WEEK IN REVIEW

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

October 12, 2012 - Vol 8, Issue 38

New This Week on NASET

A sophisticated genetic test sometimes used during pregnancy can't always predict if chromosomal abnormalities will cause problems in children, leading some mothers to label the information "toxic knowledge" they wish they hadn't received, a small new study shows. Researchers from three universities found that expectant mothers receiving bad news about a genetic test called a DNA microarray -- more often used after birth to identify chromosomal problems in children with unexplained delays or defects -- reported mostly negative responses, ranging from feeling blindsided to needing support to digest the information and make critical decisions about their pregnancies. The women's reactions challenge the notion that knowledge is power, especially when that knowledge pertains to ambiguous information about an unborn baby's health, said study author Barbara Bernhardt, a genetic counselor and clinical professor of medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

Nearly two dozen states will benefit from millions in new federal funding to improve training for those working with special education students in the nation's schools. The U.S. Department of Education says it is sending more than $24 million to 22 states. The funding is intended to help recruit and retain highly-qualified special educators, support teachers in blending the needs of those with disabilities and the new common core standards and train educators to utilize positive behavioral interventions and supports, among other initiatives. "The quality of education our children with disabilities receive is dependent on how well-equipped the workforce is in supporting young people with disabilities," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in announcing the new money late last week. These grants will support states' efforts to improve their training systems for staff, and better serve children with disabilities as a result." To read more, click here

Scale to Measure Parent-Teacher Communication at the K-12 Level

Communication between K-12 teachers and parents has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Parent-teacher communication represents a primary form of parental support or involvement, elements which have recently received much attention given the connections between parental support and academic achievement. In fact, parental involvement at the K-12 level represents a major component in recent education policies at the national level. Mazer and Blair Thompson (Western Kentucky University) published an article in the April 2012 issue of Communication Education in which they developed a scale to measure parent-teacher communication at the K-12 level. The Parental Academic Support Scale (PASS) was developed to assess the supportive interactions between parents and teachers, including the frequency of specific behaviors associated with parental academic support, parents' perceptions of the importance of those supportive behaviors, and the modes (e-mail, face-to-face interactions, phone, etc.) of communication that parents commonly use to communicate with teachers. School districts nationwide may find this scale useful in enhancing communication between parents and teachers. To read more, click here

Mom's High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy Could Affect Child's IQ Into Old Age

New research suggests that a mother's high blood pressure during pregnancy may have an effect on her child's thinking skills all the way into old age. The study is published in the October 3, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "High blood pressure and related conditions such as preeclampsia complicate about 10 percent of all pregnancies and can affect a baby's environment in the womb," said study author Katri Räikönen, PhD, with the University of Helsinki in Finland. "Our study suggests that even declines in thinking abilities in old age could have originated during the prenatal period when the majority of the development of brain structure and function occurs." To read more,click here

Researchers say they have developed a blood test that could potentially detect hundreds of genetic conditions in newborn babies in about two days. The test might allow physicians to quickly diagnose babies and treat them instead of waiting for lengthy tests or guessing without full information. The test, which uses a drop of a newborn's blood to examine the entire genome, isn't ready for widespread use. A study released Oct. 3 reports only the results of testing that confirmed genetic conditions in three newborns. The test could be available soon, however, said study co-author Dr. Stephen Kingsmore, director of the Center for Pediatric Genomic Medicine at the Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. To read more, click here

Did You Know That....

New research adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that severe intellectual disability is caused by random genetic mutations that are not passed down from parents. Severe intellectual disability, also known as nonsyndromic mental retardation, is the most common form of mental retardation. Children or adults with the condition have no physical abnormalities, but have IQs of less than 50. It affects up to 2 percent of children worldwide. The new findings, which appear in the Oct. 3 online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, dovetail with a similar study published last week in The Lancet. To read more, click here

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Medication Use Higher Among Overweight, Obese Kids

Overweight children are far more likely to take prescription medications than children of a normal weight -- a trend that adds to already higher health-care costs for treating childhood obesity, according to new research from the University of Alberta. Researchers from the School of Public Health analyzed the medication use of more than 2,000 Canadian children through the 2007 to 2009 Canadian Health Measures Survey. They found that overweight and obese kids aged 12 to 19 years were 59 per cent more likely than their normal-weight peers to take prescription medication. Co-author Christina Fung said prescription drug expenditures have doubled over the past decade and now account for 17 per cent of health-care costs in Canada -- the second highest after hospital expenses. Having a more complete picture helps governments and health-care providers direct spending more effectively, she said. To read more, click here

