LD OnLine News Headlines

For Leonardo Cohen, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health and the senior author of a June 2021 study published in the journal Cell, the idea that breaks are a cooling-off period is a misconception. Cohen says that incorporating breaks into learning “plays just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill. It appears to be the period when our brains compress and consolidate memories of what we just practiced.”

Major employers including Microsoft, Google, Freddie Mac and more are part of a newly launched job search platform directly aimed at recruiting employees with autism and other neurological differences. The career portal known as the Neurodiversity Career Connector debuted last week. It’s intended to connect neurodivergent job seekers with openings at companies that have neurodiversity hiring programs in place.

At least 40 states have passed legislation mandating how teachers deal with dyslexia in the classroom, from proper screening methods to timely intervention strategies. And yet, misconceptions about dyslexia linger even among educators. In fact, research indicates over half of teachers, administrators, and the general public harbor mistaken beliefs about the disability and the specific challenges students with dyslexia can face. Here are specific ways for educators to help students with word-level reading difficulties in the early grades, as well as how to help students identified with dyslexia as they progress through school.

Dyslexia is a growing problem in Minnesota, according to the National Reading Panel’s Report Card. “We’ve been at this almost 10 years now,” said Rachel Berger, founder and director of Decoding Dyslexia, MN (DDMN), whose own son was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of five. On Thursday, April 21, advocates gathered at the State Capitol in St. Paul to provide life experience testimonies about dyslexia and explain why it is imperative to address the issue. Decoding Dyslexia is a nonprofit grassroots organization supported by Minnesota families, educators and professionals concerned with the limited access to educational interventions for students within educational environments. 

A team of researchers at the University of Kansas has identified a possible genetic factor underlying specific language impairment (SLI), a communication disorder whose cause has long stumped researchers. SLI typically entails delayed language development in early childhood. School-aged children with SLI often begin speaking later than the average child and may struggle with comprehension and expression of spoken language. The disorder can be difficult for clinicians to properly diagnose; however, a recent study published in Brain Sciences suggests that a particular variation of the gene BUD13 could be implicated in its diagnosis.

One of the world’s most widely used reading intervention programs for young children took a hit to its credibility today following the release of a new study at the American Educational Research Association conference. Reading Recovery — a one-on-one tutoring program for first graders — has long been controversial because it’s based on a theory about how people read words that was disproven decades ago by cognitive scientists. The new, federally funded study found that children who received Reading Recovery had scores on state reading tests in third and fourth grade that were below the test scores of similar children who did not receive Reading Recovery.

These four metacognitive activities help students connect new lessons to prior learning, find patterns, and assess their strengths and weaknesses by articulating what they know and what they don’t.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could help trainee teachers to spot learning difficulties in pupils, a study by academics at the University of Cambridge and the German university LMU Munich shows. In a trial, 178 trainee teachers identified pupils with potential learning difficulties, and then had their work “marked” by AI. The researchers found that the approach significantly improved the teachers’ ability to collect and assess evidence about a pupil, and draw appropriate conclusions, so the child can be given tailored support. 

Teaching students to identify and express their own emotions—and consider those of others—empowers them, and sets them up for learning. Here are practices to help kids at different grade levels develop the vocabulary and practice the emotional literacy skills to better understand and more effectively participate in the world around them.

Experts explain how to distinguish between children who may have dyslexia and those behind due to COVID disruptions.

Differentiated modes of instruction can provide much-needed resources for students who need additional support.

A recently published study examined the responses of 162 adults with ADHD to open-ended questions completed online about their experience receiving criticisms from others.

The symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can push couples to their breaking point, but there is hope for those willing to seek help.

While most people think of this disorder as causing difficulties with completing assignments in school or the workplace, it can also lead to a deficit in what experts call “social capital.” Social capital is the network and goodwill that you have with other people that help you not only accomplish tasks, but also [maintain] important social connections.