News Updates - Week of February 26th

A bit of an absence of posts do to a hectic assessment, workshop, and conference schedule but I am back with some news updates for everyone.

Israel: Standardized Diagnostic Test For Learning Disabilities

A bizarre updates about the great invention of standardized tests in Israel. This assessment discovery might be a surprise to you since we have been using these tests for almost a hundred years. It sounds like the state of the field is a real problem there with the article reporting that 50% of students are entering school with identified learning disabilities. It is an interesting look at our field elsewhere. CLICK HERE to take a look.

Children's Books Help Overcome Stigma of Mental Illness and Learning Problems


Helping children overcome the stigma of mental illness, behavioural issues, and learning difficulties can be difficult and can have a life long influence on self concept. A Canadian author has created a series of books to introduce these concepts to children and help them overcome some of the emotional based issues that go along with these challenges. The Toronto Star recently featured part of the series, which can be found by CLICK HERE.

OPA had a couple of relevant psychoed workshops (nonverbal assessment, PDD, OPA Psychoed Funding Projects) that were interesting and very well attended. I will post some summaries shortly.

Teen Prescription Drug Use Up

The good news is non-prescription drug use appears to be down. According to PsycPORT (the APA news service) incidence of prescription drug use is on the rise in the US:

"While their use of marijuana declined from 30.1 percent to 25.8 percent from 2002 to 2005, use of OxyContin, a painkiller, increased from 2.7 percent to 3.5 percent over the same period. Use of Vicodin, another painkiller, increased slightly from 6 percent to 6.3 percent.

Teens are also abusing stimulants like Adderall and anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax because they are readily available and perceived as safer than street drugs, Walters said."

I'm not surprised at all by the stimulant use increase. I've certainly heard of this abuse, particularly at college and university where individuals come across roommates with prescriptions. The article notes that some of the pain killer abuse is linked to online pharmacies which may not be as big an issue in Canada. But medication is more readily available here with low costs so who knows. CLICK HERE to read the release.

From "g" to Zzz

Certainly not a post to read before bedtime (as I tried). An online article on Horizontal 'g' appeared online this week. If you want to do some theory driven reading take a look by CLICKING HERE.

Cultural Variations: Brain or Learning Style?

Another great post on the blog of Dr. Eide, this time covering math skill variations between Anglophones and Chinese speaking students. Essentially they are seeing strong math performance and unique neural activation with the Chinese students. There is a pretty good explanation of why this is along with suggestions of how we could alter math teaching to maximize this highly conceptual and automatized style of mathematics.

The post is certainly worth a read CLICK HERE

Accomodation & Technology Guide: Dyslexia

Just a quick blog link. Special Education Teacher in Washington DC is a frequently updated blog that appears to have something to do with a project for this particular SERT's NCLD certification. It usually has more to do with classroom realities (not a big surprise) than assessment but it does provide some insight into that world. Today there was a post that will be of use to remediation, accommodation, and technology based recommendations for psychoeducational reports. I have been thinking a lot lately about that often "cut and paste" part of our report which we may often speed through yet it is likely the most important part of the report to the classroom and research teachers. It is certainly worth a read.

PostSecret

PostSecret is an interesting art project website that has led to the publication of two great books that really provide an interesting insight into the mind of others. Essentially individuals send in anonymous home made post cards that reveal a secret they would like to get off thier chest. The site is worth reading as our the books which sit nicely on my shelf and generate a lot of interest. A recent posting was related to LD and I thought it was worth sharing. You can find the PostSecret website by CLICKING HERE. Valentines Day is coming up so it is a bit more depressing than usual :)

Sleep Disorders in Children

Sleep disorder rates in children have been back in the press (and research domain) again has me thinking about these difficulties a bit more. Like I assume everyone else is doing I always ask about sleeping difficulties with individuals I assess and have yet to have anyone really report any problems. But I wonder how often children may perceive that their sleep patterns are normal even if they are not. Their own perception may appear to them to be reflection of reality. My wife just returned from a trip to China and jet lag combined with about 30 hours of travel in total showed me exactly what can happen to your executive skills after sleep deprivation.

Here is a list of articles that may be worth reading:

Kids' attention problems may be linked to sleep disorder
Parasomnias Are Common And Frequent In Children, Study Finds
Sleep disorders linked to school work
Sleep Problems Common in Kids
New Study In The Journal Sleep Finds That Parasomnias Are Common And Frequent In Children
Helping Teens Make Peace with Sleep

I am only familiar with one assessment for this area, the Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students (SDIS) by Marsha Luginbuehl, Ph.D., NCSP. A Children’s Form (SDIS-C) Ages 2 to 10 years and the Adolescent Form (SDIS-A) Ages 11 to 18 years.

