Dyslexia and Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom made it big as an actor even though he came into this world with dyslexia.

One of the most popular stars today, Orlando Bloom who has played the role of Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean and Legolas in The Lord of the Rings. To kids everywhere, there’s no question: Orlando Bloom is the flavor of the moment. But to kids with dyslexia, the dyslexic actor represents an important role model as well.

Dyslexia Advocate

Orlando Bloom

Not at all shy about his reading challenge, Bloom has been an advocate for kids with dyslexia, telling them they can do anything they’ve got their hearts set on doing. Witness the 26 big film and television roles the actor has played since he first made a splash on the screen in 1994. At 37, Bloom can look back on his struggles with dyslexia and see how his disability made him more expressive and vibrant as an actor, in spite of making it difficult for him to read and learn scripts.

Inspiring Quotes

Here is a collection of Orlando Bloom quotes guaranteed to inspire you no matter what kind of day you’re having. Print them out and stick them to your fridge with a magnet. Every time you feel discouraged, renew your commitment to making the best of things by reading how Orlando did just that:

“You’re part of a very special club and it’s a gift and don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re not good enough. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that because you struggle with dyslexia that you’re never going to make it in life, because it’s simply not true.”

Legolas Greenleaf, portrayed by Orlando Bloom

"It's not a disability; it's a challenge."

"Creativity is the key for any child with dyslexia, or for anyone for that matter. Then you can think outside of the box. Teach them anything is attainable. Let them run with what you see is whatever they need to run with."

"Don't laugh at your mates when they have problems with reading! Maybe they'll become movie stars and you'll want tickets to their premieres."

“I always knew that I wasn’t stupid. I felt like I was a smart kid, I just struggled with aspects of, of getting educated."

“Hold onto your dreams, take this obstacle and make it the reason to have a big life.”

"My mom used to tell me, 'If you read 50 books, I'll get you a motorbike.' So it inspired me to read a lot and work through my dyslexia. But I never quite got to 50. And I never got that motorbike!"

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Visual Stress is it Dyslexia?

Visual stress is what people experience after they view text for long periods of time. While the symptoms differ depending upon the individual, the most common symptoms are garden-variety headaches as well as migraines, eyestrain, and letters that seem to jump or move around on the page. Visual stress is rather common, yet often goes undetected.

Irlen Syndrome

Illustration of how sufferers of Irlen syndrome see text

In the case where there are reading difficulties and no underlying cause can be determined, it is worth a try to see if changing the background color for text relieves the symptoms. If so, this type of visual stress is called Meares-Irlen Syndrome, Scotopic Sensitivity, or Irlen Syndrome (within the U.S.). Researchers estimate that some 20% of the population suffers to one degree or another from visual stress. For many people, reading could be improved with the use of a colored overlay.

Self-Evident Improvement

Once the person suffering from visual stress can avail themselves of the proper tinted background, a number of reading-related aspects may be ameliorated. The right background can lead to improvements in reading fluency, speed, comprehension, and attention span. While researchers haven't quite determined why the change in background color makes a difference in reading, they do know that such improvement is self-evident and that customizing the proper color for the individual is crucial.

Colored Lenses

Colored lenses have also been utilized and have had a great effect. The prescription is made after the individual is assessed by a specialist in the field. The glasses are costlier than overlays but are more useful since they allow the user a greater field of vision. In the classroom, the lenses permit the wearer to see from the blackboard, the printed page, or from posters. The lenses serve the purpose of eliminating glare from whatever text the user is viewing.

Symptoms of Stress

Peer Pressure

On the other hand, sometimes the color preferences change, which necessitates a new assessment and yet another costly pair of colored glasses. Another issue to consider is the child's feelings about wearing these unusual spectacles in public. The child may not mind as an elementary student, but high school may contain social pressures beyond a child's' comfort level.

Trial And Error

The individual may benefit more from one color as an overlay but from a different color in the form of lenses. The color of the lenses can only be determined by optometrists or orthoptists who employ the use of a diagnostic device or through trial and error with a large number of colored lenses.

Not Dyslexia

While it's true that a large number of dyslexics suffer from visual stress, the two conditions are not to be confused. Colored overlays and lenses should not be seen as cures for dyslexia.

Related articles

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• Dyslexia in Chinese Children (community.cognibeat.com)
• Dealing with the Stress of Dyslexia (community.cognibeat.com)

The Dyslexic Democrat

The polls were not good. A lot of people thought Kendrick Meek (D) should just drop out of Florida's U.S. Senate race. It looked as though Meek was not even going to move past 25% of the vote against the Republican nominee, Marco Rubio, or even past the incumbent Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an Independent.

Meek was not going to back down. It just wasn't part of the hulking 6'3" former A&M linebacker makeup. Meek is no quitter.If he had been a quitter, the rundown streets of Miami's Liberty City would have chewed him up and spat him out long ago, when he was the shy dyslexic child of a single mother who became Florida's first African-American Congresswoman.

State seal of Florida

Kids who grow up on mean streets know that defeat is something that must be prevented at all costs, or street credibility evaporates for good. So Meek struggled through a Dickensian-like battle for respectability. He graduated Miami Springs High School and with the help of a full scholarship became star defensive tackle for Florida A&M where he earned a degree in criminal justice. No small feat for a kid with dyslexia who bore the brunt of his classmates' teasing for being slow.

Football

Meek has said that because he was dyslexic, there were things he just couldn't do, but that football bridged the gap for him, keeping him motivated and still striving for an education. If it hadn't been for football, said the former linebacker, he doesn't think he would have made his way through college. Meek was diagnosed with dyslexia in the third grade.

