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HELENA - The Montana State Library is celebrating the "talking book library," which has been around since 1966. Now the library is launching a patron's outreach program to help those who don't know about the talking library. All Montana residents who can't read standard print due to a visual, physical, or reading disability may quality for the program.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 5, 2012) — For children with dyslexia, the trouble begins even before they start reading and for reasons that don't necessarily reflect other language skills. That's according to a report published online on April 5 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that for the first time reveals a causal connection between early problems with visual attention and a later diagnosis of dyslexia.

As e-readers grow in popularity as convenient alternatives to traditional books, researchers at the Smithsonian have found that convenience may not be their only benefit. The team discovered that when e-readers are set up to display only a few words per line, some people with dyslexia can read more easily, quickly and with greater comprehension. Their findings are published in the Sept. 18 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.

Imagine this: You’re six years old, and for the next 10 years or so, a sizable portion of your mental and emotional fuel tank will be used up from avoiding humiliation, developing feelings of not being good enough, being behind in assignments, getting teased, being misunderstood, and struggling way more in basic skills like reading writing than some kids who don’t seem to work as hard or care as much. You begin to dislike or hate reading and want to avoid the whole issue of school and homework altogether.

f you are involved in the well-being of an infant, toddler, child, or youth with disabilities, you’ll find reading the exact language of IDEA both illuminating and important. In addition to being able to read it here online, you may also wish to download a full copy, print it out, and keep it handy.

Imagine the level of frustration a young child must feel when he or she is truly putting all their effort into comprehending what they are reading, yet is unable to grasp any of the information. When I was in fourth grade I felt this frustration. I was told by many of my teachers that I “wasn’t trying” or “didn’t care” about the work, which left me feeling trapped. I had no way of proving that I wasn’t lazy and without a diagnosis of some sort, I didn’t know what to do.

Development of the “All Children Can Read” website began in 2006 as part of the work of the NCDB’s (National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness) Literacy Practice Partnership. This group envisioned the creation of a central location to provide information and resources to individual state deaf-blind projects, teachers, family members and related service providers interested in beginning or enhancing literacy instruction for children who have combined vision and hearing loss and children with other complex learning challenges. Following literature reviews of literacy learning for all children, children who are blind or visually impaired, children who are deaf or hearing impaired, children with multiple disabilities and children with deaf-blindness, a set of literacy indicators and corresponding strategies was developed to help guide instructional planning.

Development of the “All Children Can Read” website began in 2006 as part of the work of the NCDB’s (National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness) Literacy Practice Partnership. This group envisioned the creation of a central location to provide information and resources to individual state deaf-blind projects, teachers, family members and related service providers interested in beginning or enhancing literacy instruction for children who have combined vision and hearing loss and children with other complex learning challenges. Following literature reviews of literacy learning for all children, children who are blind or visually impaired, children who are deaf or hearing impaired, children with multiple disabilities and children with deaf-blindness, a set of literacy indicators and corresponding strategies was developed to help guide instructional planning.

New federal data about how often public school students are restrained or secluded at school show that, in the majority of cases, these approaches are used to contain kids with disabilities, who make up just a sixth of all students. Data from the Civil Rights Data Collection, gathered from the 2009-10 school year from about 85 percent of the nation's school districts, for the first time includes information about mechanical or physical restraints and seclusion. Although even the Government Accountability Office has investigated concerns about the use of these methods, there's never been data collected on this scale about the practices. (Read some of Education Week's coverage of other data collected by the U.S. Department of Education's office for civil rights here.)

My name is Wilbur Hawke and I am a father of a son with a disability that is now grown, living independently, and a father himself. I have spent the last twenty years teaching other parents how to access the education system. I have also functioned in the capacity of parent liaison for our school district the last fourteen years. This gives me somewhat of a unique perspective from both sides of the table. Although those who know me would certainly agree that I am opinionated, this is my first attempt at blogging. I hope to share with you things that are useful and practically applicable based on my own personal experience. I believe that parents and professionals working together provide the best outcomes for children and informed parents make the best choices for their families.   You are not the first or the last. The best thing to do is to learn from those who have gone before you, duplicating the successes and avoiding the mistakes.  My hope by writing this blog is that you would avoid the mistakes I made and perhaps gain a resource or two that will help you achieve success. Thank you for taking the time to read, Wilbur Hawke

What does it mean to Presume Competence? People without disabilities know what it means; they experience it every day of their lives, but may seldom think about it... Parents buy a bicycle for their son or daughter, knowing the child doesn't yet know how to ride the two-wheeler. But they presume competence; they know the child will learn how to ride. (And some of us need our training wheels on longer than others!) Some five-year-olds start kindergarten already knowing how to read; others barely know their ABCs. But the teacher presumes all are competent and all will learn.

What: The print, bound book is an educational barrier for many students with print disabilities. Because these students cannot read a print book, they require books in alternative formats such as DAISY and BRF (digital Braille). Books in accessible digital formats can remove the barriers and provide access to the general curriculum. In this webinar, you will learn about digital accessible books and how to get digital textbooks from the NIMAC (National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center). You'll also learn the services and benefits Bookshare offers to educators and qualified students.

What We'd Like You to Know and Share! Registration is open! Go to http://www.pathfinder-nd.org to view the registration form or call  1.800.245.5840 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1.800.245.5840      end_of_the_skype_highlighting  1.800.245.5840 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1.800.245.5840      end_of_the_skype_highlighting to register. Stipends are available! Ask us about a stipend for parents to cover the registration fee. We  also cover hotel costs for parents traveling more than 60 miles each way. (Funding for the stipends is provided from the ND State Council on Developmental Disabilities) Our Agenda is Exciting! Take a look at the agenda at our website. Dan Habib, Janice Fialka, Dave Anderson (Famous Dave’s Barbeque Sauce) & more. (Read about Including Samuel at http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2009/09/kids_with_disab.html )

Come and get geared up for the new year with strategies to work with ALL students! Workshops will be held in areas of Indian Ed for All, differentiated instruction, DIBELS Administration and Scoring, behavior management, RTI, low incidence disabilities, early childhood, science, technology, legal issues, reading & literacy, social skills, and para-educator training. Register now and an email will be sent when workshops are posted.

Click here to read:A Response to Intervention (RTI) Process Cannot Be Used to Delay-Deny an Evaluation for Eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

We now know that some people, like Jerry Pinkney, can be geniuses just in a different type of intelligence, and probably have a condition that makes it difficult to concentrate for periods of time on certain types of learning, such as reading. Despite these learning differences, he actually graduated with honors, but had to put in much more effort due to his learning challenges.