Subscriber Alerts
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The July/August issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter will go to subscribers in mid July. (Not yet a subscriber? Go here.) Back issues of 2e Newsletter are available for purchase in either print or PDF form.
To see items that make it into this briefing and other news as well, check out our new 2e Newsletter blog. We'll be posting weekly, and you can, if you wish, have new posts e-mailed to you automatically by the site. Check it out. Due to the efforts of the organization SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted), the third week in July of each year will be National Parenting Gifted Children Week. SENG is the official sponsor of this week, now placed in the National Special Events Registry and intended to celebrate the joys and challenges of raising, guiding, and supporting bright young minds. Find out more.
The next issue of this briefing: early August.
Feel free to pass on this briefing to others you know with an interest in raising or teaching high-ability children with learning differences. |
Giftedness and Exceptionalities in the News
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BOYS AND GIRLS, READING AND MATHS. The Economist Magazine reported briefly on research at the European University Institute of
Florence showing how boys and girls differ in reading and math test
scores in several countries. While girls lag in math ("maths" in the UK), the difference disappears in countries where inequalities are least. In terms of reading, girls' scores are always higher.
DRUGS AND ADVERTISING. In an interview in EdNews.org,
Ben Hansen describes how Thorazine used to be marketed for hyperactive
children and Ritalin for schizophrenic adults. Times change, and Hansen
has created a history of psychiatric drug advertising that provides
perspective on drug marketing. The history is called "The Nearly
Genuine and Truly Marvelous Mental Medicine Show Online Gallery of
Modern and Vintage Psychiatric Drug Advertising." Find it here. If you have a say about the medication of gifted or twice-exceptional kids, check it out.
GIFTED AND AD/HD? OR JUST GIFTED? Some practitioners in the field of twice-exceptionalities will tell you that highly gifted kids may show traits that can be confused with symptoms of AD/HD. A recent study reported in the Vancouver Sun contends that, in Canada at least, children who show signs of hyperactivity are "regularly misdiagnosed in every province except Quebec,"
which is the only province with standardized guidelines for diagnosis.
A lack of diagnosis may lead to a child not being prescribed medication
that could help the condition; but a diagnosis of AD/HD
where there is none may lead to unnecessary medication with stimulants.
The moral for parents of 2e kids: find a clinician familiar with the manifestations of both giftedness and the symptoms of AD/HD.
ONCE AGAIN. Education Week
brought to our attention in a subscriber-only article the fact that
President Bush has, once again, requested elimination of the hallmark Javits
Grant program for gifted and talented education, which in the
government's own words "Supports research, demonstration projects, and
other activities designed to help elementary and secondary schools meet
the needs of gifted and talented students." In 2008 the program was
funded at $7.5 million. (This compares to $6 billion for Reading First,
a program about which the Washington Post says this: "Students enrolled
in a $6 billion federal reading program...are not reading any better than
those who don't participate, according to a U.S.
government report.") It also compares to 2008 special education
expenditures of $15 billion. The White House rationale for dropping the
munificent funding for the Javits
program: "Most gifted and talented education programs in the U.S. are
implemented without Federal support, and the program, by making a
handful of grants each year, does little to increase the availability
of gifted and talented programs in schools, increase the quality of
those programs, or advance the field of gifted and talented education
nationally."
INFECTION AND EXCEPTIONALITIES. Scientific American Mind published an article
recapping evidence that as many as one-fifth of the cases of
schizophrenia may be caused by prenatal or early childhood
infections. Some scientists also conjecture that OCD may be linked to strep infection. Other possible connections: bipolar disorder with pre- or postnatal herpes or T. Gondii; autism with prenatal rubella, herpes, or lime disease and a variety of post-natal infections; and Tourette's with post-natal mycoplasma bacteria.
BRAIN TRAINING. Science Daily reported on research
suggesting that at least one aspect of a person's IQ can be improved by
training fluid intelligence, the ability to relate concepts and solve
new problems. The reasoning: that fluid intelligence depends on
short-term or "working" memory. The results: training does improve
short-term memory, thus improving fluid intelligence, thus improving
general intelligence as measured by IQ tests. Another implication:
short-term memory training may help children with developmental
problems.
AP DEBATE. Washington Post
columnist Jay Mathews expressed opinions on the availability of AP and
IB courses for high school students and was challenged by Chester E.
Finn, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and expert on education
matters. The result: a debate published in the Post on June 8th. Does more accessibility "cheapen the currency" of AP courses? Or is the AP "entry gate" too well guarded? Read the debate.
STACKING UP. A story in the Los Angeles Times
described a venture capitalist and his mission to find out "what
schools in other countries were doing that American schools weren't,
and why the United States performed so miserably on international
student comparisons." The result: a documentary called "Two Million Minutes" comparing high-achieving students from India, China, and America. Read about it.
NEURO-EDUCATION.
Carnegie Mellon Researchers have found that specialized workouts for
the brain can improve cognitive skills, for example in poor readers.
Through the exercises, activation increased in previously underactivating
areas such as the region responsible for decoding the sounds
of written language and assembling them into words and phrases. If you
know a bright kid with poor reading skills, check out the article.
AUTISTICS:
WIRED DIFFERENTLY. A University of Washington research team has found
that the brains of people on the autism spectrum respond differently to
faces than do the brains of other people. To be specific,"autistic participants who had the largest social impairment showed the lowest level of connectivity between the right fusiform face area and the left amygdala and increased connectivity between the right fusiform face area and the right inferior frontal gyrus." [Got that?] Researchers
added: "This study shows that the brains of people with autism are not
working as cohesively as those of people without autism when they are
looking at faces and processing information about them." Read it.
