New shows in the works

I want to apologize to everyone for being a bit stiff in my first few podcasts. It's harder than you think to talk to yourself while sitting in a little room, trying to keep things cherent and informative and not come off like a college lecturer, even when you are passionate about the things you discuss. I promise I am trying to make things better.
To that end, I'm going to concentrate on having more guests on the show. The current lineup for the next few shows is as follows:
#5: No Child Left Behind and Standardized testing; why accountability is good and needed, but why the system we have is not used to help identify students problems, but punish teachers, schools, and kids. I think we'd be much better off if we worked on positive reinforcement rather than punishment as a goal- don't you???
Show # 6
Parental Stress. A recent study showed parents of kids with learning disabilities experience more stress than other parents. Moms of children with reeading disabilities reported higher overall dregrees of stress, and parents of kids with non-verbal learning disabilities (like autism, asperger's, etc.) reported more dysfunctional interactions with their children, especially the child with the disability.

In either show 6 or 7, my good friend, Melody Ruth, will be on the show. Melody has a son with asperger's and a daughter in the academically talented program in her school. Melody also has a degree in special education, and used to run group homes in Philadelphia. She regularly attends meetings of support groups for parents of children with autism and asperger's, and remebers being told that the divorce rate amoung parents with children with these problems is often as high as 80%. Clearly, parent stress is something we've all experienced and need to discuss!

Thanks for your patience, and I am looking forward to any commentrs or feedback you can offer! Please post comments here, or send an email to LDpodcast@comcast.net.