Today's media brought two great stories about high-achievers who achieved despite -- or because of -- conditions that many of our 2e children face, dyslexia and Asperger's. Those stories are capsulized in the first two items below.
DYSLEXIC LAUREATE. We mentioned last Friday that the newly-awarded Nobel laureate in medicine was dyslexic. In today's New York Times is a delightful interview with the laureate, Dr. Carol Greider of Johns Hopkins University. Of her childhood, she remembered "I had a lot of trouble in school and was put into remedial classes. I thought that I was stupid." She recounts her reaction to winning the Nobel Prize, how she became involved in science, and gets in a few digs at gender issues among scientists. Read the interview.
THE NPR LISTENER IN OUR HOUSE heard Fresh Air's Terry Gross interview Professor Tim Page this morning. Page had been music critic at The New York Times and, later, at the Washington Post, where he won the Pulitzer for his work. Gross interviewed Page about his new memoir Parallel Play: Life as an Outsider, which is about how having Asperger's affected his life and his relationship with music. Like some parents of 2e children, Page got his own label when an offspring was diagnosed with Asperger's. Find Fresh Air.
ONLINE EDUCATION FOR THE GIFTED. Stanford University runs "the best high school you've never heard of," according to ABC News, and "is playing a key role in what may be the wave of the future when it comes to educating gifted high school students." Read more.
NEED TO KNOW ABOUT READING TESTS to help or advocate for your twice-exceptional child? Check out this week's edition of the Wrightslaw Special Ed Advocate for articles on the different types of tests, what they measure, and what a reading evaluation should include. Find it.
DSM-V. The next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is due out in 2012. At the Dana Foundation website, those with a stake in labels and treatment for their high-ability kids with conditions such as AD/HD, dyslexia, Aspergers, etc, can find out from two articles what, in general, they might expect in the future. One article urges the publishers to "bring both more certainty and flexibility to psychiatric diagnosis"; the other urges a focus on the causes of diseases and disease processes. Find the articles.
YOUTUBE RESOURCES ON 2e. Dr. Jerald Grobman, a psychiatrist and member of the professional advisory committee for the organization SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted), takes on anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and underachievement in gifted young people -- all in 7 minutes. You can hear Dr. Grobman and see what we assume are his PowerPoint slides on the topic at YouTube. Go there. (So far, 66 views and no ratings -- share your opinion.) Also at the site: "What does Dyslexia Look Like in a Gifted Child" and "Dyslexia in Gifted Children," both posted by the Drs. Eide. Thanks to these experts for providing these resources for the parents and educators of 2e children.
DANGER IN THE SCHOOLS. According to The New York Times, student Zachary Christie is facing 45 days in the reform school of Christina School District, in Delaware. Seems that Christie, age 6, was excited about the camping utensil he received from Cub Scouts and took it to school to use at lunch. (The utensil is a combination fork, spoon, and -- unfortunately for Christie -- knife.) So young Christie falls into the "zero tolerance" rules still in effect at many schools. But maybe he'll become the poster child for the inflexibility of t hose rules. Forty-five days in reform school at age 6? And we doubt there's a Cub Scout den there. (An NFL football player recently received just 30 days in jail for DUI manslaughter.) Read more about Zachary's plight.
COMING UP: THE NACG CONFERENCE. It's in St. Louis at the beginning of November, but there's an alternative to attending in person. This year, Joel McIntosh's Prufrock Press is sponsoring a "virtual convention" at a fraction of the cost of regular registration. Find out more. Way to go, Joel.
MORE ON NAGC. 2e Newsletter will be represented at NAGC's confeence, so if you'll be attending we look forward to seeing you.
FOLLOWUP TO "IRRITATED MASSACHUSETTS PARENTS." A few posts ago, we pointed to a news item describing the sorry state of gifted education in Massachusetts. One of our readers saw the post and replied that the lack of services for 2e students was the reason why she and her family moved out of the state a year ago. She promptly wrote a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe, which we pass along to you: "I just read 'Room to Grow' (
ACCELERATION FOR GIFTED. Tamara Fisher's most recent "Unwrapping the Gifted" posting deals with acceleration for gifted students. She says, "Despite the overwhelming evidence of acceleration's positive effects for kids who are ready for it, many schools still shy away from providing these kids with what they need educationally" -- and she points to that evidence. She also lists 18 [!!] methods of acceleration. See if one of them is appropriate for that gifted child you know. Read the blog.
COLLEGE WITH LDs. An article in The New York Times reported on a conference focused on questions for "high school counselors trying to guide students with disabilities — including dyslexia, ADHD and Asperger Syndrome — toward supportive colleges where they might thrive." The article, also says the conference yielded plenty of useful material for parents as well. Find the article.
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION. Edutopia published an article on putting child-development findings into practice in the classroom. Example mentioned: how experiencing a piece of information in multiple ways increases retention; or how confidence affects academic achievement. It sounds, however, that turning research into practice can still be a challenge. Read the article.