Week in Review - December 14, 2012

WEEK IN REVIEW

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

December 14, 2012 - Vol 8, Issue 48

 

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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

NASET Sponsor - Arkansas State Univeristy

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NASET Sponsor - Liberty Mutual

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New This Week on NASET

The Parent Teacher Conference Handout
December 2012

General Characteristics of Emotional Disturbance vs. Social Maladjustment

A student who receives special education services under the category of Emotional Disability has emotional problems of some kind that are adversely affecting his/her educational performance. Usually schools look at grades, discipline records, and performance on achievement tests to quantify educational impact. In determining eligibility for Emotional Disability, several evaluations are typically completed.



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Food Allergies Make Kids a Target of Bullies

It's tough enough having to avoid products with peanuts and other ingredients as a kid with severe food allergies. It's tougher when someone at school waves a granola bar in your face at the peanut-free lunch table. That's what happened last week to a Pennsylvania fifth-grader whose mother asked that he not be identified. The boy had experienced allergic reactions to merely touching peanuts or breathing peanut particles in the past, so the act of granola-waving was more serious than for other allergy sufferers. "He said [he was] scared, and 'sad that he would do that to me,' and 'mad that he would do that to me,' and worried that it's going to happen again," the boy's mother said.To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

Universal screening means all students are involved in an initial assessment of knowledge and skills. From this universal screening, it's possible to identify which students appear to be struggling or lacking specific knowledge or skills in a given area. Assessment of early reading skills has received particular attention as screening tools have been developed.

Sibling Caregivers Find Responsibilities a Struggle

About half of adult siblings of those with developmental disabilities either are or plan to be the primary caregiver for their brother or sister, but many are unprepared for the responsibility, a new survey finds. The nationalpollreleased Wednesday indicates that among adult siblings of those with a disability, 23 percent are currently serving as primary caregivers while 1 in 3 expect to take on that role in the future. And many are finding the experience to be daunting, fraught with emotional and financial challenges and little support. The survey conducted by the market research firm Ipsos on behalf of Easter Seals solicited feedback from 351 brothers and sisters of people with developmental disabilities from across the country. A control group of nearly 1,400 adults with typically developing siblings was also polled. To read more,click here


AASEP Logo

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

Arne Duncan Sketches Out 'Long Haul' Agenda

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who says he plans to serve in the Obama Cabinet for the "long haul," has begun sketching out his priorities for the next four years. They include using competitive levers to improve teacher and principal quality and holding the line on initiatives he started during the president's first term. The secretary is also making clear what he won't do: devote a lot of energy to a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act if Congress doesn't get serious about rewriting the current version, the No Child Left Behind Act. "We will lead, we will help, we will push, but Congress has to want to do it," Mr. Duncan said in remarks last month to the Council of Chief State School Officers. To read more,click here


Kids May Be at Slightly Higher Asthma Risk If Parents Had Infertility Treatments

Children born after in vitro fertilization are more likely to have asthma, according to a new British study. Experts say, however, that parents shouldn't be overly concerned about the new findings, and point out that the risk isn't much higher than in other children. "This is not a thing to worry about," said Dr. David Cohen, chief of reproductive medicine and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at University of Chicago. "The incidence is really small." "I never really imagined such an association," added Cohen, who was not part of the study. "Association is not the same thing as causation -- and I wonder about the biological possibility." To read more,click here


Did You Know That....

Progress monitoring is very much what it sounds like. It is a constant checking of student progress with whatever evidence-based instruction is being used. Progress monitoring helps pinpoint where each individual student is having difficulties.

Kids With HIV at Risk of Heart Disease

Children infected with HIV are at increased risk for hardening of the arteries and require cholesterol-lowering drugs and healthy lifestyle habits to prevent early death from cardiovascular disease, according to a new study. Thickening and hardening of the arteries is known as atherosclerosis. In this study, researchers assessed 150 children and teens with HIV, the AIDS-causing virus, and 150 healthy youngsters. Those with HIV were two-and-a-half times more likely to have higher levels of a biological indicator of atherosclerosis than those without HIV. The findings were scheduled for presentation Wednesday at the annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging in Athens, Greece. To read more,click here


NASET Sponsor - Arkansas State University

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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:
Pamela R. Downing-Hosten, Peggy Woodall, Marty Rahn, Jennifer L. Melloy, Jessica L. Ulmer, Debra Arkin, Sara Smith, Ope-Oluwa Olubela, Catherine Cardenas, Cynthia Calanog, Vanessa Chratian, Steve Dollahan, Olumide Akerele, Elena Ghionis, Prahbhjot Malhi, Marlene Barnett, Sarah James, Ann S. Cleckley, Marilyn Haile, Roxanne Richardson, and Christi Thomas who all knew the answer to last week's trivia question:

What is the name of the eye condition where the eyes look in different directions and do not focus simultaneously on a single point?--Strabismus

 


THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
According to recent research in the field of autism, children exposed to air pollution from traffic and other sources while in the womb and during their first year may be at an increased risk for autism.Infants exposed to the highest levels of air pollution were how many times more likely to develop autism than those exposed to the lowest levels?
If you know the answer, send an email tocontactus@naset.org
All answers must be submitted no later than Monday, December 17, 2012 at 12:00 p.m.

