WEEK IN REVIEW

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

August 30, 2013 - Vol 9, Issue 35

New This Week on NASET

U.S. Department of Education Addresses Bullying of Students with Disabilities

Severe bullying of a student with disabilities could deny that student's right to a free, appropriate public education and would need to be addressed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, according to a guidance letter for districts, states, and building administrators released today from the U.S. Department of Education. A student who is not receiving "meaningful educational benefit" because of bullying triggers that provision, but even bullying that is less severe can undermine a student's ability to meet his or her full potential, said the letter, written by Melody Musgrove, director of the office of special education programs, and Michael Yudin, the acting assistant secretary of the office of special education and rehabilitative services. If a student with a disability is bullying others, school officials should review that student's individualized education program to see if additional support or changes to the student's environment are necessary. To read more,click here

Dyslexia Researchers Launch Multicultural-Outreach Effort

Drs. Sally and Bennett Shaywitz, the co-directors of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, based at Yale University, and longtime researchers of the reading disorder, have started a campaign to bring greater awareness of dyslexia to communities of color. The Multicultural Dyslexia Awareness Initiative had its first meeting earlier this month, honoring well-known people with dyslexia, such as actor and activist Harry Belafonte and author Victor Villaseñor. The initiative plans to hold more meetings across the country in coming months, Sally Shaywitz said in a conversation with Education Week. Too many children, she said, learn that they have dyslexia almost by accident, after years of struggling with school. To read more,click here

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FDA Warns Against Alternative Autism Therapy

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that a therapy often marketed for treating autism, cerebral palsy and other conditions is unproven and may "endanger their health." Federal regulators said that contrary to many claims on the Internet, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not clinically proven to cure or effectively treat the developmental disorders and many other conditions. "Patients may incorrectly believe that these devices have been proven safe and effective for uses not cleared by the FDA, which may cause them to delay or forgo proven medical therapies," said Nayan Patel, a biomedical engineer at the FDA's anesthesiology devices branch. To read more,click here

Allergies, Asthma Show Links to ADHD: Study

Boys diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are more likely also to have asthma, allergies and skin infections than youngsters without ADHD, a new study finds, suggesting a possible link between these conditions. Of those in the study, boys newly diagnosed with ADHD were 40 percent more likely to have asthma, 50 percent more likely to have needed a prescription for allergy medicine and 50 percent more likely to have had a bacterial skin infection than other boys. "Our study provides additional evidence to support the hypothesis that atopic disorders, such as asthma and food allergies increase the risk of developing ADHD," the authors wrote, adding that further research is necessary to determine just how these conditions might be connected. To read more,click here

Antipsychotic Drugs May Triple Kids' Diabetes Risk, Study Suggests

Antipsychotic medications such as Seroquel, Abilify and Risperdal can triple a child's risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the first year of usage, according to a new study. Powerful antipsychotics traditionally were used to treat schizophrenia. Now the majority of prescriptions for antipsychotic medications are for treatment of bipolar disorder, ADHD and mood disorders such as depression, according to prior research. But antipsychotic drugs make a child much more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than the medications typically prescribed for these other psychiatric conditions, said corresponding author Wayne Ray, director of the division of pharmacoepidemiology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, in Nashville, Tenn. To read more,click here

With Facebook Support, Teen With Down Syndrome Lands Photo Shoot

Within days, a teen with Down syndrome has accrued more than 10,000 likes on Facebook and now she's getting the star treatment from her favorite clothing chain. An aspiring model, Karrie Brown started a Facebook page earlier this month in the hopes of gaining the attention of the clothing retailer Wet Seal. "Karrie has Down Syndrome, but she doesn't let that stop her from following her dreams, which is to be a model. We recently found out that Wet Seal has started carrying plus size clothing, which happens to be a great fit and fashion for girls with Down Syndrome," reads a note on Brown'spage. "Wet Seal if you are listening, 'Karrie fits in while standing out!' and that's directly from your mission statement." To read more,click here

