I Speak of Dreams

Are You a Dyslexic Adult About to Take A Standardized Exam? DRA Wants to Hear From You!

Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a non profit legal center located in Berkeley, CA is seeking stories from individuals concerning issues of retesting on high-stakes graduate tests. If you have taken or will take standardized tests (LSAT, GMAT, and MCAT), DRA is interested in speaking with you.

Watch the PSA below, featuring Ben Foss

The 2 1/2 minute film below introduces DRA and Ben Foss

 

If you just want to cut to the chase: http://www.dralegal.org/cases/education_testing/exit_exam_surveys/lsat-sat/

Cross posted at Academic Remediation

One in Six Children with A Developmental Disability?

Several months ago, a commenter at Respectful Insolence, was wringing her hands over "one in six American children are now considered developmentally disabled", and was implying the high number was new and was caused by vaccination.

"Developmentally Disabled" sounds horrible and scary, doesn't it? Like a child who will never learn, or never live independently in adulthood?

The facts are otherwise.

The source of the "one in six" is a paper in Pediatrics, Boyle et al. (2011) Trends in the Prevalence of Developmental Disabilities in US Children, 1997–2008 Pediatrics. 2011 Jun;127(6):1034-42. Epub 2011 May 23. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-2989)

From the abstract (emphases added):

Participants and Methods:We used data on children aged 3 to 17 years from the 1997–2008 National Health Interview Surveys, which are ongoing nationally representative samples of US households. Parent-reported diagnoses of the following were included: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; intellectual disability; cerebral palsy; autism; seizures; stuttering or stammering; moderate to profound hearing loss; blindness; learning disorders; and/or other developmental delays.

Screening for and remediating learning disorders are my areas of expertise. I would say the one in six figure (16.6%) is possibly low. Dyslexia is classed as a developmental disability. Some dyslexia experts put the actual prevalence rate at up to 20%.

It would be a great day for children in America if all students were screened for dyslexia at the end of kindergarten, so that appropriate remediation could begin immediately. Of course, instituting such a course of action would mean a rise in both incidence and prevalence. What a terrible thing! Not.

The change in incidence and rise in prevalence of autism has been widely discussed previously (for starters, see Steven Novella at Neurologica).

The incidence and prevalence of ADHD are well, contentious. The prevalence rates vary from about 6% to over 15% on a state-by-state basis. As the CDC notes:

...because of the evolution of the case definition and differences in how the case definition is operationalized, there is disagreement as to prevalence and precise characteristics of children with the disorder.

Due to the lack of a single, consistent, and standard research protocol for case identification, variable and disparate findings have been noted in the literature.

What's the take-away message here? For Kelly, lara, and others who use the "one in six" headline as a prompt for fears of vaccines, I fear it won't do much. Evidence-resistant ideologies don't change much in response to facts...

For everyone else, when you see the "one in six" figure, now you know what it refers to, and now you know why it isn't a fearful figure.

The Sword of Darrow: Great Fantasy AND A Fundraiser for Dyslexia

From the International Dyslexia Association

The Sword of Darrow is a middle grade fantasy novel that was co-authored by Hal Malchow and his son, Alex. They began writing the novel in 2002. At the time, Alex was eight-years-old and struggled with serious learning differences. He could not read at all. The Sword of Darrow tells us that anyone can do great things if he or she has the courage to believe. The fact that an eight-year-old boy with learning differences helped to write a great novel proves the message of this book and can help our children reach for bigger dreams.

Not only have Hal and Alex faced the challenges of Alex's learning differences, they have made an impressive commitment to the cause of Dyslexia. They have generously agreed to contribute all royalties to IDA, and the publisher is donating half of his profits to other organizations supporting learning disabilities, as well. Above all, this is a great book that can inspire others and help them read.

Here's the Amazon page for The Sword of Darrow and here's the website for the book. I haven't read it yet but it's getting rave reviews.

Somebody should tell them to get a twitter account too....

Lawrence Diller, M.D.: What Could -- And Couldn't -- Be Causing America's ADHD Epidemic

I think Dr. Diller is spot-on for a lot of his comments.

