Week in Review - April 20, 2012

WEEK IN REVIEW

NewNASETPublications and Articles of Interest in Special Education and Disabilities That Were Reported This Week

April 20, 2012 - Vol 8, Issue 15


 

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Dear NASET News,

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 theWEEK in REVIEWatnews@naset.org.Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,


NASETNews Team

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LD Report


Differentiation: Strategies and Educational Impact

Differentiation encompasses a variety of instructional strategies available to educators for use in the classroom to vary instruction based on student ability, learning style, and educational needs. Research indicated when utilizing differentiation in the classroom there are positive benefits for students in terms of motivation to learn and retention of information. Research has indicated a variety of differentiation strategies that can be used in the classroom for instruction in various areas of education, including but not limited to math, literacy, and assessment. Utilizing differentiated strategies will benefit the students and encourage teachers to plan engaging lessons that promote learning. This issue of the LD Report, written by Stephanie G H Samples is to examine strategies for differentiation and its educational impact.


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IEP Component Series

When the IEP Team Meets

IEP teams are made up of individuals who bring different perspectives and expertise to the table. Pooling their knowledge, team members set out to craft an individualized response to a specific child's needs, taking into account that same child's strengths and talents. The end product is the child's individualized education program. There's a lot of information shared at IEP meetings, and a lot of discussion. This article, written by the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, describes how the meeting is scheduled, who comes, and the factors team members must consider when writing an IEP. First, we'll start with an overview of key points about IEP meetings. Then, we'll take a longer look at specific aspects of these meetings that will help you be an active partner in this critical activity.



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Autism by the Numbers: Researchers Examine Impact of New Diagnostic Criteria

Getting an autism diagnosis could be more difficult in 2013 when a revised diagnostic definition goes into effect. The proposed changes may affect the proportion of individuals who qualify for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, according to a study by Yale Child Study Center researchers published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The proposed changes to the diagnostic definition will be published in the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)." "Given the potential implications of these findings for service eligibility, our findings offer important information for consideration by the task force finalizing DSM-5 diagnostic criteria," said Yale Child Study Center director Dr. Fred Volkmar, who conducted the study with colleagues Brian Reichow and James McPartland. To read more,click here


Did You Know That....

State academic content and achievement standards are central to ensuring that all students have access to and make progress in the general curriculum. Academic content standards define what all students should know and be able to do; academic achievement standards define how well students must perform to be considered proficient. Together, academic content and achievement standards are key elements in standards-based accountability systems.

Death From Accidental Injuries Among Kids Drops 30%: CDC

Accidental deaths among children and adolescents have dropped 30 percent since 2000 but still remain the number-one killer of children and teens, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday. "More than 9,000 children died from unintentional injuries in the U.S. in 2009," said CDC principal deputy director Ileana Arias at a Monday press conference. "In the U.S., death rates from unintentional injuries in children up to age 14 were among the worst of all high-income countries." Leading the list of fatal unintentional injuries were motor vehicle crashes, although suffocation, drowning, poisoning, fires and burns and falls also contributed to fatalities. To read more,click here


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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

Alternative Therapies Aren't Used as Substitutes for Asthma Meds: Study

Almost one in five parents has turned to an alternative or complementary medicine or treatment for their child's asthma, but new research has found that parents are not abandoning traditional treatments in the process. "We found that there were really no differences between the groups that used complementary and alternative medicine and those that didn't [in terms of adherence]. It seems that parents are using these therapies as complementary medicine alongside prescribed asthma treatments," said study author Dr. Julie Philp, a pediatrician and a dermatology resident at the University of California, San Francisco. To read more,click here


Symptomatic Behavior in Childhood Strongly Predicts Psychiatric Treatment as a Young Adult

A survey on the mental health of eight-year-old children could help identify those individuals who are highly likely to require psychiatric treatment in their teens or early adulthood, shows a study conducted at the University of Helsinki. Should "mental health checkups" be made part of health care in schools? "The early detection of children who are showing psychiatric symptoms or are at the risk of a mental disorder is crucial, but introducing "mental health checkups" as part of health care in schools is not altogether simple," says David Gyllenberg, MD, whose doctoral dissertation "Childhood Predictors of Later Psychotropic Medication Use and Psychiatric Hospital Treatment -- Findings from the Finnish Nationwide 1981 Birth Cohort Study" was publicly examined at the University of Helsinki on 13 April 2012. To read more,click here


Did You Know That....

