Leopold and Loebâ€Murder Just for the Thrill of It

Leopold and Loeb-Murder Just for its Thrill On May 21, 1924, two splendid, rich, Chicago adolescents endeavored to carry out the ideal wrongdoing only for its adventure. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb captured 14-year-old Bobby Franks, pummeled him to death in a leased vehicle, and afterward dumped Franks body in a far off course. In spite of the fact that they thought their arrangement was idiot proof, Leopold and Loeb committed various errors that drove police right to them. The resulting preliminary, including celebrated lawyer Clarence Darrow, stood out as truly newsworthy and was frequently alluded to as the preliminary of the century. Who Were Leopold and Loeb? Nathan Leopold was splendid. He had an IQ of more than 200 and exceeded expectations at school. By age 19, Leopold had just moved on from school and was in graduate school. Leopold was additionally entranced with feathered creatures and was viewed as a cultivated ornithologist. Notwithstanding, in spite of being splendid, Leopold was extremely unbalanced socially. Richard Loeb was additionally canny, however not to a similar gauge as Leopold. Loeb, who had been pushed and guided by an exacting tutor, had likewise been sent to school at a youthful age. Be that as it may, once there, Loeb didn't exceed expectations; rather, he bet and drank. Not at all like Leopold, Loeb was viewed as exceptionally appealing and had immaculate social abilities. It was at school that Leopold and Loeb turned out to be dear companions. Their relationship was both turbulent and close. Leopold was fixated on the alluring Loeb. Loeb, then again, preferred having a faithful friend on his unsafe undertakings. The two youngsters, who had become the two companions and darlings, before long started submitting little demonstrations of burglary, vandalism, and pyro-crime. In the end, the two chose to design and carry out the ideal wrongdoing. Arranging the Murder It is bantered with respect to whether it was Leopold or Loeb who previously recommended they carry out the ideal wrongdoing, yet most trust it was Loeb. Regardless of who proposed it, the two young men took an interest in its arranging. The arrangement was basic: lease a vehicle under an accepted name, locate a well off casualty (ideally a kid since young ladies were all the more firmly watched), execute him in the vehicle with an etch, at that point dump the body in a duct. Despite the fact that the casualty was to be executed quickly, Leopold and Loeb anticipated extricating a payoff from the casualties family. The casualties family would get a letter teaching them to take care of $10,000 in old tabs, which they would later be approached to toss from a moving train. Strangely, Leopold and Loeb invested much more energy in making sense of how to recover the payoff than on who their casualty was to be. Subsequent to believing various explicit individuals to be their casualty, including their own dads, Leopold and Loeb chose to leave the decision of casualty up to possibility and situation. The Murder On May 21, 1924, Leopold and Loeb were prepared to place their arrangement without hesitation. In the wake of leasing a Willys-Knight car and covering its tag, Leopold and Loeb required a casualty. Around 5 oclock, Leopold and Loeb spotted 14-year-old Bobby Franks, who was strolling home from school. Loeb, who realized Bobby Franks since he was both a neighbor and a far off cousin, baited Franks into the vehicle by requesting that Franks talk about another tennis racket (Franks wanted to play tennis). When Franks had move into the passenger seat of the vehicle, the vehicle took off. In practically no time, Franks was struck a few times in the head with an etch, hauled from the front seat into the back, and afterward had a material forced on him. Lying flaccidly on the floor of the rearward sitting arrangement, secured with a carpet, Franks kicked the bucket from suffocation. (It is accepted that Leopold was driving and Loeb was in the rearward sitting arrangement and was subsequently the genuine executioner, however this remaining parts questionable.) Dumping the Body As Franks lay kicking the bucket or dead in the rearward sitting arrangement, Leopold and Loeb headed toward a concealed course in the marshlands close to Wolf Lake, an area known to Leopold on account of his birding campaigns. In transit, Leopold and Loeb halted twice. Once to strip Franks collection of attire and some other chance to purchase supper. When it was dim, Leopold and Loeb found the course, pushed Franks body inside the seepage pipe and poured hydrochloric corrosive on