WEEK IN REVIEW

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

June 21, 2013 - Vol 9, Issue 25

New This Week on NASET

U.S. Department of Education Solicits Applications for Technical Assistance Centers Related to IDEIA

The U.S. Department of Education is looking for parties interested in providing technical assistance related to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The first funding opportunity is for entities that will provide assistance to theparent training and information centers, which are IDEA-mandated organizations that help parents navigate the special education system. There are currently 100 parent centers nationwide. The second opportunity is for a new center that will help states accurately collect and report IDEA data. (As I wrote a few weeks ago,changes are comingto the system that states use to collect data on students with disabilities.) To read more,click here

Minnesota Faces Special Education Teacher Shortage

The shortage in educators trained in special education is an old story, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune provides depth to the issue in an recentarticlewhich notes that while more than 800 special education teachers quit in last school year, only 417 new special educator teaching licenses were granted in that time frame. As a result, the state is relying more on teachers who do not have special education training, teachers are traveling hundreds of miles to provide services at far-flung schools, and specialists are working with students over the Internet, the article says. The piece also notes the paperwork burden on teachers, and the fears they have of some of their students, who may have problems with aggression. To read more,click here

L.A. Unified Improves English-Learner Outcomes, Superintendent Says

English-learners in Los Angeles Unified posted important academic gains in 2012-13 that Superintendent John Deasy said point to an upward trajectory for a huge group of students that have had a history of languishing in the nation's second largest school system. In arecent memowritten to staff members that waspublished at LA School Report, Deasy wrote that the district's English-learners increased their proficiency rates on one of the district's English/language arts periodic assessments at a faster clip than all students. As a group, elementary ELLs posted a 13-point gain in ELA proficiency rates, up to 38 percent this year over 25 percent last year, according to the memo. To read more,click here

Feds Allege Transition Program Amounted To Sweatshop

The U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down after an investigation found that students with disabilities were unnecessarily segregated and forced to work for little or no pay for years in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In a 17-page letter sent to local officials in Providence, R.I. this month, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said that students with developmental disabilities were paid 50 cents to $2 per hour, and in some cases nothing at all, to do tasks like bagging, labeling, collating and assembling jewelry. They did the tasks as part of a sheltered workshop while participating in a vocational program at Mount Pleasant High School.To read more,click here

Science Chief Replaced At Autism Speaks

A top executive responsible for overseeing the research and scientific efforts of the nation's largest autism advocacy group is moving on. Autism Speaks said Thursday that Geraldine Dawson, the group's chief science officer for the last five years, is leaving. Dawson is being replaced by Robert Ring who has served as vice president of translational research for the organization since 2011. Dawson is leaving to take a position at Duke University where she will conduct research and do clinical work as a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and serve as director of the university's autism center. She was Autism Speaks' first chief science officer. To read more,click here

Supreme Court Steers Clear of Special Education Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court declined this week to weigh in on whether or not parents should have a say in deciding which school their children with disabilities attend. The court said it would not hear an appeal in a case brought by the parents of a boy with autism against the New York City school system. The parents, known in court documents as R.E. and M.E., sued after the school district selected a "final" placement for their son without their input. Though the parents said they worked with the district to develop an individualized education program, or IEP, they argued that they did not agree with the placement selected and were not given any other options. To read more,click here

Genetics of Dyslexia and Language Impairment Unraveled

A new study of the genetic origins of dyslexia and other learning disabilities could allow for earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions, according to researchers at Yale School of Medicine. Many students now are not diagnosed until high school, at which point treatments are less effective. The study is published online and in the July print issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics. Senior author Dr. Jeffrey R. Gruen, professor of pediatrics, genetics, and investigative medicine at Yale, and colleagues analyzed data from more than 10,000 children born in 1991-1992 who were part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) conducted by investigators at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. To read more,click here

New Imaging Technique Holds Promise for Speeding MS Research

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that detects the telltale signs of multiple sclerosis in finer detail than ever before -- providing a more powerful tool for evaluating new treatments. The technique analyzes the frequency of electro-magnetic waves collected by an MRI scanner, instead of the size of those waves. Although analyzing the number of waves per second had long been considered a more sensitive way of detecting changes in tissue structure, the math needed to create usable images had proved daunting. To read more,click here

