Week in Review - February 25, 2011

WEEK IN REVIEW

New NASET Publications and Articles of Interest in Special Education and Disabilities That Were Reported This Week

February 25, 2011 - Vol 7, Issue 8

 

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In This Issue

New This Week on NASET

Kids With ADHD Much More Likely to Develop Substance Abuse Problems as They Age
Acute Anemia Linked to Silent Strokes in Children
Even With Fetal Lung Maturity, Babies Delivered Prior to 39 Weeks Are at Risk
Boy, 3, Born Without Part of His Brain Baffles Doctors After Learning to Walk
Athlete with Disability - Supporters Protest Coach's Decision to Cut Him
Memphis Hospital Expands Child Development Program
Hyperactivity Goes Long Undiagnosed in Some Adults
TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Exit Exams Can Be Optional If You Plan Ahead
Brain Imaging Predicts Future Reading Progress in Children with Dyslexia
How Does Memory Work? The Plot Thicken
At Time of Budget Cuts, School Nurses See More Than Skinned Knees
Despite Disabilities, These Scouts Persevered
Playground Time, Technology Work for Children with Autism
Artificial Retina May Help Individuals Who Are Blind
Preterm Birth Clinic Attendance Leads to Major Reduction in Infant Disability
Students with Learning Disabilities, "Please Take Out Your iPads"
Gene for Mental Retardation Provides Insight Into Brain Formation
 

Dear NASET Members:

Welcome toNASET'sWEEK in REVIEWHere, we provide you with the latest publications fromNASETto read and or download, as well as some of the most interesting articles that have happened this week in the field of special education. We hope you enjoy this publication.  Feel free to send us articles for this publication or let us know your thoughts about the WEEK in REVIEW atnews@naset.org. Have a great weekend.
 
Sincerely,


NASETNews Team

 

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CORRECTION

Last weeks' link to theJournal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals (JAASEP)incorrectlydirectedNASET members to the AASEP website.
 
For the correct link for NASET members to access the latest issue of  JAASEP on the NASET website - Click Here  (NASET login required
 
 

   New This Week on NASET

NASET Q  & A CORNER


In This Issue are Questions and Answers on Response to Intervention (RTI) Funding

 

The National Center on Response to Intervention receives questions from the field on a regular basis about how to fund Response to Intervention (RTI). This issue of NASET's Q &A Corner comes from the National Center on Response to Intervention. It provides written responses from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on the use of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds for the implementation of RTI and answers eight commonly asked questions on funding RTI. On July 28, 2010, a State department of education submitted questions to OSEP about funding RTI. The State requested this information for the purpose of providing the division heads within the State with a shared understanding on how to help implement and fund Response to Intervention (RTI) for State Educational Agency (SEA) staff. In its correspondence, the State explained that when it used "IDEA funds" in its questions, it meant "not CEIS funds." The responses to the questions in this document are specific to a particular State. If your State has questions related to this or other IDEA funding matters, please communicate with your OSEP contact. 

To read or download this issue -Click here  (login required)

 

______________________________________________________
 

NASET Resource Review

In this issue you will find resources in the following areas:
  • Accommodations
  • Behavior Management
  • Disability Etiquette
  • Documentation
  • Early Childhood
  • IDEA
  • Parent Teacher Conference
  • Physical Education and Adaptive Physical Education
  • Reading Disability
  • Research Participation Requests
  • Sexuality
  • Special Education Research
  • Stress in Children
  • Webinars-


To read or download this issue -Click here  (login required)

Kids With ADHD Much More Likely to Develop Substance Abuse Problems as They Age

Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are two to three times more likely than children without the disorder to develop serious substance abuse problems in adolescence and adulthood, according to a study by UCLA psychologists and colleagues at the University of South Carolina. "This greater risk for children with ADHD applies to boys and girls, it applies across race and ethnicity -- the findings were very consistent," said Steve S. Lee, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology and lead author of the study. "The greater risk for developing significant substance problems in adolescence and adulthood applies across substances, including nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and other drugs." Lee and his colleagues analyzed 27 long-term studies that followed approximately 4,100 children with ADHD and 6,800 children without the disorder into adolescence and young adulthood -- in some cases for more than 10 years. These carefully designed, rigorous and lengthy studies, Lee said, are the "gold standard" in the field. To read more, click here

Acute Anemia Linked to Silent Strokes in Children

Silent strokes, which have no immediate symptoms but could cause long-term cognitive and learning deficits, occur in a significant number of severely anemic children, especially those with sickle cell disease, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2011. One-quarter to one-third of children with sickle cell disease have evidence of silent strokes in their brains, according to Michael M. Dowling, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. "These are 5- to 10-year-old children who have brains that look like the brains of 80-year-olds," Dowling said. "These strokes are called 'silent' because they don't cause you to be weak on one side or have any obvious neurologic symptoms. But they can lead to poor academic performance and severe cognitive impairments." To read more, click here

Did You Know That......

Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmenal disorder that affects girls almost exclusively. It is characterized by normal early growth and development followed by a slowing of development, loss of purposeful use of the hands, distinctive hand movements, slowed brain and head growth, problems with walking, seizures, and intellectual disability.

Even With Fetal Lung Maturity, Babies Delivered Prior to 39 Weeks Are at Risk

In a study to be presented February 11 at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in San Francisco, researchers will present findings that show that despite fetal pulmonary maturity, babies delivered at between 36 to 38 weeks, still have a significantly increased risk of neonatal morbidities. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that fetal pulmonary maturity be documented for scheduled deliveries occurring prior to 39 weeks of gestation in order to prevent neonatal respiratory problems. "We wanted to do the study because recent evidence suggests that deliveries prior to 39 weeks may result in increased neonatal morbidity," said Yu Ming Victor Fang, M.D., one of the study's authors. "We wanted to examine whether neonates who were delivered at between 36 to 38 completed weeks with confirmed fetal pulmonary maturity would be at increased risk for neonatal morbidities when compared to those that were delivered at 39 weeks or greater."  To read more, click here

Boy, 3, Born Without Part of His Brain Baffles Doctors After Learning to Walk

A three-year-old boy has baffled doctors after he has started learning to walk, despite missing a key part of his brain. Chase Britton was born prematurely and an MRI scan at the age of one revealed he was completely missing his cerebellum - the part which controls motor skills, balance and emotions. The little boy, who is legally blind, also has no pons - part of the brain stem that regulates basic functions including breathing and sleeping. But instead of being unable to carry out tasks like sitting up or crawling, Chase has forced experts to rethink how the brain functions.His mother Heather Britton told AOL News: 'We call him the Little Gremlin. He loves to play tricks on people. His goal in life is to make people smile. 'No one had ever seen it before. And then we'd go to the neurologists and they'd say, "that's impossible, he has the MRI of a vegetable".' To read more, click here

Athlete with Disability, Supporters Protest Coach's Decision to Cut Him

To play baseball, so the song goes, you gotta have heart. Legs help, too. They make running the bases and chasing the ball a whole lot easier. But if you don't happen to have legs, like teenager Anthony Burruto of Orlando, Fla., don't worry about it. All you really need is heart. Doctors amputated his legs when he was an infant because he was born without a shinbone in his left leg and without a fibula in his right leg. Nonetheless, the Orlando Sentinel reports, Burruto has been playing baseball with prosthetic legs since he was 8 years old. He was hoping to play for the varsity team at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando this year. His parents Vinny and Diane saw no reason why a little thing like not have legs should stand in his way. Coach Mike Bradley sees things differently. According to the Sentinel, he cut Burruto during the second day of tryouts, concerned that he couldn't field bunts. Also, opposing teams might take advantage of Burruto's inability to jump off the mound quickly. To read more, click here

Did You Know That......

The course of Rett syndrome, including the age of onset and the severity of symptoms, varies from child to child. Before the symptoms begin, however, the child generally appears to grow and develop normally, although there are often subtle abnormalities even in early infancy, such as loss of muscle tone (hypotonia), difficulty feeding, and jerkiness in limb movements.

Memphis Hospital Expands Child Development Program

Le Bonheur Children's Hospital has expanded its program for special-needs children by placing them in nearly a dozen child care facilities in two West Tennessee counties. The Memphis hospital's early intervention program helps children who are developmentally delayed or are at-risk for delays, and have medical problems ranging from cerebral palsy to premature birth to autism. The hospital's experts say the program is important because special-needs children often suffer challenges that make them less ready for school than their peers, such as reduced fine-motor skills. Roughly 20 children had been cared for at a center on Le Bonheur's campus. But the hospital closed the facility in September, and since then has placed those children in offsite centers. So far, Le Bonheur has placed about 45 special-needs children under the age of 3, including young James Grantham, in child care facilities in Shelby and Tipton counties. To read more, click here

Hyperactivity Goes Long Undiagnosed in Some Adults

Tiffany deSilva helps her clients deal with lost car keys, late bill payments, forgotten appointments - little things that can add up, eventually overwhelming them and frustrating their spouses. The social worker provides coaching and hands-on organization for people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, who often have difficulty with focus, memory and time management. The more she worked with her customers, though, the more she realized that she has similar problems: Hyper-focused, she spends 30 minutes on a task when it seems like five; unfocused, she turns off the oven timer and immediately forgets to take out the burning rolls. "I began to see myself in those people," she said. To read more, click here

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Guess the answer to this week's trivia question and we'll recognize you in next week's Week in Review.
 
