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From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

NITE NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY. The National Institute for Twice Exceptionality is surveying professionals about current intervention systems, and beliefs about, twice-exceptional students. "Professionals" include educators, counselors, and psychologists. If you fit the label, we urge you to help out our friends at NITE. NITE says the survey takes about 10 minutes. Find out about and take the survey. 

AD/HD AND DIET. Some parents of kids with AD/HD will tell you that diet "for sure" plays a part in their children's symptoms -- and a recent study may bear them out. The study indicates that a restrictive diet can significantly reduce AD/HD-related symptoms. In fact, one of the researchers told NPR, "AD/HD, it's just a couple of symptoms -- it's not a disease." Could be an understatement, but read more at the NPR site.
GIFTED AND SENSORY-SENSITIVE? And 18 or over? A PhD candidate in Australia invites you to participate in a survey investigating relationships between sensory-processing sensitivity, personality, and cognitive reasoning. She invites you to participate yourself or to share the survey with others you know who might be interested in furthering psychological research. Find out more about the survey at the survey site.
DYSLEXIA DIARY. A mom with a gifted and dyslexic daughter has started blogging the effect of the exceptionalities on life in her household. In a similar situation? Find the blog.
SLEEP PROBLEMS. The National Sleep Foundation has issued the results of a poll studying people's sleep habits -- whether they get good sleep, and what they might be doing to interfere with sleep. The study applies to a a number of age bands between 13 and 64, O Gifted One, so you might find information useful to both you and to that twice-exceptional child you raise or teach. For example: the study indicates that most of us spend time with electronics in the hour before bed, but also points out that "Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts circadian rhythms to a later hour -- making it more difficult to fall asleep" -- which was news to us. Find out more.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR AD/HD, LD STUDENTS. ADDitude has published a list of scholarships for kids with AD/HD and other LDs. Find out more.
PEER PRESSURE, ADOLESCENCE, AND THE BRAIN. In a study of young people from ages 10 to 13, researchers found that development of a specific area of the brain helps adolescents resist risky behavior and peer pressure. The brain area, the ventral striatum, is associated with reward processing. Read more. 
BABY MEDIA may not work, says HealthDay, reporting on recent research. Babies apparently learn words from their parents, but not from the screen because they are unable to connect what's going on on-screen with real life. Read the article, and be happy with the amount of genius your baby already displays. 
TOURETTE'S, ASPERGER'S, AMERICAN IDOL. A talented contestant on "American Idol" has Asperger's and Tourette's, according to an article in USA Today. The article relates the contestant's feelings about his situation, and also briefly profiles two other young people with Tourette's. Find the article.
THE PRES ON BULLYING. At a conference on bullying, President Obama spoke of his own experience as the target (as a kid, not as President), according to the Associated Press. "With big ears and the name that I have, I wasn't immune," said the President, throwing his support behind the anti-bullying movement. Read more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. A Zits cartoon from this week highlights how applying for college is different than it used to be. Find it, and maybe be glad you're not 18 again.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

THE GT LABEL is the subject of continuing debate in Montgomery County, Maryland. According to an article at the Maryland Gazette.Net, "critics say the Gifted and Talented, or GT, label is damaging students because it ends up dividing them along racial lines and makes those who don't get identified as Gifted and Talented — typically about 60 percent of students — feel inferior. They also argue that what constitutes Gifted and Talented curriculum in Montgomery County Public Schools, such as critical reading skills and research projects, should be taught to all students." Read more about the controversy.
SOCIAL SKILLS IN AUTISM. A Scientific American article covers "how social intuition goes awry in individuals who have autism," touching on typical development of social behaviors and hypothesizing on the link with a certain cerebral structure (Con Economo spindle neurons) which shows disruption in autistic individuals. Find the article.
NASA'S INSPIRE program is accepting applications for the program through June 30. The selected students and their parents will participate in an online learning community with opportunities to interact with peers, NASA engineers and scientists. The online community also provides appropriate grade level educational activities, discussion boards, and chat rooms for participants to gain exposure to careers and opportunities available at NASA. Visit the NASA site for more information.
ON TEACHERS, THEIR BURDENS, AND THEIR REWARDS. Teachers, whether of the gifted or not, have come under lots of fire lately as states try to balance budgets. We offer pointers to several recent articles that might provide perspective to those interested in the issue. One is a New York Times article titled "Teachers Wonder, Why the Heapings of Scorn." Interesting reading after that is reader reaction to the Times article. And an article in The New Republic gives some international perspective on the issue of teacher pay and reward.
RESEARCHERS HONORED. Two researchers who devoted their careers to child development and mental health have been honored by the Child Mind Institute. Dr. Judith Rappaport did some of the earliest research on AD/HD, OCD, and child-onset schizophrenia. Dr. Jerome Kagan was a developmental psychologist; we've pointed to some of his articles from this blog. Read more at Medscape.com.
DIRECT LINE TO THE WHITE HOUSE -- at least, for education. We found out about this resource from a Mensa listserv. At a White House site, parents, teachers, and students have the opportunity to opine on education -- what's working and what needs change. It looks as though the topic is education for this week only, so if you'd like to share your opinions, do it quickly. Find the site and sound off about gifted education and  education for the twice-exceptional!
GOT A LEFT-HANDED KID?  You might be interested in an article on the topic that covers historical background (how it's been viewed in past times), the role of the brain (it's less asymetrical), and the fact that a high percentage of achievers seem to be left-handed -- including seven presidents as well as some dynamite baseball pitchers. Find the article.
NUTRITION. The American Pediatrics Association is using the book The Hungry Caterpillar in a campaign for healthy eating. Read more about how the book provides "teachable moments." Separately, eating apples -- or the antioxidants contained in them -- apparently extends the life of test animals by 10 percent. So there's evidently truth in that old saw. Read more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. Do you, O Parent of a Twice-Exceptional Child, complain about the property taxes used to fund education in your community? Then read an article that almost made us feel good about the amount of tax we pay, an article about a community where property taxes approach the level of the median annual US  household income.