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August Briefing from 2e Newsletter

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In this Issue

Subscriber Alert

Giftedness and Exceptionalities in the News

From Other Newsletters and Digests

Resources for Parents, Educators, and Kids

Events

Too Cool Not to Share
 

The next issue of this briefing: early next month.

 

Subscriber Alerts

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Feedback, please! Answer one poll question to give us feedback about the length of the monthly briefing. Thanks!

2e Newsletter publisher Linda Neumann supplied an article to SENG in observation of National Parenting Gifted Children Week. Find the article here.

On Wednesday, August 18, Linda Neumann and Mark Bade are scheduled to present a webinar during NAGC's Virtual Conference "Classroom Tools and Techniques to Start the New Year." Their session, titled "Finding and Serving Twice-exceptional Learners," is directed at educators and will include issues of identification, prevalence, teaching strategies, and accommodations. You may find more information about the for-fee Virtual Conference at NAGC.

Giftedness and Exceptionalities in the News

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DO YOU BELIEVE IN JAVITS? The Senate committee charged with appropriating funds for its continuation doesn't, according to their vote on July 29th -- but the battle may move now to the US House of Representatives. Find more information at the CEC website.

THE EFFECT OF GOOD TEACHERS, QUANTIFIED. Try $320,000 -- that's the estimated value of a stand-out kindergarten teacher, as measured by the increased earnings of a full class or his or her students. The New York Times reported on a longitudinal study of 12,000 children, in which some teachers were identified as being able to help their students learn much more than other teachers. The results? "Students who had learned much more in kindergarten were more likely to go to college than students with otherwise similar backgrounds. Students who learned more were also less likely to become single parents. As adults, they were more likely to be saving for retirement. Perhaps most striking, they were earning more." Read the article and give a raise to a standout teacher you know.

ON BULLYING. Also from The New York Times: An op-ed piece titled "There's Only One Way to Stop a Bully" (training teachers and staff how to recognize bullying and intervene), along with quite a few thoughtful responses to the article by readers. If bullying is an issue that you're concerned with, find the article and the responses.

STUCK AT PROM CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED. One of our favorite contests, where high-school prom-goers make their outfits out of Duck brand duct tape, has announced this year's winners. You can see the winners here. (You've got to admit, winning this contest takes creativity, discipline, and artistic talent. It's not every kid who would spend up to 300 hours to craft, say, a Victorian-inspired gown -- even if they do get to spend the time in the company of their prom dates.)

DSM-V -- CONTINUING SAGA. An editorial in the Journal of Mental Health expresses concerns among experts that proposed guidelines in the new DSM would qualify almost everyone as having some sort of disorder. You can read the full editorial online, or you can read others' interpretations here or here.

GOODBYE, GIFTED PROGRAMS. We've posted about Javits, but individual states are looking for ways to save money, some by cutting gifted education programs. Nebraska, for example, may try to save more than $2 million by cutting funds available for programs for high-ability learners. Read more.

KID CAN'T SLEEP? MEDICATE. This month's edition of Sleep Medicine contains an article noting that "insomnia is a major problem among children in mental health treatment and at least a quarter of these patients are given sleep medication." Drugs recommended by clinicians to help sleep include antihistamines, clonidine (officially, a blood pressure medication), antidepressants -- and worse (value judgment). Read more.

THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT AD/HD. The stigma is gone -- that according to the Consumer Reports Health Blog. So if you feel embarrassed or guilty because your smart kid has AD/HD, read the blog and feel better. Find it.

BOOK-THEMED DAY CAMPS. 2e Newsletter book columnist Bob Seney has enthusiastically reviewed books from the "Percy Jackson and the Olympian" series for young people, which builds a world for readers to imagine and immerse themselves in, much like "Harry Potter" readers do. A recent article in The New York Times spotlights New York area literary camps structured around books and their themes. One of them is Camp Half-Blood, based on the Percy Jackson series. Read more.

ROTTEN KID? DON'T NECESSARILY BLAME YOURSELF -- at least, not according to an article in The New York Times. The article told the story of a somewhat "suboptimal" parenting couple and their difficult child; but the couple also had to other "well adjusted and perfectly nice boys." One psychiatrist quoted in the article said that the era of "no bad children, only bad parents" is gone. Read more and feel good about yourself -- maybe.  Followup -- the article generated several letters to the publisher, one letter agreeing and the other urging stricter parental oversight. Find the letters.

