Week in Review - August 24, 2012

WEEK IN REVIEW

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

August 24, 2012 - Vol 8, Issue 32

 

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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 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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New This Week on NASET

ADHD Series - August 2012

Teenagers with ADHD

Most children with ADHD continue to have symptoms as they enter adolescence. Some children, however, are not diagnosed with ADHD until they reach adolescence. This is more common among children with predominantly inattentive symptoms because they are not necessarily disruptive at home or in school. In these children, the disorder becomes more apparent as academic demands increase and responsibilities mount. For all teens, these years are challenging. But for teens with ADHD, these years may be especially difficult.  This issue ofNASET'sADHD serieswill explore some of the special needs of teenagers with ADHD.


To read or download this issue -Click here (login required)
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Girls With ADHD At Risk for Self-Injury, Suicide Attempts As Young Adults, Says New Research

Girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are significantly more likely to attempt suicide or injure themselves as young adults than girls who do not have ADHD, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Young women diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, particularly the type with early signs of impulsivity, were three to four times more likely to attempt suicide and two to three times more likely to report injuring themselves than comparable young women in a control group, according to the findings, published online in theJournal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology®. "ADHD can signal future psychological problems for girls as they are entering adulthood," said the study's lead author, Stephen Hinshaw, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "Our findings reinforce the idea that ADHD in girls is particularly severe and can have serious public health implications." To read more,click here

Claim: Heart Transplant Denied Due To Man's Autism

Twenty-three-year-old Paul Corby has a bad heart and a flawed mind. The question before doctors now is whether his mental problems - he has a form of autism - are severe enough to make him a bad candidate for a heart transplant. Doctors at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania have said they are, according to Paul's mother, Karen. She disagrees and is using anonline petition and the support of a network of autism advocates to make her case. Karen Corby says she was "stunned" by Penn's decision, then inspired by another family's successful fight with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia over a similar decision. To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

A recent analysis of court decisions concerning students with dyslexia, which appeared in the summer issue of the International Dyslexia Association's periodical Perspective, found that the case law concerning eligibility under the IDEA is scarce, with even less attention to eligibility under Section 504. In contrast, the analysis found rather extensive case law concerning the entitlement of free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the IDEA, with districts winning the clear majority of the cases--including those extending to the remedy of tuition reimbursement at private schools. Finally, a handful of states, led by Louisiana and Texas, have adopted state laws--with the most recent being Ohio--that provide varying extent of additional authorizations or requirements concerning identification and/or interventions. Professor Perry A. Zirkel, who authored the analysis, concluded that the pertinent legal developments concerning K-12 students with dyslexia has amounted to a short story, with the last chapter to date being anticlimactic depending on one's particular perspective.
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One in Four Black Students With Disabilities Suspended Out-of-School

Students with disabilities are suspended about twice as often as their peers,a new analysis from the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at the University of California, Los Angeles, has found. Analyzing datathat districts submitted to the federal Education Department's office of civil rights, researchers found that the rate of suspension for students with disabilities was about 13 percent, compared with 7 percent for students without disabilities. Most alarming, they said, was that one in four black students with disabilities was suspended at least once during the 2009-10 school year. That figure is 16 percentage points higher than for white students with disabilities. (Nearly one in six African-American students without disabilities was suspended from school during the 2009-10 academic year.) To read more,click here

Drinking in Pregnancy Shows Up in Child's Growth: Study

Children who had significant prenatal exposure to alcohol may have delayed weight gain during infancy and alcohol-related growth restriction from early infancy until 9 years of age, researchers report. Weight, height and head circumference are indications of brain growth, the study authors pointed out. Persistent reductions in these measurements among children exposed to alcohol in the womb suggest the effects may be permanent and could affect their mental development, according to the study published online Aug. 15 and in the November print issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. "These effects may be detrimental to the children as growth deficits have been shown to be related to other health problems, such as lower IQ," study corresponding author Dr. R. Colin Carter, an instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said in a news release from Children's Hospital Boston. "Furthermore, the effects of alcohol on growth were much more severe if the child had iron deficiency anemia as an infant, a condition that is common in the U.S. and worldwide." To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

Sometimes people get confused about what it means to have a modification and what it means to have an accommodation. Usually a modification means a change in what is being taught to or expected from the student. Making an assignment easier so the student is not doing the same level of work as other students is an example of a modification.

Did You Know That....

An accommodation is a change that helps a student overcome or work around the disability. Allowing a student who has trouble writing to give his answers orally is an example of an accommodation. This student is still expected to know the same material and answer the same questions as fully as the other students, but he doesn't have to write his answers to show that he knows the information.

