FrostigCenterFocus

By Joan Goulding

Frostig School recently launched an innovative teacher exchange program with two highly regarded schools that also serve students with learning challenges.

Three Frostig School teachers and a clinician, along with teachers from Westmark School in Encino, visited Riverview School in Cape Cod to learn about their programs and teaching methods. Frostig will send a second contingent to Riverview this summer, and host Riverview and Westmark staff in the fall.

“There is value in understanding how other schools tackle the same challenges that Frostig does,” Executive Director Dean Conklin said. “Our teachers returned from Riverview excited about what they had learned and how they might apply it to Frostig.”

Middle School Teacher Catherine Miller was impressed with a writing program that she observed at Riverview, while Transitions Counselor Danette Winslow came home with ideas for strengthening the independent

living program for high school students. Staff also took note of a “reflection room” equipped with yoga mats and balls where students can calm themselves.

Dr. Conklin has asked teachers to write summaries of their visits and identify practices that might be beneficial to Frostig students. Dr. Conklin and Principal Jenny Tucker Mottes will review those reports and decide which strategies they might want to adopt or modify.

Ms. Tucker Mottes is one of five Frostig staff members who will travel to Riverview in July for two days of

As a student at Rio Hondo College, Pariss Youngblood has visited more than 20 high schools to deliver a message of hope and encouragement to students with special challenges.

Conquer your fears and self-doubts, he tells his audiences, and make the most of the services and opportunities that are available.

That’s how he carved his path from Frostig School (Class of 2012) to elected member of the Rio Hondo

Board of Trustees. While serving on the college governing body in 2017-18, Pariss represented student interests with school administrators as well as legislators. A highlight of his board term was a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of Congress and lobby against proposed budget cuts to higher education.

THE SPOTLIGHTFrostig Grad Leads, Encourages Fellow Students

NEW PROGRAM GIVES TEACHERS IDEAS AND INSPIRATION

Continued on page 4

Continued on page 4

Issue 9, June 2018

Exceptional Children,Exceptional Education

Frostig School teacher Mary Frances Goodwin (right) shared ideas with Maria Cashdollar, director of education at Riverview School, following two days of classroom observation.

Pariss Youngblood holds a plaque honoring his service on the Rio Hondo College Board of Trustees.

In a striking new finding, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute found that typically-developing children gain more neurons in a region of the brain that governs social and emotional behavior, the amygdala, as they become adults. This phenomenon does not happen in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Instead, children with ASD have too many neurons early on and then appear to lose those neurons as they become adults. The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The amygdala is a small almond-shaped group of 13 regions (nuclei) that work as a danger detector in the brain to regulate anxiety and social interactions. Amygdala dysfunction has been linked to many psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD, schizophrenia,

bipolar disorder and depression.

“The amygdala is a unique brain structure in that it grows dramatically during adolescence, longer than other brain regions, as we become more socially and emotionally mature,” said Cynthia Schumann, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the UC Davis MIND Institute and senior author of the paper. “Any deviation from this normal path of development can profoundly influence human behavior.”

To understand what cellular factors underlie amygdala development, the team studied 52 postmortem

human brains, both neurotypical and ASD, ranging from 2 to 48 years of age.

“We were surprised to find that the number of neurons in one of the amygdala regions increased by more than 30% from childhood to adulthood in typically-developing individuals,” said Schumann.

The picture was quite different in people with ASD. There were more neurons in young children with ASD, but as they got older, those numbers went down.

“We don’t know if having too many amygdala neurons early in development in ASD is related to the apparent loss later on,” said Schumann. “It’s possible that having too many neurons early on could contribute to anxiety and challenges with social interactions. However, with time, that constant activity could wear on the system and lead to neuron loss.”

Schumann and her team believe that if they can explain how the cells are changing throughout adolescence in the amygdala, it might be possible to intervene and treat symptoms such as anxiety that develop in people with autism and other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.

Research Probes Amygdala Development and Autism

Charles Arnoldi is a Los Angeles artist famous for using a palette of vibrant colors in his paintings and works on paper.

Mr. Anoldi created this lithograph for The Frostig Collection. The sale of this and all other works in the collection support Frostig School’s social skills program. View the artwork at www.thefrostigcollection.org

UC Davis Health

It’s Easy to Make a Difference…

Amazon will donate a percentage of every purchase

to Frostig. Go to Amazon Smile and make Frostig your

designated charity.

“It’s possible that having too many neurons early on could contribute to anxiety and challenges with social interactions.”

The amygdala is a region of the brain that governs social and emotional behavior.