Dyslexic Child

Speaking about his disability, Meek described words that appeared jumbled on the page, and numbers that were transposed. Class work was a constant struggle. It was a trial to have to work long and slow at what, for other kids, seemed automatic. His classmates picked on him for taking so long to do his work.

Kendrick Meek

Natural Leader

Ken Riley, Meek's coach at Florida A&M remembered that Meek was a leader both on and off the football field. Riley said that Meek made such tremendous efforts toward coping with his dyslexia that no one suspected he suffered from a disability. Coach Riley described Meek as, "… extremely articulate and determined." Meek earned the appellation "clubhouse lawyer" from Coach Riley because whenever the other players needed any type of help or advice, Meek was the one to whom they gravitated. Riley described Meek as a "natural leader" who already knew he was going to go into politics.

Everyday Individuals

Meek spoke about the Florida constituency: "You do have an over-representation of poverty and hard times here," he said. "When you come from this kind of situation, working to correct it, you become a United States senator that carries the values of everyday individuals."

Stay Tuned

Meek may not have won the battle this time around, but is still fighting the war for the duration. Stay tuned.

Related articles

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• Symptoms of Directional Dyslexia in Preschool (brighthub.com)
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Special Diet May Lessen ADHD Symptoms

A new study finds that some kids with ADHD have diminished symptoms when they eliminate certain foods from their diets.

According to a study published in the February 5, 2011 issue of The Lancet, eliminating processed foods from the diets of children aged 4-8 with ADHD reduced symptoms in 78% of them. When those foods were reintroduced, two-thirds of the children relapsed.

mmmm donut ...

"A strictly supervised restricted elimination diet is a valuable instrument to assess whether ADHD is induced by food. We think that dietary intervention should be considered in all children with ADHD, provided parents are willing to follow a diagnostic restricted elimination diet for a five-week period, and provided expert supervision is available," concluded the authors of this study.

Sugary Foods

For a very long time, parents have felt that foods high in sugar may cause symptoms of hyperactivity, but the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) insisted that the evidence didn’t exist to support this theory. On the other hand, the evidence has been mounting that specific food additives may cause behavioral symptoms in children.

The researchers decided to test children to see if certain foods caused symptoms of hyperactivity. They studied 100 children from the Netherlands and Belgium. All of the children were aged 4-8 and had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The majority of the study subjects were boys.

Candy

The children were chosen at random to participate in one of two groups. One group was started on a restrictive elimination diet, while the second group acted as a control group and received advice only on healthful eating habits.

Those in the first group started out on the “few foods diet,” which includes only water, pears, vegetables, meat, and rice. The researchers made gradual additions to this diet, with wheat, fruit, and potatoes. The children remained on restrictive diets for 5 weeks.

Food Challenges

The kids in this same group then received two food challenges over the following four weeks, during which specific foods were introduced into the diets of these children. Foods were chosen in both low and high IgG food groups.

IgG is an antibody that is created by the immune system. Some practitioners of alternative medicine believe that IgG causes food sensitivities. However, this remains a controversial theory, not accepted by mainstream medical science.

Hamburgers and Fries

Of the 41 children who completed the restrictive diet phase, 78% were found to have reduced symptoms of ADHD in comparison with their controls, who showed no improvement. Nine children on the restrictive diet or 22% showed no change in symptoms. The scientists used an ADHD symptom scale that ranges from 0-72 points. A higher score represents more severe symptoms. The average reduction of symptoms in the children on the restrictive diet was by 24 points.

Thirty of the children who responded well to the restrictive diet were given the challenge test. Of those children, 19 relapsed in their symptoms. There was no difference between the children who received the low versus the high-IgG foods.

The upshot is that measuring IgG levels in children probably isn’t helpful but an elimination diet may reduce hyperactive symptoms in the child with ADHD. If you see your child with ADHD getting worse when he eats certain foods, by all means, take them out of his diet and see if it helps his symptoms.

Related articles

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• Dietary Guidelines Call for Eating Less (online.wsj.com)
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An interesting video may change the way you look at your life

Some people are so negative it’s depressing just to be around them. No matter how hard you try to cheer them up and make them see the bright side of things, they insist that their lives are gone to pot and that there is nothing in their life that is right. It’s hard to tell what it is they’re trying to get out of life, or what they want from you.

Great Stuff

You offer them suggestions and they respond with a series of “buts.” You point out the really groovy stuff in their lives and they feel forced to tell you why those things aren’t really so groovy after all. You begin to feel that they prefer to be unhappy, dissatisfied, and negative.

There’s not much else to do at that point but give up before you lose your equanimity. You can’t force a person to change perspective. It’s got to come from within.

Raw Deal

On the other hand, kids with learning disabilities may become convinced that life has handed them some tough stuff to deal with. They did, to at least some extent, get a raw deal and deserve some understanding and patience. Sometimes you just need to offer them a different perspective. If you can get them to listen, try helping them break out of the blues by showing them this clip.

There’s a cute saying that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. This clip is a good illustration of that. The words in the clip don’t change, but viewed from a different perspective, they have a whole different meaning.

That’s kind of like dyslexia, actually. A person with dyslexia may not see text the way other people do. That makes it hard to read.

Yes, it’s a disability. But with that disability comes a gift: the gift of learning to see outside the box. Because reading is difficult for someone with dyslexia, learning is done by other means.

Foreshortening (perspective)

The person with dyslexia has been handed a big problem at birth; but always having to get around the problem of reading forces the person with dyslexia to become a terrific problem solver. Maybe that’s why so many entrepreneurs and millionaires are dyslexic. When a big business problem arises, the dyslexic businessman or woman has already learned to stop and look at the problem from a different perspective. It takes some tenacity, but the solution is bound to make an appearance if only the problem-solver refuses to give up. A can-do attitude is the way to get to solutions, every time.

