Some of you may remember research in the past that showed that individuals with dyslexia have more difficulty screening out background noise (discussed in the news HERE). Students or adults with this difficulty can usually request quiet area for work or test-taking...
Learning with Dr. Sara Renzulli [Premium]
"I was identified as dyslexic and having ADHD in the fifth grade. I struggled quite a bit academically..." — Sara Renzulli, PhD, Visiting Professor, U Conn Recently I had the pleasure of talking to Dr. Sara Renzulli, a teacher in the Counselor Education...
[PREMIUM] The Writing Process From a University Tutor
I recently came across a helpful account from a university-based tutor who worked with a fellow college student at Reed. There are many points that are helpful to consider if you are working with a student in the area of writing. For some, writing is the most frustrating task they are likely to encounter in […]
Schooling From Home, Can You Do It?
Like it or not, when Fall rolls around, many of us may need to school from home whether it's our first choice or not. What if your student is dyslexic? Can it possibly work? There are a lot of people who can't see schooling from home working for their student, but...
Covid College: What About Fall Semester? [Premium]
The outlook for the fall semester remains unpredictable. What does it mean for this community? The situation about the pandemic remains very fluid as does the state of public and private schools at all levels, therefore complex and individualized decisions are being made at homes all across the country. Many colleges and universities, secondary schools, […]
READING FLUENCY: Phrase Craze
Once students have made significant progress with single word decoding, reading fluency practice can be rolled into reading practice with phrase cueing. HERE is a nice review of reading fluency approaches that includes a discussion of phrased reading. Phrase scooping...
INTERVIEW: Dr. Brock Eide & the Neurolearning Dyslexia App
After writing The Dyslexic Advantage and co-founding this non-profit, why did you decide to create this innovative dyslexia screening app? After 20 years working in this field it's become clear that the biggest problem facing dyslexic people is access. That includes...
ADHD Medications Affect White Matter of Children, Not Adults
A recent study from Europe showed a differential effect of first time standard ADHD medications on the white matter of children (10-12 years) compared to adults (23-40 years). Methylphenidate is the active ingredient in drugs such as Concerta and Ritalin. The article...
ADHD AND READING
It's a age-old question that seems to go round and round - is the reading hard because of attention problems or is it hard to pay attention because the reading is hard? For those of you who closely follow research, you probably know that there's a high overlap between...
RESILIENCE
Resilience is a popular topic among today's educational leaders, and for good reason. If you grow up with significant academic, social, or socio-economic stress, you're more likely to still grow up as a happy, successful, and adaptive adult if you are resilient. Many...
[PREMIUM] Gifted with ADHD: How We Asked for Extended Time & a Better Schedule
The road to advocacy has many twists and turns so if your student has moderate to severe difficulties with processing speed, be prepared to be nimble and responsive to challenges that arise. In our previous newsletter, we mentioned some of the advocacy that Laura and her son John took on his path as a 2E […]
Moving to learn: The UPSIDE to Fidgeting [Premium]
Researchers from Florida presented visually dramatic evidence of the difference in ADHD student hyperactivity dependng on the task at hand. 52 boys ages 8 to 12 were studied. 32 had ADHD and 30 served as controls. 44% of ADHD students had been prescribed stimulant medication, and these students had medicines held for at least 24 […]