http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/new-study-parenting-more-effective-ritalin-adhd

New Study: Parenting More Effective than Ritalin for ADHD

Do you believe that kids today are overmedicated for issues like ADHD? If so, a new study out of the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology may lend credibility to your belief.

According to The New York Times:

“The study enrolled 146 children with an A.D.H.D. diagnosis from ages 5 to 12 and randomly assigned half on a low dose of generic Ritalin. The other half received no medication, but their parents began attending group meetings to learn behavior-modification techniques.

Behavior modification for A.D.H.D. is based on a fairly simple system of rewards and consequences. Parents reward the good or cooperative acts they see; subtle things, like paying attention for a few moments, can earn a pat on the back or a ‘good boy.’ Completing homework without complaint might earn time on a smartphone. Parents withhold privileges, like playtime or video games, or enforce a ‘time out’ in response to defiance and other misbehavior.”

The results? Children who had behavior therapy from their parents “had an average of four fewer rules violations an hour at school than the medication-first group.”

After a few months, the study decided to see if more medication would be beneficial to children in both groups. Fully one-third of the children who had behavioral therapy did not need medication at all! Those who did need to add medication to their behavior modification regimen still saw better results than the children who had never been given behavioral therapy.

When trying to explain the differences between the two groups, researchers hinted that parents played an important role. Those not conditioned to go through the challenging work of behavioral therapy with their child from the beginning were much more content to rely on the pill.

Image Credit: Eric Peacock http://bit.ly/1hYHpKw

As the chart above shows, the number of ADHD diagnoses has seen a rapid increase since 2003. Undoubtedly, some of these ADHD cases may genuinely require medication for resolution.

But if over a third of ADHD diagnoses in this study could be resolved without medication, are we putting many children on drugs without a cause? And if behavioral modification is so effective, is Dr. Leonard Sax correct in saying that the ADHD explosion is the result of today’s poor parenting?

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http://reallearningct.com/2016/02/09/the-tide-is-turning-high-school-is-coming-back/

The Tide Is Turning: High School Is Coming Back

Sometimes changing one thing in a culture changes everything. That is what more than 50 college and university deans of admission, college presidents, and university chancellors, in addition to representatives from public and independent schools, are hoping for. Their one thing to change is the process of applying to college.

Educators on both the high school and college side of the college admissions process have been looking with dismay at what adolescence has become for many students due to the pressure to succeed in high school in order to gain college acceptance. They are concerned that those pressures have been harmful to the students’ well being and have influenced them to be overly self-absorbed. That group, with representatives from the most prestigious colleges and universities, recently released a report through the Harvard School of Education, entitled Turning the Tide, which details proposed changes in the college application process. All of those deans of admission endorsed the changes and will put them into effect so that high school students will enlarge their view of what success means and make huge changes in how they go through their high school years.

The report points out that the college application process itself sends the message to young people that their individual success, rather than concern for others and the common good, is paramount. The report calls for specific changes that will improve the emotional and psychological health of adolescents, increase opportunities for a broader range of students, and contribute to shaping a national culture different from the one we now have. The new application will redefine the roles of AP courses, extracurricular activities, standardized tests, and community service in admission decisions.

Currently, many students take as many AP courses as possible because they have been told that will impress colleges. The original intent of AP courses was to provide post high school experience for those who benefit from the challenge of college work in a specific area while in high school; now a schedule dominated by four or five AP courses a year has become high school for many students. The report notes that the achievement pressure resulting from that kind of schedule contributes to “high rates of depression, delinquency, substance abuse, and anxiety” in adolescents.

Many years ago, a student came to me, as English curriculum leader, and asked for permission to take a junior English honors course and a senior AP Literature and Composition course at the same time in her junior year because she would be studying abroad for her senior year. I explained to her that it would not be wise because each of those courses had hefty time commitments and required a prodigious amount of reading and writing. As I listed the specific books and writing assignments, she looked me in the eye and said, “ I hear what you’re saying, but for me that’s a party.” I didn’t give that student permission to double-up because of the amount of work and the availability of an AP English course at her international school although it would not have the particular challenge and the particular teacher she wanted. However, after that, when students or their parents asked for my advice about taking an AP course, I would use her word “party” and tell them that if the student thought that the course, in some intellectual way, would be a party, then he or she should take it. It has been my experience that two “parties”, two AP courses a year, is a maximum for high school students.

