Smart Kids With LD

For those of you who aren’t already enamored of rock star Adam Levine (is that anyone on the planet?), the Maroon 5 lead singer has just launched a project that’s sure to win the hearts and minds of those with an interest in ADHD.

Levine has partnered with the pharmaceutical company Shire to launch “The Own It Project,” an effort to encourage adults with ADHD to take responsibility for their attention issues and share their stories with others.

Those wishing to participate in the project can submit their story about when they knew they needed to own their ADHD. Participants are entered into a national contest with a chance to win prizes along with the opportunity to be the next “Own It” campaign spokesperson. In addition to receiving an autographed guitar from Levine, the winner will be able to choose between two prize packages, one focusing on technology and the other built around professional appearance. Both packages include sessions with an ADHD coach.

“The Own It Project,” says Levine, “is important because it encourages adults, like me, who are owning their ADHD, to become advocates and tell their story. I hope that this effort will help people realize the importance of owning their ADHD.”

Submissions must be sent to OwnItProject.com by June 6, 2012.

Reviewed by Emmy Fearn

Katherine Ellison’s Buzz chronicles the rocky period leading up to and including the full year Ellison devoted to finding help for her preteen son, Buzz, diagnosed with ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. This book is sure to resonate with parents who have felt overwhelmed in similar situations—a child with worsening behavior, deteriorating mental health, and too many treatment options to know which way to turn. In Ellison’s case, the situation proved so daunting, she initially stuck her head in the sand and took no action at all—a position many parents will identify with.

After finally admitting that Buzz was in dire need of help, together she and her son set off on an exploratory odyssey of alternative treatments, as well as the oft-recommended stimulant medication. Along the way, the Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist documents a comprehensive list of available options, including neurofeedback training, meditation, therapy, and medication.  Her review is a boon to parents who have been wondering what else is out there, but who have not acted because they haven’t had the time and money to research treatments on their own.

Finding An Answer

Despite Ellison’s initial resolve not to “drug” her son, she eventually tried stimulant medication and discovered that it enabled Buzz to control and improve his behavior. She also confessed that, after this positive experience, she apologized to an acquaintance she had a year earlier excoriated for “drugging” his own child with stimulant medication. 

Given Buzz’s behavioral challenges, I was perplexed at his apparent willingness, given his previous recalcitrance and his age, to comply with so many different possible treatments:  As most parents know, even well-adjusted 12-year-olds don’t appreciate having their lives micromanaged, and Buzz would not have been considered well-adjusted.

The mystery was amusingly solved at the end of the book, when Ellison divulged the brilliant deal she had made with Buzz at the beginning of the year:  If he cooperated with the research by doing what was asked of him, he could share in the earnings from the book she was writing.  Buzz agreed, which gave him the incentive to learn how to manage his disorders and ultimately empowered him. This disclosure also reminded me, as other parents may attest, that extrinsic motivation, with rewards for good behavior, can be highly effective in modifying behavior.

Ellison’s vivid descriptions as mother and son journeyed together make Buzz an engaging read. But the book is also a cautionary tale of how dire things can get, because as Ellison realized, the problems don’t go away even if you do your best to ignore them. Hopefully, Buzz will motivate reluctant parents to deal with issues proactively to find workable solutions earlier in their children’s lives.  If that happens, reading this book will have been time well spent.

The author, a mother of two adult children with learning disabilities, is completing her Ph.D in Education while teaching self-advocacy to College of Alameda (CA) students with intellectual disabilities.

Related Smart Kids Links

Treating ADHD: A Comprehensive Strategy

Is ADHD the Only Problem Your Child Faces

Beyond Medication: Evidence-Based ADHD Care

Straight Talk About Medications for ADHD

Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Children Learn If They Can

Beginning next fall students taking college entrance exams will have to produce a photo ID when they arrive at the testing site. That picture will be checked against an image they uploaded at the time they registered for the exam, which will appear on the admission ticket.