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Percy Jackson - Getting Kids to Read

Creator of Percy Jackson Offers Tips for Getting Dyslexic Kids to Read

Rick Riordan created his book series to help his son battle learning disabilities.

When author Rick Riordan’s son Haley was 7, he hated school. Haley had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia. Reading and learning were serious challenges for him. Riordan relates that Haley used to hide under the family’s dining-room table to get out of doing his homework or to avoid reading.

Royal Blood

Percy Jackson - Image via Wikipedia

Riordan loved books and was desperate that Haley should love them, too. That’s why he started writing the Percy Jackson series, which began as Haley’s bedtime stories. Riordan gave Percy the same learning disabilities as Haley: ADHD and dyslexia; but the author depicted the learning deficits as indications of royal Olympian blood, medical conditions found only in demigods.

Today, Haley is 16 years-old. He walked into his father’s office not long ago, announcing that he’d just completed a 600-page manuscript. That would be a stunning accomplishment for any 16 year-old, but coming from Haley, the announcement was proof positive that the boy had turned the tide against dyslexia and had come to love the printed word. Riordan had won and Haley was the benefactor.

Long Journey

Over the course of the past nine years, Riordan’s protagonist became the main character of a five-book series. As Percy rose to stardom, Haley was taking his own journey. He came out from under the dining room table and instead of avoiding books, became an avid reader.

As Riordan looks back and reflects upon the success of the Percy Jackson series and Haley’s embrace of books and writing, he decided to share what he has learned about the process of turning children into bookworms. It boils down to four essential factors:

1. Provide an example. If you don’t take the time to read, it’s a good bet your children won’t, either. If your kids see you reading, they’ll follow your good example. Make reading a part of your family’s daily schedule. Declare the hour of 7-8 PM family reading hour. Have general book discussions. Discuss what makes a book or an author great.

Image via Wikipedia

2. Find books your children will want to read. A series is good because it will leave your child wanting to read more. Don’t worry about the caliber of the books your child seems to prefer. The main thing is to build a foundation—you want to get your child reading for pleasure. Make friends with the librarian at your local children's library and pick her brains about books your child might enjoy.

3. Think about your child’s reading environment. In general, you should offer your child a place to read where he won’t be distracted by noise. On the other hand, some children with ADHD find that fiddling makes it easier to concentrate. If squeezing a stress ball, for instance, makes it easier for your child to read, by all means, have him squeeze away.

4. Stay positive about the future. Children with ADHD and dyslexia can grow up to become successful. More millionaires than not have dyslexia. Adults with ADHD have the gift of hyperfocus and can stay focused on problems for as long as necessary, something the rest of us find difficult. People with learning disabilities have to learn to think outside the box because they have learning differences. As a result, they become excellent at problem-solving. The main thing is to get our kids through school so that they become free to find their niche.

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Internet Addiction

Plugged In 24/7

Is your child’s internet usage increasing as his grades (and personal hygiene) slip? Could it be he has an Internet addiction?

Kids are digital natives, born into the world of ever-evolving technology. Kids’ lives exist online as much or more than they do in reality. Digital natives can’t conceive of a world without cellphones, iPods, and the Internet. That’s why it should come as no surprise to hear that some teens report spending 7-14 hours a day plugged into their computers—way beyond the recommended Canadian guideline of two hours max.

Addicted

Still, Facebook can be a good thing, insomuch as it fosters social interaction. The problems begin when teens go out on a limb and engage in risky behavior just so they’ll have a cool status update for their “walls.” That’s when you know things are getting out of hand. Recent studies tell us that the more time a teen spends on social networking venues, the higher the level of his narcissism climbs. That should send parental alarm bells a ’ringing.

One U.S. health-care advocacy group, the Kaiser Family Foundation, issued a report stating that kids aged 8-18 spend more time facing their computer monitors, game and television screens, than they spend on any other activity except for sleep. The report says that kids access technology on an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day. This certainly is a contrast to the recommendations of the Canadian Pediatric Society that this same age group spend no more than two hours a day parked in front of a screen.

Susan Lambert, president of the British Columbia Teachers Federation, was shocked to hear that many teens are spending over 10 hours a day on computers. Lambert asks, "If you were spending an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes a day doing any single thing, wouldn't we be concerned?"

Addicted to the Internet

ADHD Link

One expert has noticed a link between Internet overuse and certain disorders, in particular ADHD and depression. Dr. Susan Baer, of the BC Children’s Hospital, where she is a child and adolescent psychiatrist in the neuropsychiatry and mood and anxiety disorders clinic, conducted a study on the topic and found that teens with behavioral and emotional difficulties were spending most of their free time in front of monitors and screens, averaging 7 hours a day on gaming stations, televisions, and computers.

But Baer also discovered that kids who spent lots of time on computers or at gaming stations but did not manifest addictive behaviors were not among those with a coexisting link to depression. "This was surprising to us and suggests that even though terms such as Internet addiction are controversial, there is a real difference between youth who are simply filling their free time with the computer, and youth whose use is more driven and problematic," said Baer.

Addiction Symptoms

Consult your physician if your child:

* Loses interest in academic achievement

* Feels angry and frustrated when denied access

* Feels depression and anxiety—longs to return when away from the computer

* Has sleep difficulties and changes in sleep patterns

* Neglects personal hygiene

* Neglects important responsibilities

* Spends less time with loves ones and friends

* Loses real friends while increasing virtual friends

Related articles

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• Video Games, ADHD and Time Management (psychcentral.com)

The Buzz on Stimulants

Getting Ripped on “Vitamin R” and “Addy”

If you’re the parent of a child on stimulant medication for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) you may be surprised to learn that abuse of these prescriptions drugs is rampant.

