Dr. Carol's Blog

Information is power. It is very important that parents have information about their child’s strengths and weaknesses so that decisions can be based on objective data more than just what seems to cause the most stress. Total Learning Centers believes that accurate relevant data offers the strongest foundation on which to build the best curriculum for students.

Our testing includes more than just intelligence testing and testing in reading, writing, and math areas because the newest research is clear- it takes more to be successful in school and in life than just these alone. Important? Yes. Sufficient? No. The student who studies and “gets it” at home then forgets for the test the next day, or finds that homework takes much longer than their friends, the child who requires extra explaining and help during homework, will need more than just help to improve reading for example. These children may have underlying weaknesses in memory, attention, organizing, processing, or processing speed.

Many are finding these Executive Functioning areas are even more critical than mastering the basics of reading, writing, spelling and math. The fact is, they are ALL needed. Total Learning Centers evaluates all these areas even during our FREE life time update testing. Look for this information about your child (memory, attention, etc.) any place you have your child tested, even if not at Total Learning Centers.

In Harrington County, Pennsylvania, a wealthy suburb installed a “feature” that allows them to turn on the webcam. The school district has said this was implemented so that if a laptop was stolen they could turn on to determine who had the laptop. However, all of this came to light when an assistant principal used a shot from the laptop webcam – taken while at home – that was used during a discipline situation.

We know schools are using the internet, emails, and webcams at school to help discipline students, keep up with students, and understand where the current school culture is at any given time. Schools are also working hard to figure out how we protect students from on-line dangers but do the “protections” step over the line?

One of the allegations is that the web cams were used for child pornography as the laptops were open in students’ bedrooms. We can awesome that was not the intent of the school district. Remember only administrators had access to the webcams. But with this technology have they gone too far? Especially without informing parents.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I think this will be a hot topic in the news. It seems as though it has already become sensationalized. This will be interesting to watch. Let us know your thoughts.

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.boingboing.net%252F2 010%252F02%252F17%252Fschool-used-student.html&h=9ec0bfba63fbef83ff32452a3d5 67168&ref=nf> home Boing Boing

www.boingboing.net

Many people have a fear of saying the wrong thing but for some this is an everyday worry. Students and adults with ADHD often describe words as falling out of the mouth. This article in Attitude offers some great suggestions about how to deal with the no stops issues.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

7 strategies for reining in impulsive speech and unwelcome spontaneity.

by http://www.additudemag.com/authorID/13.html Sandy Maynard

Stop, think, then speakADDitude Magazine

If your emails are getting you in trouble, save them in the “draft” folder for 24 hours before sending them.

http://images.add-assets.com/images/HPlifeStoryEnd.gif

If you have adult attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD), or live with someone who does, you know that being spontaneous is part of the package. Most of the time, this is a good thing. It’s what helps us to think on our feet and to brainstorm outside-the-box solutions to thorny problems.

When it comes to speech, however, spontaneity has a downside. I was reminded of that during a recent coaching session. As a client walked into my office, she noticed my newly highlighted hair. “Awesome hairdo,” she said. “It really hides the gray.” After an awkward silence, we both burst out laughing. I told her, “You were supposed to say, ‘Awesome hairdo. You look beautiful.’”

Not every case of impulsive speech is funny. Ever ask a woman when her baby’s due – only to discover she’s not pregnant? Ever badmouth a dish at a potluck dinner – only to discover you’re speaking to the person who made it? Once I ruined a surprise toga party (don’t ask) by accidentally mentioning it to the guest of honor! You already know not to talk politics or religion at social gatherings. Here are some other ways to watch what you say:

Make sure you know the topic before joining a conversation. When you begin with, “I know what you mean” and then go on to say the opposite of what was just said, it makes for an awkward moment. Don’t speak, or speak slowly, until you know exactly what you intend to say.

Don’t be too quick to share intimate information. As my grandmother used to say, “If you wouldn’t want to see what you just said on the front page of the newspaper, don’t say it at all.”

If you’re angry, wait until you’ve cooled down before having a discussion. To keep from shouting when you’re excited, take a breath and aim for a whisper instead.

If you offend someone, apologize at once. Remember, a good apology does not come with an excuse. Right way: “That was rude. Please forgive me.” Wrong way: “Sorry I said that. I’m running on four hours of sleep. It’s a wonder I can even think straight.”

Bring paper and pencil to important meetings. Jot down your comments and share them with co-workers at your leisure. If your e-mails are getting you in trouble, save them in the “draft” folder for 24 hours before sending them.

When asked your opinion, say, “Give me a moment to think about that.” The extra second or two buys you time to come up with an appropriate response.

Avoid gossip. A friend posted a sign outside her cubicle that reads, “Updates on the grandchildren, good news, and funny jokes are welcome! Gossip, complaints, and jokes in bad taste are not.”

Last but not least, if you are throwing a surprise party… good luck!

_____

http://www.additudemag.com/asset/477.jpgThis article comes from the August/September 2006 issue of ADDitude.

Below are some comments from another colleague regarding Dr. Carol’s presentation on Evaluations for the Coalition of Advocates and Attorneys in Western Pennsylvania:

Thanks for your comments Joe. You are so right — the evaluation is just the beginning of the helping process, or should be! We need to help students in not only the academic skill areas that are deficit but also in those areas that make acquisition of skills a challenge which of course include the processing, processing speed, memory, attention and the rest of the Executive Functioning areas. Hope to see you at the next COA meeting.

