Week in Review - July 27, 2012

WEEK IN REVIEW

NewNASETPublications and Articles of Interest in Special Education and Disabilities

July 27, 2012 - Vol 8, Issue 28


 

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

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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 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

NASET Sponsor - Arkansas State University

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New This Week on NASET

Resource Review - July 2012

In this issue you will see topics on:

 

*             Absenteeism

*             Accommodations and Modifications

*             Behavior at School

*             Dispute Resolution

*             Early Intervention

*             Education Law

*             Families and Community Information

*             Integration into the Mainstream Classroom

*             Juvenile Justice

*             Learner Centered Environments

*             Middle School to High School Transition

*             Restraint and Seclusion Rooms

*             Self Determination

*             Summer Camps

*             Survey Requests

*             Transition

*             Universal Design

*             Young Adults

 

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

In Florida, State Grade Formulas Have Schools on Edge, Wary of Potential Impact of Student with Disabilities

One student came to Ellicia Brown's classroom at Allamanda Elementary School at age 7 in a stroller, having never learned how to walk. By third grade, Brown had taught the boy, who has a severe form of Down syndrome, to walk, feed himself and open a door. In her mind, that's significant progress. But Brown says that neither that boy, nor the majority of the other intellectually disabled students in her classroom, will score as "proficient" on the state-mandated standardized exams. And until this year, that fact didn't bother Brown one bit. Now, though, her students' scores will factor into whether Allamanda gets to keep its A rating. This year, Florida's public schools face a tougher formula that is expected to cause schools' all-important A-to-F letter grades to fall. Elementary and middle school grades are due out as early as this week. The grading formula changes have schools and districts on edge, despite a one-year stop-gap measure from the state saying that a school's grade can't fall more than one letter this year. To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

Measles is a respiratory disease caused by a virus. The disease of measles and the virus that causes it share the same name. The disease is also called rubeola. Measles virus normally grows in the cells that line the back of the throat and lungs.

Special Educators' Use of Restraints, Seclusion Topic of Senate Hearing

In one of Kaye Otten's early years as a teacher, she was granted emergency certification to teach special education in a Nebraska classroom where one of her 2nd grade students was large, aggressive, and always hungry as a result of a rare genetic disorder calledPrader-Willi syndrome. "He knew he could use his size to get what he wanted," Ms. Otten recalled. "He would pull chunks of hair out of my head." The plan to help him calm down didn't always work, leaving the untrained Ms. Otten and her colleagues to stop the student's behavior by holding the boy or isolating him from other students, or both, in scenarios that repeated themselves multiple times that school year. But by the time the student was in 5th grade, Ms. Otten and her colleagues had to restrain the student only once all year. To read more,click here

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Mississippi Sued over Special Education in Jackson

Disability advocates have sued the Mississippi Department of Education, saying state officials haven't done enough to solve special education problems in the Jackson city schools. The Southern Poverty Law Center, Southern Disability Law Center and Disability Rights Mississippi filed the suit Tuesday in federal court in Jackson. Representing an unnamed 16-year-old student, they say the state has allowed Jackson Public Schools to get away with doing nothing to fix problems the groups cited in a 2010 complaint to the state. The suit says the state "exhibited complete indifference to the plaintiff's pleas for relief, and has failed to take appropriate action to compel JPS to correct the individual and systemic violations of the (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that harm thousands of JPS' most vulnerable students." To read more,click here

What Genius and Autism Have in Common

Child prodigies evoke awe, wonder and sometimes jealousy: how can such young children display the kinds of musical or mathematical talents that most adults will never master, even with years of dedicated practice? Lucky for these despairing types, the prevailing wisdom suggests that such comparisons are unfair - prodigies are born, not made (mostly). Practice alone isn't going to turn out the next 6-year-old Mozart. So finds a recent study of eight young prodigies, which sought to shed some light on the roots of their talent. The prodigies included in thestudy are all famous (but remain unidentified in the paper), having achieved acclaim and professional status in their fields by the ripe age of 10. Most are musical prodigies; one is an artist and another a math whiz, who developed a new discipline in mathematics and, by age 13, had had a paper accepted for publication in a mathematics journal. To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

Measles spreads through the air by breathing, coughing or sneezing. It is so contagious that any child who is exposed to it and is not immune will probably get the disease.

