Mike B's Journey through Dyslexia - YouTube

"It's hard not to be a hovering helicopter mom when you have a child with a learning disability," says Mary Ann B., mother of 18-year old Mike, a Learning Ally member who is dyslexic.

As Mike prepared to start his freshman year at Rhode Island School of Design, mother and son sat down with us to recall the downs and ups of dyslexia in the family.

Click here to Visit the Learning Alley YouTube site

Click on the picture to visit the Learning Alley website

The D Word: Understanding Dyslexia TRAILER - YouTube

A dyslexic high school student pursues admission to a competitive college, a challenge for a boy that didn't learn to read until 4th grade.

Additional accounts of the dyslexic experience from children, experts, and Iconic leaders help us understand that dyslexia is as much a gift as it is a challenge.

Click on the picture to visit the D Word Movie Website

Your children's digital footprint

Tips for educating our children about their digital footprint:

1. Don’t lie. Don’t EVER lie to kids. They are a lot brighter than we are, and they will distrust you when they catch you out. “Why can’t I have a Facebook account?”. “Because that’s the rule, you have to be 13″. Not: “The computer won’t allow it”. They’re literal beings. When they discover John down the street has a FB account, you’re busted. HIS computer will allow it…therefore, Mum/Dad lied.

2. Start early. Talk to your children about drugs and alcohol despite the fact they’re a long way off having any interactions with addictive substances. Also talk to them about Social Media despite the fact they are a long way off opening accounts. The earlier we get the conversation started the better.

3. Monitor accounts and monitor your children’s online activities. Yes, they can be on Facebook, Twitter, whatever when they’re old enough: as long as you can see what they’re doing. There’s no difference in the fact that you monitor their tv/movie viewing or where they go out while they’re still young.

As a parent, it’s your duty to guide them and you can’t do that if you don’t know what they’re doing. You are not their friend, you are their parent. Maintain that difference!

4. Clearly to guide your children, you need to understand social media yourself. You will have several friends who HATE facebook and twitter. They curse everyone who dares to share their information and they think the world is going down the toilet due to SM.

In turn, they tell their children that they’re not allowed on there. Ever, ever, ever and “Not in my house”.

This is simply burying your head in the sand and avoiding the issue. It will cause more harm than good. I am sure you did some things as a teen that make you cringe now, and we did some of these things because they were expressly forbidden.

Understanding the ways in which our children communicate with each other will help us much more than simply saying NO and turning your back.

5. Clearly to guide your children, you must understand your online persona and what it represents. We all have several personal and business related social media accounts. However, we NEVER write things on our personal FB account without the realisation that our clients, friends and relatives could easily see it too.

Of course your accounts have security, but it just takes one person to share your status/tweet and the whole world can see it. Bang goes your security!

Your online persona is made up of ALL the things you put on the internet and some people will gather this together to determine who or what you are. We need to explain this to our children too – what they write today will be there for their future boss/partner/friends to see.

These are some basic tips in understanding our digital footprint and helping our children understand theirs too.

Skills Rocket: Reading Software - YouTube

Learn about the up-to-date software you can access on today's market to help you with reading.

Skills Rocket is a FREE e-learning website developed by Chartered Occupational Psychologist Nicola James.

Access a range of extra hints and tips for Adults with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, AD(H)D and other Neuro Differences to help improve your reading skills. Simply register for free and watch your Skills Rocket!

Poor Maternal Diet Increases Risk of Diabetes in babies

A new study showed that individuals who were not properly nourished while in the womb have reduced ability to store fact correctly later in life, putting them at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other age-related diseases.

The findings could lead to new ways identifying people who are at a greater risk of developing these diseases, researchers said.

According to the team from the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester, the research showed that poor diet in the womb cause the individual's inability to store fats correctly as he matures.

Proper fat storage in the body is important, otherwise, these will be stored in the liver and muscle which could lead to diseases.

"One of the ways that our bodies cope with a rich modern western diet is by storing excess calories in fat cells.

When these cells aren't able to absorb the excess then fats get deposited in other places, like the liver, where they are much more dangerous and can lead to type 2 diabetes," said Professor Anne Willis of the MRC Toxicology Unit.

Researchers found that the process of storing excess calories in fat cells is controlled by a molecule called miR-483-3p, which produced at higher levels in individuals who had experienced a poor diet in their mother's wombs than those who were better nourished.

According to the team, miR-483-3p works by suppressing a protein called GDF3.