Subject: Re: FW: questions from COA presentation on 2-5-10

Thank you for forwarding Carol’s response.

We frequently hear about the three “R’s” and related problems, but seldom about the components that make up the three R’s-most significantly, how to identify any deficit that may exist, their impact on day-to-day- educational process, and most significantly, their role in the children’s (and adults who don’t get the necessary remedial help) life. It is difficult, but we need to keep in mind the usual suspects that show up in all these problem-areas, processing speed and working memory.

I saw a good example yesterday. During a concert of high school musicians, a Penn State professor, who had been doing a brilliant job conducting the students he had trained in just two days, had to stumble around to think of the word, “iceberg”. He recovered quickly, making a joke — the somewhat nervous audience was eager to laugh. Carol has often talked about the accommodations made by those with deficits and the energy it takes to do that and how it affects their performance. If I recall correctly, Carol characterizes the activity as “exhausting”. Neuro-scientists call it “building explicit connections when implicit ones are missing” ( I imagine Carol would have used that term if she were talking to Neuro-scientists rather than us mere mortals!).

My point is, the problems Carol touched on have real-life implications-they don’t go away- ADA, IDEA etc require that the schools address them-they give the option of IEP or 504, we as advocates need to figure out ways to help the parents to get the schools to do it.

Hopefully, Carol and/or Joe would do a session on what to do about those problems identified by these thorough evaluations!

Keep up the good work, Shari… and Carol and Joe and Bob and Ted and Alice!!!!( This should identify us by our age!)

Joe James

The snow has hit the Pittsburgh Area hard this week. Many schools have closed. In fact, for the first time in 11 years Total Learning Centers was closed for two days this week. We are now open, but not all teachers or students have been able to come in. We are looking forward to seeing everyone next week and getting back on track.

In the meantime, Total Learning Centers’ friend, Audrey Rasmusson, sent in some great ideas to keep your car working well. Thanks Audrey!

Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights – lasts 6 weeks

Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity.

Ice-proof your windows with vinegar! Frost on its way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they’ll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water—preventing water from freezing!

Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel. The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber.

Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe it off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.

De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problem is solved!

Hope these hints help, even just one time.

Source:  Jim Haggerty, Federal Police officer, former Registry Motor Vehicle Inspector and retired Boston Police officer

Dear Carol,

Another areas that could be fleshed out — making the connection between ADHD and OHI for the purpose of qualifying.

Thanks again.

Rebecca

How much attention issues impact access to the general education curriculum? In other words, “Does a diagnosis of ADHD automatically entitle a student to a 504 plan?” Each student must be evaluated individually and depending on the amount of educational need, rather than modifications and accommodations needed, an IEP under Other Health Impaired (OHI) might be exactly fitting. For example, many students with ADHD have written expression issues. If those written expression issues will be accommodated with extra time, that student may find a 504 will work fine. If the student needs specially designed instruction to learn the structure of writing a paragraph then an IEP is appropriate.

Other Health Impaired (OHI) is a category that can be used to qualify those for an IEP that do not qualify with a learning disability but may qualify under OHI.

Dear Carol,

Your presentation this morning was super! Very helpful. Thank you so much. I second Debbie’s request for further training based on the specifics of the WISC IV. Also, I find written expression to be very “under-evaluated” and was wondering if there is a specific tool you like to use for that.

Thanks again.

Rebecca

Rebecca mentioned that written expression tends to be underevaluated and we tend to see the same. Why is important to evaluate written expression? Often, even when reading and other areas of learning disabilities are remediated and the gap has closed, written expression issues remain. This makes sense when we remember that first we hear, then we speak, then we read, then we write. Even students with remediated oral language issues may find that written expression lags behind.

As you know, with reading there are four areas that must be evaluated: pseudoword decoding, sight words, fluency, and comprehension. Likewise, there are multiple areas that must be evaluated with written expression. It is common that we evaluate written expression looking as such items as topic sentence, character developement, quotes, closings, etc. We especially are aware of these areas in Pennsylvania as we closely evaluate a student’s ability to compose a paragraph response through the high stakes PSSA testing.

In addition to the important area of written expression, writing fluency – how quickly and efficiently students can get their thoughts down on paper – is important. Grammar, spelling, and editing skills should all be part of the evaluation.

Be aware that if there are significant issues with vocabulary, sentence combining, or language development, it is highly recommended that a speech and language evaluation is done to rule out any hidden issues.

Are students getting smarter? Is the competition growing? What does this mean for our students with learning differences?

The nation’s Advanced Placement program is continuing to expand, with 26.5% of this past May’s senior class taking at least one test during high school, a College Board report released Wednesday showed. In 2009, high schools offered an average of 10 AP courses compared with seven in 2004. While a majority of students taking the exams earned a passing score, the number of students who did not pass is on the rise — up to 43% in 2009 from 39% in 2001, the report showed. Also in the report: More low-income students are taking the test and passing. The New York Times

End the Word on 3.3.10

March 3 is our day of awareness. Spread the Word to End the Word. Get rid of the r-word. Pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the r-word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. http://www.r-word.org/. I have.

Great way to keep students motivated and educated. Good job North Carolina!

Early-college high schools is keeping at-risk students enrolled in N.C. More than 70 early-college high schools in North Carolina are providing at-risk students the opportunity to earn college credit at no cost, bridging the gap between high school and college, and keeping many students from dropping out. At Sand Hoke Early College High School, which enrolls only students whose parents lack college degrees, students are on a fast track to earn a high-school diploma and two years of college credit in five years

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/education/08school.html?ref=education