Congratulations to:  Christie Miller, Gloria Ortiz, Jessica Ulmer, Deanna Krieg, Nancy Bender, Lois Nembhard, Julia Godfrey, Ross Jones, and Heather (McClelland) Driggs.   who knew that the correct answer to last week's trivia question was: MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS  
 

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: 

Child Psychologist Jean Piaget is known for his 4 stages of cognitive development.  What are the names of the 4 stages?
 
If you know the answer, send an email tocontactus@naset.org  
All answers must be submitted no later than Monday, February 28, 2011 at 12:00 p.m.

Exit Exams Can Be Optional If You Plan Ahead

This spring, thousands of high school students will not graduate with a high school diploma. The students took the required courses and received passing grades. How is this possible? The students will not graduate because they did not pass their state's exit exam. They spent at least twelve years in school. Obviously, they learned something - they have the credits and the grades to prove it. In some cases, the child knows a great deal about some things and less about others. In some cases, a teacher or two may have strayed from the state curriculum framework. In most cases, the state changed its curriculum - what it expects teachers to teach and students to learn. The state exit exam reflects this new curriculum. These students are being penalized because they were not taught the new curriculum. Do students need to pass their state exit exams before they can graduate with a high school diploma? No. To read more, click here

Brain Imaging Predicts Future Reading Progress in Children with Dyslexia

Brain scans of adolescents with dyslexia can be used to predict the future improvement of their reading skills with an accuracy rate of up to 90 percent, new research indicates. Advanced analyses of the brain activity images are significantly more accurate in driving predictions than standardized reading tests or any other measures of children's behavior. The finding raises the possibility that a test one day could be developed to predict which individuals with dyslexia would most likely benefit from specific treatments. The research was published Dec. 20, 2010, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. "This approach opens up a new vantage point on the question of how children with dyslexia differ from one another in ways that translate into meaningful differences two to three years down the line," Bruce McCandliss, Patricia and Rodes Hart Chair of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College and a co-author of the report, said. "Such insights may be crucial for new educational research on how to best meet the individual needs of struggling readers. To read more, click here

How Does Memory Work? The Plot Thickens

NIMH-funded researchers recently reported that a little-known growth factor boosted the strength and staying power of a fear memory. It's the latest in a flurry of discoveries that are revising the script for what we might think about as a play in 5 acts: "How Memory Works." Act 1 would be perception and encoding - when the information first comes in - and Act 5 would be the retrieval and expression of the stored information. There is much ferment about Acts 2, 3 and 4. What's happening as that initial trace gets processed in the brain? Where does it get stored? How does it get stored? What sustains it? Do different kinds of memory have different molecular and cellular mechanisms? To read more, click here

At Time of Budget Cuts, School Nurses See More Than Skinned Knees

In a big room with a kitchen at J. Harold Brinley Middle School, a girl in a wheelchair pushed by her mother waits to be fed through a plastic tube. The feeding is tricky, but routine for Keri Mossel, 36, the school nurse. Mossel must insert the tube through a pea-sized hole in the abdomen of the wriggling girl, Chastity, 12. Mossel then pours a milky white formula into her. It's the only way Chastity can eat. Meningitis attacked Chastity's brain and spinal cord when she was an infant, ravaging her body's development. Swallowing would lodge food in her lungs. She cannot speak and she tires easily. Chastity's mother, Surrene Ibarra, 31, is glad to have a school nurse around. But there isn't a nurse every day at Brinley, in Las Vegas, or the 350 or so schools spread over Clark County. To read more, click here

Despite Disabilities, These Scouts Persevered

Richard Smith raises his right hand, extends three fingers, and launches into a recitation of the Boy Scout Law. It doesn't come easily. "A scout is trustworthy . . . loyal . . . helpful," he says, struggling to remember the next of 12 admirable qualities. Eventually, Scoutmaster Alan Eickhoff steps in. "Everyone else will join you here," he says. "So it won't matter if you mess up." But after more than 30 years of saying the same oath each Thursday night, Smith, 49, and his fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 254 are determined to get it right. This month, four members of the Hatboro group for the developmentally disabled were awarded scouting's highest honor - the rank of Eagle. To read more, click here

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NASET MEMBER'S BENEFIT - 

Board Certification in Special Education Available to NASET Members

As Through an agreement with The American Academy of Special Education Professionals(AASEP), NASET members now have the opportunity to achieve AASEP Board Certification in Special Education - (B.C.S.E.) at a reduced fee.  AASEP Board Certification in Special Education - (B.C.S.E.) is a voluntary choice on the part of the candidate. The candidate for Board Certification wishes to demonstrate a commitment to excellence to employers, peers, administrators, other professionals, and parents. From the standpoint of the Academy, board certification will demonstrate the highest professional competency in the area of special education. Board Certification in Special Educationestablishes a much needed standard for professionals, across disciplines, who work with exceptional children.  
 