Genetic Risks for Eating Disorders, Alcoholism May Be Connected

Alcoholism and certain types of eating disorders share common genetic risk factors, according to a new study. Researchers looked at nearly 6,000 adult fraternal and identical twins in Australia. Of those, nearly 25 percent of men and 6 percent of women were alcoholics, nearly 11 percent of men and 13 percent of women reported binge eating, and about 14 percent of women reported purging tactics such as self-induced vomiting or laxative abuse. Genes appeared to account for 38 percent to 53 percent of the risk of developing these conditions, and some of the same genetic risk factors that make people susceptible to alcoholism also make them vulnerable to binge eating or purging, according to the study in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. To read more,click here

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How Toddlers' TV Time Can Hurt Kindergarten Success

Toddlers who watch too much television have a more difficult time when they start kindergarten, a new Canadian study suggests. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for kids under 2 and a limit of two hours a day of screen time for children aged 2 and older. This study looked at how the TV-viewing habits of about 2,000 children in Quebec at the age of 29 months affected them when they started kindergarten. Every hourly increase in daily TV viewing over the recommended two-hour limit at the younger age was associated with poorer vocabulary, math skills and attention; reduced physical abilities; and an increased risk of being picked on by classmates when the children started kindergarten. To read more,click here

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

With Eye On 2015, Special Olympics World Games Taking Shape

The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games will be the largest sporting event to hitLos Angelessince the 1984 Olympics - a logistical enterprise that seems impossible when you walk into the organizing committee's office downtown. About a dozen employees work out of the donated space, a cluster of empty cubicles strewn with half-opened boxes of business cards and printers that haven't been plugged in yet. But in two years, a full-time staff of 160 and an estimated 30,000 volunteers will put on competitions throughout Los Angeles for more than 7,000 athletes in an event that will bring an estimated $415 million to the regional economy. To read more,click here

Autism May Be Overlooked in Young Latino Children

Latino children typically are diagnosed with autism more than two years later than white children, and new research suggests that language-appropriate screenings and access to autism specialists are two big factors in that delay. "Parents need to know that early identification of autism is important," said study author Dr. Katharine Zuckerman, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. "It leads to better outcomes for the child and better family outcomes. It may even save money. All children should be screened." To read more,click here

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Shock After Family Told To 'Euthanize' Boy With Autism

Police are investigating after an anonymous letter suggesting that a teen with autism should be euthanized stunned his family and led to widespread outrage and media attention. The typed, one-pageletterwas reportedly sent to Brenda Millson last week in reference to her grandson Maxwell Begley, 13, who has autism and often spends time at her house in Newcastle, Ontario. It has since spread like wildfire through social media. "He is a hinderance to everyone," reads the message signed by "One pissed off mother!!!!!" "Take whatever non retarded body parts he possesses and donate it to science," says the letter, which claims to be from a neighbor. "Do the right thing and move or euthanize him." The note left Begley's family shaking. To read more,click here

Epilepsy Drug Warnings May Slip Through Cracks

One-fifth of U.S. neurologists are unaware of serious safety risks associated with epilepsy drugs and are potentially risking the health of patients who could be treated with safer medications, a new study reveals. The 505 neurologists who took part in the survey between March and July 2012 were asked if they knew about several epilepsy drugs' safety risks recently identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These risks included increased danger of suicidal thoughts or behaviors linked with some newer drugs, a high risk for birth defects and mental impairment in children of mothers taking divalproex (brand name Depakote), and the likelihood of serious hypersensitivity reactions in some Asian patients treated with carbamazepine (Tegretol). To read more,click here

Insulin Pumps Better Than Injections for Kids With Type 1 Diabetes: Study

Devices called insulin pumps may work better at controlling blood sugar in children with type 1 diabetes than insulin injections, a new study finds. They might also cause fewer complications, the Australian researchers said. "This is the largest study of insulin-pump use in children," wrote a team led by Dr. Elizabeth Davis of the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth. "It also has the longest follow-up period of any study of insulin-pump therapy in children. Our data confirm that insulin-pump therapy provides an improvement in glycemic control, which is sustained for at least seven years." To read more,click here