Although academic standards define the learning targets for all students, teachers use a variety of curriculum materials and instructional strategies to help students reach those targets. For students with disabilities, teachers tailor the curriculum (based on the academic standards) and instructional strategies to meet individual learning needs. According to current federal policies, all students with disabilities (including those inalternate assessments) are to be assessed on their skills and knowledge in the grade-level academic content. Student academic achievement standards are defined in terms of proficiency levels-basic, proficient, and advanced, for example. Proficiency levels are defined by states and may be the same or different for students participating in regular and alternate assessments.

Lehigh University Special Education Law Symposium, June 24-29, 2012

Lehigh University's intensive week-long special education law symposium provides a practical analysis of legislation, regulations, and case law relating to the education of students with disabilities. The symposium provides a thorough analysis of the leading issues under the IDEA and Section 504. Special features include: parallel tracks for basic and advanced practitioners, starting with a keynote dinner and presentation by Dr. Alexa Posny, Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, and ending with a post-luncheon crystal-ball session  by Chicago attorney Darcy Kriha; a balance of knowledgeable district, parent, and neutral perspectives; essential topics with proven effective presenters for the basic track; and a brand new set of "hot topics" and faculty presenters for the advanced track.For more information visit http://www.lehigh.edu/education/law. Questions? Contact Tamara Bartolet (tlp205@lehigh.edu or 610/758-3226).


To Teach Kids Math, Researcher Devises 'Brain Games'

The world often breaks down into numbers and regular patterns that form predictable cycles. And the sooner children can inherently grasp these patterns, the more confident and comfortable they will be with the world of math. That's the discerning approach of University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education professor Ming Ming Chiu, and it's based on decades of teaching teachers and watching how students learn. Known for helping parents find teachable math moments, especially at the dinner table and on living room sofa, Ming has devised new ways to make kids comfortable with the ways of math. To read more,click here


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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:  Valerie Rochon, Toni Leone, Rebecca Birrenkott, Jessica L. Ulmer, Eileen Buerano, Vicky Gill, Heather Shyrer, Olumide Akerele, Andrew Bailey, Elaine Draper and Prahbhjot Malhi who all knew the answer to last week's trvia question was:   There isn't a specific standard or level established within IDEA for determining what it means for the education of a child with a disability to be "achieved satisfactorily." Rather, each child's IEP is the measuring tool.

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
Fill in the Blank:  _______  are used to evaluate the performance of students who are unable to participate in general state assessments even with accommodations. They provide a mechanism for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, and for other students with disabilities who may need different ways to access assessments, to be included.

If you know the answer, send an email tocontactus@naset.org
All answers must be submitted no later than Monday, April 23, 2012 at 12:00 p.m.

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Even Toddlers Succumb to Peer Pressure, Study Says

Toddlers are more likely to pick up a behavior if they see most other toddlers doing it, a new study shows. Researchers found that 2-year-olds were more likely to copy an action when they saw it repeated by three other toddlers than if they saw an action repeated by just one other toddler. The findings appear online April 12 in the journal Current Biology. To read more,click here


Fragile X Syndrome Can Be Reversed in Adult Mouse Brain

A recent study finds that a new compound reverses many of the major symptoms associated with Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited intellectual disability and a leading cause of autism. The paper, published by Cell Press in the April 12 issue of the journal Neuron, describes the exciting observation that the FXS correction can occur in adult mice, after the symptoms of the condition have already been established. Fragile X patients suffer from a complex set of neuropsychiatric symptoms of varying severity which include anxiety, hyperactivity, learning and memory deficits, low IQ, social and communication deficits, and seizures. Previous research has suggested that inhibition of mGlu5, a subtype of receptor for the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, may be useful for ameliorating many of the major symptoms of the disease. To read more,click here


The Intersection of Race and Students With Disabilities

Jacintha is the mother of nine kids, kids who don't all have the same father. She is black, with a history of drug abuse. And she lives in a once-thriving section of Miami-Overtown-that was sliced up by highways, turninga thriving communityinto a destitute one, saidElizabeth Harry, a professor of special education at the University of Miami. Although the school requested permission to evaluate one of her sons, Robert, for an evaluation, suspecting he might have a disability, it took months before the evaluation ever happened. In the mean time, his school started sending Robert, 11 at the time, home halfway through the school day. To read more,click here


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Mothers and Children with OCD Trapped in Rituals Have Impaired Relationships

A new study from Case Western Reserve University finds mothers tend to be more critical of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder than they are of other children in the family. And, that parental criticism is linked to poorer outcomes for the child after treatment. Parent criticism has been associated with child anxiety in the past, however, researchers wanted to find out if this is a characteristic of the parent or something specific to the relationship between the anxious child and the parent. "This suggests that mothers of anxious children are not overly critical parents in general. Instead they seem to be more critical of a child with OCD than they are of other children in the home," said Amy Przeworski, assistant professor of psychology. She is the lead author of the study, "Maternal and Child Expressed Emotion as Predictors of Treatment Response in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder," in the recent journal, Child Psychiatry & Human Development. To read more,click here


Do IQ Tests Wrongly Label Some with Autism as Intellectually Disabled?