Genetic Studies Give Clues to Tourette Syndrome, OCD

Two new large-scale studies searching for the genetic links to a couple of relatively common psychiatric conditions show how difficult it can be to decipher the human genome's role in disease. The research, the first genome-wide studies looking at the potential association of particular genes with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome, was published in two reports in the Aug. 14 issue of Molecular Psychiatry. While the studies failed to identify particular genes responsible for either of these conditions, it contributed important new clues. "The studies suggest there are probably lots of different genes of small effect that play a role, or, perhaps, there is a rare single gene," said Dr. Francis McMahon, chief of the human genetics branch within the intramural research program at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. 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: 

Laura Palacios, 

Lois Nembhard, Alexandra Pirard,

Arlene Stevens, Dennis Walsh, Olumide Akerele,

Marlene Barnett, Elaine Draper, Jessica L. Ulmer, and Laurine Kennedy who all knew that Public Law 99-457 added preschool children to the Public Law 94-142 provisions in 1986.

 

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
Fill in the blank:  According to a new study at Oregon State University, preschool children who are able to pay attention and persist with a task have a 50 percent greater chance of completing ______ than those who are unable to do so.

If you know the answer, send an email tocontactus@naset.org
All answers must be submitted no later than Monday, August 27, 2012 at 12:00 p.m.

Texas Districts Flagged for Suspending Students With Disabilities

Disability Rights Texas has flagged 30 districts for disproportionately using out-of-school suspensions to punish students with disabilities. Based on data from the Texas Education Agency, the group said that in these 30 districts, about 22 percent of students with disabilities were suspended out of school during the 2010-11 school year, compared to an average of 7 percent for students with disabilities in all Texas districts. But across all groups of students in all districts, only about 4 percent of students were suspended out of school, Disability Rights Texas said ina report this month. The group, along with several others, is asking the districts to change their approaches to discipline.To read more,click here

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NASET MEMBER'S BENEFIT -

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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

School for Blind Leads the Way in Distance Learning

A unique school in Washington state is using a communications and collaboration platform normally deployed in corporate settings to bring a teacher working from a home office together with her students sitting in a physical classroom. While the setup is invaluable for this math class, it's also a practical model for business continuity showing how classes can be run in the event of disruptions caused by weather, pandemics, and disaster scenarios. Since 1886 theWashington State School for the Blind (WSSB) in Vancouver has provided educational services to visually impaired and blind students. According to Sherry Hahn, digital research and curriculum coordinator, many of the 70 students who physically attend classes at the campus also board at the school during the week. Another 373 around the state take advantage of the school's outreach component, which uses "itinerant teachers" who are contracted to work in specific districts. To read more,click here

More Delays in Brain Growth Seen With ADHD

Researchers have uncovered more evidence that certain types of delays in brain development seem to be related to a heightened risk for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A new study appearing in the current issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry found that development of the cortical surface -- which covers the region of the brain known as the cerebral cortex -- was slower in children with ADHD. This complements previous research from the same team of scientists that found normal childhood thickening of the cerebral cortex also is delayed in the brains of children with ADHD. At this point, the findings have no clinical implications but they may one day help point to genes that control the timing of brain development, said study author Philip Shaw, head of the Neurobehavioral Clinical Research Section at the National Human Genome Research Institute. That, in turn, may lead to new insight into how to help kids with ADHD. To read more,click here

Bullies Squelched When Bystanders Intervene

With new national anti-bullying ads urging parents to teach their kids to speak up if they witness bullying, one researcher has found that in humans' evolutionary past at least, helping the victim of a bully hastened our species' movement toward a more egalitarian society. Humans have evolved a genetically-controlled drive to help weaker individuals fight back against a bully. The drive to help the weaker group members led to a dramatic reduction in group inequality and eventually enabled humans to develop widespread cooperation, empathy, compassion and egalitarian moral values, according to the paper which appears August 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings appear to support prior research showing that more egalitarian societies, such as in Scandinavian countries, appear to keep bullying in check. In one of the earliest cross-national studies on bullying in schools by professor Dan Olweus, who pioneered anti-bullying programs worldwide beginning in the early 1980s, the behavior was found to occur at lower rates in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. These findings are supported by additional, more recent studies by the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization. To read more,click here

Team Maddy: Rick Van Beek, Dad, Competes In Triathlon With Daughter Who Has Cerebral Palsy

A Michigan man who participated in a local triathlon has been called the"father of the century" by some because of the devotion he has shown for his child.Rick van Beekof Byron Center, Mich., took part in the Sanford and Sun sprint triathlon this Saturday with his 13-year-old daughter, Madison, the Midland Daily News reports. The teenager couldn't take part in the event alone, soher heroic dad pulled and pushed her along with him, taking every stride and stroke together toward the finish lineMaddy, as she is affectionately known, has cerebral palsy. The teen can neither walk nor talk, and her dad says he isn't even sure that she can see. To read more,click here

