Academic Remediation

“We’ve Tried Positive Reinforcement…It Doesn’t Work” | Behavior Base

The story has a happy ending.  After speaking to the learner (yes, teachers, this is often the best way to identify potential reinforcers!) we determined that this guy really enjoyed helping to tidy the room up at the end of the day; remember, we all Value different things.  We set up a token economy wherein the learner received tokens for completing class-work assignments and homework.  Tokens were given Immediately after turning in class-work or homework and were exchanged at the end of the day with a “menu” of different possible chores (e.g., two tokens=taking out the trash, four tokens=sweeping the floor).  The result?  Classwork and homework started pouring in.  In the end, positive reinforcement “worked.”

via zachikkanda.com

If you believe "positive reinforcement doesn't work", it is likely you are doing it wrong.

Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) Myths & Facts

From the always-reliable National Center for Learning Disabilities

FAPE is the acronym for a Free and Appropriate Public Education. It is one of the most misunderstood concepts of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). And it often causes the greatest conflict between parents and schools. A required component of IDEA, FAPE mandates that school districts provide access to general education and specialized educational services. It also requires that children with disabilities receive support free of charge as is provided to non-disabled students. It also provides access to general education services for children with disabilities by encouraging that support and related services be provided to children in their general education settings as much as possible.

Over the years, the courts have helped define what FAPE is and is not. In short, it is vital for parents to understand that IDEA is not an entitlement program that provides disabled children with a better education than is provided to non-disabled students. Use the chart below to help you learn what FAPE can mean to you and your child, and to dispel the many myths about FAPE.

A Successful Politician -- Remediated but Still Dyslexic

Via Susan Barton

Ask Gov. Peter Shumlin for a preview of this week’s inaugural address and he’ll reveal one surprising fact: He won’t spell out a thing.

It’s not because he’s dodging. It’s because he’s dyslexic.

To understand this “word,” your brain must register “wah-ur-dah” * and recognize the result as a building block of language.

As a child, Shumlin saw the individual letters. But like an estimated 15 percent of Americans — including fellow Gov. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut — he couldn’t sound out something as simple as “cat” or “dog.”

“I had a very hard time learning how to read,” Shumlin recalls, “but once they figured out how to teach me, I eventually could put a sentence together just as quickly as anybody else.”

That said, the 56-year-old’s dyslexia still affects him in and out of the office.

Take the speech he’ll present Thursday to start his second term.“I still can’t spell,” he says. “I stayed away from computers for years because I knew if I typed on one and someone saw, they would think they were dealing with someone who’s not ready for prime time.” 

How One Mom Taught Her Son to Read

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/learning-with-dyslexia-doesn-t-come-easy/article_d52d460f-632f-55a1-87fe-4082952c832b.html

So Meehan-Rasby decided to find help for her son outside the district. 

Introduced to a teaching program known as the Spalding method, Meehan-Rasby hired tutors who worked individually with her son. He also spent four to six weeks each summer in Omaha, Neb., attending a Spalding school. 

Meehan-Rasby said assessments showed her son had a high IQ at the same time he had low test scores. And he worked hard at it, she said. "I didn't think it was ever going to happen," she said. "Somehow, this kid has learned to read."

Both Rasby and his mother feel strongly that the right intervention done early is a critical piece of the puzzle to help children with dyslexia.

"I just think that you need to recognize a child's individual problem and the severity of that problem and figure out a solution around it," Rasby said. "You almost have to go outside the system, which is sad to say."

Meehan-Rasby also believes the school system should do more. "They made a lot of accommodations in that elementary school for my kid, but I was just amazed I had to do that (bring in a private tutor). It's like taking your own medicine to the hospital."

Dyslexia: Early Intervention Pilot Progam in Ohio

The article is a little light on details, such as what screening tools are used, but it is a start.

http://www.athensohiotoday.com/news/trimble-local-schools-take-part-in-statewide-dyslexia-pilot-project/article_9e7e0022-d8bb-55ba-80e3-e29340afe958.html#.UNsC0F2ah5Y.twitter 

While those results are positive, Nolan stressed those students aren’t done with their intensive intervention.

“For the children who need intensive intervention, it’s not like you can just work with them one week and then they don’t need this anymore,” Nolan said. “It needs to be consistent. Once you withdraw intervention, it’s easy for those kids to flatline again. We have to make sure that we provide the intensity and the duration necessary for them to really get those concepts into long-term memory.”

 

RtI and Identifying Disabilities: You Have Options

From the National Center for Learning Disabilities, always reliable: http://www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities/ld-testing/strategies-addressing-identification-issues?utm_source=LDOnLine.org&utm_medium=Twitter

If the school informs you that they are using Response to Intervention (RTI), you should go ahead and request an evaluation in writing as soon as you think your child may have a disability. Making this request is critical because your written consent puts a 60-day timeframe on both the completion of the RTI process and the evaluation. The process of determining whether your child has a disability such as a learning disability and needs special education cannot go on indefinitely. If your request for an evaluation is denied because your child’s school says they do not “suspect” a disability or because they are using RTI, you have the right to file either a due process complaint or a state complaint, discussed later.

What the gifted education field needs to learn about learning disabilities

The author makes some very good points http://mosaicofminds.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-gifted-education-field-needs-to.html

Another misconception is that when the same behavior occurs in gifted people and people with disabilities, it must occur for different reasons.  These writers seem to understand the reasons for gifted children's problem behavior rather well, but many researchers and most people with the disability in question would dispute their characterization of disabled people's reasoning.

First person dyslexia success story at the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/jobs/the-visual-workplace-and-how-to-build-it.html?_r=2&

I WAS born in 1956. I should have been reading in grade school, but I’m dyslexic — I have trouble reading, writing and spelling — and few people knew much about the condition in those days. My mother realized that something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. She advocated for me at school and told my teachers not to give up on me. I attended five grammar schools because my mother was constantly looking for something to help me. It was a lonely childhood, and I hate to think how I might have ended up if she hadn’t been so supportive.