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A Big-League ADHDer Hits It Out of the Park
ADHD Experts Blog, ADDitudeMag.com
If attention deficit has gotten you down, pro baseballer Andres Torres will show you how to swing for the fences.
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.
Strategies for Meeting All Students' Needs
Education Week
Whether you're a special education teacher or not, you likely teach students who are on the autism spectrum or who have learning disabilities, dyslexia, ADHD, anxiety disorders, or emotional disabilities. Differentiating instruction for such students can be challenging. But as an urban middle school teacher with more than 30 years of experience, I've identified some strategies that increase the chances that we're meeting all students' needs on a daily basis.
Special Education Teacher Evaluation Methods A Struggle
Associated Press
Spurred by the U.S. Department of Education's $4.35 billion Race to the Top grant competition, more than a dozen states have passed laws to reform how teachers are evaluated and include student growth as a component. For most students, that growth will be measured on standardized tests. But for special education students that is considerably more complicated.
Sandwich Cafe Helps People with Learning Disabilities
Boston Herald
As a customer, Christine Golding says muffins at Cafe Riverview "are the best on the planet" and she's become a big fan of the orange-lavender variety since the place opened five weeks ago. Cafe Riverview is a real-world classroom for 16 of its employees: They are students or recent graduates of the nearby Riverview School, which helps people with complex learning disabilities learn to live and work independently.
Change of Diet Helps Some Kids with ADHD
PsychCentral
A new report suggests a change in diet can relieve attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in some children. ADHD is believed to affect about 3 to 5 percent of children globally and is diagnosed in about 2 to 16 percent of school aged children. Although more research is necessary, some studies show that by changing their diet, it is possible to improve the condition for some ADHD children, said Kim Fleischer Michaelsen, Ph.D., from the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Copenhagen.
When Push Comes to Love: IEP Meetings Aren't Just for Educators
The Day (CT)
It is hard to believe that the school year is winding down. It seems like we were just dealing with the after-effects of Hurricane Irene and the delay of the start of the school. But hence, spring is upon us and for schools that means a lot of things, including PPT season. Planning and Placement Team meetings occur near the end of the school year to review the child's progress and plan for the coming year. It is when parents get to hear about the growth their child made that year and what the school will plan to do next year to ensure growth continues.
iPads Especially Helpful for Special-Needs Students
Washington Post
Two years after Apple introduced the iPad, the tablet is becoming increasingly popular with educators of students with special needs, especially learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. These teachers and administrators are repeatedly turning to iPads, which cost between $300 and $800, and other tablets to improve communication, reading and math skills, to virtually dissect animals or to give students an easier way to take notes. Results, they say, are promising.
The Intersection of Race and Students with Disabilities
Special Education Blog, Education Week
Strategies including response to intervention are making a dent in the over-identification of some students of some backgrounds as having particular disabilities. But it may not be enough to overcome deeply rooted stereotyping all by itself.
Boston Schools Lag in Special-Ed Plans
Boston Globe
The Boston public system is facing a ballooning backlog in its review of special education plans, federally mandated each year for thousands of students, prompting officials to propose one-time bonuses to staffers to get the job done.
ADDitudeMag.com
Overcoming her fear of math has been tough for my adolescent daughter. But with plenty of support — and a lot of parental patience — she's finally moving past meltdowns.
Signs of Dyslexia Start Before Reading, Study Finds
ABC News
Signs of dyslexia may begin even before a child tries to read, according to new research published in the journal Current Biology. Dyslexia, a developmental reading disorder that occurs when the brain does not properly recognize and process certain symbols, cannot just be considered a language problem anymore, as it affects comprehension and visual understanding of symbols and patterns, said Andrea Facoetti, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Padova and co-author of the study. It has been widely "accepted that reading disorders arise from a spoken language problem, [but] results demonstrate the critical role played by visual attention in learning to read."
ADHD Drug Shortage to End Soon
Psych Central
After months of Americans being unable to fill their drug prescriptions for medications that are commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday that the shortages are expected to end this month. Many ADHD medications, such as Adderall, have been in short supply since 2011.
Chuck Close's Advice to His Younger Self
CBS News
Ever wish you could give advice to yourself as a younger person? That's the premise of the series "Note to Self." Continuing the series, CBS asked Chuck Close, a preeminent portrait painter to give his younger self some advice. Close has overcome enormous obstacles: learning disabilities, face blindness and a rare condition that left him mostly paralyzed more than 20 years ago.
ADHD Experts Blog, ADDitudeMag.com
The right kind of praise can create mini-Rockys, kids who keep getting up when the world knocks them down. Learn how to build real resilience in your ADHD child.
Students Needing Special Education in Oregon on the Rise
The Oregonian
The number of students in special education across Oregon continues to climb as schools struggle to meet state graduation and learning targets for them, according Oregon Department of Education data. The state released two reports on Oregon's 84,707 kids in special education, outlining the number of students needing specialized services and a report card detailing how well districts are meeting those needs.
Opinion: We're Not Paying Enough Attention to ADHD
Washington Post
Like a fourth-grader who keeps jumping out of his chair, the uptick in America's ADHD epidemic demands our attention. According to a new report in Academic Pediatrics, the number of doctor's visits by children being given a diagnosis or treatment for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder jumped to a total of 10.4 million in 2010, representing a 66 percent increase over the year 2000.
ADDitudeMag.com
Equine-assisted ADHD therapy forced me to align my actions with my intentions and to exude the calm confidence I asked for in return. Horses, I learned, mirror what they see in our hearts and feel in our heads.
Indiana Football: Nick Sliger Overcomes Learning Disability
Indianapolis Star
There have been few obstacles in the trenches of high school or college football that Indiana defensive lineman Nick Sliger has been unable to overcome. His 6-3, 293-pound frame has taken care of that. Sliger's challenges always came in the classroom, but those troubles are now a thing of the past. An athlete who had serious doubts in high school that he would receive his diploma because of a learning disability, Sliger has made the most of his time at IU.
Learning to Drive With A.D.H.D.
New York Times
Learning to drive is hard and scary for many teenagers, and driving is far and away the most dangerous thing teenagers do. But the challenges are significantly greater for young people who have attention problems. A number of cognitive conditions can affect driving, and instructors report a recent increase in the number of teenagers with Asperger syndrome seeking licenses. But the largest group of challenged teenage drivers — and the mostly closely studied — appears to be those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.