A Positive Story: Dyslexic Teen Creates $10,000,000 business

A great positive little story about a dyslexic student came across my media wire this morning. A teenage Landmark School student was profiled today regarding overcoming his disability and developing (at the age of 15!) an online business that is now worth an estimated ten million dollars! Every time I read these stories I like to file them away so that I can share them with clients. They also do a very good job of making me feel very unproductive :)

CLICK HERE to read the report.

Executive Functioning & Metacognition

Dr. Brock Eide has a worthwhile little post over on the Eide Neurolearning Blog regarding executive functioning strategies for students with executive deficits that is a worthwhile read for strategy development and report recommendations. At the bottom of the post you will also see several links to other executive topics that are all worth taking a look at. CLICK HERE to have a read.

Autism ... it's an illusory epidemic .. wait no it's worse than ever.. wait no it's a myth.. wait no sorry it's on the rise.. what the heck?

I've been busy writing reports and have fallen a few days behind on updating this site but am up to date and back with some more news and resources for you!

Autism has been in the press like crazy lately. What is humorous about it is that about a week ago there was a rash of articles discussing Autism as being an over-diagnosed disorder and to some degree an "illusory epidemic" and then the week ended with a large release of articles about how Autism is at new epidemic proportions, that it should be declared an epidemic, and that we have reached the highest rate of diagnosis of all time. In reality it is probably some where in the middle. There is certainly people who are over diagnosing this and other disorders as well. But there is also certainly kids who are being termed "behavioural" that are clearly somewhere on the Autistic spectrum. The best way is to make up your own mind:

For Autism Epidemic Is Illusory CLICK HERE

Is the Autism Epidemic a Myth? CLICK HERE

Autism, hyperactivity and Tourette's syndrome on the increase in children. CLICK HERE

Autism May Not Be The Only Childhood Psychiatric Disorder On The Rise CLICK HERE

U.S. health officials say autism rate about 1 in 150 CLICK HERE

Online Presentation: Dr. Raven on Flynn & Raven's Progressive Matrices

A few weeks ago the University of Minnesota had Dr. John Raven (son of the test author) provide an online lecture on the Raven's Progressive Matrices and the Flynn effect. The webcast has been archived is available in full. It is quite upper level and test design driven as opposed to utility based. The start has a bit of a history of the test that was fairly interesting. You can CLICK HERE to view the 90 minute lecture (complete with an archive of the slides and the chat).

It appears that this presentation may have been born out of an educational debate that is ongoing between Flynn and Raven. You can read a bit of the Raven's side of the debate at THIS WEBSITE. I have not had a chance to read over either of their sides so I cannot comment on either sides at this time.

Free Workshops: ONBIDA

The Ontario Branch of the International Dyslexia Association has a couple of upcoming workshops in Toronto that may be of interest to some of you. The sessions are free and online registration is available. ONBIDA continues to surprise me, one would expect such a specific disability based association to not offer much of a unique service but they regularly have great workshops and a fantastic little conference. I've already signed up for the February session. You can view the descriptions below or on their website (where you can also register) by CLICKING HERE.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
How to Navigate the Emotional, Social and Behavioural Struggles Associated with Learning Disabilities
Presented by: Barbara Muskat, M.S.W., R.S.W.
Director, Community Consultation and Co-Acting Executive Director, Integra

Did you know that learning disabilities are the second most prevalent childhood health condition? Affected individuals are also at risk of facing a lifetime of emotional, social and behavioural struggles such as anxiety, depression, conduct problems, social isolation and poor self esteem. In this presentation you will learn:

* How psychosocial behaviours develop in individuals with learning disabilities and their impact on childhood, adolescence and adulthood
* What societal misunderstandings and stigmas are faced by individuals with learning disabilities
* How an ecologically-based approach can enhance coping and resilience

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Strategies to Help Your Struggling Writer

Presented by: Charles W. Haynes, Ed.D., CCC-SLP
Associate Professor and Clinical Supervisor,
Graduate Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Do you know a student who struggles to express what he wants to say? Teachers often observe that students with dyslexia struggle to express themselves in their writing. These same children and adolescents are at risk for failing socially and academically. Through lecture, discussion and hands-on activities, participants will learn practical strategies and techniques for supporting, or "scaffolding," students’ development of oral and written expression. Examples of theme-centred skills instruction at the word and sentence levels will be explored and their relevance to paragraph-level writing will be illustrated. Examples from lower, middle and upper grades will be displayed and comprehensive handouts will be provided. This session is specifically designed for:

* Classroom Teachers
* Speech-Language Pathologists
* Reading-Writing Specialists
* English as a Second Language Instructors
* Parents and advocates who want to learn research-based ideas for spoken-written language intervention