WEEK IN REVIEW

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

June 14, 2013 - Vol 9, Issue 24

New This Week on NASET

The assessment process in special education is a very detailed approach.  It is one that involves many meetings and conversations.  Too often, we hear educators speaking with anacronyms rather than using the full words or phrase (e.g., at most meetings you'll here someone say "Billy has an IEP" instead of "Billy has an Individualized Education Program". The disability community is full of acronyms that people constantly use in writing and in conversation, and it's important to know what those acronyms stand for.  Acronyms are used in order to abbreviate names or phrases. This issue of NASET's Assessment in Special Education series was provided by the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY).  We are pleased to provide this list of special education and disability related acronyms, and hope it helps our members quickly connect with the meaning of pivotal acronyms in the field, as well as be used as a possible handout for parents in the future.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois is considering getting rid of certain decades-old state regulations in order to get more students with disabilities educated alongside their typically developing peers. From the article: The proposed changes could affect students both with and without disabilities in virtually every public school in Illinois and open the door for more disabled students in mainstream classes-a key goal of federal special education law, state officials say. ...The proposals, expected to be discussed in June and voted on in August by the Illinois State Board of Education, have generated an unprecedented response-much of it critical. Those who fear class sizes will increase, special education teachers and aides will be laid off, and children will be hurt have bombarded state officials with thousands of letters and comments. To read more, click here

Did You Know That....

Federal Lawmakers Weigh Computer-Adaptive Testing

Computer-adaptive testing, designed to respond to students' answers and more accurately pinpoint their performance level, is gaining support in both chambers of Congress as lawmakers consider proposals to reauthorize No Child Left Behind. "Adaptive tests are already being used in several states, including Delaware, Hawaii, and Oregon, and at least 20 states plan to use adaptive tests by 2014-15. However, under the current law, these tests don't fulfill federal NCLB testing requirements. To read more, click here

Honor Society for Special Education Teachers

ELL Accountability Could Widen Under Harkin NCLB Bill

Democratic and Republican versions of bills to renew the No Child Left Behind Act have rolled out this week, signaling again, as Education Week's congressional analyst extraordinaire Alyson Klein explains, that there's likely zero chance any actual reauthorizing of the federal education law will happen in the current Congress. Nonetheless, I still wanted to comb through to see how the proposals envision instruction, assessment, and accountability for the 10 percent of public school students who are English-language learners. The Democratic version of the bill, unveiled by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who chairs the Senate education committee, would change the landscape quite a bit. To read more, click here

Federal officials are urging housing providers across the country to do more to help people with disabilities find affordable places to live in their communities. Under a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case known as Olmstead v. L.C., people with disabilities have the right to live and receive services in the community whenever possible. But officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are acknowledging that a lack of integrated, affordable housing options has made achieving that reality difficult. To read more, click here

Almost one-third of children with autism also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and symptoms appear to be more severe in kids affected by both conditions, new research suggests. The findings come from a long-term study of 162 children who were tracked starting when they were still infants or toddlers. By the time the kids reached ages 4 through 8, researchers found that 63 had autism. Of those with the developmental disorder, parent reports indicated that 18 of the children - or about 29 percent - also had clinically significant symptoms of ADHD. To read more, click here

New data from the U.S. Department of Labor finds the unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities inching upward. Figures released Friday show that the jobless rate for individuals with disabilities reached 13.6 percent in May. That's up from 12.9 percent the month prior. The rise comes as the overall employment situation remained relatively steady. The Labor Department said that the unemployment rate for the general population ticked up slightly to 7.6 percent in May from 7.5 percent the previous month while the economy added 175,000 jobs. To read more, click here

Autism Discovery Paves Way for Early Blood Test and Therapeutic Options

Researchers at the JC Self Research Institute of the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC), along with collaborators from Biolog, Inc. in California, have reported an important discovery in the understanding of autism which was published this week in Molecular Autism. The study, led by GGC's Director of Research, Charles Schwartz, PhD, (left) and Staff Scientist, Luigi Boccuto, MD, (right) found that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) showed significantly decreased metabolism of the amino acid L-tryptophan when compared to both typical controls and individuals with other neurodevelopmental disorders. Cells from individuals with autism metabolized L-tryptophan at a decreased rate whereas cells from individuals without autism did not show this change. To read more, click here

Common Genetic Disease Linked to Father's Age

Scientists at USC have unlocked the mystery of why new cases of the genetic disease Noonan Syndrome are so common: a mutation that causes the disease disproportionately increases a normal father's production of sperm carrying the disease trait. When this Noonan syndrome mutation arises in a normal sperm stem cell it makes that cell more likely to reproduce itself than stem cells lacking the mutation. The father then is more likely to have an affected child because more mutant stem cells result in more mutant sperm. The longer the man waits to have children the greater the chance of having a child with Noonan syndrome. To read more, click here

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:  

Bev Taylor, Ope-Oluwa Olubela, Sandy Shacklady-White, Pamela R. Downing-Hosten, Ida K. O'Leary, Olumide Akerele, Karen Bornholmand, Mike Namian 

   

who all knew the answer to last week's trivia question:  

F. Hall Roe was a man with Cerebral Palsy who created an alternative means to communicate through a communication board. He was important to the field of technology in special education because he created one of the earliest augmentative communication device, which now many of which are computerized.