Bullied Teens May Suffer Lingering Trauma

Bullied teenagers can develop post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, according to a new study. The findings suggest that victims of bullying may require long-term support, said the researchers from the University of Stavanger in Norway. They looked at almost 1,000 teens, ages 14 and 15, and found that one-third of those who said they had been bullied had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, such as intrusive memories and avoidance behavior. Those with the worst symptoms were bullying victims who also bullied others. The researchers also found that girls were more likely to have PTSD symptoms than boys. To read more,click here


AASEP Logo

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

Court Upholds $1M Award in School Race-Harassment Case

A federal appeals court has upheld a $1 million jury award against a small New York state school district found to be deliberately indifferent to persistent racial harassment of a high school student by his peers. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in New York City, ruled unanimously in favor of the family of Anthony Zeno, who is half-white and half-Latino and is described in court papers as "dark-skinned." Zeno was 16 when his family moved in January 2005 from Long Island to the heavily white community of Pine Plains, in Dutchess County, N.Y. At Stissing Mountain High School, where racial minorities were less than 5 percent of the student enrollment, Zeno quickly encountered the harassment, including students calling him "nigger" in the halls and telling him to go back where he came from, according to court papers. A student ripped a necklace from Zeno's neck and referred to it as Zeno's "fake rapper bling bling." There were also direct and implied threats aimed at Zeno, and references to lynching. To read more,click here


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Is Childhood Intelligence Linked to Pain Problems in Adulthood?

Children who score higher on intelligence tests are less likely to suffer from chronic widespread pain later in life, according to a new study. This condition is a common musculoskeletal problem affecting 10 percent to 15 percent of adults, the researchers explained. They noted that chronic widespread pain occurs more often among women and people from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds and is a core symptom of fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder that affects an estimated 5 million Americans. The study was published in the December issue of the journalPain. To read more,click here


Children's Seizures Not Always Damaging, Study Finds

Not all prolonged seizures permanently hurt children with epilepsy, according to preliminary findings from a long-term follow-up study. The study included 74 children with epilepsy who underwent an evaluation of brain health and mental skills within 10 years of initial enrollment.

The tests showed that those who had experienced prolonged febrile seizures (convulsions triggered by a fever) were normal, the American and British researchers said. The study authors said they were surprised to discover that only one child had mesial temporal sclerosis, a type of brain damage that is most common in temporal lobe epilepsy. This suggests that the connection between febrile seizures and this condition is weaker than previously believed. To read more,click here


Psychiatry Gets Revised Diagnostic Manual: One of the biggest changes is that 'autistic disorder' will now be known as 'autism spectrum disorder.'

The long-awaited revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has been approved, bringing with it a series of revisions, additions and subtractions to the tome that is considered the Bible of psychiatry. The revision, announced Saturday, has been more than a decade in the making and included input from more than 1,500 experts in all walks of medicine in 39 countries. The changes to the DSM "will have some impact because there are some substantial changes in diagnostic criteria," said Dr. Bryan Bruno, acting chair of psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "The implications [will relate] not only to insurance coverage but to what we consider psychopathology. That is very much influenced by what the DSM says," he added. To read more,click here


What Doctors Don't Know About Treating Kids With Epilepsy

Many American doctors lack knowledge about the proper diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in children, according to a new study. Researchers surveyed pediatricians, family doctors and neurologists/neurosurgeons in central Texas to assess whether they were using current best-practice guidelines when dealing with children with epilepsy. The results showed that many of the participants were misinformed about what constitutes intractable epilepsy (defined as epilepsy that cannot be controlled with medications), when to refer young patients for surgical evaluation, and what types of seizures may respond to surgical treatment. To read more,click here


Did You Know That....

With RTI, schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student's responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities or other disabilities.

Congress Votes to Strike 'Lunatic' from Federal Laws

Withprecious few days remaining on the calendar, what is Congress doing to pass the time while top leaders and President Obama work to avert the "fiscal cliff?" The Housevoted 397 to 1Wednesday to give final approval to a bill that strikes the word "lunatic" from federal laws. The term, deemed offensive and outdated by mental health advocates, appears in laws permitting banks to act as a trustee, executor or administrator of the estates of the mentally disabled. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)was the lone "no" vote. Though he didn't explicitly explain his decision, he alluded to his vote later in the day during a speech advocating the flat tax. "To keep spending and not pay the price, that is immoral," Gohmert said. "That's why we shouldn't eliminate the word 'lunatic.' It really has application around this town." To read more,click here


Autism Blood Test Shows Promise

Diagnosing autism could soon be much simpler, with researchers saying this week that they've developed a blood test that appears to identify those with the disorder even before symptoms are apparent. The early-stage test developed at Boston Children's Hospital may be able to flag about two-thirds of those with autism, researchersreportedin the journal PLOS ONE. Currently, clinicians rely on observation to screen children for autism. Most kids are not diagnosed until after age 4, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But a blood test offers the promise of flagging kids and potentially enrolling them in early intervention programs even before symptoms appear. To read more,click here


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

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi


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