TTC Course Resources

Special Needs Learning in the International School

Web Resources

Learning and the Brain
Provides information for conferences and news and events related to brain research and learning.
www.learningandthebrain.com/

Discovery Education’s resource for educators including video streaming, curricular resources, professional development and assessment pieces.
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

Kennedy Krieger Institute Baltimore, MD
Kennedy Krieger Institute is an internationally recognized facility dedicated to improving the lives of children and adolescents with pediatric developmental disabilities through patient care, special education, research, and professional training. The website describes diagnosed disorders and definitions, symptoms, researchand available treatment programs.
www.kennedykrieger.org/

Dr. Adele Diamond, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, the University of British Columbia.
There is a section on useful information for links dealing with special needs and links to help teachers and parents gain access and information.
www.devcogneuro.com/

Brain Gym® International is committed to the principle that moving with intention leads to optimal learning.
www.braingym.org/

Bam!radio – the voice of the education community
BAM! is an acronym for "body and mind." BAM! Radio was conceived in 2007 on the premise that the key to success in life for children and youth is nurturing a healthy mind in a healthy body, and that the two are connected. So to put children on the right track it's critical to nurture both. The website offers information for parents, teachers and directors.
www.bamradionetwork.com/

Tools of the Mind – A Focus on Self Regulation
Metropolitan State College of Denver
http://www.toolsofthemind.org/

The ALERT Program – How Does Your Engine Run?  A self-regulation program helping students, parents and teachers promote self-regulation.
http://www.alertprogram.com/

Professor Daniel Willingham
Professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
His work on education; radio.tv podcasts, videos, articles, and his recent book, Why Students Don’t Like School are listed.
www.danielwillingham.com/index.html

Dr. Edward L. Deci, the University of Rochester
This site provides information regarding Self-Determination Theory (SDT).  This is a theory of motivation. It is concerned with supporting our natural or intrinsic tendencies to behave in effective and healthy ways.
www.selfdeterminationtheory.org

Johns Hopkins University School of Education.  This is an instructional model based on the tenets of research-based effective instruction of the arts into content at all grade levels.
www.braintargetedteaching.org/

Response to intervention integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavior problems.  With RTI, schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities or other disabilities.
www.mtss4success.org/

The Responsive Classroom is an approach to elementary teaching that emphasizes social, emotional, and academic growth in a strong and safe school community. The goal is to enable optimal student learning.
www.responsiveclassroom.org/

A web site with information and inspiration for parents and teachers of children with learning disabilities.
www.ricklavoie.com/

Web site explaining the Arrowsmith School in Toronto, founded by Barbara Arrowsmith Young, one of the people whose case study was explored in The Brain that Changes Itself. The Arrowsmith Program is founded on neuroscience research and 30 years of experience demonstrating that it is possible for students to strengthen the weak cognitive capacities underlying their learning dysfunctions through a program of specific cognitive exercises.
http://www.arrowsmithschool.org/

Designed to boost learning outcomes for students with learning difficulties, including Dyslexia and Autistic Spectrum Disorder. This is an 8-week subscription service utilizing games to help improve working memory in 7-16 year olds.
http://junglememory.com/

 

Specific Areas of Focus

Do Our Kids Have Nature-Deficit Disorder?

Attention
Tips for parents & teachers when talking with children with attention issues – developmentally categorized
www.ldonline.org/article/5991

Strategies for addressing ADHD
www.ldonline.org/article/Strategies_for_Teaching_Youth_with_ADD_and_ADHD

Auditory Processing
Understanding Auditory Processing Disorders in Children – Teri J. Bellis
www.asha.org/public/hearing/disorders/understand-apd-child.htm

Dyslexia
International Dyslexia Association
www.interdys.org

Get Ready To Read
www.GetReadytoRead.org

Scientific Learning (products for dyslexia)
www.scilearnglobal.com

Journey into Dyslexia (video documentary)
http://www.videoverite.tv/pages/film-JID-about.html

Dyscalculia
Math Learning Disability Resources
www.dyscalculia.org

Learning Disabilities:  General Websites
LD Online
www.ldonline.org

Council for Exceptional Children
www.cec.sped.org

National Center for Learning Disabilities
www.ncld.org

Teaching LD
www.teachingld.org

Council for Learning Disabilities
www.cldinternational.org

Mental and Emotional Health
Help Guide
www.helpguide.org

Nonverbal Learning Disabilities
www.nldline.com

Visual Processing Disorder
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB):  National Literacy Center
www.afb.org

 

Apps

Visit Mom with Apps blog for a list of apps
http://blog.momswithapps.com/apps-for-special-needs/

 

Print Resources

Top Resources

  • Armstrong, Thomas (2011), The Power for Neurodiversity: Unleashing the advantages of your differently wired brain. Cambridge, MA: DeCapo/Perseus

  • Armstrong, Thomas (2012), Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

  • Hendrickx, Sarah (2010), The Adolescent and Adult Neuro-diveristy Handbook: Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and related conditions. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

  • Antonetta, Susanne (2007), A Mind Apart: Travels in a neurodiverse world. New York: Tarcher.

