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Special ed is failing: Can we do better?
Every year, more students are labeled with a special-ed diagnosis, more money is invested, and yet the results remain the same: Millions of children unable to read, write or calculate proficiently.

Joanne Jacobs
7 hours ago3 min read
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At calm, focused schools, scores are high, but so is suspension rate
Students -- including those with disabilities -- are learning at Indiana schools that stress structure and good behavior. But suspension rates are high for students with disabilities.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 63 min read
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Teaching kids the habits of anxious, depressed people isn't working well
Schools, colleges (and parents) are teaching kids the habits of anxious, depressed people.

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 52 min read
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'Basic' readers can't make sense of the Tylenol-autism debate
Two-thirds of Americans don't read well enough to evaluate scientific or medical claims.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 272 min read
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Why did autism rates soar? Look at diagnoses, not vaccines
Autism rates skyrocketed when the diagnostic criteria changed to include mild "Aspie" symptoms.

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 242 min read
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The 'gold standard' for autism therapy may be ineffective -- or harmful
As autism diagnoses soar -- 1 in 36 U.S. children is now considered autistic -- providing therapy is a booming business, writes Beth...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 10, 20242 min read
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Autism is a disability -- not a 'natural difference to be celebrated'
Autism rates keep climbing -- nearly 3 percent, of all eight-year-olds in the latest estimates -- yet there's no sense of crisis, writes...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 29, 20233 min read
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Autism doesn't define me -- or make me a worthwhile person
Emma Camp was diagnosed with autism in college, and embraced the explanation for her insecurities and personality quirks, she writes in a...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 23, 20232 min read
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Parents feel 'villainized' by teachers who think they know best
It's not just conservative parents who think they have a right to know if "Hannah" has become "Hank" at school, reports Katie J.M. Baker...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 25, 20233 min read
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Grandin: Educate the visual thinkers too
Our society and our schools aren't designed for "visual thinkers, which so many of us neurodivergent folks are," writes Temple Grandin, a...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 14, 20231 min read
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