After all, it’s probable your child suffers at least some side effects from their prescription medication: lethargy, lack of appetite, sleep difficulties, stomach ache: these unwanted symptoms very common. Your child may even try to avoid taking his medication as these unpleasant side effects begs the question: who would want to take those drugs for fun?

Alarm Bells

A container of Adderall XR

The answer is that so many people are now abusing ADHD drugs that an alarm bell has been sounded. One 2009 investigation into this new form of abuse tracked calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers over a period of eight years, from 1998-2005. During this time, calls regarding teen victims of ADHD drug abuse increased by 76%. Researchers are not sure whether this number represents out-of-control abuse, or cases of abuse keeping pace with the spiraling number of prescriptions issued for ADHD amphetamines during this same time frame.

Drugs like Ritalin—vitamin R in the user’s lingo—and Adderall (Addy), are stimulants, yet for those with ADHD, and taken in the right doses, the drugs offer a paradoxical effect of calm and better focus. In those who abuse these drugs, however, the opposite is true. Some abusers are looking to improve their grade averages or hope the drugs will help them lose weight. Still, others crush the drugs and inject or snort them for a euphoric high and an expanded sense of self-confidence. The feelings are addictive.

College Crack

This type of drug abuse is not limited to teenagers. In fact, ADHD drug abuse increases well through the college years as students struggle for that perfect 4.0 average. As a result, Adderall has earned such sobriquets as “the Adderall advantage” or “college crack.” The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that from 2006 through 2007, 6.4% of full-time college students admitted that during the previous year they had used Adderall for a non-medical purpose. In the part-time students, the figure was 3.0%.

Adderal

Those who take these medications for stimulation risk perilous elevations in blood pressure, breathing difficulties, irregular heartbeat, tremors, seizures, and mood disorders. Regular high doses of these medications lead to cognitive changes such as delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia.

ADHD drug abuse poses a clear and serious danger to teens and young adults who may not realize that the consequences of their abuse can be severe. So many young children take these drugs (for medical, sanctioned reasons) on a daily basis (in the correct doses) and they seem right as rain. For this reason, a potential abuser may come to the erroneous, maybe fatal conclusion that it is no big deal to abuse these drugs in higher doses.

Related articles

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Holiday Traveling with your ADD ADHD Child

The holiday season is hectic for everyone, but holds particular challenges for the parent of a child with ADD/ADHD.

If you plan to travel with any child, things can go south in more ways than one.

Travel stuff

It seems you’ve no sooner gotten your child into the swing of things and settled into the routine of the school year than the holidays come along and send you all back to where you started. It’s quite bad enough for the vacationing family who chooses to stay at home—familiar surroundings can make a difference for the ADD/ADHD child when the schedule is shot to Hell—but the family who intends to travel to a holiday destination is facing some serious difficulties. You can head off the nightmare by thinking ahead as you plan your trip and by taking the time to prepare your child, too.

Preperation Is Key

If you are planning to travel by train, plane, or automobile, offer your child a map of the route you’ll be taking and mark out the special sites you’ll be visiting along the way. Explain the distances you’ll be traveling and give them an estimate of how long the trip is likely to take.

Easy travel tips

If the mode of travel is one that they have never before experienced, give your child some background information. Describe the airport or train station, and what they can expect to happen on-board the train or while the plane is in flight. If you will need to catch a connecting flight, explain how that works.

Prepare activities for your child to bring along. You may want to allow them to choose the books, games, and toys they will bring along. These items will keep your child entertained as you travel and by being included in choosing these familiar items, your child feels a part of things and enjoys a sense of security, too. Appropriate items to bring along include books, hand-held games, iPod or MP3 player with earphones and a Frisbee or a small ball for breaks during road trips.

Nonstop Chattering

If your child is like most other children with ADD/ADHD, expect them to chatter about the sights he sees throughout the trip. You might suggest they record their thoughts with a small recorder to keep them occupied while you drive or navigate.

If you take a road trip, allow time for frequent stops. This gives your child some time to stretch and exercise. It will help your child make the switch from play to travel time if you offer a gentle warning, “Ten more minute of play and then we’re back on the road to drive some more.”

If you travel by plane or train, allow your child to walk around the airport or train station as much as possible, so they can explore. Stay by his side for safety’s sake.

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The Problem With Reading

Read To Learn

No one doubts that reading is an important skill to acquire. It seems obvious: we've got to learn how to read, otherwise, how will we read to learn? More to the point, what happens to the children who finds it hard to read? Are they doomed to be poor learners?

Adult Illiteracy

The rate of adult illiteracy has burgeoned to the point where it can no longer be ignored. That's why, in 1992, the United States government underwrote the National Adult Literacy Survey to the tune of $14 million to try to get a handle on the scale of the pervasiveness of literacy issues among adult Americans. The results were shocking: though most of those surveyed had graduated high school, 96% of them could not read, write, or do arithmetic on a level high enough to continue on to college. Worse yet, a full 25% just couldn't read at all.

No Change

A subsequent 2003 study, this time named the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, showed no significant change from the 1992 study in reading comprehension levels. Adults were still having the same difficulties in reading and understanding text, a decade later.

Equal Opportunity

The most remarkable thing about the study is that reading difficulties are an equal opportunity disaster. Difficulties in reading don't just happen to people from disadvantaged homes. Most of these people go to decent schools, have stable homes, and have average or even above average IQ scores. However, they are struggling to figure out reading , and some of them never do.

