In a puzzling case of a student who appears to have had problems throughout the primary grades and did not get help until fourth grade, Liz Ditz asks the question, How Often Does This Happen? Teacher accused of testing fraud to avoid special education referral for her student. Not until the parents had pushed for years were the child’s problems recognized. Was this a well-meaning, but misguided teacher? Has anti-LD sentiment become so strong that folks cheat to keep kids from having the label?
Sphere: Related ContentArchive for the 'Assessment' Category
In an article about students at post-secondary institutions, Chris Coleman and colleagues reported that scores on the widely-used Nelson-Denny Reading Test may not be trustworthy for some populations and uses.
Coleman, C., Lindstrom, J., Nelson, J., Lindstrom, W., & Gregg, K. N. (in press). Passageless comprehension on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test: Well above chance for university students. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, November 23, 2009.
Sphere: Related ContentThe comprehension section of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) is widely used to assess the reading comprehension skills of adolescents and adults in the United States. In this study, the authors explored the content validity of the NDRT Comprehension Test (Forms G and H) by asking university students (with and without at-risk status for learning disorders) to answer the multiple-choice comprehension questions without reading the passages. Overall accuracy rates were well above chance for both NDRT forms and both groups of students. These results raise serious questions about the validity of the NDRT and its use in the identification of reading disabilities.
Writing in Pediatrics, Professor Kouichi Yoshimasu and colleagues reported that the chances of children and youths having reading disabilities is significantly higher among those who have ADHD than it is among the general population of children and youths. Furthermore, although boys are significantly more likely than girls to manifest reading disabilities among the general population, among children and youths with ADHD the chances of reading disabilities are about equal. However, because girls are so much less likely to have reading problems than boys, girls’ risk is much higher in relation to their female peers’ risk.
Continue reading ‘ADHD-RD connection confirmed and refined’
Deficits in reading performance may differ in etiology depending on the IQ of the individuals who have the deficits. According to an article in Behavior Genetics, Professor Sally Wadsworth and colleagues confirmed previous research showing that there is a stronger genetic element in the reading deficits of children with higher IQs (mean = 108.97 ± 6.71) than those with lower IQ (mean = 82.85 ± 6.40). The heritability for the former group is 0.75 ± 0.12, but for the latter it is 0.50 ± 0.10.
Continue reading ‘More on IQ and reading disabilities’
Although registration continues for the Division for Learning Disabilities conference, “Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice,” some of the sessions are reaching their limits and will be closed. As a part of its emphasis on creating workshop settings where participants learn how to implement evidence-based practices, DLD caps the number of participants in sessions.
Linda Siegel has put together a very impressive line-up of presenters and topics. As one can see here, the agenda for the meeting in San Diego 23 & 24 October 2009 is chocked full of good sessions by internationally renowned presenters.
| Presenter |
Title |
| David F. Bateman | How to Prepare for and Survive a Due Process Hearing |
| Jenny Sue Flannagan & Lucinda S. Spaulding | Best Practices for Inclusive Science Instruction |
| Steve Graham & Sharlene Kiuhara | Writing Problems and Writing Solutions |
| Paige C. Pullen | Phonological Awareness Assessment and Instruction: A Sound Beginning |
| Karen R. Harris, Karin Sandmel, & Mary Brindle, | “The Magna Carta Provided That No Free Man Should be Hanged Twice for the Same Offense”: Self-Regulated Strategy Development for Writing |
| Charles A. Hughes | Two Recent SIM Writing Strategies: The Essay Test-Taking Strategy and the Editing Strategy |
| Erica Lembke & Todd Busch | Using Curriculum-Based Measurement for Data-Based Decision Making within a Response to Intervention System |
| Maureen W. Lovett | Multiple Component Intervention to Improve the Outcomes of Struggling Readers: Remediating Reading Skill Deficits and Misguided Beliefs About Effort and Achievement at the Same Time |
| Marjorie Montague | Improving Mathematical Problem Solving of Middle School Students with LD |
| Brian Bottge | Teaching Mathematics to Adolescents with LD in Rich Problem-Solving Contexts |
| Rosemary Tannock | Understanding and Engaging Children’s Wandering Minds |
| Karen J. Rooney | Adolescent Literacy: Putting Research into Practice to Develop the Literacy Skills of Older Students |
| Deborah C. Simmons | Integrating Vocabulary Strategies into Social Studies Instruction |
| David Scanlon | The ORDER Routine: For Comprehending Content-Area Concepts |
| José Luis Alvarado & Anne Graves | RTI for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners: Supporting Teachers to Implement Tier I and Tier II Literacy Instruction for Older Struggling |
| Susan P. Miller | Building a Strong Numbers and Operations Foundation to Enhance Mathematics Success |
| Nicole Ofiesh | “Got Accommodations?” Implications for Planning Instruction and Transition from Secondary to Postsecondary Settings |
| Rollanda E. O’Connor | Successful Tier 2 Interventions in Reading: Grades K-4 |
| Kimberly Bright & Paul Riccomini | I THINK: A Real-Life Problem-solving Strategy for secondary students with Learning Disabilities |
Link to the conference page at TeachingLD.org to register.