Franks face and private parts to cloud the bodys personality. On their way home, Leopold and Loeb halted to call the Franks home that night to tell the family that Bobby had been hijacked. They additionally sent the payoff letter. They thought they had submitted the ideal homicide. Much to their dismay that by the morning, Bobby Franks body had just been found and the police were rapidly headed to finding his killers. Errors and Arrest In spite of having gone through in any event a half year arranging this ideal wrongdoing, Leopold and Loeb committed a great deal of errors. The first was the removal of the body. Leopold and Loeb felt that the duct would keep the body covered up until it had been diminished to a skeleton. In any case, on that dull night, Leopold and Loeb didnt understand that they had set Franks body with the feet standing out of the seepage pipe. The next morning, the body was found and immediately distinguished. With the body found, the police currently had an area to begin looking. Close to the course, the police found a couple of glasses, which ended up being sufficiently explicit to be followed back to Leopold. When stood up to about the glasses, Leopold clarified that the glasses more likely than not dropped out of his coat when he fell during a birding exhuming. In spite of the fact that Leopolds clarification was conceivable, the police kept on investigating Leopolds whereabouts. Leopold said he had gone through the day with Loeb. It didnt take long for Leopold and Loebs vindications to separate. It was found that Leopolds vehicle, which they had said they had driven around the entire day in, had been really been at home throughout the day. Leopolds escort had been fixing it. On May 31, only ten days after the homicide, both 18-year-old Loeb and 19-year-old Leopold admitted to the homicide. Leopold and Loebs Trial The youthful age of the person in question, the mercilessness of the wrongdoing, the abundance of the members, and the admissions, all made this homicide headline news. With the open quite against the young men and an incredibly huge measure of proof binds the young men to the homicide, it was practically sure that Leopold and Loeb would get capital punishment. Dreading for his nephews life, Loebs uncle went to acclaimed protection lawyer Clarence Darrow (who might later take an interest in the well known Scopes Monkey Trial) and implored him to take the case. Darrow was not approached to free the young men, for they were without a doubt blameworthy; rather, Darrow was approached to spare the young men lives by getting them life sentences instead of capital punishment. Darrow, a long-lasting backer against capital punishment, took the case. On July 21, 1924, the preliminary against Leopold and Loeb started. A great many people figured Darrow would argue them not liable by reason of craziness, yet in an amazing a minute ago bend, Darrow had them concede. With Leopold and Loeb confessing, the preliminary would no longer require a jury since it would turn into a condemning preliminary. Darrow accepted that it would be more earnestly for one man to live with the choice to hang Leopold and Loeb than it would be for twelve who might share the choice. The destiny of Leopold and Loeb was to rest exclusively with Judge John R. Caverly. The indictment had more than 80 observers that introduced the cutthroat homicide in the entirety of its bloody subtleties. The resistance concentrated on brain research, particularly the young men childhood. On August 22, 1924, Clarence Darrow gave his last summation. It endured around two hours and is viewed as probably the best talks of his life. In the wake of tuning in to all the proof introduced and thinking cautiously on the issue, Judge Caverly reported his choice on September 19, 1924. Judge Caverly condemned Leopold and Loeb to imprison for a long time for seizing and for the remainder of their regular lives for homicide. He likewise suggested that they never be qualified for parole. The Deaths of Leopold and Loeb Leopold and Loeb were initially isolated, however by 1931 they were again close. In 1932, Leopold and Loeb opened a school in the jail to show different detainees. On January 28, 1936, 30-year-old Loeb was assaulted in the shower by his cellmate. He was cut more than multiple times with a straight razor and passed on of his injuries. Leopold remained in jail and composed a life account, Life Plus 99 Years. In the wake of going through 33 years in jail, 53-year-old Leopold was paroled in March of 1958 ​and moved to Puerto Rico, where he wedded in 1961. Leopold kicked the bucket on August 30, 1971, from a coronary episode at age 66.

