Students with dyslexia & ADHD in independent and public schools

Decades of research tell us that the earlier we deliver stuctured, systematic, language instruction to children who are at risk for learning reading skills ( low in phonemic awareness, and/or serial naming)  the better our chances of preventing an achievment gap that can scuttle their hope for academic success in school. We need to keep repeating this to teachers and parents who are playing the "let's just wait and see" game. In that game the children almost always lose. --Lou

Excerpt:

"One in five people in the U.S. has some sort of learning disability like dyslexia, yet experts say that for many children, the problem remains undiagnosed longer than it should.

Recognizing the early signals of such learning differences can be important for a child’s success in school and life.

Pediatric neuropsychologist Nichole Dawson, PhD, has a son with dyslexia, and has teamed up with Learning Ally, a national nonprofit, to inform the public about dyslexia’s early warning signs and to advise parents on what to look for.

Dawson recommends watching children to see if they have difficulty with:

Learning the alphabet, identifying letters or processing letter-sound relationships

Learning nursery rhymes, preschool songs, the days of the week or the months of the year

Learning to count and recognize numbers

Reading out loud: slow, choppy and error-prone

Learning vocabulary or names of people and places

If a child is exhibiting some of these symptoms, an evaluation by an expert in dyslexia and reading impairments may be helpful.

School psychologists, pediatric neuropsychologists, educational therapists and speech language pathologists are among the professionals who are qualified to provide a diagnosis.

Dawson advises parents not to delay testing...

Check this out! Dr. Casanova presented his research into the diffferences between those with dyslexia and those with autism in terms of brain structure.--Lou 

Kudos to Kieth Amundsen and to the good folks at Learning Ally!--Lou

Staten Island teen 1 of 5 nationwide honored for service SILive.com Founded in 1948, Learning Ally serves more than 320,000 students from kindergarten through college who cannot read standard print due to dyslexia, visual impairment or other...

This sounds like an amazing experience!-Lou

Excerpt:

"...The inspiration for the work was  a poem, As I See It, written by  documentary maker Tom Barbor- Might when he was just 12 years  old.

The project came about through  the Wellcome Trust, which encourages arts projects inspired by medical science. Lewis was put in touch  with the Miles Dyslexia Centre in  Bangor when one of the researchers  mentioned the poem.

“In the poem, Tom expresses his  feelings about being a dyslexic  child, his struggles with language  and so on,” says Lewis. “That became the basis for the piece – it’s a  great poem, especially for a 12-year-old.”

The poem illustrates some of the  word confusion the pupil faced  while writing his poem and Lewis  says they add to his piece.

For example, he uses the word  ‘lifes’ instead of ‘leaves’.

“It provided an additional image  which he didn’t intend about life  itself being blown around and  chaotic,” says Lewis, whose artist  daughter Martha is also dyslexic.

The starting piece for the composition was recording a number of  dyslexic people reading the poem,  including its author.

“I didn’t let them see it before  the recording and they were struggling to read what it said, but I was  trying to compute their struggle  through sound. It led to some interesting and unexpected outcomes.”

Lewis then used computers to  manipulate the sounds of the  voices.

“Sometimes you can hear the  words being said, but sometimes  you can’t make them out. Sometimes they are quite chaotic and  jumbled and something new can  emerge.”

The 16-minute piece was premiered in Manchester last October  and Lewis warns that it’s not always  easy listening..."

Read more at Dyslexia inspires composer Andrew Lewis’ s

Brooks talks here about the importance of affective strength and resilience particularly for students who are at risk.--Lou

"....Attention has shifted toward the psychological for several reasons. First, it’s become increasingly clear that social and emotional deficits can trump material or even intellectual progress. Schools in the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, are among the best college prep academies for disadvantaged kids.

But, in its first survey a few years ago, KIPP discovered that three-quarters of its graduates were not making it through college. It wasn’t the students with the lower high school grades that were dropping out most. It was the ones with the weakest resilience and social skills. It was the pessimists....

