Re: Breaking it Down: Types of Cognitive Disabilities

aloha, y'all!

ok, so we're looking for facts and for individuals...

for the former:
http://empresas.mundivia.es/braincenter/english.html
or, for those of you who either understand spanish, or for whom spanish is 
your native tongue,
http://empresas.mundivia.es/braincenter/

the brain center contains a lot of useful information about terminology, 
which we might consider adapting, or at least using as a starting point to 
develop a working vocabulary within the working group...

note: the english version of the page is table-ized -- so you might want to 
run it through Tablin <http://jigsaw.w3.org:8000/tablin/>

once again, as i requested at the L.A. Face2Face, we should take a long 
look at the World Health Organization's (WHO) classification schema for 
cognitive disabilities, since:

1. the WAI is international in nature
2. the WHO is international in scope

yes, i know that there have been objections to using the WHO 
classifications in the past as they are too medically oriented, but in 
attempting to establish a common working vocabulary for the next iteration 
of the Web Content Guidelines, we need to agree upon a common working 
vocabulary that has a corollary in the real world, which is precisely the 
reason why the WHO promulgated a disabilities classification schema...  no, 
it ain't perfect, but why should we further muddy an already opaque issue 
further by defining our own schema, when there is an international body 
which has already published one?

as for working with persons with cognitive disabilities, the new york times 
today ran an obituary for Milton Brutten, a leading american authority on 
dyslexia and cognitive disabilities...  his obit mentioned several schools 
and institutes with which he had been involved over the course of his life, 
so i decided to follow up the leads provided by the article, in the hopes 
that the GL WG can liaison with some of the people for whom the following 
resources are intended, and, by testing techniques and test suites, obtain 
feedback directly from a user base which has not yet had the opportunity to 
speak for itself...

here are some of the resources i stumbled across while following up leads 
from the obituary:

1. The Vanguard School: founded in 1960 by Milton Brutten and Henry Evans, 
it was one of the first private schools in the country for children with 
learning disabilities; it is located in the Philadelphia suburb of Paoli.

1A) i searched MetaCrawler for "The Vanguard School" and found the web site 
of an offshoot school, founded in 1966; this Vanguard School, which is 
located in Lake Wales, Florida has a web site, the URI of which is:
http://www.vanguardschool.org/

2) one of the results of my search for the phrase "The Vanguard School" was 
a page which links to quote Schools That Specialize in Teaching Students 
with ADD/ADHD unquote with ADD being an acronym for Attention Deficit 
Disorder, and ADHD being an acronym for attention deficit hyperactivity 
disorder, which is (at least in the states) a sub-classification of ADD

the page lives at (long URI warning!)
<http://add.about.com/health/add/msubschl.htm?iam=mt&terms=%22the+vanguard+s 
chool%22>

and lists the following resources:

2A) Briarwood School
URL: http://www.briarwood.houston.tx.us
founded in 1967 to serve the educational needs of children with learning 
differences and developmental delays, kindergarten through grade 12.

2B) Calvin Academy
URL: http://www.calvinacademy.com/
The Calvin Academy provides a full-time day school and after school 
tutoring for K-12. Located in Minnesota.

2C) Crater Lake School
URL: http://www.pacg.com/craterlake/index.html
a year-round, coed boarding school located on a ranch in Sprague River, 
Oregon, serves students 14-18 suffering from attention-deficit disorder, 
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, and other 
mental illnesses.

2E) Eagle Hill School
URL: http://pages.prodigy.com/EagleHill/
Nationally known residential school for students with Learning Disabilities 
and Attention Deficit Disorder.

2F) Horizon School
URL: http://www.horizonschools.org/
Provides individualized education for children of average to above average 
abilities with primary language-based learning differences, exclusive of 
primary physical, emotional and attentional disabilities.

2G) The Hunter School
URL: http://www.hunterschool.org/
Thom Hartman founded the New England Salem Children's Trust in 1979. The 
Hunter School was founded by the NESCT in 1998.

2H) New Vistas Christian School
URL: http://members.aol.com/nuvstaschl/NewVistaChristianSchool.html
Christian Education for students with specific Learning Disabilities and ADD.

2I) Petersons.com
URL: http://www.petersons.com/special/programs.html
An ongoing index of residential facilities especially designed for students 
with Special Needs/ADD/LD

2J) Scenic Land School
URL: http://www.sceniclandschool.org/
Includes elementary, middle, and high schools

2K) Spring Ridge Academy
URL: http://www.springridgeacademy.com/
residential program for girls with ADD and other Learning Disabilities

2L) Stone Mountain School
URL: http://www.stonemountainschool.org/
residential facility for boys.

