WEEK IN REVIEW

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

November 1, 2013 - Vol 9, Issue 43

New This Week on NASET

Sunny Regions Reflect Lower ADHD Rates

Sunny days can be a big distraction for those who are tethered to their desks, but a new study suggests that sunlight may actually lower the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Scientists mapped the number of ADHD diagnoses across the United States and in nine other countries. They compared those rates to the intensity of sunlight those regions receive year-round. Regions that got the most sun had rates of ADHD diagnoses that were about half as high as regions that got the least, according to the research. "The maps line up almost perfectly," said study author Martijn Arns, director of Brainclinics, in the department of experimental psychology at Utrecht University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. To read more,click here

Poverty May Harm a Child's Brain Development

Growing up poor might take a toll on a child's brain development, a new study suggests. "What's new is that our research shows the effects of poverty on the developing brain, particularly in the [brain's] hippocampus, are strongly influenced by parenting and life stresses that the children experience," study author Dr. Joan Luby, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a university news release. Luby's team conducted MRI brain scans on 145 children, aged 6 to 12, who had been followed since preschool. Smaller-sized brains were found in those who lived in poverty in their early years, they discovered. To read more,click here

Study of Male Birth Defect Lets Pesticides Off the Hook -- for Now

Only a weak link exists between pesticide exposure and a common birth defect in baby boys, according to a new study. Researchers examined the association between hundreds of chemicals used in commercial pesticides and a birth defect called hypospadias, in which the urethral opening on the penis is on the underside rather than on the tip. This birth defect occurs in about five of every 1,000 male infants, and the cause is usually unknown. Some studies have suggested a slightly increased risk for infants whose parents work around pesticides, but many have found no such link. "We didn't see many chemicals that suggested an increased risk, and of those that did, most of them were infrequently used," study lead author Suzan Carmichael, an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, said in a university news release. To read more,click here

More Weight Gain in Pregnancy Tied to Higher Autism Risk for Kids

Modest weight gain during pregnancy might be a sign for autism risk among newborns, new research suggests. Investigators took pains to stress that it is not weight gain itself that is being tagged as a cause of autism. Nor do the current findings reflect in any way on how pre-pregnancy weight might affect the future offspring of mothers-to-be. Instead, the study team believes that a small rise in weight occurring while pregnant might be an indication that some broad and complex process -- perhaps involving hormone and inflammation irregularities -- is underway, of which weight gain is a reflection. If so, then weight gain during pregnancy might serve as an easily recognizable marker for a constellation of events that collectively increase the risk for autism. To read more,click here

Moms With Lupus More Likely to Have Children With Autism

Women with lupus are twice as likely to have a child with autism compared to mothers without the autoimmune disease, new, preliminary research finds. However, the overall risk is still low and the findings won't change the management of women with lupus, said one expert. "I wouldn't tell my lupus patients not to get pregnant," Dr. Yousaf Ali, acting chief of rheumatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. The study was undertaken to follow up on earlier, small reports that found that women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) -- the most common form of the disease -- may have an excess risk of having children with an autism spectrum disorder, said lead investigator Dr. Evelyne Vinet, an assistant professor in the rheumatology department at McGill University Health Center in Montreal. To read more,click here

Kids With Head Injuries May Be Prone to Depression

Children who've suffered a concussion or other head injury seem to have a much higher-than-average rate of depression, a new study finds. Using data from a U.S. health survey, researchers found that children and teenagers who'd ever sustained a brain injury were much more likely to have ever been diagnosed with depression. Overall, 15 percent had received that diagnosis, while the national prevalence was less than 4 percent, the investigators noted. The finding does not prove that kids' head injuries caused the depression, said Keith Yeates, a pediatric neuropsychologist who was not involved in the study. To read more,click here

Child 'Cured' of HIV Remains Free of Virus, Doctors Report

A 3-year-old Mississippi girl apparently cured of HIV infection by aggressive treatment right after her birth remains free of the virus, her doctors report. Early treatment with a combination of potent antiretroviral drugs appears to have kept the virus from successfully establishing a reservoir in the child's system, said immunologist Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, who is part of the research team tracking the case. Doctors are hesitant to declare the child fully cured, but in a case update reported in the Oct. 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine they said that no actively replicating HIV has been found in her system by even the most sensitive tests available. The girl stopped taking HIV medication when she was 18 months old. To read more,click here

NASET Sponsor - Feiner Supplies

Infants Exposed to Smoking in Womb at Risk of Infections, Death

Infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are at increased risk for hospitalization and death due to both respiratory and nonrespiratory infections, a new study says. Researchers analyzed hospitalization records and death certificates of 50,000 infants born in Washington state between 1987 and 2004. Infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were 50 percent more likely to be hospitalized or to die from a wide number of infectious diseases, compared to babies of mothers who did not smoke. To read more,click here

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

NASET Sponsor - University of Kansas

Low Vitamin D Tied to Anemia Risk in Kids

Children with low levels of vitamin D may be at increased risk for anemia, according to a large new study. Researchers analyzed blood samples from more than 10,400 children and found that vitamin D levels were consistently lower in youngsters with anemia, a condition involving lower-than-normal levels of red blood cells. Kids with vitamin D levels below 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) were nearly twice as likely to have anemia as those with normal vitamin D levels. Children with vitamin D levels below 30 ng/ml have mild vitamin D deficiency while those with levels at or below 20 ng/ml have severe deficiency, according to the study. Both require treatment with vitamin D supplements. To read more,click here