A study of a group of adult humans who were born with a low birth weight revealed that GDF3 protein was present at around only thirty percent of the levels found in people born at a normal

"It has been known for a while that your mother's diet during pregnancy plays an important role in your adult health, but the mechanisms in the body that underlie this aren't well understood.

We have shown in detail how one mechanism links poor maternal diet to diabetes and other diseases that develop as we age," according to Dr Susan Ozanne, a British Heart Foundation Senior Fellow, who led the work at the University of Cambridge.

"Improving people's diets and encouraging exercise is clearly the best way to combat the epidemic of diabetes and diet-related disease which is sweeping through our society.

However some people are at particular risk of these diseases, despite not looking visibly overweight.

This research will hopefully allow us to help these people to take precautionary steps to reduce their likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes," Professor Willis said.

The findings of the study was published in the journal Cell Death and Differentiation.

Sleep Infographic: What If You Don't Sleep Enough?

To see the full Infographic chart click on the sample image.

How many times have you told yourself "... it's just sleep." but what happens to your health when you're not sleeping enough?

This infographic designed by FFunction for Zeo, a company that makes an electronic "sleep coach," is less of a real data visualization than a set of illustrated facts but those facts are pretty impressive.

For example, we seem pretty tired all the time and only 7% of people get the necessary eight hours of sleep at night but the effects of this might be more than inconvenient. They may be disasterous.

Getting less sleep is now associated with a 200% rise in cancer, a 100% rise in heart disease, and a 20% rise in the likelihood you'll be dead in 20 years.

UnfortunatelY, not only will you be less healthy, you'll also be fatter. People who sleep an hour more each day lose 14.3 pounds per year and 1 in 3 women find themselves too sleepy for sex!

Studies have shown that sleeping too little effectively puts the body on "high alert," creating increased stress hormones and chemicals associated with inflammation.

Sir Jackie Stewart: Dyslexia 'not a cruel fiction' - YouTube

Motor racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart has admitted that discovering he had dyslexia was like "being saved from drowning."

Speaking at a dyslexia conference, the Flying Scot said that he still could not remember the alphabet despite knowing the precise details of every racing course in the world.

Find out more at www.deadlinescotland.co.uk

Help for adult dyslexia - YouTube

Helping adults with dyslexia improve reading skills. Find out how to help adults with syslexia. Dyslexia – information, help, contacts, books, articles, organisations, research, etc., for adults who are or may be dyslexic; dealing with spelling … Coping Skills – About dyslexia – In the workplace www.dyslexia-adults.com/

There are two types of tests for dyslexia: screening tests and comprehensive … Screening tests like these cannot be seen as valid tests for dyslexia, … www.dyslexia-adults.com/a2.html Jun 19, 2007 … Adult Dyslexia Signs and Symptoms – How to Know if You are Suffering From Dyslexia.

ezinearticles.com/?Adult-Dyslexia-Signs-and-Symptoms—How-to-Know-if-You-are-Suffering-From-Dyslexia&id=612344 Apr 10, 2007 … Adult Dyslexia and ADD, issues and accomodations in employment. www.dyslexia.com/library/adultdys.htm

Ben Foss talks about HBO's Journey Into Dyslexia - YouTube

Care Innovations was pleased to join Parents Education Network on April 15, 2011 for the world premiere pre-release screening of HBO's Journey Into Dyslexia, a documentary by acclaimed filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond.

Join us online at community.careinnovations.com.

Dancing Giraffe: Internet-based Disability Community

Warning…in January 2012, a Giraffe will be dancing in Essex, England, UK!

What is Dancing Giraffe? - An innovative internet community site: providing 'joined up' communication to people with disabilities and their carers.

Nothing like Dancing Giraffe currently exists. This website aims to not only support and inform, but to challenge, inspire and empower disabled people.

It will include engaging editorial and comprehensive content, up-to-date reference and signposting together with user forums and social media.

How do they know so much about what disabled people want and need? Within the Dancing Giraffe, a number of the team are disabled, so they are providing a site that they've always wanted to have and use themselves!

Mission Statement

The aim of Dancing Giraffe is to provide a platform to inspire, inform and represent the disabled community.

Through this internet portal, Dancing Giraffe will offer support and advice for people with disabilities, their carer/s, professionals, organisations and the media.

It will bring together comprehensive information and data about services and facilities available and will present them in one easy to access place. Dancing Giraffe will also provide a forum for all disabled people to discuss and compare access issues and solutions.

Dancing Giraffe is a Community Interest Company. This means they operate under a charitable status and are a 'not-for-profit' group.