Categorized by challenge area and difficulty level.--Lou

Excerpt:

"...A fresh look at learning

If your child has a special need or learning difference, you've come to the right place. Common Sense Media gets lots of requests for product recommendations from parents whose kids struggle with traditional learning. Some of their kids have a hard time with schoolwork; others have trouble staying on task or find it difficult to express their feelings.

Our hope for you and your kids

No matter which hurdles your kid faces, the apps and other media included in Power Up can give them an added boost. We don't expect an app to be a complete solution, of course. Working with kids who face challenges requires lots of time, attention, and patience on the part of a parent, teacher, or other adult caregiver. Our goal is to offer you a host of fun, well-designed apps that were recommended and tested by field experts. We hope they can become a part of your toolkit as you work with your child...."

Student engagement and taking a leap beyond the traditional classroom models is why this article is posted on my Lean Toward Risk site.  This isn't your typical high school curriculum--and these are NOW not your typical high school students.  Lean in and learn...a great article.  Congrats, Hawken!

  Basically every start-up accelerator in America has modeled themselves after Steve Blank's philosophies for entrepreneurship. This is a first for a high school...

Excerpt:

"Lessons Learned

In the next post, 6-8th graders use the Lean LaunchPad at Hawken School..."

I was there and I agree with Dan--it was an amazing conference. Kudos to the Dr.s Eide! for a remarkable gathering!-Lou

Excerpt:

"..I came to Connecticut for the first annual Dyslexia and Talent Conference inspired and created by Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide, and supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation. For those of you who work in the field of dyslexia or have a child with dyslexia, you may know of the groundbreaking and paradigm shifting work of Brock and Fernette. Capitalizing on the important work of pioneers in the field (many in attendance), Brock and Fernette started a movement of re-framing and re-visioning the conceptualization of dyslexia as solely a “deficit” in reading and writing, to a more complete understanding of the overall processing or brain patterns of the dyslexic brain, which happens to have many strengths in addition to its “deficits.”

Presenters and attendees included scientists from the fields of neuroscience, astrophysics, psychiatry, and paleontology. There were physicians, psychologists, professors, educators, filmmakers, administrators, CEOs, inventors, philanthropists, School Heads, business consultants, writers, and a naturalist. Among the group were very successful entrepreneurs, a Pulitzer Prize poet, best selling authors, and an Academy Award filmmaker. There were parents of dyslexic children, young and old, also in attendance. Many of the attendees occupied more than one of the aforementioned professions and roles.

The purpose of this conference was to bring together entrepreneurs, scientists, professors, educators, practitioners, technology and consulting companies, and advocacy organizations that are stakeholders in the game of dyslexia. While I was aware of the goal of the conference and the professions who would be attending, I hadn’t realized that a vast majority of these people would be dyslexic individuals themselves. This small, and yet very significant fact, seemed to allow for an experience that most attendees did not seem to anticipate, and will never forget..."

I love this guy! David Flink is an outspoken advocate for all of us on this journey--dyslexic and non dyslexic alike, closeted and out: Thank you for your savvy, and your personal as well as professional advocacy!--Lou

David's letter continues from above:

"...The letter's author attempted to insult liberals, but the terms he used attacked the 10 percent to 17 percent of the American population who have dyslexia. I can assure you that dyslexia is bipartisan, affecting those on the left and the right equally.

People with dyslexia have challenges decoding words, but with the right educational support go on to achieve greatness – investment mogul Charles Schwab or Academy Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg are two.

Yet under the best circumstances, students with dyslexia are more likely to be bullied, stigmatized and suffer with a poor self-image. They certainly should not be disparaged on the editorial page of their local newspaper."

David Flink

New York City

David Flink is CEO of Eye to Eye.

Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/letters/3944774-74/dyslexia-affecting-assure#ixzz2TCvuJ7fi ;
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