The Frostig Collection

Eight students graduated from Frostig School on June 8 in an emo-tional ceremony attended by fam-ily, friends and faculty. During their commencement speeches, the graduates shared their personal journeys and expressed their deep gratitude to parents and teachers.

Teaching Success Attributes with New Lessons, ActivitiesThe Frostig Center has published a new edition of the Success Attributes Teacher Guide that features a wealth of activities and resources for elementary and middle school teachers.

A team of teachers and administra-tors from The Frostig Center spent a year rewriting the Teacher Guide, which was originally published on-line in 2004 and in print in 2006.

The Success Attributes are a collection of six characteristics that are closely associated with successful outcomes for people with learning differences. They include self-awareness, proactivity, perseverance, goal setting, effective support systems, and emotional coping strategies.

Dr. Roberta J. Goldberg, one of the authors of the book, said the guide

encourages teachers to blend the Success Attributes into lessons they already teach, rather than treat them as a stand alone curriculum that must be squeezed into busy classroom schedules.

Frostig School teachers contributed their favorite activities and lesson plans for cultivating the Success Attributes in their students. The guide includes many activity sheets that teachers can reproduce and use in their classrooms.

Teachers will appreciate the extensive list of children’s literature and media resources that highlight one or more of the Success Attributes. The list was curated by librarians at the Pasadena Public Library.

To order your Teacher Guide, go to https://amzn.to/2rvvYbT

Congratulations, Class of 2018!

“I feel like I have grown so much since I started in 2016, and the majority of that growth is due to the environment that Frostig has provided.”

“At times, I have encountered situations I thought I might not be able to handle. But with the support and guidance of my teachers and staff, I have learned strategies to persevere and succeed.”

“I’d like to thank my parents for supporting me and helping me find out about this place. I’d also like to thank all of the Frostig staff for helping me when I was confused or needed someone to talk to and for being so open and friendly with me. “

Dr. Roberta J. Goldberg, director of Consultation and Education, helped update the Teacher Guide.

971 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena, CA 91107www.frostig.org

Pariss recently returned to Frostig School to share his story—and some life lessons--with high school students.

After graduating from Frostig, Pariss spent two years at Mt. Sierra College in Monrovia preparing for a future in videogame design. Eventually, he grew bored and realized that a favorite hobby is not necessarily a good career choice. Lesson No. 1: “Don’t be afraid to change course,” he told students.

Pariss transferred to Rio Hondo, where he joined the swim team. He loved the swimming, but his grades plummeted and he nearly dropped out of school. Lesson No 2: “You will fall on your face from time to time,” he said. “It’s all about getting back up.”

He quit swimming and re-dedicated himself to school. Pariss

dived into student government and decided to explore a variety of classes before settling on a major. After three years at Rio Hondo, Pariss, 23, is one class away from earning his associate’s degree in sociology. Lesson No. 3: “Take the time to discover who you are and what you love.”

Perhaps the most important lesson was one he learned at Frostig. “Don’t be ashamed if you have a learning difference,” said Pariss, who lives in El Monte with his parents and two younger brothers. “That is one thing Frostig is really good at—helping kids accept their disability.”

Pariss has proven to be very good at that himself, and he plans to make it his life’s work as a counselor for college students with special needs. “I really want to help others see what they are capable of.”

Continued from page 1

LEADERSHIP

Board Co-Chairs:Nancy Hogg and Debbie Baroi

Executive Director:Dean Conklin, Ed.D.

Development Director:Yuki Jimbo

Editor:Joan Goulding

e-mail: joan.g@frostig.org

MISSION STATEMENT

The Frostig Center is dedicated to helping children with learning disabilities reach their full potential through an inte-grated approach of research, professional development and consultation, and the Frostig School.

Follow our Facebook page to keep up with the latest news at Frostig. See what our students

and faculty are doing and learn about the latest developments in the field of learning differences.

classroom immersion. She and Social Skills Coordinator Monica Gomez are particularly interested in learning about Riverview’s social skills curriculum.

Riverview teachers have expressed interest in learning how Frostig uses technology in the classroom when they visit. Ms. Tucker Mottes plans to highlight Frostig’s implementation of two recently-adopted programs that have proven effective with Frostig students--the Wilson Reading System and Step Up to Writing.

“I want them to leave here impressed by how friendly and welcoming we are at Frostig, and how much our teachers love their jobs,” Ms. Tucker Mottes said.

The exchange program was funded by a grant from The Sharon D. Lund Foundation, which is a generous supporter of all three schools.

The SpotlightContinued from page 1

Exchange