Funding Sources for Terrorist Organizations Essay

Financing Sources for Terrorist Organizations - Essay Example As indicated by Ehrenfeld (2002), fear monger tasks, for example, selling illicit medications, prostitution, and gift, by and large, happens in nations far away from their territory of activity. Along these lines, reserves caused must to be directed to them without being identified. Assets from drugs are gotten either by straightforwardly disseminating the medications or coercing drug dealers. Medication cash can be directed either via bearers that transport cash notes along with different products or disseminating assets to different wire moves and enrolling them as handling costs brought about in the exchanges. The second strategy for blackmailing assets from organizations, ranches, schools, just as, other medication dealers, is supposed to be tax collection expense or installment for assurance and security gave to shroud its actual reason. These assets are given to people that transfer the sum gathered to the association. The third strategy, on gifts or good cause, includes making various stores to a solitary record predictable with gifts made to a private foundation firm (FATF, 2015). Forward techniques on tax evasion, reserves are directed utilizing instruments, for example, manufactured solicitations and credits, acquisition of sumptuous things, organization offers, domains, or putting resources into gambling clubs and lodgings. At long last, reserves got through prostitution are directed through a person that gathers from them. A few whores could be survivors of human dealing. Fatf. (2015). Financing Of the Terrorist Organization Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL) FATE.Â

Mind Mapping for Children with ASD Uses and Benefits - Focus

Mind Mapping for Children with ASD Uses and Benefits - Focus Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face many challenges in life. Their symptoms include difficulties in communication, social impairment as well as repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. Even those with what is called high-functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome have many special needs that have to be met in order for them to integrate with society and be successful throughout the course of their education. “The soul never thinks without a mental image.”  â€" Aristotle What most children with ASD have in common are strong visual skills. They tend to be visual thinkers and learn better through visual means. For those children it is important that caregivers and teachers use visual supports when communicating with them. Images  not only improve memory and recall but also help the child to comprehend information and express their thoughts. One particularly versatile technique that combines texts with images and a graphical structure is  mind mapping, which  is already widely used in educational contexts.   “Often, children can’t learn because one component in their mental ‘circuit board’ is missing. Mind mapping helps them wire the circuit board completely.” Mind mapping offers a number of distinct benefits that are particularly valuable for children with impairments such as ASD. Mind maps enable them to… See the bigger  picture Make out  relationships between individual pieces of information Understand hierarchy and connections While most children are able to comprehend abstract information at a certain age, children with ASD can experience difficulties in this area and, like younger children, they can profit from a learning-by-doing approach, which can be realized by mapping out their thoughts or knowledge about a certain subject.  Because of their graphical structure  as well as their usage of images  and symbols, mind maps also  involve  more senses than plain text normally does. Furthermore, creating a mind map doesn’t feel as much like work as writing linear notes or texts does. Mind mapping feels more like doodling, and thus is actually a lot of fun. Once the child understands the basics of the technique, they can apply it independently and for any given subject. Mind Mapping for Reading Comprehension A Case Study Danny Cayelli is a bright 13-year-old student diagnosed with what is known as high-functioning autism, a type of ASD that compromises his social skills as well as executive functioning. He uses MindMeister for his reading comprehension assignments at school. Danny has problems doing more than one thing at a time. He gets overwhelmed easily and has troubles answering complex questions. “The factual knowledge is there,” his mom, Elsa Cayelli explains, “but it’s like he’s missing a filing structure in his head that would let him access the information efficiently.” When his reading comprehension assignments at school became more difficult, Danny had a hard time keeping up. “He got very frustrated and his grades dropped,” Danny’s mom says. “When we talked to his doctor about it, he suggested Danny do a summary of each chapter as soon as he had finished reading it. That did help, but since Danny was using text documents to do those summaries, he still wasn’t able to organize his thoughts and notes the way he needed to. The big turnaround came when Danny’s English teacher showed him how to use MindMeister.” With it, Danny is able to create mental maps that represent his thoughts in an organized fashion. The visual structure triggers his memory and lets him access information more efficiently than ever before. MindMeister enables Danny to work through his reading assignments and prepare his book reports all on his own. Since he started using the tool, his grades have gone up from an F to a B level and his reading comprehension has improved. But what’s more, he finally enjoys doing his homework again. You can read the complete case study here. An Entire School Based on Mind Mapping According to Tony Buzan, Australia was the first country to apply mind maps in the education of autistic children and has done so with astonishing results.  