Turning the Tide doesn’t use the term “party” but endorses that concept. The new application process will state clearly that “a large number of AP or IB courses per year are often not as valuable as sustained achievement in a limited number of areas”. The report recommends that the college application process identify students who are passionate about an area of study, students who find intellectual engagement in that area, not the ones who “game the system” with a long list of AP courses.

According to Turning the Tide, students similarly try to “game the system” with a long list of extra-curricular activities. Admissions officers are dismissive of the “brag lists” of a large number of activities in which they suspect students may have minimal commitment and surface involvement.

Their suspicions are correct. I recall a faculty meeting at which the advisor to the National Honor Society recommended that guidance counselors advise 8^th graders about how to plan for their upcoming high school years. They were to be told that in high school they should play at least one sport, join one music group, join one academically oriented club, and do a community service project so that they would qualify for National Honor Society as seniors and get into a good college. I objected, saying that students had a lifetime to become neurotic and questioned why we should make it happen when they are fourteen.

Turning the Tide throws that whole idea of resume building for 14 year olds out the window and encourages meaningful engagement in extracurricular activities. Applications will ask students to report only two or three activities and to explain in narrative form how the activities are meaningful for them.

Turning the Tide just about throws the SAT out the window too. Time has changed the purpose of the SAT. Originally, the SAT was put in place to ascertain a student’s aptitude for college, but, starting in March 2016, the SAT will be used as an achievement test to determine how well students have mastered the Common Core curriculum, how high schools will be ranked, and how teachers will be evaluated. Even when the SAT was considered a test of aptitude, it didn’t function well. The scores always correlated with the income of the students’ parents. The SAT didn’t measure student aptitude as much as it measured student affluence.

The report recommends that colleges and universities make the SAT optional. Already more than 850 colleges and universities do not use the SAT or ACT to admit substantial numbers of bachelor degree students and more than 200 top tier colleges and universities deemphasize the SAT and ACT in making admissions decisions. It may take a while for all colleges and universities to do that. Recently, when commenting on Turning the Tide, the president of a highly regarded university told me that within 10 years, standardized testing for college admission will be gone because all colleges recognize it is high school grades that predict success in college, not standardized tests.

Turning the Tide also addresses the common practice of students listing a number of community service endeavors even if their participation is minimal and does not have a deep impact on their lives. The new college application will ask students only about community service in which they have been involved for at least a year, about which they feel passionate, and from which they have learned and grown. The definition of community service is also expanded to “substantial and sustained contributions to one’s family”, such as working outside the home to provide needed income or caring for siblings or other family members. Doing that honors the service of less affluent students who give time to their families and do not have time for other kinds of service to others.

Big changes.

How will high school students be affected?

1. It will open up possibilities for higher education for students of poverty and reduced income who have fewer advantages and more responsibilities than their peers.

2. It will give adolescents a greater chance for emotional and psychological health.

3. It will allow adolescents to experience high school for its own opportunities for intellectual growth and social development and not only as a pathway to college acceptance.

4. It will give students more authentic learning experiences as the pressure of the SAT goes away and the incentive to teach the deeply flawed Common Core, which the SAT assesses, is reduced.

5. It invites students to follow their own intellectual passions and to relate to their community in authentic and caring ways.

6. It increases the chance that students will live their adult lives in a more compassionate world.

Thank you, Harvard. Thank you, Yale. Thank you, University of North Carolina. Thank you, M.I.T.. Thank you, Holy Cross. Thank you, Connecticut College. Thank you, Trinity. Thanks to all the other 44 colleges and universities who have endorsed these changes in the college application process.

ALSO SEE: 

http://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/collegeadmissions

http://www.aarp.org/work/job-hunting/info-2016/networking-101-tips-to-get-hired.html?cmp=SNP-FB-BRANDEVGQ4-WJ&socialid=365694425

Networking 101: The Art of Working the Room

Video: Why Networking Still Matters to Get a Job

In the age of Facebook, you might think networking is a thing of the past. It's not. Hiring managers explain why networking is as important today as ever before.

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Growing your contacts and staying engaged are two keys to landing that next job. — Getty Images

While plenty of job search maneuvers can be conducted by computer or phone, nothing beats connecting with someone new face-to-face.

Whether you're mingling at a networking event for job seekers or attending an industry lecture followed by schmooze time, you're at a gathering that's hardwired for meeting people who can open doors for you. But you have to know how to work the room.

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Here are six ways to mix with a purpose.

1. Tweak your attitude. View each networking event as a chance to expand whom you know and what you know. When you're positive and engaged, your whole posture changes, and you project an energetic vibe that people find appealing. They gravitate toward you.

