Top Five Resources for Special Education Teachers

There is an abundance of exceptional, well researched literature out there for teachers who work with diverse students to draw from. However, I find that there are a select few texts that I refer back to regularly for clarification, insight or strategies. I have culled and whittled down my bookshelf to my top five picks, and described the merits of each text:

1. Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools (7th Edition) by Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, Michael L. Wehmeyer and Karrie A. Shogren

Exceptional Lives provides a detailed, robust description of the different disability categories and federal special education laws. This excellent text is a foundational "read and return to" resource for any teacher working with diverse learners. Throughout the text, the authors use the framework of three guiding themes: Inclusion, Partnerships, and Universal Design for Progress.

2. Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities by Amy G. Dell, Deborah Newton and Jerry G. Petroff

This text discusses how assistive technology can be used to achieve the ideals of universal design for learning and differentiated instruction. The authors do not focus on disability categories; they reject one-sized fits all approaches by focusing on providing strategies and tools for specific needs. However, technology is changing rapidly and any book written about technology can become obsolete quickly. Thus, one of the merits of this resource is that the text comes with an accompanying website that the authors update with new tools and advancements in the latest research. 

3. Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom: Practical Applications (What Works for Special-Needs Learners) by Tracey E. Hall, PhD, Anne Meyer, EdD, and David H. Rose, EdD

This practical text describes the underlying principles of universal design for learning (UDL), and details tangible ways to use UDL to meet the needs of diverse students across age levels. This book has the power to equip teachers with the skills required to develop classroom goals, assessments and learning materials that use UDL. The book is cross curricular and provides examples and strategies for reading, writing, science, mathematics, history, and the arts. 

4. The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD

Although traditionally a parenting book, the principles of The Whole Brain Child are equally as valuable for teachers working with diverse learners. The book is a simple, practical resource that features twelve strategies for helping kids thrive in the face of common childhood challenges. The text hinges on the current medical and psychological understanding of child cognitive development and describes how a child’s brain is wired. The book explains how to use the understanding of a child’s brain to promote pro-social behavior in children. Drs. Siegel and Bryson also publish the The Whole-Brain Child Workbook: Practical Exercises, Worksheets and Activities to Nurture Developing Minds to help educators and parents deploy the twelve strategies.

5. Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential by Peg Dawson, EdD and Richard Guare, PhD

Often learners with special needs struggle with the important executive functioning skills required to sustain focus, follow directions, complete tasks and regulate their impulses. Smart but Scattered is a great resource for both parents and teachers to help children learn the important skills of organization, time management, problem solving and coping with their emotions. The book provides simple assessment tools to help evaluate your students' strengths and challenges accompanied by activities and strategies to help build their deficient skills.

A Day in the Cosmos

I spent yesterday at the intersection of Mind, Brain and Education -- and the cosmos -- when I visited with Dr. Matthew Schneps at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. An astrophysicist, Dr. Schneps is the Director of the Laboratory for Visual Learning at the Center, which combines the resources and research facilities of the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Dr. Schneps is actively involved in dyslexia research and has asked me to serve on the Advisory Board for a research project which is looking at novel ways to deliver written material to children with dyslexia.

During my visit I was also interviewed on camera for another project, funded by the Annenberg Foundation, which is looking to create web-based materials to make information about neuroscience and learning accessible -- and practical -- for educators. Dr. Schneps is particularly interested in emerging evidence that perceptual variations associated with “learning disabilities” are actually advantageous. For example, it turns out that many of the world’s most accomplished astrophysicists have dyslexia. Dyslexia is frequently associated with an increased ability to perceive information in the peripheral visual fields -- which is advantageous when examining the cosmos. Dr. Schneps also introduced me to a brilliant and resilient astrophysicist who began losing her sight as a graduate student -- and now studies the universe using sound.

After my meeting with Dr. Schneps, I finished the day at a Board of Directors meeting for CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology). CAST continues to amaze all of its Board members with its continued progress in leading the field of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). With technology and an understanding of the wide range of normal variation in children, CAST continues to create tools to make academic material accessible to all learners. If you haven’t heard of CAST and UDL, you will soon. CAST is increasingly sought out by policy makers, foundations, and educators interested in bringing these groundbreaking ideas and technologies to schools and school districts.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

It's a Small World

Two recent events reminded us of the international reach of our work. On one day this week, we chatted with parents on three different continents, via Skype, about school options for their children here in the U.S.

