Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential

by Linda Barnes-Robinson, Rich Weinfeld, Betty Roffman Shevitz, et al.

Book Overview

Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential' is an engaging must-read for any parent, educator, or counselor of smart kids who face learning difficulties. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593631804
• ISBN13: 9781593631802
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.7" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

An International and Intergenerational Perspective

It is not everyday that one comes across a book that profoundly alters the discourse about education; though here is one that does, which at the same time could not be more deeply grounded in proven school practices. If your child excelled in school in the past, though is performing with increasing inconsistency in the present, this book will offer you some answers to that problem. Although the strategies outlined by its authors are intended to help Gifted and Talented Children with Learning Differences (GT/LD), their utility is far greater. If you stop to reflect for a moment, all of us fit the description of that acronym; we are, in fact, all "smart kids" in one way or another, who nonetheless face difficulties not only in learning, but in applying what we've learned, throughout our lives. So the issues presented by the authors here bear relevance well beyond their possible application to the needs of special students. They apply to everyone and everything that goes on in our schools - from the nursery level to post-doctoral programs. Identifying and constructively developing the unique and innate gifts and talents of each person remains one of the principal aims of education. Yet learning how to capitalize on learners' differences, rather than insist on homogeneity in their performance, is the issue that most profoundly plagues most educational systems. It also makes our nation's growing insistence on standardized testing so misguided in its attempt to ensure real and enduring educational achievement. Our elementary and secondary schools, our colleges and universities, and the adult learning programs that are found in business, religious and other institutional settings, would prove more exciting for everyone involved, and far more productive for our society as a whole, if the diverse methods of teaching and assessment that are described in this book were universally adopted. Beyond the book's incisive descriptions of the aptitudes and attitudes of bright though often disadvantaged youth who don't succeed under traditional teaching methods, the book is helpful in delimiting the variable notion of "giftedness" from several historical, educational and legal perspectives. It also proposes a set of practical methods for constructing and uniformly evaluating school programs that are designed to address this particular, though universal, educational need. Drawn from the authors' work in the public schools over the past twenty years, what is so refreshing about their approach is that it begins with the identification of students' individual strengths, rather than with their weaknesses. Hence when difficulties arise for a student in a class, the initiative proceeds not by seeking to redress the student's deficiencies, with a program of remediation, but rather proposes the design of a set of strategies intended to establish his/her independence and "self-efficacy". This has profound ramifications for how that individual's learning actual

A must read for parents of bright students with neurodevelopmental disorders

Rich Weinfeld, Linda Barnes-Robinson, Sue Jeweler, and Betty Roffman Shevitz have written a very comprehensive, clear, and practical handbook for helping bright children with a range of learning and developmental difficulties. Based upon their rich experiences developing nationally-recognized programs for gifted kids with learning disabilities, ADHD, and Aspergers/Autism (and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders), they provide practical and creative recommendations for helping kids with uneven development. Providing many examples and exceptionally useful suggestions for educational strategies, accommodations, and modifications, the authors provide parents, teachers, and mental health professionals with a deep appreciation for the unique needs of gifted children with learning differences. As a neuropsychologist in private practice, I will continue to recommend this book to my clients. Unlike many books that espouse theoretical positions but are thin on suggestions, Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties offers practical advice and guidance for helping students with a wide range of developmental differences.

Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential

Finally, we have a practical guide to the effective education of bright but struggling students which can be used by all players on the team: parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, and the students themselves. The earlier giftedness is recognized and learning disabilities are unmasked, diagnosed, and planned for, the less likely it is that these students will be defeated by repeated failure and the burden of emotional baggage that often develops in the wake of crushed self-confidence. Our country cannot afford to waste the brain power and creativity of our "different learners." This powerful book brims with optimism and genuine affection for gifted kids with learning disabilities. The crux of the message is to discover and engage the student through his/her talents and interests while directly teaching strategies for getting around deficits and using accommodations and assistive technology to build success. The sections in Chapter 3 on adaptations and accommodations and what does and doesn't work are particularly strong. The glossary will help parents and students interpret educational buzzwords like metacognition. In my work with GT/LD students, both in the public school classroom in Maryland and now in my college advisory business in Oregon, I have seen amazing strides made by kids who have been taught by the principles of this book. I recommend it highly to my clients.

Amazingly Easy To Use Guide for Helping Unique Students

I am a mom with a very bright 3rd grade son who has been diagnosed with a learning difference. So I appreciate all the help I can get navigating my way through the special education/IEP system. What sets this book apart from the many others I have read is the incredible number of practical solutions and suggestions in it. I am using these ideas at home, can pass them onto my son's team of teachers at school, as well as evalute my son's current program. With a supportive tone and charts full of specifics that focus on bringing out the positive from the many challenges a special child may face, this will be a valuable guide that I will treasure and learn from for years to come. This book offers substance, not the fluff I often come across. I highly recommend it.

An informative study of teaching strategies appropriate to children with a variety of significant le

Co-authored by Rich Weinfeld , Linda Barnes-Robinson, Sue Jeweler, & Betty Roffman Shevitz (a team of leading experts drawn from America's "cutting-edge" schools), Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles And Realizing Potential is an informed and informative study of teaching strategies appropriate to children with a variety of significant learning disorders. Covering such particulars as Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD and other Attention Deficit Disorders, Dyslexia and other learning disabilities, Autism, and other restrictive learning barriers, Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties identifies particular children and presents the legal requirements, accommodations, and classroom/curriculum solutions drawn from each of the authors many years of practical experience in teaching children with various learning problems. Enhanced with a glossary, references and resources, Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties is very strongly recommended for parents and teachers of children with variable learning disorders for its concise and thorough documentation and "reader friendly" text.