LD News
Each week, LD OnLine gathers interesting news headlines about learning disabilities and ADHD issues. Please note that LD OnLine does not necessarily endorse these views or any others on these outside websites.
To receive these headlines in an e-mail, sign up for our free LD Newsline service. These headlines are available as an RSS feed by clicking on the RSS icon below.
Note: These links may expire after a week or so. Some web sites require you to register first before seeing an article.
Go to page: |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
Sort by: | Date | Title |
At Perkins, High-Tech is Both Future and Now
Boston Globe
Before Ashley Bernard got her new iPod Touch, the Perkins School for the Blind student could not use an MP3 player without help. But thanks in part to school officials, who encouraged Apple Inc. to make an iPod that gives and responds to spoken commands - standard on the latest models - Bernard can listen to her music like any other 16-year-old. Such technological advances received a major boost Monday night with a $10 million donation from the Grousbeck Family Foundation.
Dyslexia More Complicated for Chinese
HealthDay News
Dyslexia is different, and perhaps more complicated and severe, in Chinese-speaking people than in those who speak English, a new study contends. University of Hong Kong researchers say the differences can be seen in brain scans and in the performance of visual and language tasks.
U.S. Illiteracy: Why Johnny Still Can't Read
USA Today
By the time he was 17, Antonio Rocha had bounced among 11 New York City schools and was reading at a first-grade level. It wasn't until he told school officials "I want a lawyer!" that things began to change. "Compensatory education" complaints are increasingly being used by parents who say school districts have a legal responsibility to educate children in spite of disabilities.
On Winning a Nobel Prize in Science
New York Times
New York Times writer Claudia Dreifus has a conversation with Carol W. Greider about her Nobel Prize win. Greider speaks about learning she had won, the nature of her research, and growing up with dyslexia.
Opinion: Lift the Charter School Cap, Create More Special-Ed Charters
New York Daily News
On the same day that Mayor Bloomberg recently called for lifting the cap on NYC public charter schools, the Department of Education further bolstered his argument by revealing the city spent $102 million last year to send students with special learning needs to private schools. Yes, you read that right. Charters, long maligned for not serving enough special education students, could significantly reduce that cost - they've shown they can provide the same quality special education services as private schools at a fraction of the price.
Parents, Educators Experience Dyslexia
News-Herald (OH)
Jeanine Majikas thought her 9-year-old son couldn't see well. It wasn't until recently that she discovered her son's inability to read and write was connected to a learning disability — dyslexia. That's when Majikas and her husband, Robert, started researching dyslexia and came across Wednesday's event at South High School in Willoughby, where parents and educators took part in simulations of the disability.
Carol Greider wins Nobel Medicine Prize despite Dyslexia
MonstersandCritics.com
Molecular biologist Carol W Greider, 48, is the youngest of the three researchers awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday. She shares the honor with US researchers Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak for discoveries important to knowledge about cancer, aging and inherited genetic diseases.
Local Oregon Private School takes on Learning Disabilities
The Oregonian
With classical music playing in the background, the group of mostly boys peers into paperback copies of "Romeo and Juliet" as their teacher, whose booming voice seems to embrace the room, helps them parse the bard's prose. It's a scene typical in English classes across the country, but here at Park Academy, Shakespeare represents a particular challenge. Park, a private, nonprofit school near Lake Oswego, OR caters to students with dyslexia and other language-related learning disabilities.
Funds OK'd for Early Special Education in Baltimore
Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore County school board unanimously approved a $2.5 million contract Tuesday night for special-education services for children from birth to age 5. The five-year contract, to be funded with federal stimulus money, will provide behavioral consultation, and assessment and support services for children with developmental delays or disabilities. "The first five years of life, we're providing the foundation for learning for the rest of that child's career in school," said Paula Boykin, the district's birth-to-5 supervisor, who also directs the Infants and Toddlers Program.
