Neurodiversity Podcast

How can educators, counselors, and parents help neuro-diverse kids learn executive functioning skills? Gifted and twice-exceptional kids often lag with this skill development, so we'll talk about tools and techniques you can use to help kids grow. Our guest is Brendan Mahan, an ADHD/executive functioning consultant and speaker, a veteran educator, and the host of a podcast called ADHD Essentials. Executive functioning, on episode 45.

About the guest - Brendan Mahan, MEd., MS, is an ADHD/executive function consultant, coach, and speaker. As a veteran educator, he is skilled at teaching people how to effectively manage the challenges they face. He and his twin sons have ADHD, and he enjoys helping others with ADHD meet the challenges they face.

Brendan is also host of the ADHD Essentials podcast.

You can support the podcast and receive subscriber-only benefits at www.patreon.com/mindmatters. The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

We've had mixed results in our efforts to identify 2e kids. It's a complicated process, and many of the assessment tools used to identify ASD and other disorders need to be utilized differently when working with gifted individuals. Megan Foley-Nicpon joins us on episode 44 to tell us what she's learned through various research projects about identifying the elusive 2e child.

About the guest - Megan Foley-Nicpon is an Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology and Associate Director for Research and Clinic at the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, both at the University of Iowa. Dr. Foley-Nicpon's research and clinical interests include assessment and intervention with twice-exceptional students, particularly gifted students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and emotional/learning difficulties, and the social and emotional development of talented and diverse students. She has over 35 referred articles and book chapters in the areas of gifted, counseling psychology, and twice-exceptionality.

You can support the podcast and receive subscriber-only benefits at www.patreon.com/mindmatters. The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

School counselors wear a variety of hats, but "giftedness expert" often isn't one of them. On episode 43, Jean Peterson and Susannah Wood, authors of Counseling Gifted Students: A Guide for School Counselors, join us to talk about ways school counselors can better meet the needs of their gifted students.

About the guests - Jean Sunde Peterson, Ph.D., Professor Emerita and former director of school counselor preparation at Purdue University, was a classroom and gifted-education teacher for many years and was involved in teacher education prior to graduate work in counseling at The University of Iowa. She is author of Gifted at Risk: Poetic Profiles, and The Essential Guide to Talking with Gifted Teens, and is co-editor of Models of Counseling Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults, among over 100 journal articles, books, and invited chapters. She is a former chair of the Counseling and Guidance Network and also served two terms on the NAGC Board of Directors.

Susannah Wood, Ph.D., is currently an Associate Professor at The University of Iowa, where she teaches both doctoral students and students who are pursuing their master's in school counseling with an emphasis in gifted education in partnership with The Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talented Development. Susannah received her M.Ed. in School Counseling and Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from The College of William and Mary. She's co-author of the book Counseling Gifted Students: A Guide for School Counselors.

You can support the podcast and receive subscriber-only benefits at www.patreon.com/mindmatters. The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

Advanced Placement is a good way for many kids to get a head start on college. On episode 42, Andrew Scanlan and Chester E Finn, Jr. of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, answer questions about the history of AP, where it's going, and where kids may encounter difficulties.

About the guests - Chester E. Finn, Jr. is Distinguished Senior Fellow and President Emeritus at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and a Senior Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He served as Fordham's President from 1997 to 2014, after many earlier roles in education, academe and government. Over the years he has served in various capacities, including Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education and Staff Assistant to the President of the United States.

Finn currently serves on the National Council on Teacher Quality, the Core Knowledge Foundation, and Maryland's Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education.

Author of over twenty books, Finn is co-author with Andrew Scanlan of Learning in the Fast Lane: The Past, Present & Future of Advanced Placement, which has just been released, and Failing Our Brightest Kids: The Global Challenge of Educating High-Ability Students, co-authored with Brandon L. Wright.

Andrew Scanlan is a research and policy associate at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Growing up in Ireland, he graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a B.A. in European Studies before spending two years living in Honduras as a second grade classroom teacher and school administrator for Bilingual Education for Central America (BECA).

He earned an M.A. in International Child Studies from King's College London, with a focus on children's rights, education, and child migration. He is co-author, with Chester E. Finn, Jr., of Learning in the Fast Lane: The Past, Present, and Future of Advanced Placement.

You can support the podcast and receive subscriber-only benefits at www.patreon.com/mindmatters.

This is the final installment of our series on suicide among gifted and 2e people. Today, Lisa shares the story of what led to her son's suicide, and we get a glimpse into her current state of mind, nine months after her Nick's death.

The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

In part two of our series on suicide among high-ability people, we explore some of the signs of depression and suicidal ideation with Lisa Van Gemert, author of Perfectionism, and Living Gifted. We explore ways to identify problems that could lead to self-harm or suicide, and suggest ways to help you work through those problems. If you haven't listened to episode 39 with Dr. Tracy Cross, we suggest you do. And as always, if you need help, the Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours every day at 1-800-273-8255.