Nine Ways the Common Core Will Change Classroom Practice

In a recent survey, William Schmidt, a University Distinguished Professor of education at Michigan State University, found some good news and bad news for supporters of the Common Core State Standards. The good news was that the vast majority of teachers have read the Standards and nearly all like them. The bad news was that about 80 percent of mathematics teachers said the Standards were "pretty much the same" as their current state standards. Those teachers might want to take a closer look. While the Common Core State Standards share many features and concepts with existing standards, the new standards also represent a substantial departure from current practice in a number of respects. Here are nine important differences. To read more,click here

Does More Tech in the Classroom Help Kids Learn?

As more educational programs turn digital, teachers are finding that blending technology into the learning experience offers kids a crucial leg up in the classroom. Karen Martinez's daughter, Daniella, graduated fifth grade with honors this year and is now reading at a sixth grade level. Just two years ago, she was diagnosed as a special-needs child who struggled with reading. What made the change? Her mother pulled her out of a school that rarely used computers for learning, enrolling her in Rocketship Education, one of five charter schools in San Jose, California. Students there spend 25% of their school day in a computer lab with online content targeted to their development level. "My daughter was broken and now she's starting to mend," Martinez says. The goal ofRocketship is to help close the achievement gap by serving low-income students who don't have the advantages of their wealthy peers. It's just one of the many schools following a fast-accelerating trend called "blended learning," where students spend a portion of their day engaging in technology. To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

IDEA now states that students with disabilities should have as much involvement in the general curriculum as possible. This means that, if a child is receiving instruction in the general curriculum, he or she could take the same standardized test that the school district or state gives to nondisabled children. Accordingly, a child's IEP must include all modifications or accommodations that the child needs so that he or she can participate in state or district-wide assessments.

Peer-Mediation Programs Possible Answer for Students with Autism in Rural Schools

Peer-mediation instruction and intervention programs could be a good option for rural schools that want to address the communication and social needs of their students with autism. A new paper, "Power-PALS (Peers Assisting, Leading, Supporting): Implementing A Peer-Mediated Intervention in a Rural Middle School Program," recently published in theRural Special Education Quarterly highlighted one rural district's program as a "promising practice." The paper's authors made it clear that they had little quantitative data, but they said the qualitative feedback from students, teachers, and parents showed this effort was worthwhile and beneficial to students with and without autism. To read more,click here

Girl Scouts Accused Of Excluding Child With Special Needs

An Illinois family is suing the Girl Scouts for allegedly disbanding a troop because the organization no longer wanted to foot the bill for disability accommodations. Megan Runnion, 12, joined the Girl Scouts in kindergarten. Since that time, the organization paid for a sign-language interpreter to accompany the girl, who is deaf, at scouting activities. But earlier this year, Runnion's Chicago-area troop was disbanded. Troop leaders said the decision came because officials at the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana were limiting the group's activities due to the cost of the interpreter, the family said. To read more,click here

Baby's Healthy Diet Feeds IQ, Study Finds

Babies and toddlers fed a healthy diet may have slightly higher IQs by the time they are 8 years old than children fed less healthy foods at a young age, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Adelaide, in Australia, found an early diet rich in junk foods could cost children up to two IQ points. "Diet supplies the nutrients needed for the development of brain tissues in the first two years of life, and the aim of this study was to look at what impact diet would have on children's IQs," said the study's leader, Lisa Smithers, a public health researcher at the University of Adelaide, in a university news release. "While the differences in IQ are not huge, this study provides some of the strongest evidence to date that dietary patterns from six to 24 months have a small but significant effect on IQ at eight years of age," said Smithers. "It is important that we consider the longer-term impact of the foods we feed our children." To read more,click here

Snoring Toddlers May Have More Behavior Problems

Toddlers who snore persistently are more likely to have behavior problems, such as hyperactivity, depression and attention issues, during the day than their non-snoring peers, new research indicates. The study also looked at factors that might contribute to or protect against snoring in this young age group, and they found one was strongly protective: breast-feeding. Factors that made persistent snoring more likely included low socioeconomic status, race and exposure to environmental smoke, said study author Dean Beebe, director of the neuropsychology program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "Snoring is cute in comics or cartoons, but in reality it's not normal for kids to snore for weeks or months on end," said Beebe, who is also an associate professor of pediatrics. To read more,click here

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

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

Soren Kierkegaard
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