Common Issues

Kids who have trouble learning to read have a lot of issues in common. They have a tendency to transpose letters and words, or leave them out altogether. They lose their place on the page, cannot retain much of what they have just read, and do not understand the sense of the words they do manage to read. When these symptoms occur in clusters, kids are said to have a learning disability (LD) known as dyslexia.

Some Statistics

According to the International Dyslexia Association, a minimum of one in ten otherwise normal people has severe dyslexia. The National Center for Learning Disabilities states that 15 million American adults and children have learning disabilities. Some estimates state that 70%-80% of children with learning disabilities suffer from dyslexia.

The Upshot

The upshot? People with poor literacy skills are our co-workers, friends, family, and children and their numbers are too big to ignore. It's time to accommodate those among us with reading difficulties.

Related articles

• The Brain as Crystal Ball (community.cognibeat.com)
• Math Dyslexia (community.cognibeat.com)
• John Zickerfoose's Inspiring Struggle Against Dyslexia, Illiteracy (huffingtonpost.com)

8 Tips on Getting Ready for College

If you have a learning disability and are thinking of going to college, here are some important tips that might help you realize your dream.

Many teens struggle with learning disabilities to a point that they give up any idea of going to college and may settle for a career that is less than fulfilling, and below their potential. So says the National Center for Learning Disabilities, after compiling statistics on the subject, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Today, growing numbers of higher learning institutions are helping those with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) and other learning disabilities to gain admission to and matriculate from college.

Learning disability counselors and college admissions officers are advising learning-disabled students considering college to follow these 8 steps:

1) Start your preparations early

A great many high school officials, parents, and students believe that students who struggle should be transferred to less challenging classes. But if you’re aiming to go to college, stick with college preparatory courses. Choosing the lower-track classes means missing out on skills like high school algebra that are prerequisites for getting into 4-year colleges. Skipping those courses in high school now means wasting time in remedial studies in a community college later on.

2) Let technology give you a hand

Make use of spell-check, software calendar programs, screen readers, dictation software, and the new recording pens to help you retain information and get your homework completed within the allotted time.

3) Be creative

Can’t learn French? Take a course in American Sign Language. Be on the lookout for acceptable alternatives that prove what you can do instead of what you can’t.

Know Yourself

4) Know yourself and take responsibility

While high schools accommodate students with learning disabilities, colleges don’t provide special help unless students (and not their parents) know just what they need and can request that help in an adult manner. Jane Daigneault coordinator of disability services at Clark University in Worcester, Ma; says that, "Students have to be ready to have an adult conversation about what they need," for instance note-takers or unusual software. If parents have done their job, and allowed their children to experience natural consequences for not taking medication, for instance, during the high school years, their children will be ready to take care of their own needs by the time they reach college.

5) Do careful research on your college options

Be sure the college you’ve chosen fits with your unique learning style. Three books may be helpful with this task: Peterson's Colleges With Programs for Students With Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Disorders, Preparing Students With Disabilities for College Success, and The K & W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities.

6) Keep up to date with documentation on your learning disability

If you expect accommodations from colleges, you have to have documentation confirming your diagnosis that is no older than one or two years.

7) Don’t use your disability as an excuse for poor grades

Instead, use your application essay to emphasize how you’ve managed to overcome, compensated or utilized your disability.

8) Think about getting some extra assistance

Some colleges offer tutoring to learning-disabled students at no extra cost but most colleges charge hefty fees for this type of extra support. It’s not easy to get a grant or a scholarship to cover those costs, either. In some cases, however, students manage to persuade a state-run vocational rehabilitation office to pay for this type of extra help. Colleges can figure these additional fees into your tuition so that you or your parents can qualify for larger student loans.

Related articles

• Learning With Disabilities (nytimes.com)
• Labeling Students Learning Disabled (brighthub.com)
• Tips for Parents with a Child with a Learning Disability (healthmad.com)

Gov. Christie's Vision

New Jersey Governor Calls for Change

Gov. Chris Christie has announced that he wants to change the system so that New Jersey teachers will have their performance reviewed every five years.

Last Thursday, on January 13, 2011, Chris Christie took the podium at a town hall meeting in Paramus N.J. to make the suggestion that teachers should be hired on the basis of five-year contracts. This would give schools the chance to review a teacher’s performance before choosing to renew contracts. Earlier in the week, the Republican governor had called for ending automatic tenure for teachers.

Enough Time

Governor Chris Christie, Photo Courtesy: CHRIS FAYTOK/The Star-Ledger

Christie feels that while teachers need to have enough time to get hands-on experience and learn how to teach the current system just makes it too hard to get rid of

poor teachers. Right now, the idea of having five-year teaching contracts is still just an idea. Christie’s office has yet to make an official proposal. The controversial governor, who is known to speak his mind, has not yet provided details on just how he will accomplish the abolition of teacher tenure. Furthermore, the teacher’s union has promised him a rousing fight.

The governor of New Jersey didn’t stop with teacher tenure when throwing out his creative ideas for improving the educational system, but also said he’s looking into a plan for the development of schools that would specialize in educating children with autism. These schools would be set up in each of 21 counties in New Jersey, if Christie has his way. During his speech at the town hall meeting, the governor said that his plan would provide a cost-effective alternative for those districts that were attempting to develop their own curriculums for educating special children.

Governor Christie of New Jersey Photo Courtesy: NYdailynews.com

“Visionary Concept”

Linda Meyer, the director of Autism New Jersey made a statement to the media to the effect that Christie is sincere about trying to provide both equality and access to education for every sector of society. She called his concepts, “visionary,” but other people are less convinced that the governor’s idea is such a good one. The director of one private school for children with autism said that the idea would put schools like his, which rely on referrals from the public school districts, out of business.

