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ONE IN FIVE KIDS suffers from some sort of mental disorder, according to the US Center for Disease Control, at a cost of $247 billion per year to society. The leading disorders in terms of prevalence are ADHD, ODD, depression, anxiety, and ASD. Causes for the increased rate of childhood mental illness include increased diagnosis but also environmental factors (chemicals, social trends, etc). Read more.
MATH AND BRAIN STIMULATION. A small study found that a brief course of cognitive training combined with a form of electrical stimulation to the part of the brain where arithmetic skills reside may improve brain function when it comes to calculation -- and the results seemed to be present six months after "treatment." Some neuroscientists quoted by CBS' reporting of the technique were skeptical, but you can read more and then decide whether to buy a transcranial random noise stimulation machine to use on that math-averse young person you raise or educate.
DSM-5: FINALLY off the presses this week, and The New York Times has one last (probably not) article on the topic, presenting pluses and minuses. Find it. Separately, at the site of the American Psychiatric Association, publishers of the DSM, you can find a listing of resources explaining the new organization and features of the manual; go there. (Your can also order your own copy for US$199.)
GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS QUARTERLY. The summer issue is out with articles titled "The Forgotten Gifted Child"; "Divorcing the G-Word: A Parent's Suggestion for Defining Giftedness"; and comments on Jim Delisle's critique of NAGC's definition of giftedness. Free subscription required; go to http://www.giftededpress.com/.
LD ONLINE reminded us that SENG has a 15-minute video on YouTube concerning gifted children who are misdiagnosed with disorders like ADHD or Aspergers. Find the video.
NCLD recently held a webinar titled "Diplomas at Risk: A Critical Look at the Graduate Rate of Students with Learning Disabilities." You may access a recording of the webinar and also download a copy of the NCLD report "Diplomas at Risk." Find out more.
EDUTOPIA has posted an article extolling the benefits of the "abundance model" for education over the deficit model, and relating both to the role of standardized testing. The abundance model is logically the best way to reach twice-exceptional students. Here's what the article says about it: "Meet the child where he/she is academically, socially, and emotionally then utilize those jewels through personalized instruction to help that student grow." Read the article.
VIRTUAL Q&A. Got questions about depression in children and adolescents? Check out a free online event sponsored by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation on that topic, scheduled for June 11 at 2:00 ET. Find out more.
AND FINALLY, THIS. A press release from the University of Michigan's Poll on Children's health notes an interesting finding: that while only 1 in 100 parents of teens believes their teen uses "study drugs," this does not track with what teens say. Other surveys peg the usage rate of stimulants not prescribed by a doctor at 10 or 12 percent. Be advised and read the press release. Or, be suspicious and read a 2012 overview of key findings on adolescent drug use.
HELICOPTER PARENTING. A couple recent studies show that more parental involvement in certain ways can limit a child's success in terms of achievement or satisfaction. The overall guideline, according to an article on the subject, "is that our help has to be responsive to the recipient’s circumstances: it must balance their need for support with their need for competence." Perhaps easier said than done, especially for parents of twice-exceptional children, but the article offers tips if you're interested. Find the article.
AUTISTIC ENHANCEMENT. Kids with autism see movement more quickly than others, according to research in which the autistic subjects confounded the original hypothesis under investigation. Find out more.
ADHD AND BREASTFEEDING. A study conducted in Israel indicates that breastfeeding might protect children from developing ADHD, at least to a degree. Other factors associated with the development of ADHD in the study included maternal age at birth, child gender, and parents' marital status. Find out more.
A PSYCHOLOGIST'S REVELATION. After attending the Dyslexia and Talent Conference recently, a conference organized by the Doctors Eide, psychologist Dan Peters felt compelled to share his experiences at the conference and also to reveal something that, until now, only a few people knew about him. In an article posted at his practice's website, Peters, father of three sons with dyslexia, also relates how his experiences at the conference brought back some vivid memories of his childhood. Maybe you can guess what his revelation is, but he has written a compelling and very personal article for all of us to enjoy and admire. Find the article.
MATT COHEN ADVICE. In his periodic Q&A column at LD Online, special ed attorney Matt Cohen addresses a question from a mom: "Can a school deny an IEP because of academic success?" [Of course they can, say all of you cynical parents of 2e kids. :-( ] The situation also involves whether the school is obligated to follow the recommendations of outside evaluators, an issue many in our audience face. Find Cohen's answer.
