News for the Special Education Community
by David Dobbs – Much of autism’s mystery and fascination lies in a paradox: On one hand, autism seems to create a profound disconnect between inner and outer lives; on the other, it generates what the neuroscientist Oliver Sacks calls an essential and “most intricate interaction” between the disorder and one’s other traits. In the [...]
by Jim Salter – Dr. Jan Brunstrom-Hernandez gently but sternly admonishes a teenage cerebral palsy patient who clearly hasn’t been doing his exercises, stressing the importance of keeping muscles loose and limber. “We know it’s not fair, but that’s the way it is,” Brunstrom-Hernandez tells 15-year-old patient Sam Ward. “Do you hear me? I know [...]
by Trevor Keiser – “Never give up, never, never, never give up” was the famous quote by British Prime Minster Winston Churchill that helped give determination to Oxford High School Senior Ross Chapman to overcome his learning disability (LD). After being held back in kindergarten a second time, teachers couldn’t understand why Chapman wasn’t reading [...]
In many ways, Desaray Carroll is a typical high school teenager. She texts nonstop, hangs out with her friends, goes to the movies and out to eat. The 19-year-old Coahulla Creek High School student is surrounded with a family and friends who love and support her, so much so they campaigned for the student body [...]
by Sasha Goldstein – Jorie Rogers just wanted to live long enough to celebrate her son’s first birthday. She got her wish, but the mother who wasn’t supposed to be a mother, the mother who wanted only the best for her miracle baby with Down syndrome, lost her battle with cancer on Sunday, her second [...]
by Karen Price – The words “classical music” usually conjure up thoughts of late great composers, like Beethoven and Strauss, who were brought to life during school history lessons. But for the last two decades, contemporary pieces have been the firm focus of the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Music, which celebrates living composers. And [...]
by Laura McMullen – Sarah Schaffer is a senior at Free State High School in Lawrence, Kan. When she’s not playing the cymbals and triangle in the concert band, she’s sprinting and shot-putting on the school’s green and silver Firebirds track team. Sarah is a fan of country music – especially songs by Blake Shelton [...]
by Kelsie Smith – He climbed the stairs, walked down the diving board, and dove in. 9-year-old Kellen Apple was busy practicing Tuesday night at RIT with Upstate NewYork Diving, as he has a meet in Geneseo this weekend. “I practice a lot and I have a trampoline at home and I do flips on [...]
by Deb Kiner – Pauline Bridgeman of Hershey gets tears in her eyes when thinks of the people who have gone above and beyond to accommodate children with special needs. “They are just gems,” she said. And that is what is so special about the Global Down Syndrome Foundation Be Beautiful Be Yourself Gala in Washington, D.C., tonight. [...]
by Barbara Arrowsmith-Young - In the 60 years that I have been part of the learning disabled world, I have both experienced and witnessed the suffering that is living with a learning disability. Learning disabilities are commonly considered a school-based issue; but struggling in school means struggling in life. This makes learning to be confident and [...]
