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CHILDHOOD MENTAL DISORDERS and how we perceive them -- and react to them -- is the topic of an essay by a child psychiatrist at the Huffington Post site. The writer notes how we may try denial, shame, or blame instead of acceptance. The writer says: "If we embrace the reality of childhood psychiatric disorders and then refuse to judge and blame each other for them, we will be far more successful in reducing the suffering of kids and families, improving prevention efforts, and removing the barriers to treatment." Find the essay.  
PROBLEM VIDEO GAMERS -- 5%. That's the figure given in the aftermath of a study of 4,000 Connecticut high school video gamers. The signs of problem gaming were " having an irresistible urge to play, trying and failing to cut down on gaming, and feelings of tension that could only be relieved by playing." Read the article. (The current issue of 2e Newsletter carries an article by Kevin Roberts on cyber addiction -- what it is and how to deal with it.)
TALK VERSUS MEDS FOR PEDIATRIC ANXIETY. An fMRI scan may be able to differentiate kids who will benefit from talk therapy for pediatric anxiety and thus may not need medications. The difference: "children and adolescents, ages 8 to16, who show fear when looking at happy faces on a screen inside an fMRI scanner were those who had least success with an eight-week course of cognitive behavioral therapy." This was compared to kids who showed fear while looking at fearful faces. If you've got a bright but anxious kid, read more.
GIFTEDNESS -- LABEL, DOWNSIDES. An article in the Toronto Globe and Mail warns that both gifted programs and giftedness itself can have downsides. The article invokes Carol Dweck and her warning that the label can imply something bestowed rather than to be earned, and notes how accompaniments of giftedness -- high sensitivity, asynchrony, dealing with expectations -- can sometimes be troublesome. Find the article.
GIFTED IN MATH. Danielle Wang of Campbell, California, won the $25,000 prize for first place in the second annual Advantage Testing Foundation Math Prize for Girls competition on Saturday, November 13. Ms. Wang, an eighth-grader enrolled in the California Virtual Academy, received the top score on the 150-minute exam for high school girls. Find out more about the contest.
OPINIONS WANTED. A 2e Newsletter subscriber is looking for opinions on three books she's considering for purchase, wanting to know if others in the 2e community are familiar with them and have found them useful. The books are:
Got an opinion to share? Let us know. Thanks!

TRANSFORMING EDUCATION. The New York Times ran a column the other day that wasn't about giftedness, or LDs, or even about the nuts and bolts of education. It was about power and politics versus accountability and coherent management -- in education, specifically in the New York City school system. The occasion was the departure of Joel Klein as chief of that system, and the venue was a column by a business writer for the Times. We have generally ignored the New York City schools as we have blogged and published the newsletter over Klein's tenure; little of what we read seemed relevant. The Times column, however, gave a different perspective to how we can look at education, and  at how a leader who believed "in the transformative power of education" (and who took the job with no preset ideas) could try to fix a broken system. Some of the lessons mentioned do apply to the education of that twice-exceptional child you know. You may find the column at the Times site. 
PARENTS' STRESS -- EFFECT ON KIDS. While parents may think that the stress they undergo has little or no effect on their children, offspring of those parents will indicate that they notice, and that the stress bothers them. About one-third of the chldren surveyed reported stress symptoms themselves as a result of parental difficulties, according to a Wall Street Journal article. Read more, and don't underestimate the effect of your problems on your children.   
UNIVERSITIES RANKED. The website StateUniversity.com has listed the top 2000 universities. The top three are MIT, Standford, and California Institute of Technology. Some of the ranking factors that might be relevant to 2e applicants include ACT/SAT scores of attendees, student retention, and student/faculty ratio. You may find the ranking and information about how the schools are scored at that website.
GIFTED ATHLETE, GIFTED STUDENT. A pre-med student at Stanford who got straight A's last spring is also the only two-way (offense and defense) starter in Division I college football. His coach, former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, describes Own Marecic as "the football player I always wanted to be," according to an article in The New York Times. While  his parents worry about the possibility of concussions, Marecic says that he's having "the time of his life." Read the article.
BRAIN CONNECTIONS IN AUTISTICS. Autism Speaks has funded research into brain research on autism, and the results of one of those studies, recently published, indicates that the brains of autistic persons show differences in the way neurons and axons connect different parts of the brain. In autistic brains, some neurons branch more by way of axons, leading to more "local" connections as opposed to "long-distance" connections to other parts of the brain. Read more about the findings and a  hypotheses stemming from the study.

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.