ARE WE TOO EASY ON OUR CHILDREN? Have we spoiled them? If you have strong opinions on this issue, read a thought-provoking article in The Washington Post. Find it.

IF YOUR BRIGHT CHILD IS BURNED OUT by the time high school graduation rolls around, consider a "gap year." The Boston Globe describes how high-achieving students and admission officials are encouraging time off to recharge. Read the article.

AN ARTICLE IN MODERN MOM asks the question, "Should you get your kids 'tested'?" -- as in cases where a three-year-old doesn't sit still. The author provides advice on when to worry and when to act. The author's bias? She thinks "we've lost sight of what constitutes a natural diversity between people and the interesting vagaries of small children," noting that the subject three-year-old had intelligent, individualistic parents. Read the article.

GIFTED PROGRAM TESTING AT 3... That refers to test subjects who three years old, which is what is happening in New York City as parents try to get their children into gifted programs. The article offered different points of view, which you can read here. That article also generated hundreds of responses, at least one of them from a self-described "recovering gifted student." Read more.

EQUITY AND GIFTED KINDERGARTEN. More on the gifted wars in New York City. Is admission to gifted kindergarten fair, given that some parents evidently spend $1000 on "test prep for their 4-year-olds"? If this subject titillates you, read the New York Times article. In the Midwest, where we live, it's either not a problem or we're traveling in the wrong circles -- although, to be honest, kindergarten is a long time ago for our family.

DOPAMINE AND IMPULSIVITY. A study at the University College London has shown that increased levels of dopamine in the brain make people more likely to choose instant gratification. AD/HD is characterized by high levels of dopamine. The researchers also say that sensory inputs and cues can increase dopamine levels. On the other hand, the researchers found little effect when subjects were given a dopamine suppressant. Read more.

MORE ON HEALTH AND CERTAIN "e's." Last month's blog postings included a number of items not included here on topics such as AD/HD and diet, a chemical linked to AD/HD, ASD and diet, AD/HD and your marriage, moving and child development, AD/HD and handwriting, and video games and your kid. We omitted those "lower-priority" items so as not to overburden readers of this briefing.

Note: Some of these news items came to our attention through CEC SmartBriefs, Education Week, EdNews.org, LD Online Newsletter, ScienceDaily, and other aggregators.
 

From Other Newsletters, Digests, and Blogs 

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ATTENTION RESEARCH UPDATE. Dr. David Rabiner has posted his July issue, and it it he reviews a study of the effectiveness of neurofeedback -- a sometimes controversial treatment -- on AD/HD. The results of his analysis? Neurofeedback might be good for some children but not others. About half of the children observed had significant positive effects six months later. Rabiner concludes that neurofeedback might have benefits for some children, and that its best use may be as part of a multimodal treatment. See his review.

EDNEWS.ORG. Intelligence and the Brain is a new book by Dennis Garlick, Ph.D., who answers questions about it in an interview with Michael Shaughnessy. Topics covered include the nature of intelligence, IQ, and IQ testing. Find it.

GIFTED EDUCATION PRESS DISCUSSION BOARD. Maurice Fisher, publisher of Gifted Education Press Quarterly, has set up a discussion board on his website to provide a forum for the discussion of any issue on educating the gifted. He intends the forum to be for teachers, parents, and program administrators. Visit the discussion board.

THE GIFTED RESOURCES NEWSLETTER, from Jo Freitag, contained items of interest in July. In one (Tony's story, page 8), read a note from a man with Asperger's, dyslexia, and AD/HD, but who has achieved a perfect score on an IQ test and now serves the gifted community in a variety of ways. In another (page 11) read an Australian mom's reaction to the PG Retreat, held annually in Colorado for profoundly gifted kids and their families; you'll also find her link to a newly established Facebook page about the Retreat. You'll probably find more items of interest, for example in Jo's regular list of interesting websites. Go Australian.

SENG. In observance of National Gifted Parenting Week, SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) published special newsletters each day. In Thursday's was an article titled "Existential Depression," an excerpt from the book Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis, by Dr. James Webb et al. Friday's feature article was "Advocating for Your Gifted Child," by Lori Comallie-Caplan. Find out more about SENG and their good works at their site.

