Paid subscribers to 2e Newsletter should have received their PDF editions in mid March. Please let us know if you did not receive your copy. Next issue of the newsletter: early May. (Not yet a subscriber? Go here.)

To all of you who have completed our on-line survey on the needs of twice-exceptional children, thank you. To those who have not yet had the chance, there's still time to become an appreciated respondent. To complete the brief (five-minute) survey, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=469933436901.

Close readers of 2e Newsletter know that editor Linda Neumann now serves on the board of directors of SENG, Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted. That connection prompts us to remind readers that SENG's annual conference is being held in the Kansas City area this July 13 to 15th. Details in "Events" below.

Newly available on the 2e Newsletter website is an article by special ed advocate Arvena D. Martin, Esq., that provides a good overview of what 2e is all about.

Back issues of 2e Newsletter are available; see http://www.2enewsletter.com/Past%issues.htm.

Feel free to pass on this briefing to others you might know with an interest in raising or teaching high-ability children with learning differences.

LABELS. The Washington Post carried a story by Maia Szalavitz in late February on the topic of labels. It started with a quote from the dad of a gifted Aspie about how the dad felt when he discovered, in his late 30s, that he has Asperger's. The article covers pros and cons of labeling and includes reactions from kids to their labels, concluding "parents, teachers, and children themselves need to see past... any label and into the individuality and potential of the person in front of them."

GIRLS, GIRLS.  An article in the Scholastic Instructor magazine pointed out that many young girls with AD/HD do not get the help they need because people miss signs of the condition in girls. While AD/HD is not gender linked, boys are more than three times as likely as girls to get the diagnosis, says the article. The article provides six signs of AD/HD in girls along with what teachers can do in response. Separately, an interview with author Dan Kindlon at EdNews.org covered "Alpha Girls," a "new breed of girl with an emancipated psychology... [who] doesn't feel limited by her sex."

YES I CAN.  CEC has announced its 2007 "Yes I Can!" awards, and one, a New Jersey youth named Christopher, was profiled on NJ.com for his efforts in community service. According to the article, Christopher's involvement in the community includes "food drives, toy collections, park and cemetery cleanups, CPR and lifeguard certification...and scores of activities involving veterans."

CHALLENGING THE GIFTED. An article in the School Administrator offered tips for challenging gifted and talented students with high-end learning opportunities in the classroom, and it also offered pointers to outside-the-school programs for high-ability students.

FROM THE GOSSIP COLUMNS. All four of the children model Jerry Hall had with (gifted) Rolling Stone Sir Mick Jagger are dyslexic, according to various media outlets. She is quoted as saying of her own dyslexia, "Being dyslexic is difficult at the very beginning but as you get older you learn to cope with it and I think it's great... a gift because it make you think differently."

APRIL IS... The Autism Society of America reminds us that April is National Autism Awareness Month.

WE DON'T USUALLY READ THE HOME SECTION FOR NEUROSCIENCE.  An article in the home section of our Saturday newspaper made an interesting connection between homes that encourage family interaction and emotional health. The article said that simple proximity was important, and covered some of the neurological and hormonal bases for family relationships.

April 18-21, CEC Convention and Expo, Louisville, Kentucky. Information at www.cec.sped.org. 

April 27-28, AEGUS (Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students) 21st Annual Conference, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, Ohio. For teachers, administrators, clinicians, tutors, or parents who work with gifted underachieving students. Information at www.aegus1.org.

April 28-30, Learning & the Brain Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts. For parents, teachers, clinicians. Information at http://www.edupr.com/index.html.

The month of May, Our Gifted Online Conferences with Mary Ruth Coleman. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OGTOC/ for info.

June 29-July 3, PG Retreat, Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center, Denver, Colorado. Family camp for families with highly and profoundly gifted children, featuring kids activities including a game room, art activities, science experiments, swimming, more! Daily symposiums.  

July 13-15, Annual Conference of SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted), Overland Park, Kansas. For educators, parents and grandparents, mental health professionals, and gifted children, young adults, and adults. Information at www.sengifted.org.

July 29-August 3, 11th Annual Edufest, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. For educators of gifted and talented children, but includes a parents' day and an administrator's institute. Information at www.edufest.org.

August 5-10, 17th Biennial World Conference, Warwick, England. By the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. For educators, parents, and clinicians. More information at http://www.worldgifted2007.com/.

October 11-13, New England Conference on Gifted and Talented Education, "New Developments in Gifted Education." Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, Maine. Keynotes: Sally Reis, Robert K. Greenleaf, Nadia Webb; Information at http://www.necgt.org/

November 7, NAGC 54th Annual Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota. For educators, other professionals, and parents. Information at www.nagc.org.

November 7-10, 19th Annual Conference on AD/HD, Crystal City, Virginia. By CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). Information at www.CHADD.org.

For state association conferences relating to giftedness, see www.hoagiesgifted.org/conferences.htm on Hoagies' website. For additional conferences on learning differences, see the website of the Council for Exceptional Children.