This is one of several new policies instituted nationwide in response to a cheating scandal that was uncovered last year in Nassau County, NY. Twenty teens were arrested for taking part in a scheme where students paid others to take the SAT or ACT exam for them.

Fittingly, the new security measures were announced in Nassau County in late March. At the press conference were representatives from the ACT and the College Board, which runs the SAT in conjunction with the Educational Testing Service. Also on hand was Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen M. Rice who said:

“These reforms close a gaping hole in standardized test security that allowed students to cheat and steal admissions offers and scholarship money from kids who played by the rules. Millions of college-bound students who take the SAT and ACT each year should have renewed confidence that honest applicants will not take a back seat to cheaters, and that those who cheat will be caught.”

In other efforts to thwart cheating, registrants will be required to provide their gender and list their high school when they sign up. In addition, on-site registration (where students sign up the day of the test) will no longer be allowed.

For many young people summer camp is a rite of passage—precious time away from home, thinking for themselves, and not having to answer to their parents. It can be a time of growth, maturation, and confidence-building that serves them well as they return to school again in the fall.

Ensuring that your child with learning disabilities has a successful camp experience may take an extra measure of planning. It begins with both you and she establishing a clear understanding of what she wants to get out of the camp experience. The best way to get at that is through an open and honest discussion about her needs, wants, wishes, and worries.

Once you’ve settled on goals for the camp experience, you then must evaluate options most available to meet those goals—and they are many, from simple day camps to summer-long, specialized camps. In Summer Camp Guidelines for Kids with LD and ADHD we provide useful information to help you navigate your choices to find the best setting for your child socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. The effort you put in up front will serve your child well.

For more age-specific guidelines for Kids with LD and ADHD, see:

Camp Guidelines for Elementary Kids

Camp Guidelines for Middle School Kids

Camp Guidelines for High School Kids

With the recent release of Bully in select theaters, moviegoers of all ages are hearing, seeing, and feeling the effects of what more than 13 million American kids suffer each year. The character-driven documentary, directed by Lee Hirsch, shines an unflinching light on the tortured lives of five bullied children and their families as they went through the 2009-2010 school year. As described by the movie’s promoters:

Following five kids and families over the course of a school year, the film confronts bullying’s most tragic outcomes, including the stories of two families who’ve lost children to suicide and a mother who waits to learn the fate of her 14-year-old daughter, incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With rare access to the Sioux City Community School District, the film also gives an intimate glimpse into school buses, classrooms, cafeterias, and even principals’ offices, offering insight into the often-cruel world of children, as teachers, administrators, and parents struggle to find answers.

While the stories examine the dire consequences of bullying, they also give testimony to the courage and strength of the victims of bullying and seek to inspire real changes in the way we deal with bullying as parents, teachers, children, and in society as a whole. Through the power of these stories, BULLY aims to be a catalyst for change and to turn the tide on an epidemic of violence that has touched every community in the United States—and far beyond.

Through these powerful stories, Hirsch hopes Bully will change the way we as individuals and as a society deal with bullying. With that in mind, the movie’s website offers a downloadable tool, Guide to the Film Bully: Fostering Empathy and Action in Schools, designed to help audiences deal with the stories they see and explore what they mean in their schools and communities.

The movie is part of The Bully Project, a larger social action campaign that is aiming to address the bullying crisis by changing schools and communities. Check The Bully Project Website to learn how you can get involved. Options range from heeding the movie’s call to action: “Stop Bullying. Speak Up!” to sharing personal stories and supporting nonprofit partners of The Bully Project.

Related Topics

Creating Climates of Respect: A Call to Action

Bullying: Kids with LD Are Easy Targets

Bullying: A Call to Action

By now most adults are familiar with the annual college rankings from U.S. News and World Reports. But what you may not know is that the publication also ranks other educational institutions including graduate schools in special education.

According to the recently released 2012 rankings, the University of Kansas and Vanderbilt share  top honors, earning the coveted No. 1 spot. Both have earned high accolades in the past, most recently by Science Watch, which found that researchers from these schools were also the most frequently published in journals relevant to educating students with disabilities.

