The latest test results show that American 4th and 8th grade students continue to show declines in math and science performance as compared to their international peers.  Also, the gap between girls and boys that had been narrowing has expanded once again as has the gap between the lowest and highest performing U.S. students. “Progress in prior years has been erased.”  The strongest student performances continue to come from Singapore, Korea and Japan while students from other countries such as Poland, Australia and Sweden surged ahead of the U.S.  While the Pandemic is responsible for some of the declines, the downward trend was visible before 2020. 'Sharp, Steep Declines': U.S. Students Are Falling Behind in Math and Science The one bit of good news is that despite the losses, U.S. students still score above the international average on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), but they rank below children in the highest-performing nations.

Did you know that staying up late and then sleeping in is a real syndrome and part of an ADHD profile?  Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), a sleep disorder that affects circadian rhythms and sleep-wake times. It is characterized by difficulty falling asleep (by at least two hours) and difficulty waking up at conventional times ( i.e., when it is time to go to work or school) and the inability to change the sleep-awake times. While DSPS is often confused with sleep procrastination, the delaying of sleep due to engaging activities even though one is tired, the difference is that a sleep procrastinator will fall asleep once they go to bed, while the DSPS sufferer cannot do so because their circadian rhythms are off. It also is distinguishable from insomnia as the latter involves difficulty falling asleep at conventional times and staying asleep whereas in DSPS, the individual has no trouble falling asleep at the time that coincides with their circadian rhythms and, once asleep, stay asleep. Light therapy is an effective treatment for DSPS. It “involves increasing exposure to bright light after waking up and reducing light exposure as much as possible before bed — along with gradually shifting sleep-wake times — to regulate the internal clock.”  Taking melatonin to induce sleep also can be effective.  For more information about DSPS and these therapies, read:Late Nights, Later Days: The Under-Recognized Impact of Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome in ADHD

 Jonathan Mooney, author of several books, including Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive, Outside the Lines (2019), Learning Outside the Lines (2018) and The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal (2007), was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was in the 3d grade and then with ADHD in 4th grade.  His early schooling was miserable and he was told repeatedly that he would be a failure in life.  Beating the odds, he went on to graduate from Brown University with Honors and was involved in the founding, along with other Brown University students, of Eye to Eye, an organization that mentors neurodiverse students in middle and high school and college. (Eye to Eye is now a part of The Neurodiversity Alliance which is an organization on college campuses that provides scholarship and leadership opportunities, community and ways to raise awareness of neurodivergence on campus, as well as invitations to virtual events and an annual Neurodiversity Student Summit). Jonathan is a frequent speaker and has several talks on Youtube.  For example, watch: Making Difference Count, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60XHvvGvKfA&t=563s and ​​Jonathan Mooney: How To Prove Them Wrong - video Dailymotion

Or read: He didn't learn to read until 12. Then he graduated from an Ivy. Here's his advice.

Neurodivergence in the Workplace: Understanding what neurodivergent employees need to succeed  Interview with Lawrence Fung.