Monthly Archive for July, 2006

Same issues in India

Published on 31 July 2006 in Dyslexia and News. 0 Comments

In India, the field of Learning Disabilities faces some familiar problems. There, as in the US and elsewhere, people debate the value of testing. In the Mumbai Rustomjee educators and legislators are discussing a court decision staying the testing of students.

Professor in management studies Dr Gulab Mohite said, “The government needs to improve infrastructure in education sector and take into account that there are students who have learning disorders.”

Counsellor Dr Rajan Bhonsle said, “There is little awareness among people and lawmakers about learning disorders.

“There are hardly any trained special teachers available. There are many variants of learning disorders like Dyslexia, which even ordinary medical practitioners are not aware of.”

Link to the story.

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Important reminder

Published on 31 July 2006 in Comments and News. 0 Comments

Sixteen years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed the US Congress, in Iowa City (IA, US) a group of people celebrated the law’s enactment, according to Rob Daniel of the Iowa City Press-Citizen. They explained how the ADA helped them gain access to services and education, and it’s a message that deserves recounting. In these times when there is seemingly ceaseless pressure to reduce the number of children receiving special education, there was one especially well-taken comment by Chris O’Hanlon.

Chris O’Hanlon, director of the Everett Connor Center [for Independent Living in Iowa City], said the celebration was a way to remind people to keep pressure on the federal government to not narrow the definitions of what disabled is. A narrowing of the definition, he said, would cut more people off from services.

“It’s kind of funny to celebrate a law,” said O’Hanlon, who said he has arthritis and a learning disability. “It’s been 16 years, but we’re still fighting for it.”

Link to Mr. Daniel’s coverage of the event.

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3D bologna

Published on 21 July 2006 in Comments and Dyslexia. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

A Web site selling “help for smart kids struggling with reading and dyslexia” promises “Before you leave this site, you will discover the answers your child needs to be a successful reader.” Mira and Mark Halpert claim that “Gifted students Operating with a Learning Disability” are actually right-brained learners who think in pictures. On every page that I examined at the extensive Web site, they ask parents to complete this checklist and send it to them.

My child is able to remember things that happened long ago.

Once my child visits a place, they will remember it in detail.

My child has a difficult time following directions

My child has a difficult time copying material from the chalk/white board.

My child has a difficult time paying attention in the classroom.

When my child is interested in something they can focus on it for a long time.

My child is behind in reading

They recommend teaching sight words, seeing developmental optometrists, and lots of other nonsense. As evidence they offer testimonials. They do not refer to scholarly literature.

With so much bologna, all one needs is a couple of slices of bread and some mayonaise…. I hesitate to provide publicity for the site by linking to it, but it’s a good idea to let people see what’s being marketed to the unsuspecting.

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Mother tried in boy’s death

Published on 20 July 2006 in Families and News. 0 Comments

In San Fransisco (CA, US), Maureen Faibish has been on trial for felony child endangerment for leaving her son Nicholas alone in their house with the family’s pit bull dogs. The dogs killed the 12-year-old boy, who had Learning Disabilities, so the charges against Ms. Faibish carry an additional degree of severity. Many news sources in San Fransisco have been covering the events, which transpired 3 June 2005, and Ms. Fabish’s trial. Here in chronological order are links to coverage of the trail by Jaxon Van Derbeken of the San Fransisco Chronicle:

  1. Mom’s trial opens today in son’s mauling death – Attack by family pit bulls led to child endangerment charge– 07/17/06
    The mother of a 12-year-old San Francisco boy mauled to death by the family’s pit bulls goes on trial today to defend herself against charges that she put her son’s life in jeopardy by leaving him alone in a basement, with no working phone or toilet, next to a room where the dogs were kept….
  2. Conflicting portraits in dog-maul trial – Mother faces felony charge for leaving son alone with pit bulls– 07/17/06
    Prosecutors portrayed the mother of a 12-year-old boy mauled to death by his family’s dogs last year as “criminally negligent” in opening statements at her child-endangerment trial today, while the mother’s defense attorney described her as a “good person”….
  3. Mother in mauling case leaves court in tears – Graphic details of son’s fatal wounds overwhelm Faibish– 07/19/06
    A San Francisco woman on trial for child endangerment began to sob and had to leave court Tuesday during graphic testimony about the fatal injuries her 12-year-old son suffered when attacked by the family’s two pit bull terriers….
  4. Mom said victim of stress in mauling – Lawyer says woman was doing her best with husband away– 07/18/06
    The San Francisco woman whose 12-year-old son was mauled to death last year by the family’s pit bulls was “a good person and a good mother” who became overwhelmed by stress before she left her boy at home alone with the dogs, her defense attorney said….
  5. Prosecution rests in trial of dog-maul mom– 07/19/06, br />Prosecutors rested their case today against the San Francisco woman accused in the dog-mauling death of her 12-year-old son, after summoning witnesses to bolster their argument that she should have known the boy was unlikely to follow directions and stay….
  6. Father of mauled boy says his son had no fear of dogs, was ‘just soft’– 07/20/06
    The husband of the San Francisco woman accused in the dog-mauling death of her 12-year-old son tearfully testified Wednesday that the boy was a shy, obedient child who loved sports and video games and had no fear of the family’s pit bulls….

