As a parent who raised a "Smart Kid with Learning Difficulties", I can honestly say I wish this book had been available to me and to my school district 25 years ago. My daughter is now an adult and this book deals with every issue that we faced while navigating the educational system and raising our daughter. During the early years when we were trying to understand the paradox our daughter represented, I felt utterly alone in our struggle to help her. It is comforting to know that since our journey began so much has happened with regard to awareness and options for kids with special needs. I highly recommend this book for both parents and educators as they navigate the complex world of living with and educating our very special children. Rich Weinfeld, Linda Barnes-Robinson, Sue Jeweler and Betty Roffman Shevitz have provided an exceptionally useful and helpful reference. My only wish is that it had been written 25 years ago!

It is not everyday that one comes across a book that profoundly alters the discourse about education; though here is one that does, which at the same time could not be more deeply grounded in proven school practices. If your child excelled in school in the past, though is performing with increasing inconsistency in the present, this book will offer you some answers to that problem.
Although the strategies outlined by its authors are intended to help Gifted and Talented Children with Learning Differences (GT/LD), their utility is far greater. If you stop to reflect for a moment, all of us fit the description of that acronym; we are, in fact, all "smart kids" in one way or another, who nonetheless face difficulties not only in learning, but in applying what we've learned, throughout our lives. So the issues presented by the authors here bear relevance well beyond their possible application to the needs of special students. They apply to everyone and everything that goes on in our schools - from the nursery level to post-doctoral programs. Identifying and constructively developing the unique and innate gifts and talents of each person remains one of the principal aims of education. Yet learning how to capitalize on learners' differences, rather than insist on homogeneity in their performance, is the issue that most profoundly plagues most educational systems. It also makes our nation's growing insistence on standardized testing so misguided in its attempt to ensure real and enduring educational achievement. Our elementary and secondary schools, our colleges and universities, and the adult learning programs that are found in business, religious and other institutional settings, would prove more exciting for everyone involved, and far more productive for our society as a whole, if the diverse methods of teaching and assessment that are described in this book were universally adopted.
Beyond the book's incisive descriptions of the aptitudes and attitudes of bright though often disadvantaged youth who don't succeed under traditional teaching methods, the book is helpful in delimiting the variable notion of "giftedness" from several historical, educational and legal perspectives. It also proposes a set of practical methods for constructing and uniformly evaluating school programs that are designed to address this particular, though universal, educational need. Drawn from the authors' work in the public schools over the past twenty years, what is so refreshing about their approach is that it begins with the identification of students' individual strengths, rather than with their weaknesses. Hence when difficulties arise for a student in a class, the initiative proceeds not by seeking to redress the student's deficiencies, with a program of remediation, but rather proposes the design of a set of strategies intended to establish his/her independence and "self-efficacy". This has profound ramifications for how that individual's learning actually proceeds, by ensuring both his/her commitment to the program that is proposed, and the collaborative involvement of the entire school community in the process. Under these conditions, teachers learn how to develop dynamic and highly interactive instructional styles, using a variety of different modalities - whose goal is to help each student succeed, rather than to be allowed to fail.
The book offers a special boon to parents who may not be well-versed in contemporary pedagogy, because it enables them to understand in lay terms not only what successful academic programs look like, but how they can be developed from the ground up, utilizing the resources that are commonly available within most public school systems. At the same time, it explains the teaching methods that experience has demonstrated typically do not work for many children, and shows how they can be modified to help young people succeed. It also goes to great lengths in describing the kinds of assessment tools that can be developed to enhance the school's effectiveness for every child.
With literally tens of charts, tables, forms, checklists and road maps included - that can be readily reproduced and distributed to all of the stakeholders in any school, religious organization, business, or other educational system - as well as an extensive glossary of topical educational terms, and a notable list of references, the book could not be more practical nor useful in advancing the best educational practices that our nation has developed.
In short, this book deserves widespread national attention. Read and follow it to help your child and your school, and you will find yourself making a contribution to the advancement of our society in the process.


* The reviewer is an educational consultant affiliated with the International Association for Intercultural Education (in Brussels), and the National Society for the Study of Education (in Chicago).

A very useful book for any teacher whether a regular classroom teacher or a special ed. teacher.

Rich Weinfeld, Linda Barnes-Robinson, Sue Jeweler, and Betty Roffman Shevitz have written a very comprehensive, clear, and practical handbook for helping bright children with a range of learning and developmental difficulties. Based upon their rich experiences developing nationally-recognized programs for gifted kids with learning disabilities, ADHD, and Aspergers/Autism (and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders), they provide practical and creative recommendations for helping kids with uneven development. Providing many examples and exceptionally useful suggestions for educational strategies, accommodations, and modifications, the authors provide parents, teachers, and mental health professionals with a deep appreciation for the unique needs of gifted children with learning differences.

As a neuropsychologist in private practice, I will continue to recommend this book to my clients. Unlike many books that espouse theoretical positions but are thin on suggestions, Smart Kids with Learning Difficulties offers practical advice and guidance for helping students with a wide range of developmental differences.

Finally, we have a practical guide to the effective education of bright but struggling students which can be used by all players on the team: parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, and the students themselves. The earlier giftedness is recognized and learning disabilities are unmasked, diagnosed, and planned for, the less likely it is that these students will be defeated by repeated failure and the burden of emotional baggage that often develops in the wake of crushed self-confidence. Our country cannot afford to waste the brain power and creativity of our "different learners."

This powerful book brims with optimism and genuine affection for gifted kids with learning disabilities. The crux of the message is to discover and engage the student through his/her talents and interests while directly teaching strategies for getting around deficits and using accommodations and assistive technology to build success. The sections in Chapter 3 on adaptations and accommodations and what does and doesn't work are particularly strong. The glossary will help parents and students interpret educational buzzwords like metacognition.

In my work with GT/LD students, both in the public school classroom in Maryland and now in my college advisory business in Oregon, I have seen amazing strides made by kids who have been taught by the principles of this book. I recommend it highly to my clients.