Many Kids With Autism on Multiple Medications, Study Finds

Children with autism in the United States routinely take one or more prescription medications, even though little evidence exists regarding the drugs' safety or effectiveness for treating the neurodevelopmental condition, a new study finds. The study of almost 34,000 children with an autism spectrum disorder found nearly two-thirds were prescribed at least one medication. Within that group, more than one-third were given two medications, and one in seven took three drugs. "There are a lot of children who are being treated with psychotropic medications with unknown effects for benefits and harms," said the study's senior author, Dr. Anjali Jain, a managing consultant with the Falls Church, Va.-based Lewin Group, a health care consulting firm. To read more,click here

NASET Sponsor - University of Kansas

Kids Who Exercise More May Get Better Grades

Getting regular daily exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity may also boost students' academic performance, according to a new U.K. study. The more intense the exercise, the greater the impact on English, math and science test results, the study authors found. However, they couldn't explain the precise causes behind the connection. "A number of suggestions have been put forward for why there is a link -- such as physical activity increasing time on task in the classroom, or having an impact on self-esteem," said study researcher Josephine Booth, a lecturer at the University of Dundee, in Scotland. To read more,click here

Kids With ADHD Often Prone to Bowel Problems

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are significantly more likely to suffer from chronic constipation and fecal incontinence than kids without the neurobehavioral condition, a new study says. The study of more than 700,000 children found that constipation nearly tripled and fecal incontinence increased six-fold among kids with ADHD. "We also found that children with ADHD tend to have more visits to see a doctor, suggesting that these children have more severe constipation and fecal incontinence than other children," said lead researcher Dr. Cade Nylund, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. To read more,click here

Bottle-Feeding May Raise Risk of Stomach Obstruction in Infants

Bottle-feeding might increase the risk that infants will develop a common but serious form of stomach obstruction that causes projectile vomiting. Researchers found that babies were at least twice as likely to suffer hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) if they were bottle-fed versus breast-fed, according to findings published online Oct. 21 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. The risk also increased with the age of the mother, said study co-author Dr. Jarod McAteer, a surgical resident at the University of Washington in Seattle. Children of mothers older than 35 had a five to six times increased risk of pyloric stenosis. To read more,click here

Concerns Raised Over 'Highly Qualified' Teachers

When Congress acted earlier this month to end the government shutdown, lawmakers also extended a provision that advocates contend has negative implications for students with disabilities. Tucked inside the legislation that brought the government back to life was a provision allowing teachers to be dubbed "highly qualified" even if they are still working on their certification through an alternative training program like Teach for America. For years, disability and special education advocates have worked to end the practice, arguing that it's disingenuous to confer such a title on rookie educators who are still learning their trade. Advocates have long argued that low-income students, minorities and those in special education are disproportionately affected by the policy because they are most frequently assigned less experienced teachers. To read more,click here

Baseball Card Features Batboy with Down Syndrome

In a rare move, a man with Down syndrome who made national headlines as a batboy for the Cincinnati Reds is getting his very own baseball card.  The card featuring Ted Kremer, 30, entered circulation earlier this month as part of the 2013 Topps Update, a collection that includes players who switched teams, All-Stars, rookies and memorable moments as well as variant cards like the one of "Teddy Kremer," reportsThe Cincinnati Enquirer. Kremer of White Oak, Ohio has Down syndrome and gainednotorietyafter inspiring the Reds while serving as a batboy for the team during a game last year. Since then, Kremer was profiled on ESPN and worked for the team this past summer. To read more,click here

Largest Trial Worldwide: Psychotherapy Treats Anorexia Effectively

A large-scale study has now shown that adult women with anorexia whose disorder is not too severe can be treated successfully on an out-patient basis. Even after conclusion of therapy, they continue to make significant weight gains. Two new psychotherapeutic methods offer improved opportunities for successful therapy. However, one quarter of the patients participating in the study did not show rapid results. These are the findings of the world's largest therapy trial on anorexia nervosa published in the medical journal The Lancet. The Anorexia Nervosa Treatment of OutPatients (ANTOP) study was conducted at ten German university eating disorder centers and was designed by the departments for psychosomatic medicine at the university hospitals of Heidelberg (Director: Prof. Wolfgang Herzog) and Tübingen (Director: Prof. Stephan Zipfel). To read more,click here

Gene-Silencing Strategy Opens New Path to Understanding Down Syndrome

The first evidence that the underlying genetic defect responsible for trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, can be suppressed in laboratory cultures of patient-derived stem cells was presented today (Oct. 22) at the American Society of Human Genetics 2013 annual meeting in Boston. People with Down syndrome are born with an extra chromosome 21, which results in a variety of physical and cognitive ill effects. In laboratory cultures of cells from patients with Down syndrome, an advanced genome editing tool was successfully used to silence the genes on the extra chromosome, thereby neutralizing it, said Jeanne Lawrence, Ph.D., Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology at the University Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA. To read more, click here

Theatre Offers Promise for Youth With Autism

A novel autism intervention program using theatre to teach reciprocal communication skills is improving social deficits in adolescents with the disorder that now affects an estimated one in 88 children, Vanderbilt University researchers released today in the journal Autism Research. The newly released study assessed the effectiveness of a two-week theatre camp on children with autism spectrum disorder and found significant improvements were made in social perception, social cognition and home living skills by the end of the camp. There were also positive changes in the participants' physiological stress and reductions in self-reported parental stress. To read more,click here

Honor Society for Special Education Teachers

Spatial, Written Language Skills Predict Math Competence

Early math skills are emerging as important to later academic achievement. As many countries seek to strengthen their workforces in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, understanding the early contributions to math skills becomes increasingly vital. New longitudinal research from Finland has found that children's early spatial skills and knowledge of written letters, rather than oral language skills, predict competence in this area. The research also found that children's ability to count sequences of numbers serve as a bridge: Children with stronger early spatial skills and knowledge of written letters did better in counting sequences of numbers; such skill in counting was related to later math competence in general. To read more,click here