Lawrence Diller, M.D.: What Could -- And Couldn't -- Be Causing America's ADHD Epidemic.

What follows are my opinions on the causes of the American ADHD/Adderall "epidemic." I believe epidemic a fair description for a drug that has multiplied in use 10,000 times from 1996 to 2009, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. I offer these ideas as opinions, not facts -- though many of the points are buttressed by academic research. A few are just common sense.

I particularly want you to pay attention to :

• Larger class sizes and increased and earlier educational demands on children create stressors for the children, their teachers and parents. For example, more than 20 years ago kindergartners only had to sing the ABCs and play "ring around the rosie." Now, they are expected to read and do simple math before the start of first grade. The increased educational pressures to perform continue on toward getting into a good college and graduate school.
• The declining American standard of living for the middle class leads to both parents working, the need for preschool and more latch-key children. It's a long day for toddlers, school age children and their parents. Managing within the structured bureaucracies of preschool and after-school programs sets up behavioral demands that many children cannot meet. Parents are tired, too, when they finally get their kids at the end of the day.

Q&A: The Unappreciated Benefits of Dyslexia | Wired Science | Wired.com

Q&A: The Unappreciated Benefits of Dyslexia | Wired Science | Wired.com.

Wired: What is your working definition of dyslexia?
Brock Eide: The generally accepted definition focuses on the difficulties with reading and spelling that are unexpected, given a child’s individual level of intelligence and their educational exposure. We think that definition is inadequate for practical use, because the actual symptoms vary a lot.

We’ll see dyslexic kids with a verbal IQ of 140 or 145 who will read with good comprehension, and as a consequence won’t be recognized as dyslexic. But they still read at fairly slow pace relative to other students in the gifted programs, and their performance will suffer from their slow reading speed. And for some dyslexic students, their problems with reading may be less than in other areas, like writing and rote or procedural mathematics, but they arise from the same wiring differences that underlie dyslexic reading and spelling challenges, and traditional definitions of dyslexia that focus entirely on word sound or language processing really don’t capture the breadth of these differences.

Wired: What are the major misconceptions surrounding the condition?

Fernette Eide: One of the biggest misconceptions is that dyslexic brains differ only in the ways they process printed symbols, when in reality they show an alternative pattern of processing that affects the way they process information across the board. Dyslexic brains are organized in a way that maximizes strength in making big picture connections at the expense of weaknesses in processing fine details.

It’s a huge mistake to regard a dyslexic child as if his or her brain is trying to follow the same pathway of development as all the other kids but is simply doing a bad job of it. In reality, the brains of kids with dyslexic processing styles are actually developing in a very different way. They establish a different pattern of connections and circuitry, creating a different kind of problem solving apparatus. The difference is global, not just in certain areas of the brain.

Crab Bucket Syndrome

 "Crabs in a bucket" is a metaphor for human behavior, based on the alleged behavior of crabs (I have no idea if crabs really do behave in that way). 

The story goes that caught crabs, placed in a bucket, behave in such a manner that if one crab gets close to escaping (changing his condition) the other crabs somehow manage to keep the escapee in the bucket (maintaining the status quo).

It's been used in various contexts.  The way I want to use it here is about folk who should be in more-or-less unity, arguing over who should speak for or represent that unity.

This time, it has to do with the next big step in civil rights, or as Robert Rummel-Hudson said,

I believe the fight for disability rights, particularly in the hearts and souls of our typical fellow citizens, will constitute the next great civil rights movement in this country. And I believe that, with all my heart.

The very same day, Ari Ne'eman said, at a different event on the other side of the country, talking about autism and autistic advocacy:

"...it's essential that we recognize that neurodiversity is an outgrowth of disability rights, and that disability rights is an outgrowth of the civil rights movement."

What happened since: a war of words and a storm of mutual disrespect and distrust among folk who should be, at the very least, allies.  Over what?  In my humble opinion -- a lack of perspective on all sides.

Reminding each other, with mutual understanding and respect,  that our community has many parts and perspectives -- self-advocates, parents, adults who cannot self-advocate, adults on the way to self-advocacy, children who cannot self-advocate, children on the way to self-advocacy -- is one thing.  Bitter, divisive conversation among us over "who can speak for the community" is just engaging in being crabs  in a bucket.