About the guest - Lisa Van Gemert is an expert consultant to television shows including Lifetime's "Child Genius," and a writer of award-winning lesson plans. She has written numerous published articles on social psychology and pedagogy, and is the author of two books - Perfectionism: A Practical Guide to Managing Never Good Enough, and Living Gifted: 52 Tips to Survive and Thrive in Giftedland. She is a co-founder of The Gifted Guild, a professional community for educators of the gifted.

The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

Is suicidal ideation more prevalent among the gifted population? Do our beliefs about suicide square with statistics? In part one of our series on suicide among gifted and 2e youth, Dr. Tracy Cross joins us to shed some light on a dark subject, and shares his Spiral Model of the Suicidal Mind. This is a series all parents should hear.

About the guest - Dr. Tracy L. Cross holds an endowed chair, Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Psychology and Gifted Education, and is the executive director of the Center for Gifted Education and the Institute for Research on the Suicide of Gifted Students at William & Mary.

He has a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, an EdS in Educational Psychology and Guidance from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, an MS in Educational Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a BS in Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

He received the Distinguished Service Award from The Association for the Gifted (TAG) and the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the Early Leader, Early Scholar and Distinguished Scholar awards from NAGC, and in 2009 was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the MENSA Education and Research Foundation. He has edited seven journals and is the current editor of the Journal for the Education of the Gifted. He presently serves as President of TAG and is president emeritus of NAGC. Among other books, he's the co-author of Suicide Among Gifted Children and Adolescents.

The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

As parents and educators prepare for the start of the new school year, middle schools everywhere are welcoming a new crop of excited, nervous, and sometimes unprepared kids. On episode 38 we talk about the middle school transition, and the changes parents can expect to see as their kids adapt to their new surroundings. Guest Phyllis Fagell is author of Middle School Matters, and she joins us with ideas and advice.

About our guest - Phyllis Fagell is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Certified Professional School Counselor and journalist. She has worked in both public and private schools with students in grades K-12, focusing on middle school for the last several years. She currently works full time as the school counselor for Sheridan School in Washington, D.C. Sheridan School has been named a 2017 National School of Character. Phyllis also provides therapy to children, teens and adults in private practice at the Chrysalis Group, Inc.

As a journalist, Phyllis writes regular columns for The Washington Post on counseling, parenting and education. She writes a weekly advice column for PDK, Intl. for educators, and she blogs for a number of highly-respected national education associations and counseling publications, including AMLE (Association of Middle Level Educators) and Character.org. Her articles often are syndicated by Bloomberg, and they also are reprinted by newspapers throughout the world.

The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com.

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

Gifted kids turn into gifted adults, it's something you live with for your entire life. When adults forget about their own atypical wiring, they open themselves up to social issues, and miss opportunities to continue growing. Guests Aurora Remember-Holtzman and Michelle Benedict talk to us about their experiences, and provide advice for people who may have forgotten they were gifted.

About the guests - Aurora Remember-Holtzman is the host of the Embracing Intensity podcast, and is founder of www.EmbracingIntensity.com. After years of feeling "too much," Aurora finally realized that intensity, in the form of excitability, is the source of her greatest power. Now instead of beating herself up about not measuring up to her own self-imposed standards, she is on a mission to help outside-the-box thinkers befriend their brains and use their fire without getting burned through her Embracing Intensity Podcast and community, coaching, facilitation and strengths-based psycho-educational assessment.

Michelle Benedict has a Masters in Education and certification in Gifted Education. She also founded Mindful Transformations. She's an educator in the Hazelwood, MO public school district.

The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.

Giftedness can be a double-edged sword when it comes to empathy and compassion. When we help kids realize their emotional potential, their capacity for empathy and kindness will grow. Christine Fonseca is our guest on episode 36.

About the guest - Christine Fonseca is a licensed Educational Psychologist, critically acclaimed author, and a nationally recognized speaker on topics related to educational psychology, mental health, giftedness, and using storytelling to heal past wounds.

Using her experience consulting and coaching educators and parents, Christine brings her expertise to Psychology Today, authoring the parenting blog Parenting for A New Generation. She has written self-help articles for Parents.com, Johnson & Johnson, and Justine Magazine.

Her critically acclaimed books include The Caring Child: Raising Empathetic and Emotionally Intelligent Children, Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students, Raising the Shy Child, Letting Go: A Girl's Guide to Breaking Free of Stress and Anxiety, and the Young Adult series, the Solomon Experiments.

How to win Christine Fonseca's autographed book, The Caring Child - Share the Mind Matters Twitter, Instagram or Facebook page(s) on your corresponding feed and include the hashtag #mindmattersswag. One winner will be chosen at random from all shared posts! No purchase necessary, void where prohibited, enter as often as you'd like, contest is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Winner will be chosen July 23 at 11:59 pm CDT, prize will be shipped to winner, must 18 or older, US residents only (sorry Sri Lanka!).

The Mind Matters podcast is available on Facebook and Instagram at Mind Matters Podcast, and on Twitter @MindMattersPod. For more information go to www.MindMattersPodcast.com

Thank you for caring about kids.

Copyright © 2019 Morris Creative Services LLC. All rights reserved.