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Showing posts with label working memory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label working memory. 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 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

EDUCATION WEEK is offering two free online chats tomorrow, Thursday the 24th. One is on Response to Intervention; the other is on using digital tools to personalize learning for student strengths and weaknesses. Find out more or sign up for a reminder at the respective links.
DO THE JAVITS JUMP. CEC points out that some members of congress are campaigning to save Javits funding for gifted education, in the tug of war that seems to take place periodically (we'd swear this seems to happen monthly). Find out more about what's going on and how you can act at the CEC site.
GIFTED LISTSERV. A Mensa listserv is the home of many discussions by parents (mostly mothers) of gifted kids on various aspects of giftedness, and occasionally on twice-exceptionalities. Recent topics: success stories in public schools; a request for advice on challenge and enrichment for a second-grader; reflections by the participants on challenges growing up at the extreme end of the bell curve; gifted preschoolers; summer camp; and what to do with a DS10 who won't stop talking. The site is public but registration is required; it is moderated. Find out more and subscribe.
DIVERSE LEARNERS. More than 90 percent of all middle and high school teachers surveyed in the new MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers say that strengthening programs and resources to help diverse learners with the highest needs meet college- and career-ready standards should be a priority in education. Among that group, 59 percent say helping diverse learners "must be done as one of the highest priorities in education." Find the report "Teaching Diverse Learners" at the MetLife site.
WORKING MEMORY: THREE LAYERS. If your gifted but disorganized child has you paying attention to articles on executive function and working memory, check out a write-up on a recent study of working memory -- its three components and their functions.
AND FINALLY, THIS. A study in Australia shows that lots of relatively young kids (95 percent of those 7-10 in the study)  use social media, and that many of them feel there isn't much risk in social networking; this in spite of the fact that "the majority of surveyed students (72.4 per cent) indicated they had received unwelcome or unpleasant contact by strangers via their social networking profile," according to a report on the study. Find out more, and why do kids always do stuff that worries their parents!? 

ONLINE COURSE ON THE 2e LEARNER. Dina Brulles and Kim Lansdowne will present an online, graduate-level course for the Arizona State University teacher's college in the spring of 2011. Titled "The Twice-exceptional Gifted Learner," the course will last from March 21 to May 13 and offer a clinical explanation of twice-exceptionality along with educational implications. More information is available through https://secure.coe.asu.edu/candi/info_request/.
2e MASTER'S THESIS. A friend of 2e Newsletter from Australia has recently completed her Master's thesis in the area of education. In her work, Marie Lockyer, of Blairgowrie, Victoria, addressed the question "What are parents' perceptions of the diagnostic process and educational experience in relation to their child identified as gifted with Asperger's Syndrome?" She notes that while the amount of 2e literature at the academic level has increased over recent years, "The progress made in academia is not reaching the classrooms of Victoria's state schools, nor its Catholic schools, and only some of its private schools. There is a long way to go." Our congratulations to Marie for her work on furthering awareness of twice-exceptionalities.
AD/HD RESEARCH. Three studies reported last week dealt with AD/HD. In one study, researchers used twins to determine that three things are all influenced by common genes: AD/HD, reading achievement, and math achievement -- all presumably through the working memory system. In another study involving twins, researchers compared groups of participants with and without reading disabilities and AD/HD. They found that both conditions were associated with slow processing speed, and that there is a genetic correlation between reading disabilities and AD/HD. Finally, U.S. researchers studied CogMed, a Swedish working memory training program, on a sample of children both on and off AD/HD medication. The researchers found "clinically significant progress" in working memory function in between one-fourth and one-third of the children. Find the report.