Determining Child's Risk When Older Sibling Has Autism

Children who have an older sibling diagnosed with autism are known to be at higher risk for the disorder themselves, but exactly how much of an increased risk has been debated. In a large new study, Danish researchers have found that risk, which they call recurrence risk, may be lower than other studies have suggested. "The recurrence risk of autism spectrum disorders is about seven times the risk of the general population," said Therese Koops Gronborg, a Ph.D. student at Aarhus University who led the study. To read more,click here

How Sleep Helps Brain Learn Motor Task

Sleep helps the brain consolidate what we've learned, but scientists have struggled to determine what goes on in the brain to make that happen for different kinds of learned tasks. In a new study, researchers pinpoint the brainwave frequencies and brain region associated with sleep-enhanced learning of a sequential finger tapping task akin to typing, or playing piano. You take your piano lesson, you go to sleep and when you wake up your fingers are better able to play that beautiful sequence of notes. How does sleep make that difference? A new study helps to explain what happens in your brain during those fateful, restful hours when motor learning takes hold. To read more,click here

First Pre-Clinical Gene Therapy Study to Reverse Rett Symptoms

The concept behind gene therapy is simple: deliver a healthy gene to compensate for one that is mutated. New research published today in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests this approach may eventually be a feasible option to treat Rett Syndrome, the most disabling of the autism spectrum disorders. Gail Mandel, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes Investigator at Oregon Health and Sciences University, led the study. The Rett Syndrome Research Trust, with generous support from the Rett Syndrome Research Trust UK and Rett Syndrome Research & Treatment Foundation, funded this work through the MECP2 Consortium.To read more,click here

Antipsychotic Drug Use in Children for Mood/Behavior Disorders Increases Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Prescribing of "atypical" antipsychotic medications to children and young adults with behavioral problems or mood disorders may put them at unnecessary risk for type 2 diabetes, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study shows. Young people using medications like risperidone, quetiapine, aripiprazol and olanzapine led to a threefold increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the first year of taking the drug, according to the study published Aug. 21 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. While other studies have shown an increased risk for type 2 diabetes associated with the use atypical antipsychotic medications, this is the first large, well-designed study to look at the risk in children, said Wayne A. Ray, Ph.D., professor of Preventive Medicine, and senior author of the study. The authors note the use of these drugs for non-psychosis-related mood, attention or behavioral disorders in youth/children now accounts for the majority of prescriptions. To read more,click here

Bullying Makes Victims More Likely To Smoke, Become Ill, And Develop Psychiatric Disorders As Adults

Bullying has long been "just a part of growing up," until recently, when it shot to the forefront of public discourse because of a few highly publicized bullying incidents which were taken to another level because of the victim's sexual preferences. Although previous research has shown that children who are victims to bullying are more likely to have problems in school, with depression, and with their overall health, very little research has looked into its effects years later. A new study, however, wanted to examine exactly that, and found that victims are likely to have issues with their wealth, health, and social life.To read more,click here

Amid Fears of Autism, No Link Found Between Vaccines and Neurological Disorders in Children

One in 88 children is diagnosed with autism before his eighth birthday. That rate shrinks to one in 54 for boys, who are nearly five times more likely to have the condition than girls. Swirling around this growing body of diagnoses is a debate over the disorder's cause, which scientists have not yet established, but it continues to draw speculation, particularly from people who argue rising vaccination rates are playing a key role. However, a recent study adds to the evidence that suggests otherwise. Published in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, the study culled publicly available data on the immunization rates of seven to 10 year olds from four managed care organizations from when they were seven months, 12 months, and 24 months old. Researchers tested the children for a variety of cognitive and physiological functions and compared the findings with the number of antigens they received during infancy. No connection was found between immunization rates and neurological disorders. To read more,click here