Seabrook Primary School in Victoria states that it “has had enormous success in student self-confidence and academic achievement following the introduction of mind mapping in 2002”. Their initial efforts were focused on the school’s more difficult students and those with discipline and behavioral problems. They note that mind mapping “enabled them to be far more engaged and less difficult.” For their autistic students, they report that mind maps finally gave them an opportunity to show their knowledge and communicate with their teachers. Studies and Recommendations Over the past few decades a number of studies have been conducted on the subject, one of them by Joy Beaney and Penny Kershaw in 2003*  (“Positive Thinking Skills”). The two women were investigating ways to improvethinking skills of children with ASD and other communication difficulties who were being educated as part of a mainstream class. One of their goals was to provide teachers of such children with practical strategies and tools to be used in the classroom. Among others, they found that one key element is the “specific teaching of ways to record and organize material, with mind maps particularly useful in enabling the children to see both the whole picture and component elements.” Many other experts recommend the use of mind maps and similar techniques in the education of children with ASD, among them Francine Brower (“100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum”)**, M. Cathleen Gardill and Asha K. Jitendra (“Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities”)***  as well as the National Autistic Society in the UK. Learn More The following map contains a number of articles, books and studies focusing on mind mapping for children with ASD and other learning disabilities. * Beaney, J. and Kershaw, P. (2003) Positive Thinking Skills. Special, Summer. ** Brower, F. (2007) 100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum.  London, Continuum. *** Gardill, M. C. and Jitendra, A. K. (1999). Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities. Mind Mapping for Children with ASD Uses and Benefits - Focus Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face many challenges in life. Their symptoms include difficulties in communication, social impairment as well as repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. Even those with what is called high-functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome have many special needs that have to be met in order for them to integrate with society and be successful throughout the course of their education. “The soul never thinks without a mental image.”  â€" Aristotle What most children with ASD have in common are strong visual skills. They tend to be visual thinkers and learn better through visual means. For those children it is important that caregivers and teachers use visual supports when communicating with them. Images  not only improve memory and recall but also help the child to comprehend information and express their thoughts. One particularly versatile technique that combines texts with images and a graphical structure is  mind mapping, which  is already widely used in educational contexts.   “Often, children can’t learn because one component in their mental ‘circuit board’ is missing. Mind mapping helps them wire the circuit board completely.” Mind mapping offers a number of distinct benefits that are particularly valuable for children with impairments such as ASD. Mind maps enable them to… See the bigger  picture Make out  relationships between individual pieces of information Understand hierarchy and connections While most children are able to comprehend abstract information at a certain age, children with ASD can experience difficulties in this area and, like younger children, they can profit from a learning-by-doing approach, which can be realized by mapping out their thoughts or knowledge about a certain subject.  Because of their graphical structure  as well as their usage of images  and symbols, mind maps also  involve  more senses than plain text normally does. Furthermore, creating a mind map doesn’t feel as much like work as writing linear notes or texts does. Mind mapping feels more like doodling, and thus is actually a lot of fun. Once the child understands the basics of the technique, they can apply it independently and for any given subject. Mind Mapping for Reading Comprehension A Case Study Danny Cayelli is a bright 13-year-old student diagnosed with what is known as high-functioning autism, a type of ASD that compromises his social skills as well as executive functioning. He uses MindMeister for his reading comprehension assignments at school. Danny has problems doing more than one thing at a time. He gets overwhelmed easily and has troubles answering complex