GOT AN IEP for that bright but struggling child? Here's what Wrightslaw says about the IEP: "The success of your child's education may depend on how well you document what happens during the IEP process." This weeks' issue of Special Ed Advocate covers how to create a paper trail that supports your position. Find it. 
SHARE A SUCCESS STORY WITH CEC. CEC is the Council for Exceptional Children, with activities in both the area of special ed and the area of gifted ed. As part of its advocacy for stakeholders, CEC is looking for success stories from programs such as IDEA or Javits grants. Here's the back story, in words from a CEC solicitation for those stories: "Every year, CEC publishes the Federal Outlook for Exceptional Children, providing an overview of federally-funded programs - IDEA and Javits grants - that impact the lives of children and youth with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. The Outlook is distributed to members of Congress, federal agencies, and other leaders in the education community with the hope that a better understanding of such programs will lead to increased federal funding for special/gifted education programs... Throughout the Outlook are personal stories and photos of children and youth participating in special education, early intervention, and gifted education programs across the country.  These success stories help put a human touch on the graphs and charts that typically illustrate the need for increased funding for programs such as IDEA and the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act." So if you have a twice-exceptional child or student who has benefited from IDEA or Javits funding, let CEC know. Read more about CEC's request here. Find a story submission form here. 

BELLYACHES IN KIDS. Are they real, especially in light of normal test results? Such a condition is called "functional abdominal pain, and some parents and clinicians may tend to write them off as imaginary. But a recent article suggests that some children may be especially sensitive to sensations transmitted by the enteric nervous system, which controls the gastro-intestinal tract. Further, such problems may be best treated through the brain -- by guided imagery, hypnosis, or even low doses of SSRI anti-depressants. If your bright child is troubled by bellyaches, check out the article. 

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION AND THE BRAIN. The neural networks involved in language comprehension have been mapped using MRIs of brain-injured and normal subjects, and it turns out to be complex: "The network included a core region within the left mid-temporal lobe of the brain, and extended to the frontal and parietal cortex in both halves of the brain -- all connected by long distance communication pathways." Future studies will look at the networks involved in talking, reading, and writing. Read more.

CREATIVITY, PSYCHOPATHOLOGY. Scientific American teases us by posting part of an article called "The Mad Artist's Brain: The Connection between Creativity and Mental Illness." It turns out, according to a new study, that people who think in a divergent, out-of-the box fashion have lower dopamine receptor activity in the thalmus -- just as do people with schizophrenia. The article quotes the study author: "Thinking outside the box might be facilitated by having a somewhat less intact box.” Find the start of the article. 

GENES, NEUROTRANSMITTERS, AND INATTENTION. Researchers have discovered a gene that could lead to increased inattention by allowing competition between brain networks. Researchers say the gene is neither a cause nor a diagnostic marker for AD/HD, but that the gene's effects on neuronal signaling could help explain AD/HD. Find out more. 
CAFFEINE AND SUGAR WORK? SAY IT AIN'T SO! A recent study shows that caffeine and glucose combined can improve attention and working memory. Does this mean that the proverbial cup of coffee and a donut boost mental processing? Maybe -- glucose is the form of sugar that is "brain food," and it's a component of sucrose, or table sugar. Sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose in the stomach, and the resulting components rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream in the small intestine. Maybe your AD/HD kid who demands caffeine and sweets has a biological reason. Read more.

NEW AD/HD RESOURCE CENTER. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) has just launched a resource center on AD/HD. The center includes sections for frequently asked questions; facts for families; video clips on certain AD/HD topics; pointers to clinical resources; pointers to research and training; books, and the importance of getting help, along with a list of child/adolescent psychiatrists by geographic area. The center joins others offered by AACAP in the areas of anxiety, autism, bipolar disorder, conduct disorder, depression, disaster, military families,and ODD. Find the centers.

TODDLERS ON ANTIPSYCHOTICS. By the time he was three, the subject of an article in The New York Times had five different diagnoses and five different medications. It all started with the toddler screaming, throwing objects, and even hitting his head on the wall or floor. But those behaviors prompted a pediatrician to apply a label of autism and prescribe Risperdal, an antipsychotic which has never been approved for children younger than five. And the diagnoses and drugs kept coming. Finally weaned off drugs at a university-affiliated program, he is now described by his mother as "an intelligent person. He’s loud. He’s funny. He’s smart. He’s bouncy. I mean, there’s never a dull moment." He has even earned an "A" and praise from his kindergarten teacher. Read the article.