  

  

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: 

 

Public day-school programs specifically for children with disabilities came somewhat regularly into existence around 1900. Large northern cities were at the forefront of these efforts. The first classes for "cripples" (i.e., children with mobility impairments) were in what two major cities? 

 

If you know the answer, send an email to contactus@naset.org 

All answers must be submitted no later than Monday, June 17, 2013 at 12:00 p.m.

NASET Sponsor - Drexel University Online

To learn more - Click here

Brain Imaging Study Eliminates Differences in Visual Function as a Cause of Dyslexia

A new brain imaging study of dyslexia shows that differences in the visual system do not cause the disorder, but instead are likely a consequence. The findings, published today in the journal Neuron, provide important insights into the cause of this common reading disorder and address a long-standing debate about the role of visual symptoms observed in developmental dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most prevalent of all learning disabilities, affecting about 12 percent of the U.S. population. Beyond the primarily observed reading deficits, individuals with dyslexia often also exhibit subtle weaknesses in processing visual stimuli. Scientists have speculated whether these deficits represent the primary cause of dyslexia, with visual dysfunction directly impacting the ability to learn to read. The current study demonstrates that they do not. To read more, click here

Using an immune-suppressing medication and adult stem cells from healthy donors, researchers say they were able to cure type 1 diabetes in mice. "This is a whole new concept," said the study's senior author, Habib Zaghouani, a professor of microbiology and immunology, child health and neurology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Mo. In the midst of their laboratory research, something unanticipated occurred. The researchers expected that the adult stem cells would turn into functioning beta cells (cells that produce insulin). Instead, the stem cells turned into endothelial cells that generated the development of new blood vessels to supply existing beta cells with the nourishment they needed to regenerate and thrive.  To read more, click here

Smelling essential oils, walking across textured surfaces, immersing hands in warm water -- these are just some of the therapeutic experiences that boys with autism had while participating in a small new study. The scientists wanted to learn how "sensory-motor" therapy compared to traditional behavioral therapy methods in boys with autism. Twenty-eight boys aged 3 to 12 and their parents participated in the six-month-long study, published online May 20 in Behavioral Neuroscience. The boys were split into two groups. Both groups of children participated in daily behavioral therapy, but 13 of the boys also received environmental enrichment, another term for sensory-motor therapy. To read more, click here

Language difficulties may prevent Hispanic parents living in the United States from learning all they can about child health. Now they have a new option: a Spanish-language website launched by a leading group of pediatricians. The American Academy of Pediatrics' new website, known as HealthyChildren.org en Espanol, offers general information about children's health, answers to parents' specific pediatric problems and insight on disease prevention and treatment. "Until now there has never been a reliable Spanish-language resource I could recommend to the Spanish-speaking parents whose children I care for," Dr. Joanna Betancourt, an AAP spokeswoman, said in an academy release. "With the launch of HealthyChildren.org en Espanol, pediatricians can direct Hispanic families online to find culturally relevant information based on their children's ages and health topics." To read more, click here

It's no secret that there are a number of benefits to breastfeeding babies, from boosting their immune system to cutting risks of infections and disease. Now a new study bolsters the mounting evidence with a series of brain scans that illustrate faster brain development, particularly areas involving language, motor, and cognition, in infants that were exclusively breastfed. "We wanted to see how early these changes in brain development actually occur," said Sean Deoni, assistant professor of engineering at Brown University. "We show that they're there almost right off the bat." To read more, click here

Nearly two dozen foster children with a variety of disabilities spent time on Sunday petting, grooming and becoming friends with horses at Orlando's Trotters Park. "He just loves animals so much, that for him to be able to come out here and be with these horses, it's wonderful," said Debbie Thomas, about her 7-year-old son, Spencer, while he petted a part Arabian horse named "Ivan." Spencer - who has bright red hair and a cheery personality - was born with a muscular disability that requires him to use a motorized wheelchair most of the time. Thomas, a foster mother, adopted Spencer when he was 3 years old. To read more, click here