When are we going to get together to demolish the bucket?

Backstory (and this isn't all of it by any means, just the current episode)

• August 9 2011 Robert Rummel-Hudson at Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords: Just a Word: The Change-Up Edition
• August 16 2011  Zoe at Illusion of Competence:  The R-Word and Perspective-Taking: Whose Perspective Are We Taking?
• August 18 2011 Shannon Rosa at Squidalicious: Parents and Self-Advocates: Be Al(lies) That You Can Be

 

 

Thinking of Going to SXSW? Want An Innovative Special Needs Panel? Vote!

Vote now until September 2.  Voting directions at the bottom of the post. Also, leave comments at the proposal page.

What's South by Southwest (SXSW)?

"Every March, thousands of young, jeans-wearing techies, filmmakers and musicians descend upon Austin, Texas, harboring dreams of getting noticed and hitting it big. They come not just for the balmy weather or the Tex-Mex food but for South by Southwest, a collection of conferences and festivals that's considered one of the most influential happenings on the annual cultural calendar." -- CNN, March 10, 2011

Inspired by the energy and success of the BlogHer 11 Special Needs Mini-Con, Jenn Lee Reeves has organized a panel proposal for SXSW 12:

Tech Unity: Beyond the Special Needs Hashtag

Special needs communities unite! This brainstorming session will take a look at how some people have been able to harness the power of online community to bring special needs parents together. We will look at what social tools work and don't work when parents look for ways to get support for their special needs kids. Talk to a special needs parent and you'll realize, this community does not come together often enough to share how we make advocating for our children work. This is not a session looking to find funding for our child's challenges. This is a conversation where anyone with a link to any type of special need can talk about the need for community and advocacy in a culture where abilities of all types should be celebrated.

Questions Answered

1. How are you using social spaces to reach out to your special needs community?
2. Why is the special needs community fractured? Can we work together more?
3. How can you connect online support communities to families who are not in social media?
4. What are your personal stories of how you've connected with other special needs families?
5. What are the best tools to use to reach out and find people who can help you advocate?

How to vote for this proposal if you aren't yet a registered SXSW user:

1. Go to http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/users/register?return=%2Fpages%2Ffaq and register for Panel Picker
2. Wait for email; activate account
3. Go to http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/11932 
4. Click on the thumbs up button just below the title.

BlogHer Is About Changing The World: Special Needs Mini Conference

The BlogHer 11 Special Needs Mini Conference ran on Friday August 5 2011 to 2:30 (ish).  It was organized by Julia Roberts of Kidneys and Eyes, who also founded and runs Support for Special Needs. (Twitter: JuliaRoberts1 and SupportforSN)

The speakers were Aurelia Cotta, Robert Rummel-Hudson, and Shannon des Roches Rosa. 

There's a list of issue affecting the attendee's speakers (including themselves)

What follows is a summary of each talk, with some but not all of the comments from the audience

Bradley Voytek on Working Memory and Cognitive Enhancement

This is more of a reminder for me to read what he has written:

A summary of three long answers at Quora.  The blog post.  The blog post at Reddit.

I wrote three long answers over there to the following questions:

• What is the most effective way to enhance working memory?
• Does memory improvement software work?
• What are the primary functions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?

Maybe you can spot how all three questions are related.

The first question was the one I spent the most time on, as I covered a fair amount of he literature. I'm going to quote a lot of my answers here....

Go and read

How Often Does This Happen? Teacher accused of testing fraud to avoid special education referral for her student

A Palo Alto school teacher has been accused of filling in test answers for a student in an effort to disguise the fact that the girl was struggling and needed special education help.

The district is the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD).Evidently, the district has not yet engaged in Response to Intervention (RTI).

The very short version of this story:  a child with significant, unidentified learning issues, evident in 1st grade,  had the same teacher for 2nd and 3d grade.  Over the course of those two years, that teacher actively concealed how little progress the student was making, and blocked proper assessment of the child's issues.

I wonder how often teachers manipulate students' output to reduce or delay special education referrals. Details below the fold.