ADOLESCENT MINDFULNESS. It can help boys, according to a new study at the University of Cambridge, giving them "increased well-being, defined as the combination of feeling good (including positive emotions such as happiness, contentment, interest and affection) and functioning well." Read more.

FROM SHARPBRAINS come two new articles, one on why working memory matters in the knowledge age and the other on what everyone should learn about the brain.

NINE PERCENT DYSLEXIC. So says Dr. David Marks, Director of the Learning and Development Center at Mt. Sinai in New York, when it comes to the incidence of dyslexia in the general population. In an article in the New York Daily News, he defines dyslexia, gives signs and symptoms, describes traditional treatment and recent breakthroughs, and what parents can do in terms of questions to the doctor, communicating with school, and getting informed. Read the article.

OF MICE AND... Working memory is improvable -- at least in mice, according to a study reported in ScienceDaily. Researchers put mice through exercises to improve the rodents' working memory and found that "mice that underwent this working memory 'exercise' exhibited improved proficiency on a wide range of cognitive tests." And your gifted, young AD/HD child? Read more.

OF BOYS AND GIRLS. Boys lose... again. Male students lag females in reading, and girls' scores in math are matching boys', according to an an article in Education Week. Differences vary by state. One educator says, “We’ve been talking about closing the achievement gap in so many different ways... but we have not focused on the gender gap, which is very clear and startling in this report.” Find out more.

YOU'RE SMART? Your kids might think they're genetic nerds. That's the conclusion from a recent "Baby Blues" comic strip. Did you get A's in high school? Read the strip.

WALLACE SYMPOSIUM. According to the Belin-Blank website, the early registration deadline has been extended until March 31. You'll have to judge whether attendance at this research-oriented event will be of use to you, but mid May in cozy Iowa City could be pleasant. Here's the B-B skinny on the event: "The Wallace Research Symposium on Talent Development is internationally renowned for being one of the premiere scholarly conferences where the latest in gifted education research is presented." Find out more.

NEW BOOKLETS FROM GLEN ELLYN MEDIA. We've added two booklets to our "Spotlight on 2e Series." The two titles are Understanding the Gifted Child with Attention Deficit and The Mythology of Learning, the latter authored by the highly capable staff at Bridges Academy. As publishers, we think the booklets are pretty good, but -- more importantly -- so did those who purchased the booklets when we exhibited at Rich Weinfeld's "Diamonds in the Rough" conference earlier this month. You can see tables of contents and ordering information at our site.

SUBSCRIBERS! The March/April issue is still coming. We've delayed it to include coverage of the aforementioned conference. Look for your issue of 2e Newsletter within the next week or so.

NOT MUCH NEWS so far this week...

SPECIAL ED ADVOCATE addresses dysgraphia in its newly-distributed issue. Included: a piece on understanding dysgraphia and what it might mean for your high-ability child's problems with spelling, handwriting, or written expression; getting help for dysgraphia; and how, as a child, Pete Wright of Wrightslaw was labeled as borderline mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed because of his problems with reading and writing. Find the newsletter.

A MENTOR FOR YOUR GIFTED CHILD. The Davidson Institute has several resources on its site about mentoring your high-ability, highly-motivated child. One is an article titled "Tips for Parents"; you can also find a PDF guidebook on mentorships; and there's a pointer to a site for a Girls E-Mentoring program.

REQUIRED FOR SUCCESS: IQ OR WORKING MEMORY? An article at SharpBrains.com describes a study indicating that working memory is required for school success, no matter what the IQ. According to the article, "..working memory at the start of formal education is a more powerful predictor of subsequent academic success than IQ in the early years." Find the article.

From the Week of August 2nd

KNOW A DISTRACTIBLE KID? Blame working memory. Science Daily reports on a study of how a person's working memory capacity affects distractibility. As you might expect, students with a high memory storage capacity are better able to ignore distractions. Read about the study.

EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE FOR ALL. At Ednews.org, Michael Shaughnessy interviews Robert Denham, the head of a program teaching educational justice to doctoral students. Denham defines educational justice as "providing education to all students on an equitable basis." In the interview, Denham touches on educational justice for students with special needs. Read the interview.

EDUCATIONAL INJUSTICE? If so, on whose part? A Pennsylvania School District has sued the mother of two gifted children, one 2e, to recoup attorney's fees expended in dealing with "frivolous and harassing" legal maneuvers by the parent under IDEA. According to an article in The Morning Call, the parent has requested 22 due process hearings and demanded a Mandarin interpreter at special education meetings. Will this have a "chilling effect" on parental requests for their gifted and twice-exceptional students? Read the article.

IF YOU'RE THE MOTHER OF A 2e KID, THIS WILL SOUND FAMILIAR TO YOU. Forbes profiled several working-professional moms who have kids with special needs like AD/HD and LDs. 2e Newsletter readers will be familiar with many of the terms used in the article to describe how the moms deal with their kids and with school: "expert jugglers"; "Herculean amount of time," a "second job"; to "champion"; and "negotiation." Find the article.

VISUAL PROCESSING AND "READING" OTHERS. Researchers suggest that visual processing problems may contribute to the problems experienced by autistic and Asperger's individuals in identifying emotions in others. Find a report.

DAVIDSON ACADEMY. USA Today published an article about the Davidson Academy in Reno, Nevada. The Institute is a free public school for profoundly gifted young people. The article focuses on one student and includes quotes from the Academy's Colleen Harsin and NAGC's Jane Clarenbach. Find the article.

ASPIE ACHIEVER. The Hinesville, Georgia, Coastal Courier profiled a young man with autism who graduated from his high school as valedictorian and will enter college as a sophomore. Find out what the young man has to say about his challenges and his school experiences. Separately, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article on a California college for autistics; read it. Still more on ASD: The New York Times notes that three new movies revolve around Asperger's Syndrome. Says one of the directors, “The more I learned about Asperger’s, the better metaphor it felt like for the condition of all of us in terms of a desire for connection to other people.” Find the article.

WRIGHTSLAW SUMMER SCHOOL. Special Ed Advocate has issued Part 2 of "Summer School for Advocates." Wrightslaw promises: "Learn how to use IDEA, NCLB, and state academic standards to get schools to provide the programs and services a child needs. You'll also learn what the law requires and where to find it." Find the newsletter.

BEING DIFFERENT. Kansas State University researchers are looking into how children perceive peers with characteristics such as obesity, aggressiveness, and AD/HD. Empathy may come from having personal experience with the characteristic, or from feeling that the characteristic is not under the control of the peer. Otherwise, children may respond unfavorably. Read about the study.

From the Week of June 21st

"BEST BLOGS." We're pleased to be included in the Doctors Eide's picks for "Top 10 Dyslexia Blogs" at www.blogs.com. Go there to see the rest of the list. Also at blogs.com right now, a list of "10 Best Brain Blogs." Find it. By the way, if you haven't visited the Eides' "Dyslexic Advantage" blog lately, it's been much expanded since it opened a short while ago; go there.

A MOM RECOUNTS: TWO 2e DAUGHTERS. In the online Daily Kos (the source of the name is a long story, Google it), a mother blogs about her two 2e daughters and their experiences as they grew up in different school districts in Texas. Some familiar situations for 2e parents, but also some surprises. Read it.

ON THE CASE. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on Monday, June 22nd, involving tuition reimbursement for a child who a district never found eligible for special ed services and never provided any; the parents unilaterally withdrew their child, placed the child in a private school, and requested reimbursement from the public school district. Shortly after the decision, Pete and Pam Wright of Wrightslaw issued a review of the decision along with supporting documents. Got issues with whether your school district is providing a FAPE for your twice-exceptional child? Go to Wrightslaw. [UPDATE 1: The New York Times and Education Week also reported on the decision.] [UPDATE 2: CEC, the Council for Exceptional Children, later in the week issued a statement expressing concern with the Supreme Court's decision. From the statement: "Unilateral placement lawsuits are expensive and divert much needed resources from classrooms to private schools. Moreover, this ruling may encourage parents to bypass the IEP process entirely." Read it.]