The next day we received a note from a Japanese educator, Harue Kaneko, who has visited our Center in the past to learn more about how we conduct our comprehensive assessment. Dr. Yellin had also introduced her to his colleagues at CAST, The Center for Applied Special Technology, (where Dr. Yellin is a member of the Board of Directors) which is a leader in introducing Universal Design for Learning to schools across the United States. Now, through this introduction, Harue Kaneko is working with CAST to translate its work into Japanese and to consider how  to introduce the concept of Universal Design for Learning to Japan. In a recent email, she shared an entry into her Blog for Teachers:

引き続き、ニューヨークレポートです。
学習や発達を専門とする小児神経科医のDr.Yellinのセンターが、昨年移転しました。新しいオフィスはマンハッタンのど真ん中、ロックフェラーセンターが窓からよく見えました。
内装は、旧オフィスとほとんど変わらぬシンプルな作りですが、前よりも一回り広くなりました。

イエーリン先生。このお部屋は、アセスメントを受けている子どもの様子を、控えているご両親が見られるようになっています。（アンダンテにも、こういう設備ほしいです。いつか、お金に余裕ができたら。。。）

近況をお訪ねすると、奥様（イエーリンセンターの顧問弁護士を務めていらっしゃます）が本を書かれたとのこと。

Life After High School: A Guide for Students With Disabilities and Their Families 価格：￥ 1,806（税込） 発売日：2010-08-15 （お求めになれますが、英語です。） それから、イエーリン先生がCASTの理事をしているということで、後日のCAST訪問に大きな力添えをいただきました。（その話は、またあとで） 私にとって、いつもたくさんの情報と大きな知見を与えてくださるイエーリン先生に、本当に感謝です。

Favorite Web Resources

The web is an amazing tool for researching any topic, and the well known search engines such as Google or Bing are good places to start for many searches. But there are a number of specialized sites that are particularly helpful to families and students dealing with learning differences. We want to share some of our favorites.

LD onLine is a compendium of articles on a wide range of topics, written by experts such as special education attorneys, psychologists, and educators. It is a good place to start for general information on a topic relating to learning differences and, as with most of the sites we will mention, has an internal search feature. The search feature also will find articles that may not be new but will still be helpful in explaining a particular subject.

Wrightslaw.com is a commercial site, written by Peter Wright, an attorney, and his wife, Pam, a clinical social worker. The site is cluttered with announcements about their workshops, books, and other products for sale, but there is real substance behind this site and it is a great place to find an article explaining how the legal end of the special education system works. If there is a new court case that impacts special education, you can be sure that Wrightslaw will have both the text of the case and a discussion of what it means before almost anyone else.

More specialized information can be found on the site of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). While this site has an enormous amount of information on dyslexia, it also has links to its branch organizations, which have local programs and activities. For example, the New York City branch of the IDA includes an announcement of its annual conference in March, 2010 at which Dr. Yellin will be speaking on “Neuroplasticity, Resilience, UDL, & Dyslexia - New Pathways to Success".

We'd like to know what sites you find most helpful. Please let us know.

NYT on Textbooks in the Digital Era

The New York Times has a good piece this week on the coming evolution of the textbook in the digital era.

The implications of the gradual shift from static, one-dimensional texts for classroom learning to dynamic, multi-faceted and ever-evolving platforms are huge for all learners and educators. Imagine a classroom where different levels of readers are all reading the same text - but the interface adapts to each student's individual style of learning. Built-in supports will be able to adjust text size and color for better readability; sections of text could be highlighted and converted into speech files with the click of a button; review tools can test a student's understanding of the material and review key segments if appropriate standards have not been met, all the while reporting to teachers and administrators who can then use the data to pinpoint interventions and support for those readers who are lagging behind.

While this scenario may still be years away from fruition, the momentum for a better, universal access to texts is building significant momentum.

Our partners at CAST (The Center for Applied Special Technology) have been at the forefront of the technology behind the digital textbook and have an assortment of programs underway to address the needs of all learners with a universal design for learning.