Feds: Least Restrictive Environment Applies To Transition Too

By law, students with disabilities are supposed to be included in general education to the greatest extent possible. Now, federal officials say the same tenet of inclusion should apply to transition as well. Informal guidance issued recently from the U.S. Department of Education indicates that the requirement in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, that students be placed in the "least restrictive environment" extends beyond the confines of the classroom. Specifically, the concept should apply to work placements if such experiences are part of a student's individualized education program, or IEP, officials at the Education Department said. "Placement decisions, including those related to transition services (including work placements), must be based on these (least restrictive environment) principles and made by the IEP team," wrote Melody Musgrove, director of the Office of Special Education Programs at the Department of Education. "The IDEA does not prohibit segregated employment, but the (least restrictive environment) provisions would apply equally to the employment portion of the student's program and placement." To read more,click here

NASET Sponsor - Arkansas State University

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK
THE TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS ON HIATUS BUT WILL BE RETURNING ON AUGUST 3, 2012

Parents of Medically Fragile Children Sue Illinois for In-Home Nursing Care

Corey Peterson and her husband, Frank, have tried to do everything in their power to keep their family together under one roof, despite their daughter's rare medical condition.Five-year-old Sydney has congenital central hypoventilation syndrome and needs a ventilator to help her breathe. She also depends on a cardiac pacemaker. To keep her at home, rather than in a hospital or other facility, her parents have learned to operate her ventilator, change her tracheotomy tube, give her fluids through a feeding tube in her abdomen and read equipment that monitors her oxygen saturation and carbon dioxide output, among other tasks.But the Petersons still rely on expensive nursing care, and they are worried that all their efforts won't be enough in the face of state budget cuts.The Lisle family is among a group of Illinois parents who filed a class action lawsuit this month to stop changes to a state program that funds in-home nursing care for 1,050 medically fragile and technology-dependent children. To read more,click here

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NASET MEMBER'S BENEFIT -

Board Certification in Special Education Available to NASET Members

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

NIH Study Shows the Deaf Brain Processes Touch Differently

People who are born deaf process the sense of touch differently than people who are born with normal hearing, according to research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The finding reveals how the early loss of a sense- in this case hearing-affects brain development. It adds to a growing list of discoveries that confirm the impact of experiences and outside influences in molding the developing brain. The study is published in the July 11 online issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The researchers, Christina M. Karns, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research associate in the Brain Development Lab at the University of Oregon, Eugene, and her colleagues, show that deaf people use the auditory cortex to process touch stimuli and visual stimuli to a much greater degree than occurs in hearing people. The finding suggests that since the developing auditory cortex of profoundly deaf people is not exposed to sound stimuli, it adapts and takes on additional sensory processing tasks. "This research shows how the brain is capable of rewiring in dramatic ways," said James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIDCD. "This will be of great interest to other researchers who are studying multisensory processing in the brain." To read more,click here

Universal Studios Hollywood Sued for Barring Amputees from Theme Park's Roller Coaster

Universal Studios Hollywood has been sued for barring amputees from a theme park roller coaster. The Los Angeles Times says the federal court lawsuit contends two men were kept off the Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Angel Castelan's forearms were amputated after an electrical accident as a child and Marvin Huezo's legs were amputated after a car accident. To read more,click here

Students Affected by Increasing Adderall Abuse

"Addies," "the chill pill" or "the study drug" are just a few of the slang names for the prescription pill that has been abused by high school and college students around the country. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis increased at an average of 5.5 percent per year from 2003 to 2007. Rates of ADHD diagnosis increased at a greater rate among older teens as compared to younger children. BlancaGallegos, senior psychology major, is a student who has used the drug to stay focused while studying, although she has not been diagnosed with ADHD. "I have anxiety and it's really hard for me to concentrate, and one semester I was really stressed out," she said. "I was taking five classes at the time because I was trying to catch up so that I would be able to graduate on time." To read more,click here

