learning disabilities

12 Stories

Schools Screen for Dyslexia. 'Dyscalculia,' Not So Much

Hundreds of thousands of students have learning disabilities that make math harder

(Newser) - Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of students face challenges learning math due to disabilities like dyscalculia, a neurodevelopmental learning disorder caused by differences in parts of the brain that are involved with numbers and calculations. There are often obstacles to getting help, and America's schools have long struggled to identify...

At Least 9 Dead After 'Violent Flames' Destroy Vacation Home

2 more missing, feared dead after fire overtakes French facility for people with learning disabilities

(Newser) - At least 17 people were evacuated from a French vacation home for people with learning disabilities after a fire broke out early Wednesday, with one person hospitalized, but another nine were killed and two remain missing and feared dead, local authorities tell CNN affiliate BFMTV . The cause of the fire...

Vacationing Teen's Dad Checked on Her, Found an Open Window

Nora Quoirin, a London 15-year-old with learning disability, missing from Malaysian resort

(Newser) - Nora Quoirin was enjoying a vacation in Malaysia last week, but now a desperate search effort is on for the London teen whose family says she's "not like other 15-year-olds." Nora, who has a learning disability, was staying with her parents at the remote Dusun resort , located...

Georgia to Execute Man Deemed Mentally Retarded

State isn't convinced he meets the definition, despite court ruling

(Newser) - The US Supreme Court declared that the death penalty for mentally retarded criminals was unconstitutional in 2002. Georgia, however, is set to execute a prisoner so labeled next week, reports the Guardian . The execution of Warren Hill is proceeding because Georgia, alone among the states, says that learning disabilities must...

Secondhand Smoke Boosts Kids' ADHD Risk

Study says 274K cases of learning and conduct disorders could be prevented

(Newser) - Here's an idea for a cigarette warning label: Kids exposed to secondhand smoke at home are 50% more likely to develop mental and behavioral disorders like ADHD, according to a new study. Researchers can't prove that secondhand smoke causes the disorders, but say that if it does, 274,...

Today's Tom Sawyer Would Be Medicated

He and Huck would be diagnosed with all kinds of disorders

(Newser) - Reread Huckleberry Finn today, and just try to keep track of the disorders Huck and Tom Sawyer would be diagnosed with as kids today: oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder right off the bat, writes Anne Applebaum in the Washington Post . It's "weirdly reassuring,"...

Court Forces Cancer Patient To Have Surgery

Woman has phobia of hospitals, needles

(Newser) - A court's decision to force a woman to have life-saving cancer surgery against her will has triggered a fierce debate on medical ethics in Britain. Doctors will be allowed to forcibly sedate the 55-year-old, who has learning difficulties and a phobia of hospitals and needles, in order to bring her...

Judge Nixes New Trial for Man With 47 IQ

Texas 18-year-old's 100-year molestation sentence will stand

(Newser) - Witness after witness testified about the severity of Aaron Hart’s mental disabilities—his former special education teacher said he functions below a 1st-grade level—but Texas judge Eric Clifford ruled against giving the 18-year-old a new trial or sentencing hearing, the Chicago Tribune reports. Hart, whose IQ is 47,...

HS Hoop Team Runs Up Score, Then Repents

Christian girls have second thoughts about 100-0 thumping

(Newser) - A Dallas high school whose girls basketball team ran up a 100-0 score last week has forfeited what school officials called a “victory without honor,” the Dallas Morning News reports. The Covenant School, a Christian institution, defeated Dallas Academy, a high school for children with "learning differences"...

32M Lack Basic Reading Skills
 32M Lack Basic Reading Skills 
Jan 9, 2009 8:18 AM CST

32M Lack Basic Reading Skills

Study says Illiteracy crisis getting worse

(Newser) - One in seven American adults in the US—about 32 million people—have such low literacy skills that they cannot read a newspaper story or a prescription bottle, a new federal study says. "They really cannot read paragraphs (or) sentences that are connected," says an Education Department researcher....

Insurers Balk at Paying for Autism Therapy

Schools now foot the bill, but advocacy group pressing for change

(Newser) - A national autism advocacy group is pushing insurance companies to pick up the tab for intensive new therapies now footed by local school districts, the Boston Globe reports. They say the rising number of autism cases will swamp school budgets and make it unlikely that kids will get the help...

Pioneering Doc Accused of Sex Abuse
Pioneering
Doc Accused
of Sex Abuse
Aug 6, 2008 12:11 PM CDT

Pioneering Doc Accused of Sex Abuse

Pediatrician became famous for his work on learning disabilities

(Newser) - Dr. Melvin Levine, famous in his field for pioneering new ways of understanding children with learning disabilities, is followed by allegations of sexually abusing young patients. The accusations span decades of his career, the New York Times reports in investigating the trail of charges. In March, a lawyer who had...

12 Stories