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Showing posts with label nature/nurture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature/nurture. Show all posts

NEUROFEEDBACK. "The procedure is controversial, expensive and time-consuming. An average course of treatment, with at least 30 sessions, can cost $3,000 or more, and few health insurers will pay for it. Still, it appears to be growing in popularity." So says a New York Times article about neurofeedback, which has been used to try to address conditions such as AD/HD, autism, depression, and anxiety. The article describes how it works, some personal examples, and the pros and cons of the procedure. Find the article. 
NEW AD/HD TREATMENT. The US FDA has just approved the use of a new drug, KAPVAY, for treatment of AD/HD in children 6-17. The non-stimulant drug is commonly used to reduce blood pressure in adults. The formulation approved is extended release and is intended for add-on therapy or monotherapy. Find a press release. 
SEEMS LIKE A NO-BRAINER TO US. A panel of experts proposes training teacher candidates more about child development, according to an article in Education Week. "Developmental science consists of the science underpinning the biological, emotional, ethical, linguistic, psychological, and social development of children and adolescents, and how those fields interact. It also incorporates cognitive science—how children learn to think and process information." Read the article.  
NEW CLINICAL GUIDELINES FOR DEPRESSION. According to PsychCentral, the American Psychiatric Association has released new clinical guidelines for treating patients with major depressive disorder. The editor of the site doesn't seem to think much of the guidelines, but if you've got a 2e child at risk for depression, check out the article.
HOW HEALTHILY DOES YOUR CHILD EAT? Hopefully, better than the typical US child, who now gets 40 percent of their calories from solid fat and sugars. This from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Read more.
HOMESCHOOLING THAT GIFTED CHILD? Check out the latest issue of the newsletter from The Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF). Included is an answer to a reader's question: Can my child have learning difficulties and still be gifted? (You know the answer.) Find the newsletter.
STEM RESOURCE. The National Network of Digital Schools has announced the launch of STEMplanet.org, a new forum website designed to spark interest in and prepare today's students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM Planet will feature regular blog posts by experts working in STEM fields, forums where students and experts can engage in an ongoing dialogue, and STEM-related activities that students can conduct, discuss, and learn from.

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.