2nd Edition

Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential

    284 Pages
    by Prufrock Press

    The second edition of Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties is an updated and comprehensive must-read for parents, teachers, counselors, and other support professionals of bright kids who face learning challenges every day. This practical book discusses who these students are; how to identify them; what needs to be implemented; best practices, programs, and services; and specific actions to ensure student success. Along with tools and tips, each chapter includes Key Points, a new feature that will help focus and facilitate next steps and desired outcomes and follow-up for parents and teachers. The new edition includes a look at current definitions of twice-exceptional students, updated research findings and identification methods, a detailed description of the laws and policies impacting this population, what works and what doesn't work, model schools, Response to Intervention, Understanding by Design, comprehensive assessments, social-emotional principles, and new assistive technology.

    Featured in The Fresno Bee

    Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1 Who Are These Kids? Chapter 2 How Do We Identify Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties? Chapter 3 What Needs to Be Done for Smart Kids With Learning Difficulties, and Who Is Responsible? / 79 Chapter 4 What Do Good Programs and Services Look Like? Chapter 5 What Actions Ensure That Our Smart Kids Will Overcome Their Learning Disabilities? Conclusion Glossary Resources References About the Authors

    Biography

    Rich Weinfeld is a national leader in the education of gifted children with learning difficulties. Weinfeld was instrumental in coordinating the Montgomery County, MD, gifted and learning-disabled program and is currently an educational advocate in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

    Linda Barnes-Robinson has worked with children and parents for more than 25 years, and has devoted her professional life to advocating for children and families. With Montgomery County Public Schools, she coordinated the identification of gifted and talented students, advocated for parents and students, and worked to establish one of the first comprehensive programs for gifted/learning-disabled students in the nation.

    Linda is a nationally recognized trainer and educational consultant in gifted identification, gifted/learning-disabled programs, and conflict resolution and mediation. She has coauthored and edited numerous articles, manuals, books, and curricula documents. Her most recent publications include two articles for the journal Teaching Exceptional Children.

    She received her bachelor's degree from Cedar Crest College, her master's degree from The George Washington University, and a postgraduate certificate in family mediation from The Catholic University of America.

    Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential is a well written, informative must-read for any parent, educator or counselor interacting with gifted children that have labeled or suspected learning difficulties. The authors followed through on the purpose of this book. It is a guide in the truest sense; providing engaging hands-on material to help adults identify and assist a deserving group of underserved students.,Davidson Institute for Talent Development, 1/1/14
    While the book contains a strong overview of the challenges often experienced by twice-exceptional students, by far the book's greatest strength is the volume of problem-solving tips and materials. There is also a short discussion on transitioning to college, and materials are provided to aid students in making this transition, including a college planning sheet and a self-advocacy outline. Each chapter also contains a wealth of resources including templates, charts of useful strategies, and materials to help teachers differentiate in the classroom.,Lisa Van Gemert, Gifted Youth Specialist,Mensa Foundation, 5/1/14
    Parents and teachers faced with the challenge of providing appropriate educational services for twice-exceptional students, as well as the students themselves, will find a gold mine of practical advice in this user-friendly guide to identifying learning problems in gifted children and planning instruction to accommodate and overcome these challenges. The authors, each of whom has worked for at least two decades in the field of gifted education, bring together their combined experience of working with bright students with a variety of learning disabilities to produce this easy-to-use guide that is based on research by some of the leading experts in the field. ,Kathleen D. Kuss,Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 3/1/07