For more information on Board Certification in Special Education, click here

Playground Time, Technology Work for Children with Autism

Last year, stimulus money was being spread across the country to the nation's school districts, and in preparation for the arrival of those stimulus funds, the local school district encouraged campuses to write small grants on ways the money could be used to help children learn better. National Public Radio had done a story on how playing outside not only increased social interaction, but also improved test scores. A local special education teacher who knew that playgrounds were important developmentally for all children, not just special needs children, decided to write a mini grant, addressing the children's gross motor skills needs. Finally, after years of asking for a new playground, the teacher got the funds for a slide, a swing set and a jungle gym. As expected, the children loved the playground. The surprise for the teacher was how the new playground equipment and the open space changed the way the children interacted. She noticed that, over time, some students who usually played alone slowly started to interact with the others. This was especially true on the jungle gym and slide. Interactive play led to "new" games that the children created themselves. To read more, click here

Artificial Retina May Help Individuals Who Are Blind 

For two decades, Eric Selby had been completely blind and dependent on a guide dog to get around. But after having an artificial retina put into his right eye, he can detect ordinary things like the curb and pavement when he's walking outside."It's basically flashes of light that you have to translate in your brain, but it's amazing I can see anything at all," said Selby, a retired engineer in Coventry, central England. More than a year ago, the 68-year-old had an artificial implant called the Argus II, made by U.S.-based company Second Sight, surgically inserted into his right eye. Dutch regulators are expected to decide within weeks on the company's request to market the device in the EU. If greenlighted, it would be the first artificial retina available for sale. The implant works with a tiny video camera and transmitter in a pair of glasses and a small wireless computer. To read more, click here

Did You Know That......

Children with Rett syndrome often exhibit autistic-like behaviors in the early stages. Other symptoms may include walking on the toes, sleep problems, a wide-based gait, teeth grinding and difficulty chewing, slowed growth, seizures, cognitive disabilities, and breathing difficulties while awake such as hyperventilation, apnea (breath holding), and air swallowing. 

Preterm Birth Clinic Attendance Leads to Major Reduction in Infant Disability

In a study presented February 11 at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in San Francisco, researchers presented findings that show that when women at high risk for preterm birth participated in a preterm birth prevention clinic, more women delivered full term babies and there were fewer cases of infant morbidity. The National Center for Health Statistic reports that in 2008, 12.3% of babies were born prematurely. Women who have had a prior preterm birth are at high risk to have another one. In 2008, Intermountain Healthcare created a preterm birth (PTB) prevention clinic to focus care for this high-risk population. "We wanted to take a very aggressive approach to treating women with a history of preterm birth,' said Sean Esplin, M.D., of Intermountain Healthcare and one of the studies authors. "We gathered together the best treatments for women at high risk for preterm labor and administered them in a systematic way." He continued, "Then we designed a study to see if the intervention leads to better results in future pregnancies." To read more, click here

Students with Learning Disabilities, "Please Take Out Your iPads"

Clark, Edgewood, Meadowview and Payne Elementary schools have one thing in common: they're all moving forward with new technology. The special education department of Selma City Schools is sponsoring an instructional Apple iPad tutorial session at Clark Elementary School today at 9 a.m.. Melvia Martin, director for special education, said the goal of the program is to help students, who may have learning disabilities, to familiarize themselves with new technology and develop new skills. The Selma City School Board is expected to order 10 tablet computers for the labs and speech pathologists. Martin said the iPad will be used as a practice run for students and, if successful, will be used throughout the city. "Dr. [Donald] Jefferson brought the idea to us after he saw how successful it was with other school systems," Martin said. "This is indeed a great learning tool and we want learning to be fun for the children." Selma City School superintendent Don Jefferson said the state planned to remove more than $250,000 out of the city's special education budget if the school system didn't create a better way for children with special needs to learn. To read more, click here

Gene for Mental Retardation Provides Insight Into Brain Formation

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have uncovered clues to memory and learning by exploring the function of a single gene that governs how neurons form new connections. The finding may also provide insights into a form of human mental retardation. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists explored the gene WRP's functions in the brain cell (neuron) and then demonstrated how acutely memory and learning are affected when WRP is missing in mice. "Human genomics studies have opened the floodgates of information that will benefit people with many different diseases," said Scott Soderling, an assistant professor in the Duke department of cell biology. "But it is impossible to correct something without knowing what the exact underlying problem is." To read more, click here

 

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Food For Thought..........

Minds are like parachutes. They only function when open.

                                                                 Author Unknown

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