Link that searches Google News for stories with “Maureen Faibish” in them. This will point readers to coverage by TV and other newspapers in The City.

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LD Summit papers

Published on 13 July 2006 in News and Research. 0 Comments

Liz Ditz has a post that links to the full versions of the main papers presented at the LD Summit in 2001. I’ve dropped a comment on that post that links to videos of each session, in which one can see and hear (it’s multi-sensory!) the authors of the main papers as well as the commentors’ statements.

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More SAT smack

Published on 11 July 2006 in News and The press. 0 Comments

Eliot Schrefer, a novelist, has a post about extended time on the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude [or Assessment] Tests; college-entrance examinations) at Huffington Post. It’s another in a long-line of sensational stories of this sort, which Liz Ditz and I have covered repeatedly (see Liz’z list of related posts. Link to Mr. Schrefer’s editorial.

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Liz on assessment

Published on 6 July 2006 in Assessment, Dyslexia and News. 0 Comments

Over on I Speak of Dreams, Liz Ditz has a post with an extensive list of resources on assessments for dyslexia. Check it.

Oh my, oh my

Published on 5 July 2006 in Dyslexia and News. 0 Comments

Today’s harvest yields this gem under the title, “Girl’s upside down world,” from Lucy Waterlow of the Sun Online:

THE world of a 17-year-old girl has been turned upside down – because that is the only way she can read and write.
Gemma Williams has a form of dyslexia which means she can only understand words when she reads them the wrong way up and back to front.

So from an early age, she has only been able to read a book by turning it upside down.

And when using a computer, she can only make sense of it when the screen is rotated.

But the condition has not held back Gemma, from Castleton, Greater Manchester, as a cure has been found in the colour orange.

With no disrespect to Ms. Williams, any bets about how accurately Ms. Williams reads when holding books up-side-down? Any bets about whether she would read just as well with the book right-side-up as up-side-down when reading with it right-side up and able to obtain, say, £100? Any guess how much it might have cost to find out about the benefits of the orange overlays? Any guess about reading accuracy with and without the overlays when accuracy without the overlays is worth, say, £100?

Here’s the thing: I suspect Ms. Williams actually has reading problems. I suspect the up-side-down and orange overlays are simply superstitions that haven’t been checked very carefully.

Link to Ms. Waterlow’s story. Maybe this paper is, like Weekly World News, just tugging at my leg.

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New Zealand dyslexia

Published on 3 July 2006 in Dyslexia, News and The press. 3 Comments

TVNZ has a piece about dyslexia that’s both good and bad. The good: It calls attention to the fact that Learning Disabilities are not officially recognized in New Zealand. The bad: It repeats the common mistake of equating dyslexia with reversals and pegs incidence at 10%. There’s a 10-minute video that has other misinformation (e.g., individuals with dyslexia have attention problems; some, but not all, do).

Dyslexia affects at least one in 10 kiwi children but the Ministry of Education does not recognise it as an official learning disability.

It is a disability that, at a basic level, may be recognisable through problems such as seeing words or numbers back to front or putting them in the wrong places. It is not associated with a lower IQ, and in fact, many dyslexics have been known to have above average intelligence.

However, the learning needs of dyslexic children are unique. But under the current system, those with dyslexia do not receive the extra time and attention they need.

Link to the print lead I’ve quote here; from it, you can also find a link to the video (Flash required).

The discussion between newscaster and Steve Maharey (Minister of Education) is worth watching. Is it that the newscaster champions using the term “dyslexia” while the Minister says New Zealand uses “Learning Disabilities?” I don’t know exactly how New Zealand structures its special education services, so I need help here.

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