During the past ten years, the neurological disorder known as autism, which impairs social interaction, has proven a serious challenge that has driven New Jersey special education costs to an annual $3 billion. The number of students with autism has doubled over the past decade, to almost 12,000 students in the Garden State.

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Doctors with Attention Deficit

Students Claim ADHD to Get Drugs

Students who want to try ADHD medication for recreational purposes or to boost their grades find it all too easy to convince physicians they have ADHD

Though the U.S. government defines Adderall as a Schedule 2 drug, getting doctors to prescribe Adderall is a snap for college students looking for an easy way to ace their exams. One University of Massachusetts student reporter decided to interview her fellow students to investigate the matter. During one such interview, a fellow student claimed she held her primary health care doctor in the palm of her hand when she begged him to refer her to a psychiatrist who offers evaluations for attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Image via Wikipedia

Transparent Questions

During the psychiatrist’s assessment, the student responded to a series of transparent questions like, “Do you have a hard time concentrating or focusing?” The student said it took no mental gymnastics to figure out what responses would generate a diagnosis of ADD so that she would be entitled to the drugs she sought. However, the student was canny enough to only posit a certain number of symptoms so that she wouldn’t be too obvious in her quest to be diagnosed with a disorder she didn’t have.

The upshot was that the unwitting psychiatrist found she had nine out of nine signs of ADD without the addition of the nine signs that would have added the “H” of hyperactivity to the diagnosis (ADHD). Less than 30 minutes after the examination began, the student had a prescription for Adderall in her hot little hand.

Little Uniformity

The reporter discovered that there is little uniformity in the diagnostic criteria used by physicians to diagnose ADD. Therefore, speaking of a “test for ADD” is misleading. Of the three students the reporter interviewed, two answered a series of questions or were asked to describe their symptoms while the third student was given a more complex diagnostic test.

In the case of the student described above, there was some “prepping” of the patient: the psychiatrist told her that ADD has nine symptoms and that if someone had a certain number of these symptoms, they can be prescribed medications to help them concentrate.

Image via Wikipedia

The student who received the most rigorous testing was also diagnosed with ADD and given Concerta, a medication similar to Adderall.

The upshot is that a student need not undergo a standard test in order to get a prescription for Adderall, which is an amphetamine. It’s more about finding the doctor who doesn’t mind writing out a script for the student who complains of ADD/ADHD symptoms. In every case, the goal is a legal method for procuring drugs that can be used to help students stay awake for all-night cramming during the final exams period.

Diane Fedorchak, director of Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS), says that only some 5% of the study body suffers from ADHD while another 8% of U of M students report using stimulants like Ritalin, Adderall, or Concerta during the past 30 days without benefit of a prescription.

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Literacy Skills in the Making

Your children know a great deal about reading before they ever hold a book in their hands. What is the nature of these very early literacy skills and how can parents turn their children into bookworms?

A young child’s understanding of reading and other related skills in the days before he is ready to read is called emergent literacy. There are several reading-related concepts that a child must have under his belt before he can begin the actual process of learning to read. But to begin with, a child needs to acquire three main skills before beginning his reading education, or for that matter, his education in general.

* Communication—a child should become familiar with spoken language and be able to communicate through speech.

* Alphabet—a child should understand the concept of letters and have the ability to name the individual letters of the alphabet.

* Exposure to Written Words—a child should be exposed to many stories and books before he is of an age to attend school. This is the way toward motivating a child to learn to read.

Get Busy

If you’ve ever looked on in envy as you saw a neighbor’s child always with a book in hand, you can now curtail the jealousy and begin to get busy. It is in your hands to turn your child into a reader. But the process begins as soon as your child is born.

Spend time reading to your child each day. Take care to choose books with simple story lines and colorful illustrations that will excite your child’s mind. As you read aloud, inject lots of expression in your voice. Let him feel the emotions expressed in the text through the feeling you put into the reading.

Another way to help your child gain reading comprehension is to tell her the story in your own words. The story comes alive for your child as she hears it through the device of natural conversation and a parent’s voice.

After Napping

Most people choose to read to children only at night, just before kids go to sleep. But in terms of encouraging reading skills, you want your child well-rested. After a nap is the optimum time to read to your child. Both of you should be relaxed and calm.

Offering a baby a book to play with is another great way to give her a chance to interact with words, illustrations, and pages. There are cloth or plastic books and sturdier children’s books that are terrific for this purpose.

The main idea here is to expose your child to lots of language. This is the key to helping her develop her vocabulary and communication skills. When your baby reaches toddlerhood, start reciting nursery rhymes with her and hesitate here and there to allow her a chance to fill in the words. Participatory recitation of rhymes is a very big step toward reading readiness. Your child will also memorize the rhymes. Developing word memories is yet another crucial part of learning to read.

Take your child to the library and make it a regular special jaunt for the two of you. Read her favorite stories to her again and again. Ask open-ended questions like, “What do you think will happen next?”

Network with other parents and share techniques for honing your child’s pre-reading skills. If you give it your best effort, you may just end up with a bookworm for a child. What could be more wonderful?

This post has been copied in its entirety with the kind permission of www.cognibeat.com

Understanding Dyslexia

Dyslexia for Laymen

The term “dyslexia” comes from two Greek words that mean: “a difficulty with words.”

Dyslexic people may have trouble with spelling, organization, and carrying out instructions. They may also confuse left and right.

In school, the dyslexia child begins to experiences failure in the classroom, but may not understand why she is failing.

The result may be poor self-esteem, great frustration, and extreme loss of confidence. This may make the child reluctant to attend school.