questions. “The factual knowledge is there,” his mom, Elsa Cayelli explains, “but it’s like he’s missing a filing structure in his head that would let him access the information efficiently.” When his reading comprehension assignments at school became more difficult, Danny had a hard time keeping up. “He got very frustrated and his grades dropped,” Danny’s mom says. “When we talked to his doctor about it, he suggested Danny do a summary of each chapter as soon as he had finished reading it. That did help, but since Danny was using text documents to do those summaries, he still wasn’t able to organize his thoughts and notes the way he needed to. The big turnaround came when Danny’s English teacher showed him how to use MindMeister.” With it, Danny is able to create mental maps that represent his thoughts in an organized fashion. The visual structure triggers his memory and lets him access information more efficiently than ever before. MindMeister enables Danny to work through his reading assignments and prepare his book reports all on his own. Since he started using the tool, his grades have gone up from an F to a B level and his reading comprehension has improved. But what’s more, he finally enjoys doing his homework again. You can read the complete case study here. An Entire School Based on Mind Mapping According to Tony Buzan, Australia was the first country to apply mind maps in the education of autistic children and has done so with astonishing results.  Seabrook Primary School in Victoria states that it “has had enormous success in student self-confidence and academic achievement following the introduction of mind mapping in 2002”. Their initial efforts were focused on the school’s more difficult students and those with discipline and behavioral problems. They note that mind mapping “enabled them to be far more engaged and less difficult.” For their autistic students, they report that mind maps finally gave them an opportunity to show their knowledge and communicate with their teachers. Studies and Recommendations Over the past few decades a number of studies have been conducted on the subject, one of them by Joy Beaney and Penny Kershaw in 2003*  (“Positive Thinking Skills”). The two women were investigating ways to improvethinking skills of children with ASD and other communication difficulties who were being educated as part of a mainstream class. One of their goals was to provide teachers of such children with practical strategies and tools to be used in the classroom. Among others, they found that one key element is the “specific teaching of ways to record and organize material, with mind maps particularly useful in enabling the children to see both the whole picture and component elements.” Many other experts recommend the use of mind maps and similar techniques in the education of children with ASD, among them Francine Brower (“100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum”)**, M. Cathleen Gardill and Asha K. Jitendra (“Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities”)***  as well as the National Autistic Society in the UK. Learn More The following map contains a number of articles, books and studies focusing on mind mapping for children with ASD and other learning disabilities. * Beaney, J. and Kershaw, P. (2003) Positive Thinking Skills. Special, Summer. ** Brower, F. (2007) 100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum.  London, Continuum. *** Gardill, M. C. and Jitendra, A. K. (1999). Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities.

Mind Mapping for Children with ASD Uses and Benefits - Focus

Mind Mapping for Children with ASD Uses and Benefits - Focus Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face many challenges in life. Their symptoms include difficulties in communication, social impairment as well as repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. Even those with what is called high-functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome have many special needs that have to be met in order for them to integrate with society and be successful throughout the course of their education. “The soul never thinks without a mental image.”  â€" Aristotle What most children with ASD have in common are strong visual skills. They tend to be visual thinkers and learn better through visual means. For those children it is important that caregivers and teachers use visual supports when communicating with them. Images  not only improve memory and recall but also help the child to comprehend information and express their thoughts. One particularly versatile technique that combines texts with images and a graphical structure is  mind mapping, which  is already widely used in educational contexts.   “Often, children can’t learn because one component in their mental ‘circuit board’ is missing. Mind mapping helps them wire the circuit board completely.” Mind mapping offers a number of distinct benefits that are particularly valuable for children with impairments such as ASD. Mind maps enable them to… See the bigger  picture Make out  relationships between individual pieces of information Understand hierarchy and connections While most children are able to comprehend abstract information at a certain age, children with ASD can experience difficulties in this area and, like younger children, they can profit from a learning-by-doing approach, which can be realized by mapping out their thoughts or knowledge about a certain subject.  