Parents should not worry that proposed changes to the criteria for diagnosing autism might leave their child ineligible for care, a new study indicates. Researchers assessed the impact of the proposed changes, which were developed by an expert panel appointed by the American Psychiatric Association and are expected to take effect in May 2013. Previous research had suggested that 45 percent or more of children who currently qualify for a diagnosis of autism would not under the new criteria. Those findings caused widespread concern among parents who depend on state-financed health services for their children, The New York Times reported. To read more, click here

Psychiatric Disorders Persist After Youths Leave Detention, Study Finds

It was a study everyone thought couldn't be done -- tracking, locating and interviewing nearly 2,000 youths up to five years after they were released from juvenile detention in Chicago to assess their mental health. But a team of intrepid Northwestern Medicine researchers found the young men and women and traveled anywhere necessary to interview them. Many were interviewed after they returned home. Others, however, were interviewed in less conventional locations -- a dancer on a break from her job in a nightclub, a woman in her boyfriend's garbage truck or men and women in correctional facilities. One of the key findings: Five years after detention, more than 45 percent of males and nearly 30 percent of females had one or more psychiatric disorders. To read more, click here

Despite government agency reports suggesting a decrease in child abuse cases, new data show that the number of children hospitalized due to serious abuse-related injuries actually increased slightly from 1997 to 2009. In the new study, researchers analyzed U.S. hospital statistics from the Kids Inpatient Database. During this 12-year period, the incidence of serious injuries due to child abuse -- including fractures and abusive head trauma -- increased by 4.9 percent. By contrast, child protective service records showed a 55 percent decrease in child abuse injuries in that time period. The new findings appear online Oct. 1 and in the November print issue of Pediatrics. To read more, click here

Low Birth Weight May Increase Risk for Cardiovascular Disease, Kidney Disease and Diabetes

Being underweight at birth may have consequences above and beyond the known short-term effects says a research report published in the October 2012 issue of The FASEB Journal. The report shows that rats with a low birth weight have an increased long-term risk for developing cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and diabetes. What's more, older females are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure before and during pregnancy, which in turn, may restrict growth in the womb, putting offspring at risk for being born at a low birth weight. "Ensuring adequate growth of the baby in the womb will help to minimize the risk of cardiovascular diseases for babies when they become adults," said Mary E. Wlodek, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Physiology at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. "Greater considerations regarding the effects of delayed child-bearing may also help to provide an optimal start to life." To read more, click here

A common herbicide called atrazine may be associated with a rare birth defect of the nasal cavity, a new study suggests. Atrazine -- the most widely used herbicide in the United States, particularly in corn crops -- is believed to be an endocrine disruptor, which means that it may interfere with the hormone system in humans. The new study looked at the link between atrazine and choanal atresia, a birth defect in which tissue formed during fetal development blocks the back of the nasal passage. The condition affects a baby's ability to breathe. Surgery is the typical treatment. To read more, click here

Did You Know That....

Baby Communication Gives Clues to Autism

Approximately 19 percent of children with a sibling diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will develop Autism due to shared genetic and environmental vulnerabilities, according to previous studies. For that reason, University of Miami (UM) psychologists are developing ways to predict the occurrence of ASD in high-risk children, early in life, in hopes that early intervention will lead to better outcomes in the future. Their findings are published in the journal Infancy. The study is one of the first to show that measures of non-verbal communication in children, as young as eight months of age, predict autism symptoms that become evident by the third year of life. The results suggest that identifying children, who are having difficulties early enough, can enhance the effects of interventions. To read more, click here

Federal education officials are handling a record number of disability-related civil rights complaints in the nation's schools. In a report out this week, the U.S. Department of Education says that more than 11,700 complaints alleging violations of disability rights were filed with its Office of Civil Rights between 2009 and 2011. That's the highest number ever received in a three-year period, the agency said. The vast majority of concerns - more than 4,600 - hinged on the rights of students with disabilities to a free and appropriate public education, or FAPE. To read more, click here

Lack of Sleep Leads to Insulin Resistance in Teens

A new study suggests that increasing the amount of sleep that teenagers get could improve their insulin resistance and prevent the future onset of diabetes. "High levels of insulin resistance can lead to the development of diabetes," said lead author Karen Matthews, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry. "We found that if teens that normally get six hours of sleep per night get one extra hour of sleep, they would improve insulin resistance by 9 percent." The study, appearing in the October issue of the journal Sleep, tracked the sleep duration and insulin resistance levels of 245 healthy high school students. Participants provided a fasting blood draw, and they kept a sleep log and wore a wrist actigraph for one week during the school year. Sleep duration based on actigraphy averaged 6.4 hours over the week, with school days significantly lower than weekends. To read more, click here