Children and youth are available to learn when they are ready to engage with people, absorb information, and pay attention to what is occurring around them. They are alert, attentive, and interested but not overstimulated. Optimizing availability for learning involves a systematic analysis and understanding of the internal and external factors…

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability caused by a neurological problem. It is a worldwide problem with a prevalence of 5-10% of the population. It is described mainly by difficulties in reading, spelling, accuracy, fluency, and decoding abilities. This article is chiefly concerned to provide an overview of dyslexia, some key issues based on…

Barbara Luborsky explores the commonalities between occupational therapists and Montessori guides, such as their focus on the prepared environment, following the child, task analysis, and multi-sensory learning. She describes many types of sensory processing disorders including their symptoms, treatment, and the many resources and adaptations that…

Research has demonstrated a strong positive correlation between behavior problems and low academic achievement. Student success and/or failures are in large part determined by how well teachers provide effective instruction to their students. This article overviews key behavior-management approaches related to academic and behavioral success that…

In this interview, Dave Krupke, retired speech-language pathologist in the Davenport, Iowa public schools, describes "See The Sound/Visual Phonics," whose shortened name is "Visual Phonics," and its use with struggling readers and students with communication disabilities. What distinguishes See The Sound/Visual Phonics from…

In this article Denise Chilvers and Angela Cole describe a school-based study which is located very much in an action-research idiom. Starting from a questioning, but collegial, stance on identifying positive interventions for children who challenge, the authors illustrate how theory and reflection on practice can lead to significant innovations…

Recent advances in neuroscience describe the effect of experience on neural architecture. Paralleling these advances in neuroscience, recent explorations in the field of art therapy speculate on the relationship between specific therapeutic interventions and neuroplasticity, which underlies the changes in neural architecture. One such…

This article discusses dyslexia (one of the many complex issues that affects students) and the ways to tackle it appropriately. Dyslexia is described as a syndrome in which a person's reading and/or writing ability is significantly lower than that which would be predicted by his or her general level of intelligence. People are diagnosed as…