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From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

EDUCATION WEEK has made available a special report called "Diplomas Count: Before High School, Before Baccalaureate" that explores alternatives to the standard four-year degree. Among the parts of the report is one called "College for All Reconsidered." Find the report.
WRIGHTSLAW offers strategies for finding summer programs and camps in its current edition of Special Ed Advocate. One article is on a social skills boot camp for teens with ASD. Find the newsletter.
LEARNING: TOP-D0WN VERSUS BOTTOM-UP. Education in school traditionally is based on learning rules, then applying them. Researchers are looking into the effectiveness of a method called "perceptual learning," which uses the brain's pattern-recognition skills to provide an intuitive grasp of a principle. From an article on the topic: "...there is growing evidence that a certain kind of training — visual, fast-paced, often focused on classifying problems rather then solving them — can build intuition quickly." Read the article and see if you think it might benefit your twice-exceptional student.  
THE HEADLINE TELLS SOME OF THE STORY: "Push for A's at Private Schools is Keeping Costly Tutors Busy." But you have to read the article to find out how much some parents are willing to spend for grades and academic achievement -- and it's a lot.  Read more.
OUTLET FOR CREATIVITY. We recently became aware of a website called Xtranormal.com, where visitors can create their own animated video by choosing characters, entering text to be spoken by those characters, and controlling other aspects of the animation. Some users have had videos "go viral" on YouTube. Find the site. (A caveat; this site is for teens. The site wants no users under 14 and asks minors to have their parents give permission. Furthermore, a sample video there was slightly risque, so check it out first and then use your best judgement. If you don't think it's suitable for your kid, maybe you'll have a good time creating your own animations.)
EDUCATION REFORM. If you're interested in this topic, check out an article in Fast Company magazine from a while back. The mag solicited 13 radical ideas on how to use $100 million "to really save education." The article isn't about gifted ed or education for 2e students, just education in general. Find it. 

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

ANXIETY IN KIDS was the topic of two articles in the last few days. One article, from Australia, noted  how social networking sites supposedly cause anxiety in children as young as eight, which leads them into treatment by psychologists. According to one psychologist, "children [are] using social networking sites such as Facebook to determine their identity and form a view about what society thought of them." The other article, in The New York Times, profiled a child psychiatrist in New York City whose  mission is to remove the stigma of mental illness in children; he charges as much as $1000 per hour for  his services -- but seems to be much in demand.

DEPRESSION IN PRESCHOOLERS. Sadness and irritability in very young children can be a sign of depression, and researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found that brain activity in young, depressed patients is similar to activity in adult depressives. Mentioned in the article is a longitudinal study of 600 families to try to identify early factors that influence chronic depression. Read more.

DR. RUSSELL BARKLEY is presenting on various aspects of AD/HD in two September workshops to be held in Shady Grove, Maryland. The workshops are sponsored by Alvord, Baker & Associates along with the Weinfeld Education Group. Find out more. 

AD/HD AROUND THE WORLD. Depending on where you are in the world, the diagnosis and treatment of AD/HD differs, according to a new study. Among the findings: "..although the prevalence of AD/HD varies across nations, largely due to disparate diagnostic practices and algorithms, far larger international variability exists with respect to treated prevalence and treatment procedures" Find out more. 

THE "AUSTISM ADVANTAGE" in prehistoric times is the topic of a scholarly paper. Researchers posit that certain autistic traits, including spatial skills, concentration, and memory, might have proved beneficial in a hunter/gatherer society. Read more.

AND FINALLY, THIS. Need more ammunition to clamp down on video gaming at  your house? Check out the message delivered at a recent presentation by child and adolescent psychiatrist Paul Weigle. He's a hard-liner when it comes to  the effect of gaming and violence on our sweet, innocent young children. Go there.

From the Publishers of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter

BRAIN RESOURCES from SharpBrains. The organization has released its May eNewsletter. In it are two articles that might be of interest to those who raise, educate, and counsel gifted kids with learning challenges:
  • "AD/HD: Brain training Neurofeedback, Diet, and More"
  • "Neuroplasticity in the Brain of Children with Neurological Disorders," dealing with Tourette's
EDUCATIONAL OPTIONS NEWSLETTER. Deborah Ruf has issued her June newsletter. In it are a number of pointers to useful things: an article on why gifted girls may not be as confident as they should; a list of top-10 gifted education blogs; a list of top-10 open education resources; and more. Find the newsletter. 
EDUCATOR RESOURCE FOR SUMMER. If you're a teacher of the gifted or twice-exceptional, you might be interested in Edutopia's current issue, which contains ideas for summer relaxation and learning. We notice, however, that one of the articles is titled "The Myth of Summers Off." Go to Edutopia. 
SCHOLARSHIP FOR KIDS WITH AN LD. An Alabama Internet consulting company, Lumin, has established a $2000 scholarship for a young person with an LD who is going to college. The company's founder says her mom suggested the idea and also suggested that "the scholarship be made available to students with learning disabilities. This came as no surprise since she and I spent countless hours looking for available scholarships when I was in college. (Yes…I have a learning disability…two in fact.)" Find out more, and good for Lumin Consulting!
SENG SUMMIT EARLYBIRD DISCOUNT EXTENDED. You can still save money with an earlybird discount to the July SENG conference in Seattle, but only through June 10th. Thinking of going? Check it out.
COMPETITIONS FOR GIFTED MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS. A discussion on LinkedIn has elicited opinions on the most valuable competitions for gifted middle-school students. Responses include Destination Imagination, Odyssey of the Mind, Science Olympiad, Lego Robotics Challenge, National History Day, and more. Join in -- free registration is required, and then you can continue to participate in the group, Gifted Talented Network. 
FILE THIS UNDER "NEXT YEAR." PBS and Adobe have sponsored a competition whereby selected teen documentary filmmakers receive grands for their projects, along with mentoring. This year the competition received 250 applications and awarded 15 grants. Read more at Yahoo. 
DAVIDSON INSTITUTE. Don't forget the DITD "Tips" section, which offers collections of tips on various gifted-related topics such as acceleration, AD/HD, advocacy, depression,  and lots more. Find it.
AD/HD: THE BAD NEWS. "Analysis of data from two long-term studies of the impact of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) on the development of psychiatric disorders in young adults confirms that AD/HD alone significantly increases the risk of cigarette smoking and substance abuse in both boys and girls." Read more from this report.
AND FINALLY, THIS. A father and his dyslexic son collaborated on a fantasy novel that will be published next week. According to the Biloxi, Mississippi, Sun-Herald, "The story involves a young, idealistic, inspirational kid who decides he’s going to save his kingdom, which has been taken over by goblins. There’s a princess who escaped by chance the night the palace fell and learned magic. She watches what is going on and makes him a magic sword, which completely transforms him. He becomes a great a hero." Read more.