One way to psych yourself up is to keep in mind that the best job opportunities often go unposted on job boards, so the more people you connect with, the greater your odds of hearing about an opening.

Plus, it's a two-way street: You can share tips on jobs that you know about but are not up your alley. Helping out a fellow job hunter simply feels good. At the very least, you can get on that person's radar for future possibilities, while increasing your network — the quintessential ingredient in landing a job.

2. Make room in your schedule. Don't race in, grab a drink and race out. Successful networking requires time and planning. If possible, review the RSVP list to see if you know anyone attending, or if there's someone you want to be sure to meet. Then do a quick review of his or her LinkedIn profile to gather background for questions.

Often the roster is available on the sponsoring group's website. If it's an open event, you might consider inviting a fellow job seeker or two. Going with someone you know takes the bite out of being in a room full of strangers and can put you in a more relaxed mood.

Make certain your online accounts at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter tell the same story about you as your résumé does. Check that job titles and other personal information match and that you use the same name at each site. Also, take down any embarrassing photos or posts that are open for public viewing.

See also: Looking for a job? Why you need to go social

If you're in full job-hunting mode, rehearse your "elevator speech" of who you are, what you're doing right now and what kind of position you're seeking. If you're looking more to scope what's out there and expand your professional network for the future, you can simply use this time to learn more about people you're meeting.

People do judge a book by its cover, so dress appropriately for the event, and don't forget to polish those shoes, too. It's never wrong to dress professionally and wear something that makes you feel confident.

Carry business cards to dole out at the end of a conversation, provided it's to someone you truly want to connect with. If you're currently out of work, or don't want your employer to know you're trolling for a new position, create a simple business card that has just your name and contact information.

3. Set goals. Make a pact with yourself that at each gathering you'll meet three or four new people and get their contact information. Afterward, jot down notes on the back of their business cards to remind you of where you met and what you talked about. You'll need this to jog your memory if you follow up with them at a later time.

Having a strategy like this for your time keeps you fully engaged at the event — not simply meandering around the room ricocheting from person to person, or retreating to a corner table alone to nibble on appetizers and sip club soda.

See also: The perfect time for a brand new start

4. Arrive early. The best time for bantering is before the room gets crowded. This can be a little uncomfortable if you're shy, but with fewer people around, you have no choice but to stick out your hand and smile. Plus the low noise level in the room will be more conducive to conversation.

Look for someone standing alone, or sidle up to a small group of people and introduce yourself. Offer a brief but firm handshake while making eye contact, smiling and saying your first and last name. Then, listen vigilantly for the person's name.

5. Be curious and listen. Ask questions to get people to talk about themselves. It's subliminal, but this approach will build a positive memory of you, because who doesn't like talking about what they do? Spend at least twice as much time listening as you do talking.

If possible, be the one to toss out the first question. The person who answers will be more apt to relax and listen more carefully to what you have to say when it's your turn, since the ice has been broken, so to speak.

It helps to have your basic questions and comments committed to memory. Begin with the same kind of small talk that you might have at a purely social gathering. Comment casually on the food, perhaps, or an interesting article of clothing that someone is wearing. Then you can ask about what he or she does for a living, or background.

It's an old trick, but try to use the other person's name once or twice during your conversation. People like to hear their names and at the same time it will help you remember it.

6. Follow up. Send a note to your new connections the next day and tell them how much you appreciated meeting them and propose a future date to get together casually. Or mention a book, an upcoming event or even a movie they might enjoy — based on what you learned in your conversation. Email works fine for this, but if you've got a personal note card to send, that never goes out of fashion.

You might also consider following the people on Twitter, if they have accounts, and sending invitations to connect on LinkedIn. Don't use the generic invite, but type in your own personal one with a reference to where you met.

See also: Create your personal business brand

This kind of after-event repartee is the core of smart networking, and that's what can ultimately lead to a job. It's typically an organic evolution that develops over time, with occasional emails containing links to interesting articles, moving on to suggestions for lunch or a coffee date.

But the starting block is: Be proactive and learn to glad-hand like a pro. Networking, after all, is just one letter away from not working.

Kerry Hannon, is a career transition expert and an award-winning author.  Her latest book is Getting the Job You Want After 50 for Dummies. She has also written Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness and Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy…and Pays the Bills. Find more from Kerry at Kerryhannon.com.

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The Wisdom of Antonin Scalia

by Newt Gingrich and Vince Haley
Originally published at the Washington Times

“I hope to impart to you the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity.”