Special Education Graduation Rules in New York Could Increase Dropouts

School officials are concerned that new graduation requirements for special education students could lead to more students dropping out before finishing high school. Kelly Wight, director of special programs in the Tupper Lake Central School District, told the school board Monday night that soon, the state plans to phase out diplomas that special education students are currently able to get, called Individualized Education Program diplomas, or IEPs. Now, students with disabilities have the option of graduating with an IEP diploma if the district's Committee on Special Education decides that it would be very difficult or impossible for a student to graduate with a regular diploma. They instead create a plan for students with specific goals outlined that need to be met in order for them to graduate. But because No Child Left Behind, the federal education act, dictates that all children should graduate high school with a standard diploma, the state has been working to get rid of the IEP diploma in order to keep getting federal funds. This year, the state Board of Regents voted to eliminate the IEP diploma entirely. Next year's senior class will have the last students who can graduate with an IEP diploma, Wight told the school board. To read more,click here

Filler: One-Size Fits All Fits Students Poorly

Deciding what to teach children based on how old they are makes no more sense than basing their lessons on how much they weigh, or how tall they are. The folly of relying on such irrelevant metrics was highlighted this week when a national study was released by theCenter for American Progress. According to the researchers who compiled it and the media that reported on it, the study showed kids find school too easy. But that's not the important conclusion to be drawn from the data, and that interpretation is so political it makes my head not just swim, but drown. The headline onUSA Today's website read, "School is too easy, students report." Of fourth graders, 37 percent did say their math work is often or always too easy, but 49 percent said it sometimes is, and 14 percent said it never is. Of eighth graders surveyed, 29 percent said math is often or always like falling off a log, but 54 percent said sometimes yes, sometimes no -- while 17 percent said their math class was Greek to them. To read more,click here

Obesity Alone May Not Hurt Kids' Classroom Performance

Being obese does not affect children's school performance, according to a new British study. Researchers at the University of York analyzed data from nearly 4,000 participants in the Children of the '90s Birth Cohort Study. "We sought to test whether obesity directly hinders performance due to bullying or health problems, or whether kids who are obese do less well because of other factors that are associated with both obesity and lower exam results, such as coming from a disadvantaged family," study author Stephanie von Hinke Kessler Scholder said in news release from the United Kingdom's Economic and Social Research Council, which funded the study. To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

Measles is very rare in countries and regions of the world that are able to keep vaccination coverage high. In North and South America, Finland, and some other areas, endemic measles transmission is considered to have been interrupted through vaccination. There are still sporadic cases of measles in the United States because visitors from other countries or US citizens traveling abroad can become infected before or during travel and spread the infection to unvaccinated or unprotected persons. Worldwide, there are estimated to be 20 million cases and 164,000 deaths each year. More than half of the deaths occur in India.

Children with Disabilities More Likely to Face Violence, says UN-Backed Study

Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than those without disabilities, according to a review commissioned by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) that calls for urgent action to protect the rights of this vulnerable group. Findings from the review, published today in the medical journal The Lancet, indicate that children with disabilities are 3.7 times more likely those without disabilities to be victims of any sort of violence. They are also 3.6 times more likely to be victims of physical violence, and 2.9 times more likely to be victims of sexual violence. Children with disability associated with mental illness or intellectual impairments appear to be among the most vulnerable, with 4.6 times the risk of sexual violence compared with their peers who do not have disabilities. To read more,click here

Multiple Sclerosis: New Marker Could Improve Diagnosis

Diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) is a challenge even for experienced neurologists. This autoimmune disease has many symptoms and rarely presents a uniform clinical picture. New scientific findings on the immune response involved in MS could now help improve the diagnosis of this illness. Scientists analyzing the blood of MS patients have discovered antibodies that attack a specific potassium channel in the cell membrane. Potassium channels play an important role in transmitting impulses to muscle and nerve cells and it is exactly these processes that are inhibited in MS patients. To read more,click here

Mutations in Autism Susceptibility Gene Increase Risk in Boys

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified five rare mutations in a single gene that appear to increase the chances that a boy will develop an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Mutations in the AFF2 gene, and other genes like it on the X chromosome, may explain why autism spectrum disorders affect four times as many boys as girls. The mutations in AFF2 appeared in 2.5 percent (5 out of 202) boys with an ASD. Mutations in X chromosome genes only affect boys, who have one X chromosome. Girls have a second copy of the gene that can compensate. The results were published July 5 in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. To read more,click here

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

Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

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