2M) The Vanguard School
URL: http://www.vanguardschool.org/default.asp
For Students with Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, and Attention Deficit 
Disorder. Includes residential facilities. 2249 North US Highway 27, Lakes 
Wales, Florida 33853

3. Doctor Brutten's book, "Something's Wrong With My Child," first 
published in 1973 and written with Charles Mangel and Dr. Sylvia 
Richardson, was, the obit said, quote widely considered one of the premier 
books on learning disabilities of its time. unquote

has anyone read this book?  is it worth reading?  it is currently out of 
print, according to amazon.com, and pricescan.com couldn't turn up any hits 
on it...  i did find a full citation

quote
Something's Wrong With My Child. Burtten, Milton; Sylvia O. Richardson and 
Charles Mangel. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1979.
unquote

which suggests that the book is available from the "The Resource 
Collection" of the Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center (CPAC)
http://www.birth23.org/cpac.htm

are Doctors Richardson and Mangel still around?

i searched for Sylvia Richardson, and turned up a lot of inconclusive 
evidence...  as recently as 11 November 1999, she delivered a paper at the 
Montessori Conference subtitled "Positive Psychology for Today's 
Challenges" held at the Regal Minneapolis Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota

quote
11:00 a.m.-12 noon A Positive Outlook for Learning Disabilities, Sylvia 
Richardson
Too often, children are labeled as learning disabled and given a 
specialized learning plan that focuses on their weaknesses. Dr. Richardson, 
a trained Montessorian and professor of pediatrics, will characterize 
special needs in the context of the child's strengths, in the context of 
the Montessori prepared environment.
unquote

i'm not sure whether this is the same Doctor Richardson who co-authored 
Brutten's book, but it seems likely that she might be...

another hit lead to an article entitled "To Promote or Retain", which 
appeared in the The Special Education Advocate, and in which Doctor Sylvia 
Richardson is quoted, can be read online at
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/Promote_or_Retain.htm

at the "Who Are We Page" of the Spalding Education Foundation, which is 
located at:
http://www.spalding.org/who.html
i discovered a bit more about Doctor Richardson

quote
Dr. Sylvia Richardson (FL)
Distinguished Professor of Communication Sciences,
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of So. Florida
Former President Orton Dyslexia Society
unquote

but after wasting over 45 minutes trying to locate a single reference to 
Sylvia Richardson at the University of South Florida web site, i gave up on 
turning up an email address for her (she's not listed in any of the 
directories, nor on the list of faculty at the USF medical school, nor in 
any of the information on the Pediatrics program offered by USF, nor on the 
Communication Sciences' pages, either)

i also discovered that Doctor Sylvia Richardson is a signatory to the 
National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities' (NJCLD)  manifesto 
"Learning Disabilities: Issues in the Preparation of Professional 
Personnel", an HTML version of which is located at:
http://www.ldonline.org/njcld/prep_prof.html

both Doctors Mengel and Richardson are cited in the Library of Congress 
Tracer Series article, entitled "DYSLEXIA", compiled by Denise P. Dempsey, 
and available from:
http://home.clara.net/ghrow/subjects/dyslexia_resources.html
"
but i couldn't turn up any other information about a Doctor Charles Mengel 
and developmental disabilities...

4. In 1977, Doctor Brutten founded the Crossroad School for dyslexic 
students in Paoli, Pennsylvania; at first, the only valid hit for the 
Crossroads School and ADD was a page containing contact information about 
the school (which apparently also retired to Florida) can be found at:
http://www.homespot.com/school/priv019.htm
the listing does explicitly state quote Only caters for and specializes in 
the treatment of children with Attention Deficit Disorders; Residential 
program for children out of state/country available  unquote

i subsequenly found a home page for the Crossroads School
http://www.cross-roads.org/welcome.htm
which contains a "Links" link:
http://www.cross-roads.org/linksfor.htm
which leads to a page of "Resources for Parents", which include

4A) LDOnline
http://www.ldonline.org/

4B) LDAP (Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania)
http://www.ldanatl.org/Pennsylvania/Index.html

4C) CHAADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders)
http://chadd.org/

4D) The International Dyslexia Association
http://www.interdys.org/

whose physical contact info is:
The International Dyslexia Association, International Office
8600 LaSalle Road, Chester Building, Suite 382
Baltimore, MD 21286-2044 USA
Messages (800) ABCD123
Voice (410) 296-0232
Fax (410) 321-5069

4E) LDInfo.org
<http://www.ldinfo.org/>
which contains a "Resources for Parents" frame, the direct URI of which is:
<http://www.ldinfo.org/resources/bottom.htm>
and a frame containing "Internet Resources for Learning Disabilities 
Topics", the direct URI of which is:
<http://www.ldinfo.org/resources/websites.htm>
as well as a frame listing "Organizations Concerned with Learning 
Disabilities", the direct URI of which is:
<http://www.ldinfo.org/resources/Organizations.html>

5. he served on the boards of many professional organizations, taught at 
Bryn Mawr College and Temple University -- there's a Temple University 
connection within the WAI, isn't there, Len?

6. Doctor Brutten directed the Commonwealth Hearing and Speech Center at 
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, and had a private practice in 
Radnor, Pennsylvania -- the URI for St. Christopher's Hospital for Children is:
http://www.stchriscare.com/

so, where do we go from here?   continue to act as individuals, or collate 
a list of resources and a panel of experts, along with commitments on the 
part of the schools and entities cited above to work with us as we attempt 
to work directly with a community of users whose needs we are seeking to 
understand?

gregory.

--------------------------------------------------------
He that lives on Hope, dies farting
      -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763
--------------------------------------------------------
Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
    WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC
         <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>
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Received on Wednesday, 5 April 2000 01:32:07 UTC