Students with Learning Disabilities, ADD Overcome Obstacles in One-Room School
St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Arnold Stark reads aloud as his students follow in their biology textbooks. The subject matter is quite complex. The students in the front of the classroom are as young as 10 years old. They stop and make highlights as Stark advises. The ones in the back, mostly of high-school age, wait patiently while everyone catches up. All, including Stark, have attention-deficit disorder or learning disabilities. Most of the students at the Academic Achievement Center in Seffner, FL have both, but that doesn't stop them from tackling advanced subjects.
ADHD: It's Not Just a Kids' Problem
Florida Times-Union
Most of us find life, work, family and other daily responsibilities challenging at times, but if you find yourself unable to pay attention or to follow through on ordinary projects and other responsibilities, you may have a more serious problem than just the stresses of daily living. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD, is a neurobiological condition that makes it difficult for people to focus on important tasks. Millions of adults - not just rambunctious kids - are showing symptoms every day.
For a College Applicant with a Learning Disability, Additional Hurdles
The Choice Blog, New York Times
For students with learning disabilities, the thicket of applying to college can be even more impenetrable than for students without such issues. One of the afternoon workshops at last week's Nacac conference, "Supporting the Transition to College for Students with Learning Disabilities," set out to answer some of those nettlesome questions for high school counselors trying to guide students with disabilities toward supportive colleges where they might thrive.
DC Parents Decry Move against Private School
Washington Post
Dozens of parents, teachers and advocates have pledged to fight D.C. public school plans to pull children receiving special education services from a long-running private school in Virginia. During a meeting Friday, parents praised Accotink Academy and said city officials' accusations that the school wasn't serving its students are untrue.
Arizona Educator Sets an Example
Arizona Republic
The 40 students at Scottsdale, Arizona's Lexis Preparatory School have a special relationship with Head of School Dana Herzberg. The students, who have learning disabilities such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia, have a school leader who has overcome similar learning disabilities. "They can't say, 'You don't understand. It's hard.' " Herzberg said. "Well, I do get it."
Brain Scans Link ADHD to Biological Flaw Tied to Motivation
Washington Post
Scientists maintain that they've been narrowing in on the origins and mechanics of disabling distraction, while gathering increasing evidence that ADHD is as real as such less controversial disorders as Down syndrome and schizophrenia. Their most recent progress is described in a Sept. 9 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, based on a new study that indicates a striking difference in the brain's motivational machinery in people with ADHD symptoms.
Childhood Apraxia of Speech Brings Years of Hard Work
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Michael Barone was about 2, he started speaking a few words, including "Mom," "Dad," and "Mallie," the name of his dog. "Then, when he was about 2 1/2, we started realizing he wasn't saying those words anymore," said his father, Joe Barone. Just what was going on wasn't diagnosed until after the Barones took Michael to see a speech pathologist when he was 4. Michael was diagnosed with "childhood apraxia of speech," a disorder also sometimes called "verbal apraxia," "developmental apraxia of speech," or "verbal dyspraxia."
Opinion: Funding May Push Special-Ed Labeling
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The percentage of students classified as having a disability varies widely from state to state. A child in Maine is 74 percent more likely to be identified as disabled than a child in California. And before you ask, it's not the lobster diet or the snowy Maine winters that produce so many disabilities. It's much simpler than that. It's the money.
Student Turns to Racing to Help with Learning Disorder
NASCAR.com
For one young man, racing is more than just a hobby; it's become a coping mechanism for his learning disability. "Racing helps me get away from some of the down times of being dyslexic. I escape when I race in my car. I've learned that everybody struggles with different things and that everyone has a talent," Abbey told a learning specialist and author who featured the student and racer in her recently released children's book, That's Like Me!
D.C. to Ask Judge to Dismiss Special Education Court Order
Washington Post
Citing improved performance and a recent Supreme Court ruling, the District soon will ask a federal judge to dismiss a 2006 court order that requires it to provide timely assistance to a backlog of families seeking special education services from public and public charter schools.
The National Review: Special-Education Needs Help
NPR
Officially reported disability rates in public schools are entirely unreliable and are almost certainly inflated indicators of how many students are actually disabled. Eventually, school and government officials are going to have to acknowledge that our current procedures for identifying students as disabled are fundamentally flawed and commit themselves to improving these procedures.
Sponsored Links
About these ads
Consumer Tips