Other top 10 grad schools for special education (in descending order) are:

1. University of Oregon
2. University of Florida
3. University of Texas-Austin
4. University of Virginia (Curry)
5. University of Washington
6. University of Minnesota
7. University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
8. University of Maryland-College Park

The special-education rankings are comprised of a number of variables including tuition, enrollment, average GRE applicant scores, external research funding, and doctoral program acceptance rates.

By Jill Saluck

It is often the case that kids with learning disabilities and ADHD struggle with time management. This comes from an inaccurate perception of the passage of time, rather than an unwillingness to do things promptly. It can nevertheless become a constant source of conflict between parent and child, in addition to impacting school and other activities.

I know all too well the frustration of going into my daughter’s room before school and saying, in my sweetest, most motherly voice, “Good morning, honey,” only to be ignored, or worse, confronted by a grumpy shriek. This inevitably escalates into a stand-off where I become an angry shrew and my daughter, once again, misses the bus. I have three daughters, none of whom are easy morning risers, so this was a common occurrence in my house.

I tried regular alarm clocks, but my girls would simply turn them off and go back to sleep, knowing that mom would come in as the human snooze alarm eventually.  After pinpointing what each of them needed, I did a little research and found some solutions that have made my life (at least the mornings) a great deal easier.

Different Clocks for Different Daughters

My oldest daughter has to get up at different times each day of the week. That was part of the problem as she would forget to set the alarm early enough for the early days. I found her the American Innovative Neverlate Executive alarm clock that allows for different alarms for each day of the week, along with a five minute snooze button. I set it once for her, and didn’t need to reset it again until her schedule changed. Now if the alarm goes off at 6:00, she knows it’s Tuesday and she needs to go to early chorus practice. Sometimes I still have to drag her out of bed, but not nearly as often.

Of the three, my middle daughter poses the greatest rise-and-shine challenge. She requires the most interaction to get out of bed and downstairs for breakfast. The alarm clock I found for her has been life-altering. It’s called “Clocky” by Nanda Home and is an alarm clock on wheels that wakes her up by making a bunch of wacky noises, then rolling off the night table to another area of the room, forcing her to get out of bed in order to turn it off.  As I had hoped, once out of bed inertia seems to keep her moving in the right direction, albeit slowly and slightly annoyed. But not only is she out of bed; I am not to blame for it.

My youngest daughter usually wakes up cheerfully when I go into her room. But once I’m in there, she doesn’t want me to leave, which creates a problem when I need to start making breakfast and getting everyone ready for school. For her, I needed something that would be fun enough to get her moving. I got her the Kuku Alarm Clock, which wakes her up by laying eggs and chirping. The chirping doesn’t stop until she has found all five eggs around her room and returned them to the clock’s basket. By that time, she is ready for her next project—getting dressed for school.

Reminder Watch

After successfully managing our morning routine, I thought I’d take on the “reminders” my girls need through the course of the day. My oldest daughter, a middle-schooler, had a cell phone, but often forgot to turn on the ringer or check for messages. Reminding her to do so in the morning simply wasn’t enough. Every Wednesday I would come to school to pick her up for her voice lesson, only to find that she had forgotten the plan and had taken the bus home instead.  After exhaustive internet research, I found the Wobl, the one watch on the market small enough for a child’s wrist that allows for multiple vibrating alarms to be set. I have the watch set to remind her when it’s time to leave for school, and on the days the alarm goes off in the afternoons, she knows that I am picking her up. So not only does it provide the reminders she needs when I’m not around, but it greatly reduces the need for my constant nagging.

Life in our household is still chaotic but I must say, these gadgets were a great investment. One morning last week I walked by my daughter’s room and heard some loud stomping followed by an exasperated, “shut up!”  The alarm then stopped sounding, her closet door opened, and I heard her start to get dressed. I walked away smiling—at least she wasn’t talking to me!

