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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.
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Branson Urges Curriculum Changes
BBC
Sir Richard Branson, one of the UK's richest men, went into business in his teens. "It's important people do learn the difference between gross and net, and how Tesco, Virgin or Apple works," he told BBC News School Report. "Some of the things people study at school are not particularly relevant for when they actually leave school."
Branson's success with the Virgin Group has made him one of the wealthiest men in the world, and he suggested the ability to learn the key skills of business was something that students could pick up by being given the opportunity to try their hand. On how dyslexia shaped his career, Branson said, "I just don't think people who are dyslexic need worry because they are often really good at other things," he added. "They'll realise they've got a problem in some areas but they'll be really good at other things."
Independent (Ireland)
Author Robert Fannin had to wait until he was more than 50 to discover that he suffers from dyslexia. "Because of dyslexia, I was locked out of society," he explains. "It gave me very low expectations of myself. It was an incredibly lonely and painful experience. But now, at university, I have a special programme on the computer, and, of course, I don't have anyone holding a cane over my head."
Breaking through Reading Barriers
T.H.E. Journal
After using a tech-based reading program with struggling readers and special education students at Homestead Elementary School in Crossville, TN, fourth-grade inclusion teacher Ashlee Ritzko witnessed a new phenomenon: Students that were reluctant or resistant readers were suddenly excited about reading the novels. Ritzko, who is currently a fifth-grade teacher, credits the school's Successful Reader implementation with creating that breakthrough moment.
Briefs: California Agency to Study Special Education
Los Angeles Times
The California state Department of Education announced Wednesday that it would hire an independent consultant to study special education students who fail the high school exit exam but otherwise meet graduation requirements, according to a lawsuit settlement tentatively approved by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman.
British Dancer, Kara Tointon, on Reading with Dyslexia
BBC
Strictly Come Dancing star Kara Tointon has spoken publicly about her dyslexia for the first time. The former EastEnders actress was diagnosed when she was seven years old. The BBC's Sam Naz spoke to Kara about her experiences.
Britney Spears' ADHD Announcement Encourages Parents to Learn New ADHD Coping Techniques
PR Web
After music icon Britney Spears' behavior as a judge on the X Factor last week came under fire, the pop princess revealed that her behavior was caused by issues with ADHD. The singer claims that she has been taking breaks from her gig as a judge to help her refocus, since she is no longer able to take ADHD medication.
Built to Swim, Phelps Found a Focus and Refuge in Water
USA Today
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who will race up to 20 times in Beijing in pursuit of a record eight gold medals, was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder at 9. When he was in elementary school, a teacher told his mom that Phelps would never focus on anything. His mom disagreed. She had seen him at swim meets.
The Dunnville Chronicle (Canada)
"All my friends had disabilities," said Crystal at a round-table discussion on bullying held at a recent Self-Advocates meeting in Cayuga. "When one of us was bullied, we would try to stand up for each other. But that didn't always happen. Sometimes we'd be too scared." She and other folks at Community Living have created an entertaining puppet play called "Same Difference," which is all about getting to know people even if they do things a bit differently.
Bullying and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
New York Law Journal (Blog)
The issue of bullying in schools has taken center stage in the national dialogue in recent years. Bullying has been the backdrop to high-profile suicides, school violence, and increasingly urgent debates over teens/tweens and social media. At most every school in the country, bullying is a major topic of concern. As often happens, the law has struggled to catch up to an important social issue. But that may be about to change.
Bullying Tied to Depression in Special-Needs Kids
Jackson Clarion-Ledger (MS)
Special-needs youth with chronic medical conditions or developmental disabilities are at risk for anxiety and depression if they're excluded or bullied by other young people, a new small study says.
Bumps Abound When Students Become Their Own Advocates
Washington Post
After a decade of worrying about her son's attention-deficit disorder, meeting with teachers, calling around to get lost homework assignments and getting advice on SAT test accommodations, Lori Spinelli-Samara is facing this simple truth: Next year, in college, Nick is on his own.
Burlington Literacy Council Helps High-School Dropout Pursue Career Goal
Burlington Post (Canada)
When Talis Shawley used to jot down a note for his family they thought it was a puzzle. The spelling was off, the grammar disjointed, and his intended message lost. That was until he started taking classes at The Literacy Council of Burlington. The Oakville resident was diagnosed in Grade 5 with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and a learning disability with words.
CA Budget Lifts Diploma Hurdle for Special-Ed Kids
San Francisco Gate
Changes to the California High School Exit Exam policy tucked into the state's new budget may offer a different future for thousands of disabled children denied diplomas over the past two years. The deal signed by the governor Tuesday suspends the exit exam graduation requirement for special-education students. That would mean special-education students in the class of 2010 and perhaps beyond would no longer have to pass the high-stakes test to graduate.
CA High School Student Overcomes Learning Disability
Tri-Valley Herald (CA)
The labels were supposed to get the best of Nicholas MacLean. After all, lazy, unmotivated, problem kids are not supposed to graduate and certainly not ones that enter high school with a reading level below second grade. Four years ago, MacLean's thoughts of hearing his name called and being able to accept a high school diploma seemed more fantasy than reality, but that was before he found the Barton Reading program. On Friday, in front of family and friends, MacLean was one of 580 Foothill graduates who received a diploma.
California Lawmakers Hear Pleas Not to Further Slash Education
Los Angeles Times
As the state weighs cutting about $8.1 billion from public schools, colleges, and universities, scores of educators, parents, students and others told lawmakers Monday that such reductions would jeopardize student success and safety in the short term and California's prosperity in the long term.
California Man Takes Guesswork Out of His Life by Learning How to Read
The Modesto Bee (CA)
Walter Woodley worked for the city of Modesto, California for 33 years, rising to become the chief groundskeeper at John Thurman Field. The secret to his success, however, couldn't possibly match the secret he kept from most of his co–workers and even his children for decades: He could not read. Now, after masking his deficiency for so many years, Woodley, 59, is willing to tell his story, to write it and read it, too.
California Scholar Brings Order to Dyslexia
Press-Enterprise (CA)
When Eric Atkinson was growing up in Victorville, CA some of his teachers told him he was stupid. He is not stupid. Far from it. But he is dyslexic, living with an impairment in his brain's system of translating information that can strike people of any intelligence. He not only overcame his disability and collected three degrees — and is working on a fourth — but a paper he wrote comparing the origins of hip-hop with the development of bebop jazz 60 years ago captured first place last summer in a national competition.
California School Board Scraps Special Ed Gag Orders
Malibu Times (CA)
Ending a year of controversy, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education voted last Thursday to drop confidentiality clauses in agreements with parents of special education students.
California Shop Teacher 'Cons' Students into Learning
USA Today
Alvin "Corky" Schroeder uses his Merced, California shop classes to inspire children who would otherwise have problems learning, slipping in information in bits and pieces. Lessons on welding disguise instruction in geometry and mathematics. Lessons about engines slip in physics. Talk about car design? Lessons on art. Schroeder says his dedication stems from empathy with these special-education students. As a child, he battled dyslexia and attention deficit disorder.
The New York Times
For more than a decade, parents of children with developmental and psychiatric problems have pushed to gain more access to mainstream schools and classrooms for their sons and daughters. One unfortunate result, some experts say, is schools' increasing use of precisely the sort of practices families hoped to avoid by steering clear of institutionalized settings: takedowns, isolation rooms, restraining chairs with straps, and worse.
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