  • Disability Studies Quarterly, 30(1), (2010) “Autism and the Concept of Neurodiversity”, http://dsq-sds.org/issue/view/43

  • Sacks, Oliver (1996), An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven paradoxical tales. New York: Vintage

  • Sacks, Oliver (1998), The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and other clinical tales. New York: Touchstone

  • Sacks, Oliver (2008), Musicophilia: Tales of music and the brain. New York: Vintage

  • All Kinds of Minds & Schools Attuned (2014), http://www.allkindsofminds.org/discover-all-kinds-of-minds Q.E.D. Foundation

  • Searle, Margaret (2013), Causes & Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

  • Tomlinson, Carol Ann (2013), Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

  • Moss, Connie M. & Brookhart, Susan M. (2012), Learning Targets: Helping Students Aim for Understanding in Today’s Lesson. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

  • Sousa, David (2006), How the Special Needs Brain Learns 2nd Edition

  • Winebrenner, Susan (2009), Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom

  • Energizers - 88 Quick Movement Activities That Refresh and Refocus, K–6 – (2009), Northeast Foundation for Children

  • Martin, Lucy (2008), Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities

  • Dweck, Carol (2007), Mindset, the New Psychology of Success

  • Doidge, Norman (2007), The Brain that Changes Itself

  • Marzano, Robert (2007), The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction

  • Barringer, M., Pohlman, C., Robinson, M. & Orfalea, P. (2010), Schools for All Kinds of Minds: Boosting Student Success by Embracing Learning Variation

  • Egan, Freedman, Greenberg & Anderson (2007), Is it a Big Problem or a Little Problem? When to Worry, When Not to Worry and What to Do

Inclusion Models: 

  • The Blind Advantage – Bill Henderson

  • Judy Willis, Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom – Judy Willis

  • Creating an Inclusive School, 2nd edition – Richard Villa and Jacqueline Thousand (ed)

  • Towards Inclusion: Planning Our Path: An Inclusive Audit Protocol. NFI Design Team – Kevin Bartlett, Kristen Pelletier, Ochan Kusuma-Powell, William Powell

Dyslexia: 

  • In the Mind’s Eye – Thomas West

  • Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level – Sally Shaywitz

  • The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain – Fernette Eide and Brock Eide

  • My Dyslexia – Philip Schultz

  • Unicorns Are Real – Barbara Meister Vitale

  • Upside Down Brilliance – Linda Kreger Silverman

  • Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids – Alexandra Shires Golan

  • Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity -- biographies of successful individuals with dyslexia at http://dyslexia.yale.edu/successfuldyslexics.html

  • Dyslexia and the iPad: Overcoming Dyslexia with Technology. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform – James R. Nuttall & Linda Nuttall,

  • Education Oasis (selection of 58 possible graphic organizers); www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/graphic_organizers.htm

Reading:

Executive Control:

  • No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and Fostering Executive Control: The Eight Essential Brain Skills Every Child Needs to Thrive – Adam J. Cox

  • Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties – George McCloskey, Lisa A. Perkins and Bob Van Divner

  • Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention, 2nd Edition – Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

ADD/ADHD:

  • The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses – John Breeding

  • Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World – Jeffrey Freed and Laurie Parsons

  • The Edison Gene – Thom Hartmann

  • The Gift of the A.D.D. Child – Laura Honos-Webb

  • The Myth of the A.D.D. Child – Thomas Armstrong

  • Conners’ Rating Scales, Revised: Technical Manual – C. Keith Conners

  • ADD/ADHD: A Guide for Teachers and Parents– Dr. Herb Marlow

  • Attention Girls! A Guide to Learn All About Your AD/HD – Patricia O. Quinn

  • Understanding Girls with AD/HD – Kathleen G. Nadeau, Ellen B. Littman and Patricia O. Quinn

  • Smart but Scattered – Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

Asperger’s Syndrome/Autism:

  • A Treasure Chest of Behavioral Strategies for Individuals with Autism – Beth Fouse and Maria Wheeler

  • School Success for Kids with Asperger’s Syndrome – Stephan M. Silverman and Rich Weinfeld

