LD News
Each week, LD OnLine gathers interesting news headlines about learning disabilities and ADHD issues. Please note that LD OnLine does not necessarily endorse these views or any others on these outside websites.
To receive these headlines in an e-mail, sign up for our free LD Newsline service. These headlines are available as an RSS feed by clicking on the RSS icon below. We also offer our RSS feeds in an e-mail format which you can subscribe to below.
RSS this page | Subscribe by e-mail
Note: These links may expire after a week or so. Some web sites require you to register first before seeing an article.
Sort by: | Date | Title |
(Opinion) Working Memory and Academic Success
Kalamazoo Gazette's Family Talk Magazine (MI)
A speech-language pathologist explains that 'working memory' refers to the ability of the brain to hold and manipulate verbal and visual information for brief periods of time. It works like a notepad to help store important information to carry out tasks. Working memory plays a key role in attention deficit disorders.
(Opinion) Writing Off Disabled Children
The New York Times
Many of America's juvenile jails would be empty if the public schools obeyed federal law and provided disabled children with the special instruction that they need. Texas has both a moral and legal obligation to remake a system that is crippling, then writing off, the state's most vulnerable children.
(Opinion) You Can Help Your Child Succeed in School
Statesman Journal (OR)
A school counselor answers a question from parents about how to best help their daughter achieve school success in the special education system. She notes that developing a good relationship with teachers and specialists is key.
(Opinion) Your Hyperactive Child
The Delphos Herald (OH)
Dr. Celeste Lopez advises parents to talk with your doctor about different techniques to utilize to help children with ADD/ADHD them best use their natural learning skills to achieve in school. Finding them hobbies that they enjoy and are good at so that they will maintain a high self-esteem and remain motivated to learn is also important.
Chicago Tribune
In March, an independent hearing officer made official what Shnette Tyler already knew: Her 11-year-old son, who has severe learning and behavioral disabilities, had not been receiving a proper education from Chicago Public Schools. But with a hearing at least a month away and school about to start, Devon's mother must decide whether to send him back into a school environment that has both failed and frustrated him or pull him out of school and let the legal system run its course.
10 Tips For College Students With Disabilities
NPR
Clinical psychologist and author Kathleen G. Nadeau writes that the key to success is developing learning and organization strategies to cope with learning disabilities. Here are a few of Nadeau's tips for students with ADHD transitioning to college.
10 Tips for College Students with LD or ADHD
NPR
A student's freshman year in college represents a big transition. Many students move out of their parents' home and onto a bustling college campus, where they can be overwhelmed with new workloads, academic demands, and a multitude of social and extracurricular events. For college students who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities, staying organized and focused can be extra challenging.
These tips can help!
12-Year-Old Honored at School After Acts of Bravery
Bloomington Pantagraph (IL)
Virginia Henry has a learning disability. She already knew her parents and her aunt thought she was a hero. She had received their hugs and encouragement, but she didn’t know until Friday that her entire school felt the same way.
19 Number-Based Apps for Children with Special Needs
Apps for Children With Special Needs
Is your child struggling with mathematical concepts like number sense and arithmetic? Browse this collection of educational apps recommended by Apps for Children with Special Needs. You may find a useful tool to help your child learn.
2-Year Colleges Help Learning-Disabled Students Break Into Math and Science
Chronicle of Higher Education
For as long as he can remember, Robert T. Calloway has had a fascination with engineering and all things mechanical. He wanted to pursue an engineering career despite a diagnosis of dyslexia, which challenged both his confidence and his ability in the classroom. He enrolled in the Community College of Allegheny County, in Pittsburgh, where professors and the college's academic-support staff helped him work around his dyslexia. Now, a program being developed by a two-year college in Vermont aims to assess the successful practices of Allegheny and other colleges to help more students, like Mr. Calloway, succeed academically in math and the sciences.
200 City Students Take Alternative to SOL Test
Daily News Record (VA)
This year, more than 200 Harrisonburg students are taking the Virginia Grade Level Alternative, an alternative form of the Standards of Learning test. It's a better assessment for some students who are unable to participate in the traditional SOL testing because of a disability or limited English proficiency. But it also costs more and creates more work for teachers.
5 Questions to Ask Before Starting Your Child on ADHD Medication
Fox News Health
Medication for ADHD can make a dramatic difference if it's used appropriately, yet some experts say these pills are being overly prescribed. In fact, according to study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, approximately 2.8 million or 3.5 percent of children were prescribed ADHD medication in 2008, up from 2.4 percent 12 years earlier. If you are concerned your child has ADHD, or he or she has already received a diagnosis, here are five questions to ask before opting for meds.
5 Questions with a PTA President
The Beacon News (IL)
Of the more than 3,500 special needs students in the district, only 150 or so of their parents participate in the district's Special Needs PTA — the only organization of its kind in Illinois. That, said PTA president Lori Price, makes it the best-kept secret in the school system.
50 Educational Podcasts You Should be Listening To
Getting Smart
Podcasts are a great way to get information when you’re driving in your car, making dinner at home, or waiting at the DMV to renew your license. Podcasts don’t force you to find more time in your day; they give you the opportunity to capitalize on all the dead time that already exists in your day by simply downloading the .mp3 or syncing a podcast to your iTunes account on your smartphone.
Hattiesburg American (MS)
Malinda Wiklund, 34, overcame learning problems as she persistently worked four years to gain her associate degree at Jones County Junior College. Wiklund had to deal with dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder learning disabilities as she worked toward her degree in criminal justice. On Friday, she was among 523 students receiving their diplomas.
54 Utah Students Receive Great Kids Awards
Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
Proud parents of 54 Utah County elementary students crowded the Provo City Library Ballroom to cheer them on at the 14th annual Great Kids Awards Wednesday evening. The one-hour event spotlighted two students from each elementary school in the Orem and Provo areas. Teachers and principals nominated the students for overcoming struggles and defeating challenges in their lives.
8 Steps for Learning Disabled Students Who Want to Go to College
US News and World Report
Most of the 3 percent or so of teens who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities struggle so much in their high school classes that they give up on hopes of college, setting back their job and career prospects, according to statistics compiled by the National Center for Learning Disabilities. But there are new reasons for hope for anyone with attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, or other common learning challenges. A growing number of colleges, services, and technologies are helping students earn admission to, and diplomas from, college, counselors say.
9 Drug-Free Approaches to Managing ADHD
US News and World Report
For decades, Ritalin and similar stimulants have reigned over other treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD or ADD. The latest results from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD, the largest investigation of the benefits of medication against behavioral therapy, found that stimulants' effects wane over time. Experts have a lengthy list of techniques other than prescription drugs that may help manage ADHD. Here's a quick look at some of them.
Santa Barbara Independent (CA)
Vincenzo Giammanco took out a $30,000 loan to create bAd, a professionally produced short film that vividly shows life from the perspective of a dyslexic fifth-grader. For dyslexics, especially those who grew up in the years before the disability was well recognized, the film proves to be an accurate depiction of their early years.
Bully: A Hard Documentary, but Does It Deserve to Be Rated R?
TIME Healthland Blog
Profanity has garnered the new documentary Bully an R-rating, but anti-bullying advocates argue that the film should be PG-13, so more kids can see the film in schools and theaters without parents tagging along.