Sphere: Related ContentThe National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) held a symposium regarding the release of “Adolescent Literacy and Students with Learning Disabilities: Building Effective Programs and Partnerships Adolescent.” Invited guests representing various US agencies, organizations, and interest groups joined delegates from the organizations that are members of NJCLD the afternoon of Friday 5 June 2009 for the session.
Mary Beth Klotz, chair of the NJCLD, introduced the session and individual speakers. Froma Roth, a representative of the American Speach-Language-Hearing Association and one of the writing team that prepared the statement, began the session with a brief recapitulation of its contents. Brett Miller followed Professor Roth with an overview of current research supported by the Reading, Writing, and Related Learning Disabilities of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, US Department of Health and Human Services. Nancy Hennesy, of the Council for Learning Disabilities and also a member of the writing group, described the complex and challenging context for addressing deficits in adolescent literacy.
These are the folks who participated in the panel:
- Mary Beth Klotz (National Association of School Psychologists);
- Nancy Hennessy (International Dyslexia Association) ;
- Amanda Karhuse (National Association of Secondary School Principals);
- Brett Miller (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development);
- Barbara J. Moore (Anaheim Union High School District, CA);
- Patti Ralabate (National Education Association);
- Froma P. Roth (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association); and
- Kippi Sutphen (Parent Representative).
Link to the NJCLD Web site (maintained by LD Online). Watch for the slides and other materials from the symposium to be posted there. Meanwhile, download a copy of the NJCLD document.
Sphere: Related ContentIn yesterday’s post, I asked what folks thought about a therapy that was described using terms such as “brain,” “balance,” “comprehensive,” “individualized,” “neurobehavioral,” and etc. I promised to explain more about this therapy. Here’s what I know:
What is it?
The descriptors are associated with BrainBalance Music, a product of Dr. Robert Melillo and Lisa Erhard. The main Web site for the product is called “i-waveonline.com,” but there are others.[1] Sometimes the name of the program is written without a space (BrainBalance) and sometimes it has a space (Brain Balance). I’m not sure which way to present it.
The therapy apparently requires that one listen to various audio recordings, sometimes with one earpiece removed and sometimes with the other earpiece removed. The recordings are entitled “Woman Breathing”; “Peaceful”; “The Gargle Guy”; and “Wolves & Whales.” The Web site has samples.
Continue reading ‘BrainBalance Music’
It’s sometimes hard to sort through the rhetoric about different methods used in teaching students with Learning Disabilities. However, two groups within the Council for Exceptional Children have made the task considerably easier. In a series of publications now numbering 16, the Division for Learning Disabilities and the Division for Research cut through the bologna to provide quick reviews about the effectiveness of current educational practices. These Current Practice Alerts, which are readily accessible for general readers, cover familiar topics including these:
- Class-wide Peer Tutoring
- Co-Teaching
- Cooperative Learning
- Direct Instruction
- Fluency Instruction
- Formative Evaluation
- Functional Behavioral Assessment
- Graphic Organizers
- High-Stakes Assessment
- Mnemonic Instruction
- Phonics Instruction
- Phonological Awareness
- Reading Comprehension Instruction
- Reading Recovery
- Social Skills Instruction
They are succinct and faithful to the research evidence. They even make explicit recommendations about whether to use the practice. What’s the hitch? Well, they’re free, so see for yourselves.
Link to the Web page listing these resources.
Sphere: Related ContentOver on Atlanta Cures Dyslexia Bill Allen has a page headed “Rich and Famous Dyslexics: Dyslexic Talents Unleashed!” that I suspect he hopes will inspire people to work hard and achieve great things.
What talented dyslexic – your child? — is next in line for life success? Once overcome, dyslexia can be a creative gift. The dyslexic is predominantly a 3-dimensional thinker, “seeing” or, more accurately, “perceiving” a whole picture when processing the input of many senses. Called “Big Picture Thinking” by The Learning to Read Program, this ability makes the dyslexic a very creative person when working with three-dimensional objects or physical events.
Look who’s dyslexic!
This is followed by a two overlapping lists of at least 70 names. Most of them are celebrities of one sort or another (entertainment, sports) or historically important figures. People who are familiar with other sites that identify individuals who putatively have Learning Disabilities will recognize many of these names.
There were some new ones for me, though. I do not remember previously reading assertions that Loretta Young, Michael Faraday, Gustave Flaubert, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Steve Jobs, John F. Kennedy, or Robert Kennedy had dyslexia. Does anyone know where I learn about these individuals’ Learning Disabilities?
Sigh. Probably not.
I understand that people hope lists such as this one will prove inspiring to children and even adults who struggle with learning. But, do the lists serve that function? And, are they accurate? Who completed the diagnosis of, for example, Michael Faraday? In addition, what about all the people who definitely have dyslexia and have accomplished a lot, but who are not famous? And what about all the individuals who have dyslexia and are managing to make it without fame and fortune?
Link to Mr. Allen’s page. There’s also a reading program available there; that’s a post for another day.
Sphere: Related Content
New syndrome: Audible delays?
Does anybody know what is meant by “audible delays?”
According to a newspaper report by Bethany Hart who writes for the Washington Court House (OH, US) Record-Hearald, a woman named Tanya Cottrell noticed her child “was learning things in school a bit slower than the other children. He was diagnosed [with] having audible delays which is considered a learning disability.”
Sphere: Related ContentContinue reading ‘New syndrome: Audible delays?’