STILL MORE ON DSM. Sick of it? And it's not even out yet. But Diane Rehm recently had a guest on her NPR show, a guest who has written a book titled Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt against Out-of-control Psychiatric Diagnosis, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Everyday Life. Maybe the title gives away the author/guest's point of view, but you can hear the program and read an excerpt of the book at the site of the Diane Rehm show.
CMI RESOURCE. The Child Mind Institute has a "Mental Health Guide" on its site describing a variety of conditions, including many familiar to those who raise or educate twice-exceptional children. For each condition, there's a description of the condition, what to look for, causes, diagnosis, treatment, possible comorbidities, and FAQs. Find it.
GHF RESOURCE. The Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (should there be an apostrophe in there somewhere?) offers online courses to assist in the education of that bright young person you homeschool. A typical course is one hour per week for 15 weeks and costs $195. Topics include comparative mythology, civics, music appreciation, and more. Find out more.
MY GIFTED CHILD IS SLACKING ON HER HOMEWORK is the title of a recent advice column in The Bangor Daily News. The columnist's response? Let the daughter know her homework must pass muster and that she has no options. Harsh? Read the column.
ADDITUDE WEBINAR. "How Our Understanding of ADHD Is Changing" is the title of an upcoming webinar at the site of ADDitude. The webinar, hosted by Thomas Brown, PhD, is free and scheduled for May 23 at 1pm ET. Find out more.
DBS AND OCD. A recent study has shown that deep brain stimulation can help severe cases of OCD, and has also given some indication of how it helps. The study combined DBS with imaging techniques that showed brain activity, so researchers could see how the stimulation changed activity in the brain. The trick, evidently, was to use the magnetic imaging in a way that wouldn't interfere with the stimulation. Stimulation appears to decrease cross-talk and communication between the brain's nucleus accumbens and the frontal cortex. Find out more.
MORE ON DSM-5. A psychiatrist and author asserts that practicing psychiatrists will view the release of a new DSM as a "nonevent," but that "the same cannot be said for other institutions — insurance companies, state and government agencies, and even the courts — which will continue to imbue the DSM with a precision and an authority it does not have." If you have a child whose condition might require special services in school or insurance coverage, you might want to check out this article.
AUTISM AND THE THEATER. While movie theaters across the country occasionally hold special screenings for autistic and other sensory-sensitive audiences, a live theater company in Chicago offered what they called “Chicago's first autism-friendly live theater performance.” Held by the companies of Chicago Children's Theater and Red Moon Theater, the production was titled "Diving In." Read more.
DYSLEXIC ADVANTAGE. Dr. Fernette Eide of Dyslexic Advantage is offering a free webinar on May 22 -- a dyslexia Q&A. The website says that class size is limited. Check it out at the site of Dyslexic Advantage.
TED TALK ON EDUCATION. If you like your edification laced with humor, check out a recent TED talk on education in the U.S., and how in spite of high spending we have a dropout crisis and an epidemic of disengagement. The speaker is Sir Ken Robinson, and he discusses individual differences that affect learning; innate curiosity; the point of education (getting people to learn, not just passing on information); standardized testing; and how countries like Finland succeed educationally. It's a 20-minute talk, but if you can't spend the time to laugh along, there's also a transcript. Find the talk.
TRANSITIONS. The U.S. government is holding a two-week, online dialog on the topic of transition outcomes for those with disabilities, according to Disability Scoop. This sounds like an opportunity for parents of young people with LDs (or the young people themselves) to bring up "regulatory and legislative barriers that young people with disabilities are facing in accessing employment, education, Social Security and health and human services." Find out more. (Thanks to subscriber Tammie for pointing this out to us.)
AUTISM SPEAKS has posted coverage of "the latest developments from the International Meeting for Autism Research," If Asperger's or autism is a matter of interest in your home or classroom, you might be interested in the coverage; find it.
MORNINGSTAR has an article on its site called "College-planning Tips for Special Needs Families." While some of topics do not concern parents of twice-exceptional kids, much of the article is about 529 plans as a way to save for college. Find the article.
