The Answer Sheet: Learning Disabilities


Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/08/2010

Poll: Americans misunderstand learning disabilities

By Valerie Strauss
A new poll shows that a majority of Americans have severe misperceptions of learning disabilities, the causes and even the definition. This can affect when children are diagnosed and given help that they need.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 10/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Learning Disabilities, Learning Disabilities | Tags:  autism, learning disabilities, mental retardation, research, roper

Posted at 01:07 PM ET, 06/21/2010

Understanding ADHD -- Willingham
By Valerie Strauss
Yes, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a very real disorder, and cognitive scientist explains what parents and teachers should know about the condition.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:07 PM ET, 06/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Learning Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, Learning Disabilities | Tags:  add, add medication, adhd, adhd and school, adhd and symptoms, adhd medication, all about adhd, all about attention deficit disorder, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, children and adhd and dignosis, daniel willingham, diagnosing adhd, is adhd real?, kids with adhd, symptoms of adhd, treatment for adhd, understanding adhd

Posted at 02:45 PM ET, 02/02/2010

Special ed arts teacher walks in students' shoes
By Valerie Strauss
Pamela Michaels worked for 28 years in four schools with at-risk special education students in the arts. She developed two art programs in schools for students with learning disabilities and taught numerous subjects. After years working with learning disabled students, Michaels suffered her own disability--severe hearing loss--that helped her gain a new understanding of the challenges her students had faced throughout the years. Here is her story.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:45 PM ET, 02/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Learning Disabilities | Tags:  learning disabilities

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 01/20/2010

Does this sound fair?

By Valerie Strauss
The National Board of Medical Examiners denied a request by medical student Frederick Romberg to have extra time to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination. Romberg is a 41-year-old student at Yale Medical School who has been diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. He is appealing the decision. Here is what Romberg told the board, and what the board told him. How would you decide the case? ... It wasn't until he was an adult that he finally learned what was causing his academic difficulties. A professor asked him why he was taking so much longer than anyone else to finish a 10-question quiz.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 01/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Learning Disabilities | Tags:  learning disabilities, test accommodations

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 01/19/2010

New study on dyslexia and IQ
By Valerie Strauss
A lot of people instinctively believe--without really knowing--that poor readers are not especially smart. It’s often not true. A new study by researchers explains how it is that exceedingly bright and accomplished people can have great difficulty reading. What gets in the way of many people’s ability to read is dyslexia, the most common learning disability, an unexpected difficulty in reading in people who have the intelligence and motivation thought to be necessary to be fluent readers.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 01/19/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Learning Disabilities | Tags:  dyslexia