Helping your child begins with getting an accurate diagnosis. Sometimes the school takes responsibility for this, but you may need to consult with an educational psychologist, which may be expensive.

Dyslexia is a popular subject for research at present, as no one yet understands to the fullest extent what causes this condition.

A good way to understand dyslexia is to compare the condition with colorblindness. Colorblind people are of equal intelligence and gifts. So are dyslexics.

If you find out your child is dyslexic, it’s important not to assume they can’t succeed. Today, there are proven methods for helping the dyslexic child bridge the gap in all areas of difficulty.

Because you can’t see that a child has dyslexia just by looking at them, the condition may go undetected by teaching staff. As a result, a teacher might label a dyslexic child as “slow” or “lazy.”

Dyslexic Adults

Dyslexic adults may have some emotional scarring from a difficult schoolroom past, at a time when dyslexia was little understood and underdiagnosed.

If their peers laughed at their awkward attempts at reading, they would have felt quite upset. They may have therefore developed a fear of reading aloud.

Getting evaluated for dyslexia as an adult may have several benefits. For one thing, if you are a student, a dyslexia diagnosis may mean you can have extra time to complete your examinations. A diagnosis may also prompt you to think again about your choice of career.

The main thing to remember is that dyslexia is not a disease, and therefore cannot be cured, but there is no reason to think that a cure is necessary. Dyslexia comes to people who have unique minds and have their own, unique, strengths and weaknesses.

This article was based on material from: http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/world_of_dyslexia.html

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Wakefield’s Fraud

BMJ says Autism/Vaccine Study Data was Falsified

British medical journal, BMJ, finds that the 1998 study linking autism with the MMR vaccine was based on falsified data.

An investigation published by the esteemed British medical journal BMJ has determined that a study authored by Dr. Andrew Wakefield was an “elaborate fraud” now believed to be responsible for wreaking long-term damage on public health. Wakefield’s study claimed that autism was linked to childhood vaccines.

Falsified Data

According to BMJ, Wakefield falsified the 12 patient medical histories used to support his contention of a link between vaccines and autism in a study he conducted in 1998.

"It's one thing to have a bad study, a study full of error, and for the authors then to admit that they made errors," said Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of BMJ, in an interview with CNN. "But in this case, we have a very different picture of what seems to be a deliberate attempt to create an impression that there was a link by falsifying the data."

Wakefield’s medical license was revoked in May. But according to an editorial accompanying the BMJ report, taking away Wakefield’s ability to practice medicine can’t stem the damage already done. “…the damage to public health continues, fueled by unbalanced media reporting and an ineffective response from government, researchers, journals and the medical profession."

Wakefield defended his work in an interview with CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” insisting that the fruit of his research had been, “grossly distorted,” and that he was the victim of, “a ruthless, pragmatic attempt to crush any attempt to investigate valid vaccine safety concerns.”

Parental Panic

Wakefield’s report on vaccines and autism sent parents into a panic that led to a significant decrease in the number of children receiving the MMR vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. In Britain, vaccination rates took a sharp drop from the time the report was published, and fell to just 80% by 2004. At the same time, a sharp rise in measles cases has been observed.

The panic was not limited to residents of Britain, and in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 2008 saw more cases of measles than in any other year since 1997, a year prior to the publication of Wakefield’s report. The CDC reported that over 90% of those infected had either not received the vaccine or that their vaccination status was undetermined.

BMJ opines that the effect of the vaccination scare on the rate of infectious disease does not supersede the fact that so much effort, emotions, and resources were wasted on a bogus issue instead of finding the true causes of autism and ways to help children with autism and their families.

CNN Reporter: Autism study motivated by 'money'

Washington Post: Autism/vaccine link: Another nail in the coffin

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Writing on the Wall

Handwriting Issues Persist in Autistic Teens

New research finds that handwriting issues persist into adolescence in autistic teens.

A recent study has found that handwriting issues affecting autistic children tend to persist into adolescence. The results of this research were published in the November 16, 2010 issue of Neurology, a publication put out by the American Academy of Neurology.

Study subjects included 2 dozen boys and girls aged 12-16 years. Half of them had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, and all of them scored within normal range for perceptual reasoning on IQ tests.

Scrambled Sentence

The researchers had the teens take the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment Test, which makes use of a scrambled sentence to remove the possibility that fluent readers will gain an advantage in terms of speed. The teens were asked to copy the sentence, "the brown jumped lazy fox quick dogs over,” and were instructed to make the letters all the same sizes and shapes as those used in the sample. They were asked to use their best handwriting for this purpose.

The teens’ handwriting received scores in five different categories: spacing, size, alignment, form, and legibility. The teenagers were also examined to assess their motor skills and assigned ratings in categories such as timed movement and balance.

Out of a possible 204 points total for the handwriting assessment, the teens with autism scored an average of 167 points, while the teens without autism scored an average of 183 points. There is a statistical significance in the difference between these two averages. The teens with autism were also discovered to have impaired motor skills.

Possible Strategy

The researchers found that handwriting issues in autistic teens could be predicted by perceptual reasoning scores. Perceptual reasoning is the ability to use reason to solve problems in nonverbal material. "That reasoning skills can predict handwriting performance suggests a possible strategy by which adolescents with autism could learn and utilize compensatory strategies to overcome motor impairments," said study author Amy Bastian, PhD.

According to Bastion, while it’s true that autistic teens tend to have handwriting issues, there are a variety of techniques that can be used to improve the quality of their handwriting, for instance making adjustments to pencil grip, stabilizing a writing hand by holding it with the opposite hand, or taking more time to write the letters. “These therapies could help teens with autism to progress academically and develop socially," Bastion said.