THE ROBIN HOOD EFFECT IN EDUCATION? That's the term the New York Times
used in reporting on a study of recent gains by low-achieving students
versus high-achieving students. The study apparently shows that federal
test scores for the bottom 10 percent of achievers rose more than those
in the top 10 percent from 2000 to 2007. The story is somewhat provocative in nature, implying questions about NCLB, equity for low-achievers, and excellence for high-achievers. But as one person interviewed for the article said, we don't have to choose between equity and excellence. Find the article here. Find the actual report here.
2e ACHIEVER. An 18-year-old young man with Asperger's,
seemingly obsessed with becoming his high school's valedictorian,
achieved his goal, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. In the article
the young man talked frankly about his social and academic challenges
and accomplishments. He plans to attend Carnegie Mellon on a
Presidential Scholarship. Read the article.
THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS. Are you raising or teaching a gifted kid with AD/HD? Want to know about non-drug options? Check a New York Times article on the subject. Worried about the inappropriate use of methylphenidate (found in Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate CD, Methylin ER, Ritalin LA, Ritalin-SR. Focalin, Daytrana)? See this study from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. And be careful out there.
GENDER DIFFERENCES DEBATE. In May, the American Association of University Women (AAUW)
published a report they sponsored downplaying gender differences in
American schools and highlighting, instead, differences in income and
ethnicity as causes for achievement gaps. A commentary by author and psychologist Leonard Sax in a recent issue of Education Week took
exception to the report, saying that the report has "substantial holes"
and that the report "missed the point." Sax's point: there is a real
gap based on motivation and on learning differences between the
genders. For example, he says, "It turns out that the best way to teach
physics to girls is different than the best way to teach it to boys."
Sax is an advocate and consultant for single-sex education.
ANOTHER
DYSLEXIC ACHIEVER. He says he reads at about a fifth-grade level. Yet
the Michigan native graduated from the University of Michigan at 19
with a perfect 4.0 average, according to the Detroit Free Press. On June 5th, the man, Benjamin Bolger, 32, was expected to receive his 11th advanced degree, a PhD in design from Harvard. He plans to teach at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.
OTHER STORIES. See our Del.icio.us site for news items we've saved recently on specific topics such as giftedness, gifted education, AD/HD, autism spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, etc. Note: Some of these news items came to our attention through ScienceDaily, EdNews.org, Education Week, CEC SmartBriefs, and other aggregators. |
From Other Newsletters and Digests
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Attention Research Update. In his monthly e-newsletter Attention
Research Update, David Rabiner reported on two cognitive training
studies for AD/HD that yielded promising findings. One study was on the
impact of different types of working memory training for children with
AD/HD. Reducing AD/HD symptoms with working memory training is not news
to Rabiner; he has reported on previous studies. The current study
compared training in auditory working memory versus visual/spatial with
regard to their effectiveness, and indicated that visual/spatial
working memory training "was associated with an increase in positive
behavior above and beyond medication and behavior treatments already in
place." Read about this and a study involving "computerized progressive attentional training for children with AD/HD" at Rabiner's website. Find Rabiner's review archives here.
Edutopia. George Lucas, obviously a gifted person,
claims he spent his school years daydreaming and writing stories. Now
his George Lucas Educational Foundation publishes Edutopia to help prevent learners like Lucas from "falling through the cracks." Edutopia has
launched a membership campaign to draw support from those with an
interest in reforming education worldwide. If you're not familiar with Edutopia, check out the website.
Wrightslaw Special Ed Advocate. Got a gifted or 2e kid with an IEP? The June 3rd edition
of Peter and Pam Wright's electronic newsletter featured tips for
ending the school year, reviewing last year's services, and planning
for next year. Also included, for you parents and educators who might
"confront" one another, "10 tips for avoiding confrontation." If you
as a parent must advocate for your child, check out the Wrightslaw website and its many resources. The June 10th issue focused on autism -- parents rights, early detection, and a chance to participate in an NIH research study. Read it.
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Resources for Parents, Educators, and Kids
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"Twice-exceptional"
is the intersection of ability and disability, GT and LD, so we tend to
pay attention to resources in both areas. One such resource is the
National Center for Learning Disabilities, NCLD. NCLD holds monthly "LD
Talks," text-based online discussions. One advantage to this format is
that transcripts are available for those who don't participate in the
actual discussion. June 30th's discussion is titled "NCLB and Students
with LD: Myths, Facts, and What the Future Holds." If you're interested
in this topic or just the concept of LD Talks, you can find out more at their site.
Education Week holds weekly chats in a format similar to LD Talk, although on topics of more general interest than LDs. The topic for this week was "Rudderless Youths," based on a new book by William Damon. Read about the book or find out more about Education Week's Live Chat.
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Events
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July 3-7, PG Retreat, Colorado Springs, Colorado. For families with profoundly gifted children. More information. July 7-18, Confratute, Storrs, Connecticut. For educators. By the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Connecticut. More information. July 9-11, Australian Association for the Education of Gifted and Talented (AAEGT) Biennial Conference, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. More information.
July 10-13, 2008 ADDA National Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota. For adults with AD/HD and the professionals who work with them. More information.
July 18-20, SENG 25th Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. For parents, educators, school psychologists, and others. More information.
July 27-August 1, Edufest, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. For educators, also includes a parents' day. More information. August 7-9, Dabrowski and Gifted Education: Beyond Overexcitabilities, Canmore, Alberta, Canada. More information.
September 16-20, 11th Conference of the European Council for High Ability, Prague, Czech Republic. Official language: English. For professionals and educators. More information.
October 30-November 2, National Association for Gifted Children Annual Conference, Tampa, Florida. For parents, educators, and other professionals. More information.
Please note: For state association conferences relating to giftedness, see Hoagies' website. For additional conferences on learning differences, see the website of the Council for Exceptional Children. |
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