WEEK IN REVIEW

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

July 18, 2014 - Vol 10, Issue 29

iPads May Help Boost Speaking Skills in Kids With Autism: Study

Adding access to a computer tablet to traditional therapy may help children with autism talk and interact more, new research suggests. The study compared language and social communication treatment -- with or without access to an iPad computer tablet -- in 61 young children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and found that the device helped boost the effect of the treatment. "All the children improved, but they improved more if they had access to the iPad," said Connie Kasari, professor of human development and psychology and psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles' Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. To read more,click here

Time-Out in Relation to Seclusion: An Analysis of Case Law

In the latest issue of the Journal of Special Education Leadership (v. 27, pp. 25-35), Professors Susan Bon (U. South Carolina) and Perry Zirkel (Lehigh U.) provided a continuum framework for the various levels of time-out in relation to seclusion and, within its boundaries, a systematic analysis of the case law.  They found 60 court decisions during the period 1975-2013, which yielded 225 claim rulings--130 based on federal law categories (e.g, Fourteenth Amendment substantive due process, IDEA, and Section 504) and 95 based on state law categories (e.g., negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, or state statutes/regulations) that fit within the specified framework. 

Their major findings included that (a) the case law increased during this period in both frequency and complexity, and (b) the federal and, almost as clearly, the state law claim rulings predominated in favor of the district defendants.  Their recommendations included prophylactic state policies and local procedures, including appropriate training and IEP fidelity, to mitigate this mounting wave of litigation.

Anemia Treatments Don't Boost Recovery From Brain Injury, Study Finds

People who suffer a severe head injury often develop anemia, but aggressively treating the blood condition may do more harm than good, a new clinical trial suggests. Experts said the findings, reported July 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, were disappointing: Treating anemia with blood transfusions -- and in some cases, the medication erythropoietin -- did nothing to improve brain-injured patients' long-term recovery. And when transfusions were used more aggressively, the risk of blood clots increased. To read more,click here

Challenges of Visual Accessibility for People with Low Vision

New approaches and tools are needed to improve visual accessibility for people with low vision in the "real world," according to experts. Low vision is defined as chronically impaired vision that is not correctable by glasses or contact lenses and adversely affects everyday functioning. It is estimated that there are between 3.5 million and 5 million Americans with low vision, and this number is expected to increase as the population ages.To read more,click here

Dad's Ethnicity May Influence Baby's Birth Weight

A father's ethnic background might influence how much his baby weighs at birth, a new study suggests. These findings are more than simply intriguing, because a baby's birth weight is considered a measure of overall health. And, a lower than expected weight can trigger medical interventions, such as a Cesarean delivery, the researchers explained. Plus, current birth weight guidelines are based on parents of Western European descent. This means that many babies of East Asian or South Asian parents may be considered underweight, even though they are normal for their ethnic groups. To read more,click here

Autism Spectrum Disorder Study Finds Trained Dogs Keep Children Safer

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) report that assistance dogs keep their children safer and calmer and promote a more positive public reception. Researchers at University College Cork, led by Prof Ivan Perry and Dr Louise Burgoyne of the department of epidemiology and public health, are the first to capture the views of a large group of parents and guardians on assistance dogs for children with ASD. The disorder is one of the areas in which assistance dog interventions have had most success. The research findings suggest that the presence of an assistance dog can make parents and guardians feel more competent in managing their child and the dog helps to facilitate "normal" family functioning such as being able to visit a shopping center. To read more,click here

The Secrets of Children's Chatter: Research Shows Boys and Girls Learn Language Differently

Experts believe language uses both a mental dictionary and a mental grammar. The mental 'dictionary' stores sounds, words and common phrases, while mental 'grammar' involves the real-time composition of longer words and sentences. For example, making a longer word 'walked' from a smaller one 'walk'.However, most research into understanding how these processes work has been carried out with adults. "Most researchers agree that the way we use language in our minds involves both storing and real-time composition," said lead researcher Dr Cristina Dye, a specialist in child language development at Newcastle University. "But a lot of the specifics about how this happens are unclear, such as identifying exactly which parts of language are stored and which are composed. To read more,click here

NASET Sponsor - University of Cincinnati

Genetic Link to Autism Found, Known as CHD8 Mutation

In a collaboration involving 13 institutions around the world, researchers have broken new ground in understanding what causes autism. This is the first time researchers have shown a definitive cause of autism to a genetic mutation. Previously identified genetic events like Fragile X, which account for a greater number of autism cases, are associated with other impairments, such as intellectual disability, more than autism.To read more,click here