CHILD MIND INSTITUTE. Remember that this organization records some if its live, Manhattan-delivered workshops on topics of interest to the 2e community. You can see what's available at the moment by visiting www.childmind.org/en/workshop-series/ and checking to see if there is a "view recorded events" link under each of the major topics there (ADHD, Learning and Development, Pediatric Psychopharmacology, and so forth).
MORE ON NIMH, DSM. Time Magazine has posted an article describing the National Institute of Mental Health's apparent break with DSM categories and diagnostic guidelines. The NIH is seeking a more science-based approach to classification. Find the article, and find out more about what this means for psychiatrists.
HOW RITALIN WORKS. A review of imaging studies of Ritalin (methylphenidate) shows that the drug appears to "normalize" activity in certain brain areas in children who have ADHD. The areas are diverse, and include the frontal lobes, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. Affected areas control inhibitory responses, selective attention, and time perception. Find out more.
DYSLEXIA: GENDER DIFFERENT. Researchers neuroscientists have found significant differences in brain anatomy when comparing men and women with dyslexia to their non-dyslexic control groups, suggesting that the disorder may have a different brain-based manifestation based on gender. According to the researchers, less gray matter volume is found in male dyslexics in areas of the brain used to process language. Less gray matter volume is found in female dyslexics in areas involved in sensory and motor processing. Find a write-up of the study.
SENG-BASED COURSE ON PARENTING 2e KIDS. A four-session course on parenting twice-exceptional children is being offered by the Oak Park Unified School District GATE Advisory Council in southern California. Beginning May 15, the course will use James Webb's book A Parent's Gide to Gifted Children. Find out more at Google Docs or from Judy Wiener, the course leader; JudyWiener@gmail.com.
NEW BOOK. Temple Grandin's new book, The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum, has been released. Amazon calls it "A cutting-edge account of the latest science of autism, from the best-selling author and advocate." Find out more.
WRIGHTSLAW SALE. Through May 15, Wrightslaw is offering 25 percent off materials on its website. If you're a fan -- or if you need advocacy resources -- check out the sale.
SENGINAR. May 14th is the date of a SENG webinar titled "Families with Gifted GLBTQ Youth." Presenters are Terry Friedrichs, Ph.D., Ed.D., and Alessa Giampaolo Keener, M.Ed. Friedrichs is a contributor to 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter. Find out more.
ADDITUDE WEBINAR. May 14 is the date for a free ADDitude webinar called "Treating ADHD Across the Life Cycle." Dr. Steven Dickstein, of the Child Mind Institute, is the presenter. Find out more.
WE'RE BACK after a short vacation, scouring the web-o-sphere for news items and resources relevant to those who raise, educate and counsel high-ability kids with learning challenges. Here are some items that appeared in our absence. (Did you miss us?)
IT'S MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH in the United States. The organization Mental Health America outlines key messages and provides a toolkit on mental heath; find the site.
SLEEP AND ADHD. We've blogged about this before, but a recent article ties ADHD-like symptoms to sleep disorders. The author notes that we sleep less than we used to, and that we're mores stimulated during the day. "It might just be a coincidence," writes the author, "but this sleep-restricting lifestyle [including 'melatonin-inhibiting iDevices'] began getting more extreme in the 1990s, the decade with the explosion in A.D.H.D. diagnoses." Read the article.
DSM & LD. A participant in the revision of the DSM explains how he and other experts updated the criteria for diagnosing learning disorders. One change was combining three "buckets" (reading, mathematics, and written expression) into one, because "research has shown that these areas of learning are highly interrelated and shouldn’t be divided as though they were separate disorders," according to the author. The author also explains why the group eliminated the IQ/achievement discrepancy. Find the article.
NIMH: MOVING AWAY FROM DSM. The National Institute of Mental Health plans to move away from the symptom-based model of diagnosis used in the DSM to a model based on "objective laboratory measures," according to Disability Scoop. Those measures will draw on genetics, imaging, and cognitive science, among others. Find out more.
AUTISM: DIFFERENT IN GIRLS. Two recent studies suggest that autism may manifest itself differently in girls than in boys and, consequently, require different treatment. Furthermore, the genetic triggers for autism may be different in girls than in boys. Read more.
BIPOLAR DISORDER: CHILLING FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT. A woman who was a mom, teacher, and PhD candidate at age 27 describes how bipolar disorder affected her over 33 years, writing of her hospitalization, the beginning of recovery, the onset of mania, and how it all affected her sense of self. Read the article.
