How the Special Needs Brain Learns Summary

 1-Sentence Highlight: How the Special Needs Brain Learns (Third Edition) shows how the brains of students with various disabilities process information and offers research-based strategies that educators can implement to help these students succeed and progress.

Favorite Quote:

  • “Understanding how the brain learns is essential for teachers, especially when working with students whose learning processes differ from the norm.”

Insights and Actionable Lessons:

How the Special Needs Brain Learns provides a clear, research-backed explanation of how different disabilities affect learning and offers practical strategies tailored to each disability. There are nine chapters, and seven of the chapters address specific areas of disability (attention disorders, speech difficulties, reading disabilities, writing disabilities, mathematical disabilities, emotional and behavioral disabilities, and ASD). Each chapter addresses possible history around the difficulty, the intersection of RTI, and areas that educators should be aware of. However, the real gold of each chapter is the “strategies to consider’, that list specific strategies to consider for that disability in both the elementary and secondary classroom.

The inclusion of specific disabilities paired with actionable, neuroscience-based strategies is a standout feature of this work. The specific strategies tied to each disability make it easy to apply the content directly in classrooms makes this book a very practical guide.

Who Should Read This Book?

  • Special Education Teachers, School Administrators, Instructional Coaches, and General Education Teachers working in classrooms.
  • Anyone leading professional development around specific areas of disability.
  • This would be a very helpful books for someone that is at an IEP table and looking to be more educated about disabilities and supports.

Additional Resources:

There do not appear to be supplemental resources for this book. However, this book is packed with actionable information, so there is no need.

★★★★★ (5/5) — A must-read for educators and school leaders looking to deepen their understanding of how to support students with disabilities using neuroscience-based methods.

Detailed Book Info:

  • Book Title: How the Special Needs Brain Learns (Third Edition)
  • Author: David Sousa
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Publisher: Corwin

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Free Sticky Note Download

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I’ve got a copy of the All Things School Leadership Sticky Note Download for you! There are SO many uses for this Sticky Note Template! Below is an example of how I’m using it to keep on track in my personal life. What you see on my sticky note list in pic above: a morning walk, 10 minutes of yoga, drinking a gallon of water through out the day, etc., is all part of what I’m doing to feel my best and have energy to do this work!

But, this sticky note template has MANY more uses! Imagine, you could print cute “Way To Go” type stickies if you work with elementary kids or notes of encouragement for your teachers. They can be used as writing rubrics in the classroom. If you’ve had a lot of classroom moving occurring in your building over the summer, you could use them as a facilities check and stick them to every door to have someone check that every classroom has a clock, projector remote, trash can, safety packet, etc.! The uses are limitless!

The only tip I have is to use the Post-It “Super Sticky” Notes if you can. It isn’t an absolute must, but it helps the sticky notes stay on in the printer and on whatever you put them on. I use these “Super Sticky” Notes from Amazon.

Click on the download button below to receive your free sticky note template! Directions are on the template!

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