQ. A study reported in Science Daily links environmental pollutants by that name (also called PAHs) to lower IQ test scores in children who are exposed to high levels of those pollutants prenatally. Exposure led to a difference of 4.31 points on full-scale IQ scores and 4.67 points on verbal IQ scores, as compared to less-exposed children. PAHs come from burning coal, oil, and other organic substances (including tobacco). Chalk it up as another one of those things that affect us beyond our control. Read the article.

ADVOCATING FOR THAT 2e CHILD. Wrightslaw, in its newsletter Special Ed Advocate, is offering a refresher course in effective advocacy. Find the first lesson -- along with a link to an advocacy resource directory -- in this week's edition.

LEARNING IS COMPUTATIONAL, SOCIAL. Science Daily reported on research converging to "create foundations for a new science of learning," according to the article. The research, from the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, notes that infants "learn the sounds and words of their language by picking up probabilistic information as they listen," that they are calculating statistically. But the researchers also emphasize the social aspect, noting that babies need other people to learn, not just a TV screen. That said, the article also covers the role of technology in learning. Read the Science Daily article. (To read more on the research, find the June 17th edition of the journal Science.)

MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Washington Post columnist Jay Matthews reviews the book Leading for Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in Montgomery County Public Schools. While the book emphasizes process and can seem academic, implies Matthews, he urges those interested in education to take a look. To encourage such a look, Matthews offers some lessons titles from a key chapter, titles that might entice those with a stake in 2e education. One sample lesson title: "Implementing a strategy of common, rigorous standards with differentiated resources and instruction can create excellence and equity for all students." Does that sound like what a 2e kid needs? Readers of 2e Newsletter know that MCPS has a reputation for serving 2e kids well; this book about the schools and its leaders may offer reasons why that's so. Find Matthews' article.

MORE NEWS AND RESOURCES as the week goes on.