How the Special Needs Brain Learns

This second edition helps you turn the latest special needs brain research into practical classroom activities for students and features a practical framework for identifying and motivating students with special needs.

"Presents a highly readable overview of a variety of special needs accompanied by practical information about how to address those needs. Makes the relationship between the special need and the brain clear and understandable for the lay reader."
--Lois A. Fisch, Director of Education, Utica College

Praise for the First Edition
"The book's greatest strength may be its logical explanation of why today's students develop and learn differently. A functionally unchanging educational system is no longer appropriate in meeting learner needs."
--CHOICE, 2002

Leverage brain research to develop successful strategies for students with special needs!

Since the first edition of David A. Sousa's bestseller on a brain-based approach for special education, scientists have made remarkable progress in understanding how the human brain functions. Now, How the Special Needs Brain Learns, Second Edition, helps you turn the latest developments in neuroscience into practical classroom activities for students with common learning challenges.

In this completely revised second edition, Sousa builds on the latest data by examining both simple and complex learning strategies that can be adapted for students with learning disabilities such as ADHD/ADD; speech, reading, writing, and math disabilities; emotional and behavioral disorders; autism; and Asperger's syndrome.

Emphasizing lifelong independent learning, increased retention, and cognitive flexibility, this revision offers educators targeted assistance with:

• Responsiveness to Intervention (RTI) for evaluating students atrisk
• Expanded chapters on attention and autism spectrum disorders
• Revised material on reading, emotional, and behavioral disorders
• A new final chapter featuring a practical framework for identifying, accommodating, and motivating special needs students
• References to more than 230 new scientific studies

Offering real strategies for real classrooms, Sousa's latest work is an indispensable tool for all educators, school administrators, and preservice educators, as well as parents who want to better understand the way their children process and retain information.

See Facilitator's Guide to How the Special Needs Brain Learns, Second Edition

David A. Sousa, Ed.D., is an international educational consultant. He has made presentations at national conventions of educational organizations and has conducted workshops on brain research and science education in hundreds of school districts and at several colleges and universities across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Sousa has a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Massachusetts State College at Bridgewater, a master of arts in teaching degree in science from Harvard University, and a doctorate from Rutgers University. His teaching experience covers all levels. He has taught junior and senior high school science, served as a K—12 director of science, and was Supervisor of Instruction for the West Orange, New Jersey, schools. He then became superintendent of the New Providence, New Jersey, public schools. He has been an adjunct professor of education at Seton Hall University, and a visiting lecturer at Rutgers University. He was president of the National Staff Development Council in 1992. Dr. Sousa has edited science books and published numerous books and articles in leading educational journals on staff development, science education, and brain research. He has received awards from professional associations and school districts for his commitment and contributions to research, staff development, and science education. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award and an honorary doctorate in education from Bridgewater (Mass.) State College. He has appeared on the NBC Today show and on National Public Radio to discuss his work with schools using brain research. He makes his home in south Florida.