Because of their graphical structure  as well as their usage of images  and symbols, mind maps also  involve  more senses than plain text normally does. Furthermore, creating a mind map doesn’t feel as much like work as writing linear notes or texts does. Mind mapping feels more like doodling, and thus is actually a lot of fun. Once the child understands the basics of the technique, they can apply it independently and for any given subject. Mind Mapping for Reading Comprehension A Case Study Danny Cayelli is a bright 13-year-old student diagnosed with what is known as high-functioning autism, a type of ASD that compromises his social skills as well as executive functioning. He uses MindMeister for his reading comprehension assignments at school. Danny has problems doing more than one thing at a time. He gets overwhelmed easily and has troubles answering complex questions. “The factual knowledge is there,” his mom, Elsa Cayelli explains, “but it’s like he’s missing a filing structure in his head that would let him access the information efficiently.” When his reading comprehension assignments at school became more difficult, Danny had a hard time keeping up. “He got very frustrated and his grades dropped,” Danny’s mom says. “When we talked to his doctor about it, he suggested Danny do a summary of each chapter as soon as he had finished reading it. That did help, but since Danny was using text documents to do those summaries, he still wasn’t able to organize his thoughts and notes the way he needed to. The big turnaround came when Danny’s English teacher showed him how to use MindMeister.” With it, Danny is able to create mental maps that represent his thoughts in an organized fashion. The visual structure triggers his memory and lets him access information more efficiently than ever before. MindMeister enables Danny to work through his reading assignments and prepare his book reports all on his own. Since he started using the tool, his grades have gone up from an F to a B level and his reading comprehension has improved. But what’s more, he finally enjoys doing his homework again. You can read the complete case study here. An Entire School Based on Mind Mapping According to Tony Buzan, Australia was the first country to apply mind maps in the education of autistic children and has done so with astonishing results.  Seabrook Primary School in Victoria states that it “has had enormous success in student self-confidence and academic achievement following the introduction of mind mapping in 2002”. Their initial efforts were focused on the school’s more difficult students and those with discipline and behavioral problems. They note that mind mapping “enabled them to be far more engaged and less difficult.” For their autistic students, they report that mind maps finally gave them an opportunity to show their knowledge and communicate with their teachers. Studies and Recommendations Over the past few decades a number of studies have been conducted on the subject, one of them by Joy Beaney and Penny Kershaw in 2003*  (“Positive Thinking Skills”). The two women were investigating ways to improvethinking skills of children with ASD and other communication difficulties who were being educated as part of a mainstream class. One of their goals was to provide teachers of such children with practical strategies and tools to be used in the classroom. Among others, they found that one key element is the “specific teaching of ways to record and organize material, with mind maps particularly useful in enabling the children to see both the whole picture and component elements.” Many other experts recommend the use of mind maps and similar techniques in the education of children with ASD, among them Francine Brower (“100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum”)**, M. Cathleen Gardill and Asha K. Jitendra (“Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities”)***  as well as the National Autistic Society in the UK. Learn More The following map contains a number of articles, books and studies focusing on mind mapping for children with ASD and other learning disabilities. * Beaney, J. and Kershaw, P. (2003) Positive Thinking Skills. Special, Summer. ** Brower, F. (2007) 100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum.  London, Continuum. *** Gardill, M. C. and Jitendra, A. K. (1999). Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities. Mind Mapping for Children with ASD Uses and Benefits - Focus Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face many challenges in life. Their symptoms include difficulties in communication, social impairment as well as repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. Even those with what is called high-functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome have many special needs that have to be met in order for them to integrate with society and be successful throughout the course of their education. “The soul never thinks without a mental image.”  â€" Aristotle What most children with ASD have in common are strong visual skills. They tend to be visual thinkers and learn better through visual means. For those children it is important that caregivers and teachers use visual supports when communicating with them. Images  not only improve memory and recall but also help the child to comprehend information and express their thoughts. One particularly versatile technique that combines texts with images and a graphical structure is  mind mapping, which  is already widely used in educational contexts.   “Often, children can’t learn because one component in their mental ‘circuit board’ is missing. Mind mapping helps them wire the circuit board completely.” Mind mapping offers a number of distinct benefits that are particularly valuable for children with impairments such as ASD. Mind maps enable them to… See the bigger  picture Make out  relationships between individual pieces of information Understand hierarchy and connections While most children are able to comprehend abstract information at a certain age, children with ASD can experience difficulties in this area and, like younger children, they can profit from a learning-by-doing approach, which can be realized by mapping out their thoughts or knowledge about a certain subject.  Because of their graphical structure  as well as their usage of images  and symbols, mind maps also  involve  more senses than plain text normally does. Furthermore, creating a mind map doesn’t feel as much like work as writing linear notes or texts does. Mind mapping feels more like doodling, and thus is actually a lot of fun. Once the child understands the basics of the technique, they can apply it independently and for any given subject. Mind Mapping for Reading Comprehension A Case Study Danny Cayelli is a bright 13-year-old student diagnosed with what is known as high-functioning autism, a type of ASD that compromises his social skills as well as executive functioning. He uses MindMeister for his reading comprehension assignments at school. Danny has problems doing more than one thing at a time. He gets overwhelmed easily and has troubles answering complex questions. “The factual knowledge is there,” his mom, Elsa Cayelli explains, “but it’s like he’s missing a filing structure in his head that would let him access the information efficiently.” When his reading comprehension assignments at school became more difficult, Danny had a hard time keeping up. “He got very frustrated and his grades dropped,” Danny’s mom says. “When we talked to his doctor about it, he suggested Danny do a summary of each chapter as soon as he had finished reading it. That did help, but since Danny was using text documents to do those summaries, he still wasn’t able to organize his thoughts and notes the way he needed to. The big turnaround came when Danny’s English teacher showed him how to use MindMeister.” With it, Danny is able to create mental maps that represent his thoughts in an organized fashion. The visual structure triggers his memory and lets him access information more efficiently than ever before. MindMeister enables Danny to work through his reading assignments and prepare his book reports all on his own. Since he started using the tool, his grades have gone up from an F to a B level and his reading comprehension has improved. But what’s more, he finally enjoys doing his homework again. You can read the complete case study here. An Entire School Based on Mind Mapping According to Tony Buzan, Australia was the first country to apply mind maps in the education of autistic children and has done so with astonishing results.  Seabrook Primary School in Victoria states that it “has had enormous success in student self-confidence and academic achievement following the introduction of mind mapping in 2002”. Their initial efforts were focused on the school’s more difficult students and those with discipline and behavioral problems. They note that mind mapping “enabled them to be far more engaged and less difficult.” For their autistic students, they report that mind maps finally gave them an opportunity to show their knowledge and communicate with their teachers. Studies and Recommendations Over the past few decades a number of studies have been conducted on the subject, one of them by Joy Beaney and Penny Kershaw in 2003*  (“Positive Thinking Skills”). The two women were investigating ways to improvethinking skills of children with ASD and other communication difficulties who were being educated as part of a mainstream class. One of their goals was to provide teachers of such children with practical strategies and tools to be used in the classroom. Among others, they found that one key element is the “specific teaching of ways to record and organize material, with mind maps particularly useful in enabling the children to see both the whole picture and component elements.” Many other experts recommend the use of mind maps and similar techniques in the education of children with ASD, among them Francine Brower (“100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum”)**, M. Cathleen Gardill and Asha K. Jitendra (“Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities”)***  as well as the National Autistic Society in the UK. Learn More The following map contains a number of articles, books and studies focusing on mind mapping for children with ASD and other learning disabilities. * Beaney, J. and Kershaw, P. (2003) Positive Thinking Skills. Special, Summer. ** Brower, F. (2007) 100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum.  London, Continuum. *** Gardill, M. C. and Jitendra, A. K. (1999). Advanced Story Map Instruction: Effects on the Reading Comprehension of Students with Learning Disabilities.