For decades, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia shared some form of this message with countless audiences.

One might think that these words of encouragement were meant for the ears of young Federalist Society lawyers engaged in the ongoing battle to defend the Constitution.

But in fact, Justice Scalia directed these words not at fellow lawyers, but at fellow Christians. 

Said Scalia at one such gathering, “surely those who adhere to all or most […] traditional Christian beliefs are regarded in the educated circles that you and I travel in as, well, simple-minded.”

As an example, he noted a recent story in the Washington Post that called Christian fundamentalists “poorly educated and easily led.” 

Scalia urged that, rather than retreat, Christians confront such contempt head-on, and be willing, in the words of Saint Paul, to be seen as “fools” for their belief in God. 

Scalia surely saw the obvious parallel to his day job. Just as our cultural elites look down on the Christian faithful as ignorant simpletons, so too our political elites look with scorn at Americans who believe we should remain faithful to the Constitution. 

Justice Scalia proved beyond doubt that those who believe in the Constitution are no fools—and that when his opponents regarded the Founders’ wisdom as stupidity, they did so at their own peril. Time and again, he bested them in his arguments from the bench and in his written opinions, even—perhaps especially—when writing in dissent.

In the process, Scalia became one of the most consequential defenders of our constitutional order in the history of the Supreme Court.

Scalia usually had one simple question for constitutional matters that came before the Supreme Court: Who decides? 

In determining the answer, he employed originalism, a mode of constitutional analysis that interprets the Constitution according to the meaning of the text as it was understood at the time it was established. Originalism rejects the idea of a judges substituting their own views about the meaning of the Constitution. Instead, he argued, judges should use the original meaning of the Constitution to guide them in their decision making.

In his recent dissenting opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, Scalia succinctly stated the stakes involved when judges substitute their own views about the meaning of the Constitution:

This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern themselves. 

The ongoing struggle to protect the freedom of Americans to govern themselves was at the heart of Scalia’s approach to judging during his long tenure on the Supreme Court. 

Self-governance is also at the heart of the choice to replace Scalia on the Court.

If you are a constitutional conservative in the mold of Antonin Scalia, you view the role of the judge as one of self-restraint. You are guided by the meaning of the Constitution as it was understood by the Founders. You defer to the political branches and to the people to make judgments about important matters the Constitution says nothing about. You do not pretend to know what is best for America in the abstract and you certainly don’t claim the power to create new law, even if it may be popular to do so. 

If you are an adherent of progressive legal theories, you are guided in your rulings by what you see as best for the country. You do not consider yourself limited by the original meaning of the Constitution. You believe the Constitution is a “living” document, such that new realities may require new laws in the form of Supreme Court decisions “interpreting” the Constitution. You are limited only by what the constituency you are a part of thinks it can get away with politically and by the plausibility of your interpretive justification. Both limitations are rather low thresholds. Since one political party believes as you do, and the other party is supremely reluctant to take on the executive branch let alone the judicial branch, there is much to get away with. 

Our founding fathers believed that the Supreme Court was the weakest branch and that the legislative and executive branches would have ample abilities to check a Supreme Court that exceeded its powers.

But this is not true today. Over the last half century, the Supreme Court has become a permanent constitutional convention in which the whims of five appointed judges have rewritten the meaning of the Constitution and assigned to themselves the last word in the American political process. Under this new all-powerful model of judicial supremacy, federal judges have been able to redefine the Constitution and the law unchecked by the other two co-equal branches of government. 

If you are wondering why there is so much upheaval about the choice to replace Justice Scalia, it is because of the all powerful model of today’s Supreme Court. 

In a Republic like ours based on the rule of law and the principle that we the people govern, rights like religious freedom and the right to bear arms should not hinge on who becomes the next justice. Until we bring the courts back under the Constitution, however, they very well might. 

Fortunately, in this newest battle to protect self-government, we have a model to follow. For 29 years, Antonin Scalia showed us how to defend freedom. Again and again, he reminded us of the wisdom of the Constitution—its deference to the people, its system of checks and balances.

President Obama has every right to nominate a replacement for Justice Scalia, and surely he will. But the Senate has an equal Constitutional role to play—and perhaps a greater claim to representing the will of the people. The Senators are under no obligation to confirm the President’s choice, especially when they have good reason to expect that such a nominee would do harm to our system of government and the rule of law.

That’s not stupidity. It’s a certain kind of wisdom—even if our elites refuse to regard it as such. Justice Scalia would have been pleased.

