"I certainly still lie awake some nights worrying that I am in denial, that Simon has some gross deficiency not yet identified, and I am did him great a disservice. I worry constantly that I should limit his reading and solitary time and push him into sports and classes and social activities. But just when I am about to write that check for ice hockey classes I touch base with my instinctive sense of my son, this imaginative, overly verbose happy creature, and decide not to risk ironing out his uniqueness.  Until we can figure out more creative ways to educate and encourage introspective boys who are neither high achievers nor troublemakers—boys “in the middle,” like Simon–I will keep holding my ground, my breath and my tongue, and shoo away the well-intentioned label makers who cross our path."

"This study is staggering, and not just for its documentation of the “prison pipeline” that suspension policies create. Not even for the finding that when students are suspended or expelled, the likelihood that they will repeat a grade, not graduate, and/or become involved in the juvenile justice system increases significantly. Or even that African-American students and children with particular educational disabilities who qualify for special education were suspended and expelled at especially high rates.<br />
<br />
All those sobering facts pale in comparison to the finding that as the Washington Post story says, “Here’s one myth of school debunked: Harsh discipline is not always a reflection of the students in a particular school. It can be driven by those in charge. In a study of nearly a million Texas children described as an unprecedented look at discipline, **researchers found that nearly identical schools suspended and expelled students at very different rates.**“"

"Somewhere between "the medical model" - difference described as a medical illness the way North Americans do - "a person with cancer" "a person with a reading disability" - and the "social model" - difference described as only a problem created by societal norms, lies what I have begun calling "the transactional model." Yes, we are all different in various ways, including our set of capabilities. But these differences only become "impairments" when we - the differently capable - find that we cannot negotiate the world, or a specific corner of the world, the way others have set it up."

"Among the adults returning to school is a group of students who bring unique challenges-both for themselves and for the institutions of higher education that serve them. These adults with learning disabilities often come back to school with memories of classroom trauma & a history of academic failure which result in great anxiety at the prospect of re-entering the arena which engendered so many negative experiences & emotions. Like their younger counterparts, adults w/ learning disabilities are often plagued with a lack of confidence in their ability to successfully meet the demands that will accompany their return to school.<br />
<br />
Although they may have achieved success & acquired significant skills in other arenas of life, these students often need support beyond that required by other returning adult college students…"

"Our premise is this: regardless of particular methods of instruction, the better educators and parents understand the challenges involved in learning to read the better they can help children through those challenges. Thus, the mission of the Children of the Code Project is to help educators, parents, and all who care for children develop a deeper first-person understanding of the challenges involved in learning to read."

"very idea of 'behind'-ness is what's under attack…When you standardize what it means to be an educated child, you create a line in sand that defines some kids as 'ahead' & some as 'behind.' As anyone w/ learning disability knows, these sorts of lines are increasingly arbitrary the more you examine them. They shut you out for all manner of reason. They create a situation where those who are 'ahead' get a free bonus happy career, & those who are 'behind' get either short stick or sanctimony. Or both.<br />
<br />
If I had been in a class that demanded…eye contact at all times, I would have become discipline problem, because I am autistic. There is no room for me in a 'SLANT' classroom…teacher would then be allowed to humiliate me for non-compliance, or send me off to 'special ed.' Either way, it's amply demonstrated that I'm valueless to the class or school. …<br />
<br />
Defining some people as 'behind' is what allows the school to abuse them in this way, & really that's what it is."

"Spelling is an integral part of the writing process. Confidence in spelling often has a profound effect on a writer's self-image. With Ghotit, you can write confidently, continuing to misspell as you always have, but with the confidence that Ghotit is there with you to review your writing and offer the right spelling text corrections.<br />
<br />
Ghotit intelligent, context spell checker is the original spell checker developed by dyslexics for dyslexics"

Chapter 8: Connecting Early Language and Literacy to Later Reading (Dis)Abilities: Evidence, Theory, and Practice

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