Bastion is affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD. The Autism Speaks Pre-Doctoral Fellowship and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) underwrote the study.

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Gabrielle Mathiesen and The Open Book Project

British businesswoman Gabrielle Mathiesen is an inspiration. Not only did she not allow her battle with dyslexia keep her down, she used her impairment as a motivating force to achieve an important goal.

Inspirational business women Gabrielle Mathiesen has succeeded despite her struggles with dyslexia, but also says it gave her the drive to work harder to achieve her goals

Open Book Report
Mathiesen has created Open Book, an ambitious project that aims to give dyslexics and those with other reading difficulties a means by which they can manage business transactions. It struck Mathiesen that while the hearing impaired are guided in various buildings and businesses by signs depicting the yellow sign with the symbol of an ear or staff members wearing tags with this sign; the dyslexic community and those with reading difficulties are provided no similar assistance for their literacy issues. As such, she came up with an open book sign to provide assistance to individuals with literacy issues.

Inspirational business women Gabrielle Mathiesen has succeeded despite her struggles with dyslexia, but also says it gave her the drive to work harder to achieve her goals.



A Laughingstock

Mathiesen can still imagine herself the laughingstock of her classmates as the teacher poked fun of her poor literacy skills. Back in the 1950′s and 60′s, dyslexia was a non-issue as far as educators and parents were concerned. Dyslexia sufferers were left to struggle without understanding or sympathy. But today Mathiesen is a successful and independent business woman who says that dyslexia is the reason she arrived where she is today.

Daily Challenges

The young-looking blonde woman says that dyslexia still challenges her on a daily basis, but this reminds her of her aim to get involved and provide help to others with dyslexia. To that end, Mathiesen started an organization for dyslexic children and adults called Literally Challenged. The organization provides the assistance to dyslexics that she and others of her generation never received.

Literally Challenged

Literally Challenged offers help to people with literacy issues and learning disabilities. The latest project of Literally Challenged is Open Book, intended to provide a series of front-line aids to those with literacy issues as they go about their everyday business. The hearing impaired have their by now well-known yellow sign depicting an ear, meant to signal that assistance is provided to the individual with a hearing problem. Now those with literacy skills will have an open book sign to help alert them to trained staff and other forms of assistance available to those with literacy issues.

Open Book's Facebook Logo - click it to see their profile

Pictorial Advice

Mathiesen has come up with the concept of a CD that can help businesses like banks, for instance, to offer a pictorial version of instructions and advice on how to do various transactions, such as applying for a mortgage. Some major UK banks have already put out feelers about how they might work with Literally Challenged to develop such a CD. This can be taken as a sign that businesses understand that dyslexia is a real impairment and pervasive within the general population.

Reduced Workload

Mathiesen says that a well-crafted CD will reduce the workload of business staff while it gives customers with literacy challenges the information they need before committing to a contract. The inspired and inspiring businesswoman says that many dyslexics end up going to loan sharks so they won’t have to deal with complicated bank forms. She believes that a one-stop CD could stop this practice which tends to have tragic repercussions for those who struggle with literacy skills.

Another concept that Mathiesen would like to bring to fruition is the transformation of online written material to voice for the dyslexic computer user.


This article has been copied with kind permission of www.cognibeat.com and can be found here.

Where the Girls Are

Back in the ‘90s, the word was that schools weren’t doing enough to accommodate girls. We were told our girls would suffer permanent damage. A decade later the experts have reversed themselves. Now they say it’s the boys who are being shortchanged.

This time, at least the talking heads are making sense. We know they’re telling the truth when they say that boys have trouble with schoolwork, repeat grades, get suspended, and end up with learning disabilities more often than girls.



Let’s look at the statistics: in some schools, boys make up ¾ of the student population in special education classes. Five times more boys commit suicide, and 4-9 times more boys are being doped up with Ritalin.

Emotional Standpoint

From an emotional standpoint, things may be even worse: when students are polled, both sexes state their teachers like the girls best and that boys are disciplined more often than girls.

Girls are pulling down better grades than their male peers and more girls are taking advanced academic courses. Though boys once held the advantage in math and science, the gap has narrowed. Girls are taking the same number of advanced math courses as the guys, and even more high-level classes in chemistry and biology.

Girls have always had the advantage over the boys in literacy schools and this is still the case. In Canada, 11th grade males write as well as 8th grade girls.
Leaping Higher

In terms of higher education, female college enrollment has been ahead of male college enrollment for the past three decades, since 1980. With every leap in male college attendance, the female leap is higher. From 1997-2007, the increase in female enrollment almost doubled that of males. While male enrollment increased at a rate of 32%, female enrollment increased by almost 63%. By 2009, not quite 74% of female high school graduates were enrolled in college, while the number of male graduates enrolled in college stood at around 66%.

In an attempt to close the gap in academic achievement between men and women, educators have suggested that elementary school classrooms implement the following suggestions:

* Whenever possible, separate the sexes

* Foster better bonding between teachers and male students

* Accept that boys have more energy and channel it toward character development and learning

* Pay closer attention to the less “alpha” males: those who are more sensitive and less competitive

* Allow boys to move around during class

* Allow boys to express themselves in a physical manner. Let them hug the teacher and roughhouse during recess

* Provide positive male role models, in particular from grade 5 and above

* Chairs should not be lined up in rows prior to grade 3

* Schedule lots of storytelling time to facilitate the male brain in developing descriptive verbal skills and imagination

* Offer boys lots of objects they can touch and experience with their senses, in particular during reading and writing classes.


This post has been copied in its entirety with the kind permission of www.cognibeat.com and can be found here.