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VOLUME 1
College Board Changes Affect Students with Learning Disabilities
Parents take note: Starting September 2003, two important changes by The College Board which provides the SAT as well as the PSAT and AP tests will take affect changing how college's view students with learning disabilities. Continue
BOOK REVIEW:
Overcoming Dyslexia:
A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Overcoming Reading Problems at Any Level, -by Sally Shaywitz
Yale neuroscientist Shaywitz demystifies the roots of dyslexia (a neurologically based reading difficulty affecting one in five children) and offers parents and educators hope that children with reading problems can be helped. Shaywitz delves deeply into how dyslexia occurs, explaining that magnetic resonance imaging has helped scientists trace the disability to a weakness in the language system at the phonological level.
According to Shaywitz, science now has clear evidence that the brain of the dyslexic reader is activated in a different area than that of the nonimpaired reader. Interestingly, the dyslexic reader may be strong in reasoning, problem solving and critical thinking, but invariably lacks phonemic awareness-the ability to break words apart into distinct sounds-which is critical in order to crack the reading code. The good news, Shaywitz claims, is that with the use of effective training programs, the brain can be rewired and dyslexic children can learn to read. She walks parents through ways to help children develop phonemic awareness, become fluent readers, and exercise the area of the brain essential for reading success. Early diagnosis and effective treatment, the author claims, are of utmost importance, although even older readers can learn to read skillfully with proper intervention. Shaywitz's groundbreaking work builds an important bridge from the laboratory to the home and classroom. 34 line drawings and graphs. Hardcover: 432 pages; Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (April 15, 2003)
*ISBN: 0375400125 From Publishers Weekly
What is a Learning Disability (LD)?
We recently sat down with Dr. Risa Tabacoff, founder of DAIC, for a discussion about the basic realities of learning disabilities; its definition and ramifications. -editor (MH)
MH- Dr. Tabacoff, could you briefly describe what constitutes a learning disability?
Dr. Tabacoff- Generally, a learning disabled person, as it is used in the educational system today, is someone who shows a significant discrepancy between their ability as measured by an IQ test or expected developmental norms and their school performance. ContinueContinue
