HOMEWORK=BUSYWORK? Jay Mathews of the Washington Post occasionally writes on gifted matters. Recently, his column "Extra Credit" featured a letter from a mother frustrated with the way her son's school handled his giftedness and his lack of interest in homework. Even when he could get 4's and 5's on AP tests and, arguably, knew the material in his classes, he'd be graded down because of missing work. The column prompted so many letters that Mathews devoted a column on the Internet to the issue: "What to Do with Gifted Students." See whether you're sympathetic to the family's situation.

HEALTH CONCERNS. About a week ago the American Heart Association issued a statement recommending that children with AD/HD receive cardiac evaluation and monitoring, including an ECG, before being treated with stimulant medications. Because those meds can increase heart rate and blood pressure, it's presumed that an evaluation can screen out children at risk for sudden cardiac death. The statement recommends the evaluation even if a child is already on stimulant meds and hasn't been previously evaluated. (Find a somewhat dissenting viewpoint in the Daily Iowan.) Separately, a branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health issued a draft brief on bisphenol A (BPA), an ingredient in hard, clear plastics used in some bottles and can linings. What caught our eye: the National Toxicology Program "has some concern that exposure to bisphenol A causes neural and behavioral effects" in infants and children; and has "some concern that exposure to bisphenol A in utero [in pregnant women] causes neural and behavioral effects" in the fetus. "Some concern" is midway on the National Toxicology Program's five-point scale ranging from "serious concern" to "negligible concern." The report comes at a time when Canada has banned BPA from baby bottles and Wal-Mart has announced plans to stop selling products containing BPA.  

WORKING ON WORKING MEMORY. Working memory is significant to those dealing with 2e kids because of its role in executive function, often compromised in such children. Last month brought the announcement of the results of two studies on working memory. The first, from the University of California at Davis, indicates that the brain keeps a limited number of "high-resolution" images for a few seconds -- a series of snapshots at intervals of about one-quarter second. The brain has the ability to link together these snapshots. According to the study, people who can store more information in working memory have higher levels of "fluid intelligence," the ability to solve novel problems. The second study, from the University of Missouri, found that the average person can keep just three or four things in their working memory at one time, a number that is relatively fixed for an individual. Researchers in the second study say that people with high working memory capacity have more focus; those with less are more easily distracted.

LOTS ON AUTISM. A study linking autism rates to sources of airborne mercury was released by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. According to a press release issued by the University of Texas, the study shows a statistically significant association between autism risk and the distance from the mercury source -- in this case, mercury released from coal-burning power plants. Separately, an item from ABC News noted that as more children with Asperger's plan to attend college, some colleges are developing special programs for them. Third, a press release from Wellcome Trust in the UK says that "Research funded by the Wellcome Trust suggests that many children diagnosed with severe language disorders in the 1980s and 1990s would today be diagnosed as having autism. The research supports the theory that the rise in the number of cases of autism may be related to changes in how it is diagnosed. Fourth, an article in ComputerWorld acknowledged that "Apergers Syndrome has been a part of IT [inforamtion technology] for as long as there's been IT," and profiles several IT professionals with Asperger's or high-functioning autism. And finally, an article in California Schools Magazine described what two school districts in California are doing to "reach and teach" young kids on the autism spectrum.

AD/HD ACHIEVERS. A recent Wall Street Journal column was titled "The Creative Energy Behind AH/HD" and featured achievers such as Ty Pennington from the TV show "Extreme Makeover"; JetBlue founder David Neeleman; Kinko founder Paul Orfalea; and retailing entrepreneur Cynthia Gerdes.

DYSLEXIC ACHIEVERS. In the New York Times, you can read how a man from Kentucky whose dyslexia was undiagnosed as a child has teamed up with an Amazon rain forest native who now speaks six languages to save the rain forest. In an Irish newspaper, the Independent, you can read about a dyslexic American woman who couldn't read until she was 11 but has written more than 100 books. Or you can choose to read in the St. John's, Newfoundland, Telegraph about a writer who has written 35 books but couldn't read until he was 27. Wait - then there's the dyslexic entrepreneur who founded what is now a 16-store second-hand furniture retail chain; CNN Money describes how once he became his own boss, he didn't have to fake it anymore and could do things like give presentations to his banker in crayon and pencil. What about the dyslexic just awarded a Pulitzer Prize for poetry, noted in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle? Or the dyslexic Olympic fencer who shares with children her message of believing in yourself, setting goals, and moving toward those goals a step at a time, as described in Florida's Herald News? Finally, you can find out in the Reading Eagle about a Pennsylvania radio host and motivation speaker who had a hard time until he was almost 30 because of - you guessed it - undiagnosed dyslexia.

YOUR KIDS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES. Harris Interactive conducted polls to determine usage of social networking sites by young people and whether users were harassed, threatened, or solicited sexually. According to Harris Interactive's Trends and Tudes, "The majority of young people using the Internet are never harassed and never experienced unwanted solicitation." The pollsters also contend that unpleasant experiences on social networking websites were less prevalent that from instant messaging or chat rooms, although the percentage of young people experiencing unpleasantness on social networking sites was hardly negligible -- close to 30 percent.

YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS. A new version of an established computer game is being released, a game your intelligent child may want to have - badly. The New York Times calls the game an "...intelligent... endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun... a new standard for what is possible in interactive arts." Oh - and where those ellipses are the Times also uses the words "violent" and "profane"; can't have everything, I guess. The game: Grand Theft Auto IV. Be prepared.

OTHER STORIES. See http://del.icio.us/2eNewsletter for news items we've saved recently on specific topics such as giftedness, gifted education, AD/HD, autism spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, etc.