UNWRAPPING THE GIFTED. Tamara Fisher, who recently blogged on the "not-so-rosy side of being gifted," later gave equal time to the upside, derived mainly from comments from her own students. One example: "I just learn differently, and I'm okay with that." Read more.
 

Resources for Parents, Educators, and Kids

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NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR TWICE-EXCEPTIONALITY -- NITE. The Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Iowa is establishing a national resource for 2e children. According to the Center, "The goal of NITE is to provide services for students who are twice-exceptional and training to increase the capacity of psychologists, counselors, and educators nationwide to better serve K-12 twice-exceptional students and their families." Find out more.

TEACHING MICROBIOLOGY WITH A VIDEO GAME. It can be done successfully, according to a press release from Wake Forest University. CellCraft, a game developed there and available on popular gaming sites, was played more than a million times within 10 days of its release. Gamers made comments such as, "I wish this game would've come out earlier; maybe I wouldn't have received a D in Biology." The game is available for free download at www.cellcraftgame.com. For the school year, it will include a free, downloadable teacher's packet and a printable lab worksheet. Read more.

BACK TO SCHOOL? It's not even August. But anyway, the American Optometric Association has issued its back-to-school recommendation for eye exams. The press release includes indicators of vision problems, for example performing below potential or struggling to complete homework. Find the release. Along those lines, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), members of which have been featured in 2e Newsletter, notes that August is National Children's Vision and Learning Month. Find the COVD website.

EDUCATION RESOURCE COMING. The U.S. Secretary of Education has announced the creation of a National Learning Registry to "help organize digital educational resources for teachers and students," according to Education Week. The registry will pull together items from various sites and make the resources easier to find. Find out more.

WANT TO KNOW YOUR LEARNING STYLE? Or your child's? Take a quiz consisting of 24 questions at Edutopia.org to "learn more about how you learn," according to the site. Take the quiz. (But remember: according to some researchers learning styles don't exist!)

POINTER TO RESOURCES. The Dana Foundation has on its site a PDF called "Brain Connections," a compendium of resources for a wide variety of brain-related conditions, including AD/HD, autism, learning disabilities, and Tourette's. Find it.

GIFTED AND MATH CHALLENGED? We stumbled on a site called "The Dyscalculia Forum" where a discussion is in progress about how it feels to be gifted and to have dyscalculia. Find it.

2e NETWORK IN LOS ANGELES. A couple of our readers in the Los Angeles area who have twice-exceptional children have, because of their struggle with the area schools to obtain services, formed an email support group called 2e Network, with a Yahoo group called 2e_Network_LA@yahoogroups.com. If you'd like to contact the parents directly, please let us know and we'll forward your email address to them.

DON'T FORGET that we bookmark articles that might not make it into our blog or our monthly briefing at http://delicious.com/2eNewsletter.
 

Events

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October 6-9, Regional CEC Conference, Sun Valley, Idaho. A 2e strand features Susan Baum, a member of the 2e Newsletter Educational Advisory Board. More information.

October 21-23, Connections and New Directions, 16th Annual New England Conference on Gifted & Talented Education and SENG 2010 Annual Conference, Hartford, Connecticut. By SENG, the Connecticut Association for the Gifted, and AEGUS. More information at www.necgt.org/.

November 10-12, 2011, Professional Development Conference. By the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented. More information at www.txgifted.org/tagt2010/schedule.

November 11-14, National Association for Gifted Children Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia. For parents, educators, counselors. Find information, when it becomes available, at www.nagc.org.

February 25-27, 2011, CAG's 49th Annual Conference, Palm Springs, California. By the California Association for Gifted Children. More information at www.cagifted.org/.

March 26-25, 2011, 2011 AEGUS International Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii. By the Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students. For parents, educators, clinicians. Find more information, as it becomes available, at www.aegus1.org/about.html.

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.
 

Too Cool Not to Share

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WHAT WE WERE AND COULD BE. The Economist, an unlikely source for inspirational stories about human development and potential, published a story about a Micronesian who sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti -- without a map, compass, or instruments (except "a chunky watch"). Instead, he used the stars, the sun, the wind, ocean life, and the water itself to tell him where he was. This article is about the potential giftedness in us all, should we pay attention. Read it.

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Best regards,  

J. Mark Bade

Phone: 630.293.6798