What does neurodiversity look like in a classroom?  First, it provides an inclusive membership, where people of all labels and those without labels are able to learn together.  In order to bring this about, we need to abandon the “one size fits all” mentality that has guided education for too many years.  Instead of a cookie...Read More

Katie Apostolides, who has Down Syndrome, graduated in 2009 from Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania with an associate’s degree in science.  This makes her one of the first (if not the first) individuals with Down Syndrome to complete a post-secondary degree.  She has had a number of news articles follow her academic progress, including one in...Read More

This essay of mine originally appeared in the New Horizons in Education online journal in 2009. The history of special education in the United States is a dramatic one. Without going into the whole legislative history, suffice it to say that during the 1970’s, due in large part to increasing scientific involvement in special needs...Read More

Researchers have discovered a link between the dopamine D4 receptor 7R allele gene (which has been linked to novelty seeking), and a group of adolescent boys with ADHD.  There is an element of semantics in this, because the D4 gene has also been called the “risk-taking” or “thrill-seeking” gene.  In any case, this gene has been associated...Read More