Educational Diagnosticians

Dr. Mehta from TWU tells us about a study she's conducting using imitation therapy to help nonverbal children learn to talk. She also discusses issues around assessing these students.

Dr. Johnson and Dr. Feifer explain that trauma can impact brain neurology. Children who experience trauma over experience changes in their attention and emotional regulation. The slightest triggers can remind them of the trauma that they experienced.

Dr. Russell Skiba joins to talk with us about the way disproportionality is measured, what it says about our society, and how it can be improved.

Some countries around the world have less resources but better outcomes than the US. Disproportionality resulting from inequitable funding in education is a big reason for this outcome.

Dr. Byron McClure joins us to talk about the impacts of disproportionality in special education and how we can make a difference by focusing on what's strong, not what's wrong.

Sarah Holman is tells us how various questions from the referral can help to influence our hypothesis and choose the tests we want to use to verify that hypothesis. We talk about what resources to refer to for a standard referral, how prevalence of referrals and disability identification relate to the quality of systems of supports, and the barriers to receiving good information in our referral.

Robbi Cooper is one of the parents who pushed HB 3928 through the legislature last spring. She joins to tell us why this legislation was important, what the parent advocates hoped to achieve, and all of the work that went into creating the bill.

Dr. Miller uses correlations to create profiles of strengths and weaknesses of WJ IV cognitive and achievement subtests for various ages for each disability area. He answers questions about how he uses scientific statistical methods to achieve the evidence of these patterns. He cautions against not using IQ tests and explains how neuropsychological studies and psycho-educational have started to overlap. He wants us to understand the theory behind the tests we use and go beyond the standard scores to interpret the results.

Special Education was built on the vision of Evelyn Deno. She wanted us to fully realize separate is not equal and had a vision of an inclusive education system that saw special education as a safety net that would bring up the rear of those who fall behind in general education. However, there are those who blame her vision for issues in special education like defining LRE and what makes special education special. Nazzie shares the commentary the article by Hoffman, Where Special Education Goes to Die and the reaction from Norena Hale, a long time friend and coauthor of Deno's book, Dogged Determination.

Dr. Martin Bloomfield from Dyslexia Bytes and Dyslexia Compass tells us about his mission to create discussion and awareness regarding the challenges that various countries and cultures present when faced with the challenge of literacy and dyslexia. Candace Vielma joins to help with the interview.