If a child has autism and doesn't respond to verbal cues, how can an IQ test in which they are asked questions be a real measure of their intelligence? At the Council for Exceptional Children'sannual convention, a pair of researchers from universities in Florida today shared those and other concerns about using some types of IQ tests with children with autism, tests that may wrongly find these children have intellectual disabilities. "Are we saying there aren't a lot of kids that have autism that don't have [intellectual disabilities]?" saidDouglas Carothers, of Florida Gulf Coast University. "We're saying there's no good way to tell." To read more,click here


Web-Based Tool Produces Fast, Accurate Autism Diagnosis, Study Suggests

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have significantly reduced from hours to minutes the time it takes to accurately detect autism in young children. The process of diagnosing autism is complex, subjective, and often limited to only a segment of the population in need. With the recent rise in incidence to 1 in 88 children, the need for accurate and widely deployable methods for screening and diagnosis is substantial. Dennis Wall, associate professor of pathology and director of computational biology initiative at the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, has been working to address this problem and has discovered a highly accurate strategy that could significantly reduce the complexity and time of the diagnostic process. To read more,click here


Special Education Students a Focus in "Bully"

Two students with Asperger syndrome-an autism spectrum disorder that can make it tough to interact in social sitatuations-are featured heavily in "Bully," the new education shock-you-mentary, opening in wide release Friday. The film opens with the grieving parents of Tyler Long, a 17-year-old with Asperger's syndrome who committed suicide. And it closely follows Alex Libby, another student with Asperger's who was repeatedly harassed by his fellow students at a Sioux City, Iowa, middle school. The movie, which also includes a 16-year-old transgender student, among others, was meant to open the public's eye to the problem of bullying in general. To read more,click here


Did You Know That....

If students with disabilities are to benefit from standards-based reform, they must be included in each step of the standards-based accountability system. Students need access to rigorous standards through high quality curriculum and instruction. They also need reliable, valid, and fair assessment of progress toward the standards. Standards-based accountability systems provide an opportunity to measure both access to and progress in the general curriculum for students with disabilities. Careful alignment of student learning to the standards set for all students will ensure that progress, not just access, occurs.


Maternal Obesity, Diabetes Associated With Autism, Other Developmental Disorders

A major study conducted by researchers affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found strong links between maternal diabetes and obesity and the likelihood of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or another developmental disorder. The study, which investigated the relationships between maternal metabolic conditions and the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, found that mothers who were obese were 67 percent more likely to have a child with ASD than normal-weight mothers without diabetes or hypertension, and were more than twice as likely to have a child with another developmental disorder. To read more,click here


White House Scraps Nine-City Disability Tour

The White House has canceled plans for a series of regional disability conferences expected to take place this spring and summer, but the reason the meetings fell apart isn't entirely clear. Representatives from a number of disability advocacy groups were initially told about the events during a conference call with Obama administration officials in late January. At the time, preliminaryplanswere in place for meetings in nine cities across the country beginning in mid March and extending into the summer, according to advocates who participated in the call. To read more,click here


For High School Athlete With Down Syndrome, Age Is an Issue

LastNew Year's Eve, Eric Dompierre was at a party with his high school basketball teammates. At 12:30 a.m., he called his father, Dean Dompierre, to see if he could stay out for another hour. By 2 a.m., his father was good-naturedly dragging him home.  It was a typical night in the life of a teenager in Ishpeming, Mich., a small mining town of about 7,000 people in the state's Upper Peninsula, exactly the sort of night that Dean Dompierre had always wanted for his son. Eric Dompierre has Down syndrome, which led to his being held back in junior kindergarten and first grade. Now Dompierre is a junior at Ishpeming High School, doing well in school and navigating the tricky social hierarchy of the teenage world, in part because of his participation in basketball. To read more,click here


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

Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed.

Abraham Lincoln

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