Despite the intense media scrutiny Republican presidential hopefuls have been under for months, it seems as if little attention has been paid to their positions regarding education policy—something that is sure to impact your child should one of them take the White House next November.

Whether you’re with them or against them, we think it’s important to be informed. With that in mind, we direct you to a recent blog post by Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/romney-santorum-paul-gingrich-where-they-stand-now-on-education/2012/03/05/gIQAHeZ2tR_blog.html). Based on past actions and current statements, Strauss attempts to capture the positions of the four remaining Republican candidates as we approach the post Super-Tuesday portion of the primary season.

Take a look at the article Romney, Santorum, Paul, Gingrich: Where They Stand Now on Education and let us know who, if any, of these candidates have articulated an education policy you want to support.

It’s not often that parents of children with learning disabilities get to voice their concerns to people in charge–and by people in charge, I mean folks at the White House who advise the president on matters that directly impact their children. That was, in fact, what a group of parents and advocates did recently in a meeting with President Obama’s advisors on disability issues and special education.

According to an article in Education Week, Kareem Dale, Alexa Posny, and Melody Musgrove—all high-level advisors to the President—invited a select group to exchange views on important education policy issues regarding children with learning disabilities.

Key Concerns

Among the concerns that surfaced was the No Child Left Behind waivers extended by the administration. As Hilary Cole, the parent of three children with learning disabilities told Nirvi Shah of Education Week: “We have many concerns about the state waivers and whether those could open the door to lower expectations for special education students. Our main message to them was that we need to make sure these students are given what they need to go on and be college- and career-ready, to be successful in the work force. We need to make sure people don’t quit on these kids.”

In addition to that discussion, the group was informed of the administration’s budget proposal for 2013, which apparently includes cuts in preparing educators to work with special ed students, a key concern among those present. Other topics discussed included strategies within the Department of Education to:

• Align early childhood services and K-12 services for students with disabilities
• Develop policies that encourage all teachers to be trained to work with students with disabilities
• Provide access to differentiated instruction and effective interventions to all students with disabilities
• Include all students in assessments by making the assessments fully accessible
• Provide more transition planning for students moving into post-secondary and career opportunities.

If you had a chance to talk with the President’s top advisors for disabilities and special education, what would you want to tell them? Share your thoughts below.

Given the wide range of educational applications of the iPad, it was only a matter of time before some school provided the popular device to all its students. A Las Vegas, NV charter school has done just that, making it the first true ischool in the nation.

Explore Knowledge Academy (EKA), a public charter school in Clark County, has given an iPad to all 720 students and 54 staff members. Stating the obvious, EKA Executive Director Abbe Mattison told a reporter at the Las Vegas Sun, “The world has changed; the expectations in the workforce have changed. You can’t even work at a McDonald’s without using a touch screen. . . .  If we don’t change how we teach, it’s a disservice to our kids.”

With the goal of preparing their students for the technological world that awaits them upon graduation, EKA began creating a high-tech campus in 2008. In partnership with Utah-based iSchool Campus, the charter school set out to provide in-school access to iPads, Macbooks, and AppleTBs on a high-speed, high capacity network. The transformation was carried out in phases and included extensive renovations to the plant as well as to the technology. The final phase was the infusion of iPads, which was completed 6 months ago.

Benefits for Students with LD

Although to date the scientific evidence in support of digital education is still scant—the field is too new to evaluate long-term benefits—educators believe the potential payoff will be great. According to the article, that’s particularly true for EKA’s special needs students:

Preliminary research has found iPads can be an effective teaching tool among students with learning disabilities because they provide a visual, tactile and creative outlet.

“Often kids with disabilities are disconnected from what’s going on around them,” said Andrea Awerbach, a special education adviser at EKA. “With iPads, they’re engaged and using them in a learning capacity. Students aren’t confined to doing a report or making a poster; they can create movies, songs and presentations.”

To learn more about EKA’s transition to a digital school see the Las Vegas Sun article,  At Las Vegas Charter School, iPads Pave Students’ Path to Learning.