Your Friend, Newt

P.S. Callista's and my new documentary film, Divine Mercy: The Canonization of John Paul II is now available at the Gingrich Productions store. The film celebrates one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century and is a vivid reminder of the holy and heroic life of Saint John Paul II, who changed the course of history.
Click here to watch the trailer and order now>>

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The Meeting by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Poem: "The Meeting" 
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

After so long an absence
    At last we meet again:
Does the meeting give us pleasure,
    Or does it give us pain? 

The tree of life has been shaken,
    And but few of us linger now,
Like the Prophet's two or three berries
    In the top of the uttermost bough. 

We cordially greet each other
    In the old, familiar tone;
And we think, though we do not say it,
    How old and gray he is grown! 

We speak of a Merry Christmas
   And many a Happy New Year
But each in his heart is thinking
   Of those that are not here. 

We speak of friends and their fortunes,
    And of what they did and said,
Till the dead alone seem living,
    And the living alone seem dead. 

And at last we hardly distinguish
    Between the ghosts and the guests;
And a mist and shadow of sadness
    Steals over our merriest jests.

http://www.dailyliked.net/hearing-hands/

Entire Town Secretly Learns Sign Language To Give A Deaf Man The Best Day Of His Life

It took one month of preparation, sign language training for dozens of people, countless hidden cameras and one awesome vision to help this guy feel connected to people around him. In order to promote their new service in Turkey, Samsung created a Truman Show-esque world for hearing impaired Muharrem, at least for couple of minutes.

This day, when he walked out, everybody seems to finally understand him. Something we all take for granted but it means a world to people with hearing problems. You can’t help but feel emotionally touched by this… just imagine what it was like for him.

 

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http://upliftconnect.com/yoga-and-stress/

The Science behind Yoga and Stress

There are two functional parts of the brain that play a key role in stress. These serve the functions of emotion and cognitive function. So I am calling them the ’emotional’ brain (amygdala and its connections and medial forebrain structures including the medial prefrontal cortex) and the ‘logical’ brain (the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, other parts of the prefrontal cortex, parts of the cingulate cortex and parts of the hippocampus).

The emotional brain is able to initiate a ‘stress response’ via the sympathetic nervous system which culminates in adrenaline and cortisol racing through our circulation.The logical brain is always trying to ‘turn-off’ this stress response and it is also trying to restrain the emotional brain. The stronger our logical brain, the better it becomes at doing these two things. When the stress response is ‘turned off’, our parasympathetic nervous system signal is ‘turned on’. This signal ‘relaxes’ the body. So a strong logical brain goes hand in hand with relaxation.

The stress response and ‘relaxing’ signals travel through the body along a particular route and parts of this route have little ‘switches’ which we can physically manipulate to turn the signals on or off. The neck is an example of where such switches are located (by the carotid arteries).

“Everytime we are holding a posture our logical brain is being activated”

Training the stress circuit

Yoga is training this entire stress circuit at two levels. First, every time we are ‘holding’ a posture, staying very still to concentrate or trying to balance, our logical brain is being activated. When we are bending forwards, our ‘relaxation’ signal is being turned on through the ‘switches’ in the neck. So bending forwards and concentrating at the same time is triggering both the logical brain and the relaxation signal at the same time.

Bending backwards triggers the stress response signal through the switches in our neck. Contracting a muscle also triggers the stress response signal. So, when we bend backwards and contract our muscles while still having to stay still and concentrate on balancing, our logical brain is given an extra challenge. It has to overcome the stress response signal being triggered in these two ways before we can be still and concentrate during a posture. This ‘extra’ resistance the logical brain is having to work against, ‘trains’ it like a muscle.

“New circuitry that enables you to find it easier to control your thoughts is formed”

Rewiring the nerve connections

At the end of a series of yoga postures, the logical brain has had a ‘workout’. It is buzzing with activity. You feel mentally calm as it is keeping your emotional brain quiet. Training the logical brain in this way for a long time can result in a rewiring of the nerve connections within the logical brain. New circuitry that enables you to find it easier to control your thoughts is formed. You may find it easier to channel your thoughts in the direction you want and not ‘dwell’ on negative thoughts or experiences. This is partly why yoga seems to have a positive effect on depression and anxiety, where sufferers have a tendency to dwell on negative life events. Stronger connections within the logical brain keeps the lid down on the emotional brain and the stress response. This is why yoga can be so effective at battling stress.

The key thing to do is to attempt yoga postures which are structured in a well-formulated sequence where each posture involves a long hold. Then your yoga and stress will begin to be balanced.

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