ADVOCATING FOR PRIVATE PLACEMENT. Coincident with the Supreme Court decision, this week's issue of Special Ed Advocate from Wrightslaw carries a story of a mother's experience in documenting her case, using advocacy skills, and winning a private placement for her autistic son. Also in the newsletter -- how to create a paper trail. Find Special Ed Advocate.

FAPE-RELATED LEGALITIES IN MILWAUKEE. The Milwaukee Public School System has been ordered to search for students from 2000 to 2005 who should have received special ed services but didn't, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The object: providing compensatory services to the students if necessary. Find the article.

ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE for June has been posted by David Rabiner on his website. In this issue, Rabiner reports on a study indicating that fluid IQ -- our ability to adapt our thinking to new situations -- is improved by working memory training. Find the review.

ADVICE FOR THE GIFTED. In her most recent posting on "Unwrapping the Gifted," gifted educator Tamara Fisher offers high-ability kids some of the same advice she gives her own students -- "Ask for help," for example, "Love hard work," and more. Find the blog.

SILLY BUT CERTAINLY QUALIFYING AS DISPLAYS OF GIFTEDNESS... as well as displays of several varieties of "intelligence." The manufacturer of Duck brand duct tape sponsored a contest called "Stuck at Prom" for 2009 high school prom attendees who wear "complete attire or accessories made from duct tape." Judging is on the basis of workmanship, originality, color, accessories, and, to stimulate the economy, "quantity of duct tape used." The prizes: scholarships. The company has posted pictures of the finalists and urges site visitors to vote for their favorites. If nothing else, these kids are creative (not to mention industrious; according to the pictures, one couple spent 700 hours on the project, using 40+ rolls of tape). Enjoy the finalists.

MORE NEWS AND RESOURCES as we find them.

From the Week of May 31st

GIFTEDNESS, SCHOOL, AND PERSONALITY TYPES. Deborah Ruf, whose Minnesota company Educational Options evaluates and assesses gifted children, has posted three of her articles on personality type and the school environment, according to her e-newsletter. The articles are:

You may sign up for the Educational Options newsletter here.

FIGHTING FOR FAPE, REDUX. In the May/June issue of 2e Newsletter we published an article about a family fighting their school district for reimbursement for private education, contending that the school failed to properly educate their son. The New York Times now informs us that a similar case has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In it, the family contends that the school denied special education services even though the child was never evaluated for AD/HD. The school says, cleverly, that because the child did not receive those services they are not required to reimburse the family for private education. Read more.

READING ABOUT EXCEPTIONALITIES. CEC SmartBrief pointed out to us that Publisher's Weekly just posted an article titled "Special Books for Special Needs." Along with two books addressing giftedness, the list includes books dealing with autism and Asperger's, OCD, AD/HD, and sensory integration issues. Find the article.

DISCLOSING DISABILITY. What to say, when to say it, who to say it to, and what not to say -- every parent of exceptional or twice-exceptional kids faces disclosure issues. On a site called Disability Scoop, a parent and therapist offers tips. Find it.

NEURAL GAMMA OSCILLATIONS. If you liked our item called "On the Matter of Attention" on the role of gamma waves in attention from the week of May 10th, check out a new article in Science Daily on the same topic -- gamma oscillation, attention, and intra-brain communication. Read it.

WORKING MEMORY PRIMER, STUDY. If working memory is an issue with that gifted child you know, check out an article on the topic at SharpBrains.com. According to the article, one in 10 students may have difficulties with working memory. The article covers the study findings and how working memory affects academic performance. Read it.

EDUWONK. There's a website by that name, and we like the connotation. If you're the type who might fit the label, check out "The Condition of Education 2009," just published by the U.S. Department of Education and brought to our attention by Education Sector, the owner of Eduwonk.com. The report summarizes developments and trends based on 46 indicators, the indicators being "a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available," according to the website. Go there and dig deep!

MORE NEWS as we find it...