Category Archives: Uncategorized

The RTI Action Network published a paper by Jack Fletcher about identification of Learning Disabilities in the context of response to instruction (or intervention; RTI). Professor Fletcher, who has been a leading proponent of RTI since the 1990s, makes a strong case for the importance of examining instruction as a part of determining eligibility for [...] Continue reading →

Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (AL, US) presented a paper at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in which they reported that exposure to nicotine during pregnancy leads to a decrease in adult stem cells and a change in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of the offspring. The [...] Continue reading →

For those who haven’t been paying attention, Katherine Ellison has appeared on multiple media outlets promoting her book, Buzz. She had another entry, this time in the Washington Post yesterday (20 November 2010). Given the recent release of the US Centers for Disease Control prevalence study, this is pretty timely and, award-winning journalist that she [...] Continue reading →

Telephone surveys of parents in the US about the health and well-being of 73,123 children and youths between 4 and 17 years of age revealed that at one time or another 9.5% of the parents said “a doctor or other health-care provider had … told [the parent] that [the] child had ‘attention deficit disorder or [...] Continue reading →

Los Angeles (CA, US) Unified School District has refused an offer by chef Jamie Oliver, who has received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, to collaborate on a television production about improving school food service, according to Mary MacVean, of the Los Angeles Times. For those who are wondering why on Earth they [...] Continue reading →

On the 35th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Council for Exceptional Children reflects on the efforts of children and youth with disabilities, their families, educators, and policymakers who were instrumental in the passage of this legislation and remain committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities attain a lifetime of success. We hope you will join with us in honoring this anniversary by: 1. Sharing with us what IDEA has meant to you; 2. Submitting a Letter to the Editor to commemorate this anniversary; and 3. Emailing your Congressional delegation in support of IDEA full funding…. Continue reading →

In an article about students at post-secondary institutions, Chris Coleman and colleagues reported that scores on the widely-used Nelson-Denny Reading Test may not be trustworthy for some populations and uses.
Coleman, C., Lindstrom, J., Nelson, J., Lindstrom, W., & Gregg, K. N. (in press). Passageless comprehension on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test: Well above chance for [...] Continue reading →

Just as I did on EBD Blog, I’m encouraging folks to read Dan Willingham’s blog entry for the Washington Post regarding the persistent myth that sugar causes children to act hyper. Jump right on over to Dan’s post to read his full deflation of this popular balloon, then you can go back and catch my [...] Continue reading →

The Quebec Department of Education, along with the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers and francophone teachers’ unions, hosted a forum on October 25, 2010 to discuss overcrowding in schools and potential implications for the Province’s integration policy for children with disabilities. According to the Ministière de l’Education, de Loisir, et Sport du Québec, children with disabilities consist of nearly one-fifth of the student population in Quebec; and of those students, almost two-thirds are being integrated into general education classes. Due to rising overcrowding in schools, teachers and parents are considering proposals which would reduce the number of students with disabilities… Continue reading →

Writing in Pediatrics, Professor Kouichi Yoshimasu and colleagues reported that the chances of children and youths having reading disabilities is significantly higher among those who have ADHD than it is among the general population of children and youths. Furthermore, although boys are significantly more likely than girls to manifest reading disabilities among the general population, [...] Continue reading →