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Younger Mothers and Older Mothers Are at Higher Risk of Adverse Delivery Outcomes

Younger mothers are at a higher risk of preterm birth while older mothers are more likely to have a caesarean section, suggests a new study published today (12 June) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The study, conducted over a 12-year period (2000-2011) in Ireland, examined the delivery outcomes of 36,916 first-time mothers at varying maternal ages. The pregnant women were subdivided into five age groups, 3.3% at 17 years or younger (17-), 7.2% at 18-19 years, 77.9% at 20-34 years, 9.9% at 35-39 years and 1.7% at 40 years or older (40+). However, researchers focused on the outcomes in the groups of women at the extremes of maternal age, 17- and 40+. To read more,click here

Chronic Illness Afflicts Most Childhood-Cancer Survivors, Study Finds

Nearly all adult survivors of childhood cancer have at least one chronic health problem, according to a new study. Many of these health conditions are believed to be linked to treatments used to combat the survivors' childhood cancer, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Researchers examined data from more than 1,700 adults who were diagnosed with childhood cancer between 1962 and 2001 and underwent health assessments between 2007 and 2012. The analysis revealed that 98 percent of the patients had a chronic health condition. About 95 percent of the patients had a chronic health problem by age 45, or 35 years after cancer diagnosis. More than three-quarters had a serious, disabling or life-threatening condition at age 45. To read more,click here

Cutting Unneeded CT Scans in Kids Could Lower Future Cancer Risk

Reducing the number of unnecessary and high-dose CT scans given to children could cut their lifetime risk of associated cancers by as much as 62 percent, according to a new study. CT (computed tomography), which uses X-rays to provide doctors with cross-sectional images of patients' bodies, is frequently used in young children who have suffered injuries. Researchers concluded that the 4 million CT scans of the most commonly imaged organs conducted in children in the United States each year could lead to nearly 4,900 cancers in the future. To read more,click here

Honor Society for Special Education Teachers

In Discovering How Ear Cells Regenerate Themselves, Scientists Are One Step Closer To A Hearing Loss Cure

Regeneration of human body parts is a  trope straight out of science fiction movies and comic books. But, it turns out, it's not an entirely made up concept. Researchers have discovered that some cells in the human ear - called "tip links" - regenerate themselves in order to keep your hearing sharp. The ear is a sensitive tool for reception of audio stimuli. The ear receives sounds by allowing the sounds to push its sensory cells, called hair cells, around to indicate a disturbance. The pushing of the sensory cell begins a cascade of chemical signals that enables the brain to understand the sounds received. To read more,click here

Infant Superglue Treatment: Doctors Stop 3-Week-Old Baby's Brain Aneurysm in Breakthrough Procedure [Video]

Doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City used surgical superglue on an infant only three weeks old in order to stop a bleeding brain aneurysm, according to CNN. Ashlyn Julian was born healthy on May 16, but shortly after her parents noticed strange behaviors for a infant baby. "She was probably around 10 days old, and she was sleeping a lot, and I understand babies sleep a lot, but to the point that you couldn't wake her up to feed her," Gina Julian, Ashlyn's mother, told CNN. To read more,click here

Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis May Soon Include MRI Brain Scan Test

Mental illnesses are hard enough to diagnose without clear physical symptoms that doctors can observe, but bipolar disorder can be particularly tricky. That may change with a new brain scan study, which suggests that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can tell the difference between bipolar and healthy individuals often enough to serve as an effective bipolar disorder test. Symptoms of bipolar disorder, like extreme mood shifts, can be so complex to define that patients can sometimes go years without proper diagnosis and treatment. To read more,click here

21st Century Choices: Down Syndrome Now Detectable During First Trimester From Mother's Blood [VIDEO]

When amniocentesis was first introduced in the 1970s it was designed to take a sample of amniotic fluid from the growing fetus and allow for testing of genetic abnormalities.  Down syndrome is the predominant thing tested for and the panel of genetic tests for prenatal babies has grown to over 800 tests such as ones for Tay Sachs, hemophilia and cystic fibrosis.  The procedure is usually performed between the 11th and 13th week of pregnancy, yet a new technology will give parents a window into their unborn child's health far earlier, forcing decisions about the health of the mother and child to happen sooner after conception. To read more,click here