BIPOLAR DISORDER WORKSHOP. The Child Mind Institute held a workshop on bipolar disorder on May 2. Slides from the workshop are available, should you be interested.
OCD & ANXIETY WEBINAR. The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation is presenting a webinar on May 14 titled "OCD & Anxiety: Symptoms, Treatment, & How to Cope." The webinar is apparently free of charge. Find out more.
AUTISM 3X. The New York Times has run three recent articles on autism. One is a review of John Elder Robison's book Raising Cubby, about the experience of an autistic father raising an autistic son. A quote from the book: "He was so difficult he reminded me of myself." Another is an account of efforts to develop drugs for autism, efforts aided by new understandings of the genetics behind autism; find the article. And the third reported on a study that tied physical characteristics of the placenta at birth to the risk of developing autism; find out more.
AUTISM SYMPTOM TREATMENT. Researchers have developed a vaccine to act against a gut microbe that causes gastrointestinal distress in many children with autism. The vaccine has been successful in animal testing, but it will be years before it is on the market. Find out more.
PANDAS. The Child Mind Institute has posted an article about this uncommon, but frightening, sudden-onset disorder. The condition is often brought about by strep, and leads to OCD-like symptoms. Find the article.
ACCESSIBILITY IN TESTING. Assessments under Common Core standards may become more accessible for all students, including those with LDs, according to an article in Education Week. Two education groups are attempting to design new assessments that will replace the current patchwork of tests now in place. Find out more.
SENG NEWS. The April newsletter from Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted is out, with information about this summer's conference and other items. This month's newsletter is apparently not posted online, but you may find much of the news (and sign up for the newsletter) at the SENG site.
ON PARENTING. A cultural anthropologist explains at Slate how parents around the world view their role and their children in different ways -- and differently from American parents. From the article: "...ethnotheories are distinct enough, at least to an outsider, that they are apparent in the smallest details. If you look just at the words parents use to describe their children, you can almost always predict where you are in the world. In other words, your most personal observations of your child are actually cultural constructions." Find out how American parents are different from parents in the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and other countries.
CHILDHOOD EXPLORATION involves coming up with hypotheses about how the world works and how you're going to reach goals. According to researcher Alison Gopnick, children younger than 6 are at their peak when it comes to generating low-probability hypotheses for problem-solving. According to an article about Gopnik's research, "Such low-probability hypotheses often fail. But children, like adventurous scientists in a lab, will try these wild ideas anyway, because even if they fail, they often produce interesting results." Read more.
LD PREVALENCE. Up to 10 percent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to two or three pupils in every classroom, according to a new article. The article also notes that specific learning disabilities also co-occur for more often that would be expected. As, for example, in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 33 to 45 percent also suffer from dyslexia and 11 percent from dyscalculia. And remember that SLDs do not include conditions such as ADHD and Asperger's. Read more.
SIR RICHARD BRANSON offered his opinions on education and dyslexia to the BBC recently. In terms of education, he called for a more enterprise-related curriculum. About dyslexia, the billionaire said, "I just don't think people who are dyslexic need worry because they are often really good at other things." Find the the interview.
THERAPIES. An article at the site of NCLD throws cold water on the use of sensory integration therapy or movement therapy in treating LDs or ADHD. The article uses the words "no data" in explaining its conclusion. Find out more.
AUTISM AND TECH JOBS is the topic of a story at NPR, which notes that high-functioning young people may find success in the tech field because of hyper-focus. The story also notes a Texas school that trains kids on the spectrum for jobs ranging from programming to 3-D modeling. Read more.
THE CHILD MIND INSTITUTE has two upcoming events of interest, both streamed live for those unfortunate enough not be be able to live or work in Manhattan. One is "Anxiety Disorder in the Classroom: Treatment and Diagnosis," on April 23 at 8-9am EDT; find out more. Another is "Depression in the Classroom: Treatment and Diagnosis," on April 30, same time; find out more.
ADDITUDE has an upcoming free webinar titled "Clutter Cures: ADD-Friendly Answers for At-Home Chaos" scheduled for April 25 at 1pm EDT. Attendees may post questions beforehand. Find out more. Separately, ADDitude has announced seven new bloggers, four of whom will blog on topics of interest to parents and three on topics of interest to adults with ADHD. Meet the bloggers.
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