PARENT Workshop for College-bound LD/AD/HD Students

Nancy Rosenberg, of Specialized College Counseling, will be presenting a six hour focused workshop for PARENTS OF rising 11th and 12th grade students with learning disabilities and attentional disorders.

Everything Parents Need to Know to be Educated and
Supportive of Their LD/AD/HD Student’s
College Search Process

Here is what parents will gain from participating in this interactive and
instructive PARENT Workshop:

1. A clear understanding of what will make a college a good match for their
student. By using the guidelines and information from the PARENT Workshop
parents will understand the type of environment where their student can
succeed academically, be happy socially and find colleges that will still
provide the level of support needed to be successful in his/her studies.

2. All their questions will be answered including but not limited to:

The SPECTRUM of SUPPORT available on campuses including examples of specific colleges that fall into these categories
Factors to consider when choosing a college
Disclosure vs. Non disclosure of disabilities

3. They will receive an INFORMATIONAL BINDER that includes all the topics and
information that they will discuss in the workshop and can be used later as a
valuable resource.

4. Be secure in the knowledge that they can call Nancy, at no additional
cost, at any time during the college search, application and acceptance
process to discuss their questions.

Please visit Nancy’s website at www.specialcc.com or call her at 301-320-5652
for registration information.

Amazing Memory Techniques

The end of the year means finals! Almost every student we know has big tests coming up. Here are some great study techniques to help your kiddos remember more and study less:

1. Learn from the general to the specific--start with the big picture and then fill in the details. Drawing pictures or creating flow charts can be very helpful!
2. Recite and Repeat--talking aloud while studying helps students remember material since they are utilizing two senses (touch and hearing).
3. Transfer material to long term memory--Have a short review within minutes or hours of a study session to reinforce concepts and materials just learned.
4. Remember something else--If your student is stuck on an idea, have her write down everything she knows related to the topic. It's likely the process will jog her memory!
5. Use daylight--Believe it or not, studying your most difficult subject while the sun is up helps improve the retention of new information!

Memory Terms...Explained

Phonological Memory
The ability to decode several sounds and temporarily store them to be able to effectively blend all those sounds together to read words. Phonological memory is an indicator of early reading success and can be improved through research based reading programs.

Short Term Memory aka Working Memory
The ability to store information that you need to remember and manipulate for brief periods of time (seconds, minutes, or hours). Through repetition and making meaningful connections, short term memory can translate into long term memory.

Long Term Memory (LTM)
The information that your brain retains for as little as a few days, or as long as a few decades. LTM is divided into explicit (facts you consciously learn like vocab words for a test), implicit (information you draw on automatically to perform tasks like driving a car) and semantic memory (automatic facts that don't require any effort to recall, like the days of the week).

Working Memory

A recent article in the Post about working memory and stress in children caught my attention. Working memory is essential for daily activities and for developing long term connections with subject matter. While researchers knew that stress caused physical and emotional deficits they were curious to find out how stress impacts cognitive abilities in children. The study showed that the longer children lived in poverty and stressful situations the lower they tended to score on working-memory tests. In fact, those who spent their entire childhood in poverty scored about 20 percent lower on working memory than those who were never poor. Read the entire article here.


Ways to Improve Working Memory
• Read more complicated and longer text that challenge you. Academic writings that you would find in journals are a great place to start. Though they may confuse and frustrate you at first, stick with them and keep reading until you gain a better understanding.
• Though it's often important to show your work on math assignments, try to perform as much mental math that you can. Even 3 digit addition - try it in your head!
Working memory games on the internet like Brain Connection, and Working Memory Challenge.

Teaching Boys and Girls with ADHD--Upcoming Workshop

Thursday April 16, 2009, 7-9 pm

Martha Denckla, Kennedy Krieger Institute: Teaching Boys and Girls with ADHD

Dr. Martha Denckla is a research scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. She is also a Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

An engaging and knowledgeable speaker, she will be discussing the ways boys and girls with ADHD learn differently and how we can address these differences. Girls characteristically show ADHD later than boys, and there is evidence that girls with ADHD differ from boys most strikingly in academic, social-emotional and neurobiological features. Dr. Denckla's research focuses on the neurobiology of girls with ADHD through anatomic magnetic resonance imaging (aMRI) and assessments of executive behaviors. This valuable presentation will be useful for parents, teachers, tutors and other professionals.

Presenter: Martha Denckla, MD
Location: The Siena School
Cost: $30 (discounts available for certain memberships)

Registration:
Online www.thesienaschool.org under Workshop Series or by calling 301-592-0567 x 10

Math Homework Blues

One of the greatest fears for students of all grades is subject based:

Math.

Many students joke that math is one of our language's "four letter words," a word only uttered in anger or jest...never seriously. How can we as parents and educators change this? Here are a few tips to at least keep the monster at bay.

1. Keep a positive outlook about math yourself! Describe math as "useful" or "helpful," not "horrible" or "impossible".

2. Engage in "math dialogue" on a daily basis...talk with your child or student about how you used math today, how you'll use it tomorrow, and how it is beneficial.

3. Use the computer! Find fun games and worksheets online for practice. Try the Worksheet Library for a great start!

4. Avoid melt-downs by providing breaks as necessary. If a student routinely becomes frustrated by math, don't let his or her negative emotions dictate how he or she feels about math!

5. Find free online tutorials like this one from AOL that provide fun opportunities to practice the skills necessary for strong mathematical foundation.

For more tips on how to help your child or student develop as a problem solver, visit the Math Work Center and turn the monster into the leader of the pack!

Research-Informed Assessment of Learning Disabilities in Older Adolescents and Adults, a workshop by Dr. Mapou

Saturday, February 28, 2009
8:30 am – 12:30 pm

/IDARegistrationForm

About the Program: Over the past 10 years, neuropsychological research on learning disabilities in older adolescents and adults has advanced to the point where it is now possible to specify the components of an evaluation that are crucial for diagnosing reading, writing, mathematics, and nonverbal learning disabilities. Within this same time period, there has been a parallel development of guidelines for
assessment and documentation of learning disabilities, including those that are language based, in adolescents and adults.

This workshop will integrate these two important knowledge bases by providing an overview of assessment and documentation of learning disabilities in older adolescents and adults. The material will be geared toward those who evaluate or treat individuals with learning disabilities, who review evaluation reports, who
refer individuals for evaluation, and who are involved in educational and occupational intervention and planning.

Topics will include:
• Current definitions of learning disabilities
• Learning disability subtypes supported by research
• Summary of research on adult learning disabilities
• Neuropsychological evaluation
• Documentation requirements of standardized testing agencies, colleges, and
universities
• Documentation under 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and criteria changes based on the 2008 ADA Amendments Act
• Accommodations and interventions
• Case example of a college student with dyslexia