Monthly Archive for January, 2008

Head trauma

Published on 30 January 2008 in Causes, Dyslexia, Families, News and Research. 0 Comments

Adrienne Edwards of Dyslexia Tutor: News-Resources posted an entry about the potential influence of head trauma on learning and behavior.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, by Thomas M Burton, researchers at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York believe they have found a common thread running through many cases of seemingly unrelated social problems: a long- forgotten blow to the head.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 5.3 million Americans suffer from mental or physical disability due to brain injury.

But what is new in this research is the contention that there are many other cases where a severe past blow to the head, resulting in unconsciousness or confusion, is the unrecognized source of such problems.

Link to Ms. Edwards’ post.

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NCLD panel on early early intervening services

Published on 28 January 2008 in Administration, Assessment, Dyslexia, Families, News, Policy and Research. 0 Comments

The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) has scheduled a panel discussion about prevention of Learning Disabilities. Entitled “RTI Goes to Pre-K: A Comprehensive System for Early Intervention to Promote School Readiness,” the discussion is slated for 11-noon on Wed. 30 January 2008 in HC-6 U.S. Capitol Building, Washington (DC, US).

Participants will discuss the most recent data that supports [sic] the need for universal early literacy screening and supportive services before children enter kindergarten and will specifically discuss the impact of a new program — Recognition and Response — on students in preschool and will highlight key policy recommendations.

Continue reading ‘NCLD panel on early early intervening services’

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Brain-based learning

Published on 24 January 2008 in Comments and News. 0 Comments

At lunch the other day, my friend Dan and I agreed that there really had to be something to brain-based learning…as in, try learning without a brain. But, the readers of Teach Effectively! surely seem to consider brain-based learning as the most bogus of the four reform movements that are compared in the current Bogus Bowl at that site.

Dan also noted that there really has to be something to inclusion, too.

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NJCLD Jan 08

Published on 23 January 2008 in Administration, News and Policy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Last weekend on behalf of the Division for Learning Disabilities, I attended the semi-annual meeting of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD). The NJCLD has a long and distinguished history, one that I ought to describe in a page or post, but that’s the basis for another post, but not this one.

The basis for this post is to alert folks that NJCLD will soon publish new papers that discuss important topics about Learning Disabilities. One of them is the long-in-development treatment of adolescent literacy. Watch for it. It should appear in the summer of 2008.

Another is a very brief paper about the construct of Learning Disabilities. It also should appear in the summer (I hope), in time to be in the portfolios of people who will be discussing special education issues in the next US Congress and presidential administration.

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MS tiff about funding

Published on 16 January 2008 in Administration, Comments, Dyslexia, News and Policy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Mississippi (US) Governor Haley Barbour and the state legislature for Mississippi appear to be at political loggerheads about education funding, according to an article entitled “Gov. Haley Barbour: Version 2.0 — Katrina still in his sights: Ongoing hurricane recovery, funding Medicaid and education gains top Barbour’s agenda” by Sid Salter of the Clarion Ledger. Mr. Salter’s article has a broader focus than education, but there are several paragraphs which caught my attention. In them, Mr. Salter reports about Gov. Barbour and Representative Cecil Brown disagree about the targets for education funding. Funding of programs for reading instruction, including programs addressing dyslexia, appear to be among the casualties in this disagreement.
Continue reading ‘MS tiff about funding’

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NZ gets started

Published on 11 January 2008 in Administration, Comments, Dyslexia, Families, News, Policy and The press. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

In an article entitled “NZ ‘failing kids who struggle to learn,’” Lane Nichols of the Dominion Post reported about a critical evaluation of New Zealand schooling. It seems that NZ schools have been failing to address the problems of students with Learning Disabilities and some parents of those students have complained. Shades of Eli Tash in Milwaukee (WI, US) in the 1960s!
Continue reading ‘NZ gets started’

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NCLD on FB

Published on 8 January 2008 in News, Policy and The press. 3 Comments

Thanks to Nancy Mamlin, I learned that the National Center on Learning Disabilities (NCLD; the well-financed, not-for-profit, lobbying group based in New York, NY, US; see earlier entry about Carrie Rozell’s valuable contributions) has a presence of Facebook. I joined.

It’s good to see that this cause has a presence in that venue. Though I haven’t taken the time to sift through them all and there may be some clunkers among them, I found some encouraging comments there.

I’m on FB as myself, not some pseudonym, by the way. Feel free to send me a notice, if you’re there. Of course, if you’re already on FB, you can join the cause using this invitation. Note that there is a link to NCLD in the sidebar.

Nancy, I may have joined directly, so I’m not sure whether it will show up as coming through your invitation. I fear you won’t get credit for recruiting me. Sorry.

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New CLD Web site

Published on 6 January 2008 in Comments and News. 0 Comments

The Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD) has launched its revised Web site. CLD, which has been an active and affirmative force in support of Learning Disabilities for many years, sent this message to its members last week.

We are proud to announce the launch of our new website! This website was designed to provide you more information about CLD, the field of learning disabilities, and our upcoming conferences, as well as membership information. We welcome your comments and feedback on what you like about our new website, as well as letting us know of any problems you might find. Please contact us at mailto:CLDInfo||@||ie-events.com [remove the pipes surrounding the at sign] to tell us what you think!

There’s been a link in the LD Blog blog roll pretty much since the beginning of this blog. It’ll stay there, but for folks’ convenience, here’s another link that will allow you to explore the new CLD Web site.

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Seen TZP?

Published on 3 January 2008 in Comments, Dyslexia, News, Not LD and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

This is the lead from an editorial praising the movie, “Taare Zameen Par.” The movie is generating multiple entries in my Google news searches.

Eagle’s Eye: Every child is special

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s directorial debut, Taare Zameen Par (TZP) focusing on the saga of a dyslexic child, possibly is one of the outstanding Hindi films produced in 2007.
Released 21 December worldwide, TZP vividly portrays the manner in which an eight-year-old boy, disinterested in studies, is humiliated and punished by all his teachers at school.

At his home, too, with utter disregard to the boy’s special talent for painting, his parents pack him off to a boarding school as a disciplinary measure. The boy faces virtually living hell and yet again fares badly in studies until an exceptional art teacher (played by Aamir) ‘discovers’ the hidden talents of the child.

Later in the editorial, the author trots out the usual list of famous individuals said to have had dyslexia and raises the currently pop ideas of Professor Julie Logan from the Cass Business School in London, which we’ve discussed before on LD Blog. Sigh.

Although I have serious problems with those lapses and the intellectually challenged idea expressed in the film and the editorial title (“every child is special”), I wonder what the movie’s like. Anyone seen it? I’d like to see it.

Links:
The original editorial ;
The earlier post about Professor Logan’s research;
The official Web site for the film.

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