  • Nonverbal Learning Disabilities at School: Educating Students with NLD, Asperger Syndrome, and Related Conditions – Pamela B. Tanguay

  • Animals in Translation – Temple Grandin

  • Thinking in Pictures – Temple Grandin

  • The Way I See It – Temple Grandin

  • Emergence: Labeled Autistic – Temple Grandin

  • Developing Talents – Temple Grandin

  • HBO biography of the Temple Grandin’s life, Temple Grandin

Classroom strategies to support students with autism: 

  • Just Give Him the Whale: 20 Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise and Strengths to Support Students with Autism – Paula Kluth

  • “You’re Going to Love This Kid!”: Teaching Students with Autism in Inclusive Classrooms – Paula Kluth

  • Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think – Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder, (http://www.icdl.com/)

  • Educational Leadership - October 2010 | Volume 68 | Number 2 Interventions That Work, Pages 40-45

  • Faces of Autism - Pamela Hudson Baker, Mary Murray, Carolyn Murray-Slutsky and Betty Paris

  • iTunes app Autism App -- comprehensive list of apps used by people diagnosed with autism

Behavior Challenges:

  • Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges Are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them – Ross W. Greene

  • Solving Thorny Behavior Problems: How Teachers and Students Can Work Together – Caltha Crowe

  • Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties: Overcoming Obstacles and Realizing Potential – Rich Weinfeld, Linda Barnes-Robinson, Sue Jeweler & Betty Roffman Shevitz

Brain Research and Strategies:

  • Different Brains, Different Learnings: How to Reach the Hard to Reach – Eric Jensen

  • Helping Children Learn: Intervention Handouts for Use in School and at Home, Second Edition, Jack A. Naglieri, Ph.D., & Eric B. Pickering, Ph.D., with Spanish handouts by Tulio Otero, Ph.D., & Mary Moreno, Ph.D.

  • How the Brain Learns 3rd Edition – David A. Sousa

  • How the Special Needs Brain Learns 2nd Edition– David A. Sousa

  • Learning Outside the Lines – Jonathan Mooney and David Cole

  • Mindset, The New Psychology of Success - Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

  • The Brain that Changes Itself – Norman Doidge, MD

Differentiation and Use of Technology:

  • Differentiating Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities: Best teaching Practices for General and Special Educators 2nd edition- W. N. Bender

  • Technology and the Diverse Learner: A Guide to Classroom Practice – M. Bray, A. Brown, and T.D. Green

Identification/Assessment:

  • Identifying Children with Special Needs: Checklists and Action Plans for Teachers – G. Hannell

Parenting/Social Skills Support:

  • Anxiety-Free Kids: An Interactive Guide for Parents and Children – Bonnie Zucker

  • The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, “Chronically Inflexible” Children – Ross W. Greene

  • Seven Steps to Improve Your Child’s Social Skills – Kristy Hagar, Sam Goldstein and Robert Brooks

  • Effective Parenting for the Hard-to-Manage Child – Georgia A. Degangi and Anne Kendall

  • Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning – Joyce Cooper-Kahn and Laurie Dietzel

  • Lonely, Sad and Angry: How to Help Your Unhappy Child – Barbara D. Ingersoll and Sam Goldstein

  • Girls on the Edge: the four factors driving the new crisis for girls -- Leonard Sax MD PhD, Basic Books, 2010

  • Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men -- Leonard Sax MD PhD

Teaching Strategies and Classroom Management:

  • Common-sense Classroom Management for Special Education Teachers Grades K-5 – J.A. Lindberg, D.E. Kelly, J. Walker-Wied and K.M.F. Beckwith

  • Common-sense Classroom Management for Special Education Teachers Grades 6-12 – J.A. Lindberg, D.E. Kelly, J. Walker-Wied and K.M.F. Beckwith

  • Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities – L.C. Martin

  • Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom – Susan Winebrenner

  • Teaching Students with Learning Problems, 7th Edition – Cecil D. Mercer and Ann R. Mercer

  • Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Every Teacher – J. Ysseldyke and B. Algozzine

Movement/Sensory/Occupational Therapy:

  • Brain Gym – Paule E. Dennision and Gail E. Dennison

  • Smart Moves - Why Learning is Not All in Your Head – Carla Hannaford

Resources from Northeast Foundation for Children (General Classroom Management and Discipline/Developmental Stages/Morning Meetings):

  • Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14 – Chip Wood

  • The First Six Weeks - Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete

  • Teaching Children to Care: Classroom Management for Ethical and Academic Growth, K-8 – Ruth Sidney Charney

  • The Morning Meeting Book – Roxann Kriete