Movement Disorders in Young People Related to ADHD

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen University Hospital have identified a particular genetic mutation that may cause parkinsonism in young people. The mutation interferes with the brain's transport of the important signal substance dopamine and may also plays a role in mental diseases, e.g. ADHD. The findings have just been published in the scientific Journal of Clinical Investigation. Being one of the most important signal substances in the brain, dopamine is particularly important for the control of movements and reward mechanisms in the brain. In the new study, Danish researchers have focused on a special protein, the dopamine transporter (DAT). DAT is a transport protein, which controls the effect of dopamine by mediating re-uptake of released dopamine from the synaptic cleft to the nerve cell. This is a very fine balance -- and even small fluctuations can have major consequences for brain function: "We can now for the first time document that mutations in the DAT-encoding gene can cause parkinsonism in young people. To read more,click here

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

THE TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK WILL RETURN ON AUGUST 1, 2014

New Inhaled Drug Shows Promise Against Asthma, Allergies

A new inhaled medication has the potential to treat mild asthma and allergies by interrupting the production of an immune system protein that triggers allergic reactions, a new study reports. The drug, quilizumab, targets the blood cells that produce a protein called immunoglobulin type E (IgE), that serves a key role in allergies. Quilizumab lowered total levels of IgE in the blood of people with allergies and mild asthma, and kept them low for a month, researchers report in the July 2 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine. "The subjects who received the drug not only had a reduction in their total IgE level, it also seemed to block production of new IgE in response to the allergen they inhaled," said study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Harris, principal medical director of immunology, tissue growth and repair for the drug manufacturer Genentech, which produces quilizumab and funded the study. To read more,click here

Children Born to Women After Fertility Treatment at Greater Risk of Psychiatric Disorders

Children born to women with fertility problems have a higher risk of psychiatric disorders than naturally conceived children, Danish research suggests. The increase in risk was described as 'modest' by researchers, but was found to persist throughout childhood and into young adulthood. Research suggests that 1.9% of all diagnosed psychiatric disorders in Denmark are associated with the mother's infertility.To read more,click here

Child Maltreatment Influences Alcohol Consumption in Adolescents

Child maltreatment, whatever its form, produces functional brain changes that increase vulnerability to alcohol consumption when reaching adolescence, research shows. The results determined that the brains of some young abused people perceived the intake of substances positively and were not able to perceive the risks associated with this addictive behavior.To read more,click here

A Graduation Conundrum for Students with Disabilities

Rarely has the education field produced a set of initials as necessary but as troublesome as these: IEP. They stand for individualized education program, the plan that governs how each child with a disability should be taught and what he or she should learn. Created by federal law, the IEP is sensible and democratic. Each student with a disability who qualifies for an IEP has an IEP team made up of teachers, administrators and his or her parents. The tricky part is that these adults must agree to what is best for the child. Sometimes the parents don't think the educators are doing what is needed and vice versa. To read more,click here

No, You Don't Have to Disinherit a Child With Special Needs

Over the past 20 years, the number of students with disabilities has increased at a faster rate than both the general population and school enrollment....Many people assume they will have to, in effect, disinherit a child with disabilities because if they leave them money... they'll lose the government benefits they are entitled to. Wrong. While it is true that if you aren't careful your child could be disqualified from those benefit, creating an effective estate plan that includes a Special Needs Trust can help preserve a child's eligibility for government benefits and other programs while ensuring funds are available to take care of needs that will not be provided for by those programs. To read more,click here

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Do People with Autism Struggle with Driving?

In the first pilot study asking adults on the autism spectrum about experiences with driving, researchers found significant differences in self-reported driving behaviors and perceptions of driving ability compared to non-autistic adults. As the population of adults with autism grows rapidly, the survey provides a first step toward identifying whether this population has unmet needs for educational supports to empower safe driving -- a key element of independent functioning in many people's lives.To read more,click here

A New Lab Opens Music Making to People with Learning Disabilities

Let's face it: the initial audience for the first version of music tech is often the developers. That impulse to build something for yourself is a perfectly reasonable one. But music technology is constantly producing new ways of creating music, and that means it has to learn quickly. Unlike, say, a guitar, it can't build on centuries of experience. And if the industry and music technology community are to consider how to reach more people, why not go beyond just average markets? Why not open up music making to people who have been left out? If music making is an essential human passion, fulfilling a need to self-expression, that means not just allowing casual use or making toys. It means really finding what can make tools work for people who might otherwise be ignored. To read more,click here

Trained Evaluators Can Screen for Newborn Infant Eye Disease from Miles Away

Trained non-physician evaluators who studied retinal images transmitted to computer screens at a remote central reading center successfully identified newborn infants likely to require a specialized medical evaluation for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of treatable blindness. Findings from a new multicenter study strengthen the case for using telemedicine to address unmet medical needs of preterm babies worldwide who cannot be initially evaluated by ophthalmologists."This study provides validation for a telemedicine approach to ROP screening and could help prevent thousands of kids from going blind," said lead investigator Graham E. Quinn, M.D., MSCE, a pediatric ophthalmologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who has long experience in ROP research. Quinn also is a professor of Ophthalmology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. To read more,click here

Honor Society for Special Education Teachers