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NASET's Parent Teacher Conference Handout Issue #120, Austism Spectrum Disorder Series Issue #31 & NASET's Latest Job Listings

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER SERIES

Autism Care Costs Could Hit $500 Billion by 2025: Study

The annual cost of caring for Americans with autism might reach $500 billion by 2025, a new study estimates, with outside estimates approaching $1 trillion. Health economists at the University of California, Davis, analyzed national data and concluded that costs will range from $162 billion to $367 billion in 2015, with $268 billion being their best estimate. "The current costs of [autism] are more than double the combined costs of stroke and hypertension, and on a par with the costs of diabetes," study senior author Paul Leigh, a professor of public health sciences and a researcher with the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research at UC Davis, said in a university news release. To read more, click here

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Parents Of Grown Children With Disabilities Worry About Future

The doctors told Elizabeth Criss that a child with her daughter's disorder would only live until she was 8. She would suffer from seizures, the doctors said. She would likely be unable to communicate and would have problems with her vision. Almost all of that was true, except Emily Criss is now 29. "We never expected she would age out of the school system," Elizabeth Criss said. "It feels good when the doctors are wrong." Now Criss said she worries about her daughter's future. What will happen if Emily outlives her parents? Who will bathe her, feed her, change her and understand that she likes to sit on the cool, green grass because it soothes her, or that small, colorful toys calm her? To read more,click here

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Taking St. John's Wort for Depression Carries Risks: Study

St. John's wort is a popular herbal therapy for depression, but a new Australian study highlights the fact that "natural" does not always equal "safe." Using reports filed with Australia's drug safety agency, the researchers found that adverse reactions to St. John's wort were similar to those reported for the antidepressant fluoxetine -- better known by the brand name Prozac. Those side effects included anxiety, panic attacks, dizziness, nausea and spikes in blood pressure, the researchers reported in the July issue of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology. To read more, click here

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Schools Warned On Speech Services For Kids With Autism

Federal education officials are reminding schools not to skimp on needed speech and language services for children with autism. In a letter to states, officials from the U.S. Department of Education say they've heard that an increasing number of kids on the spectrum may not be receiving services from speech-language pathologists at school. Moreover, such professionals are frequently left out of the evaluation process and are often not present at meetings to determine what services a child should receive under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the department said. To read more, click here

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Doctors Perform First Double Hand Transplant in a Child

A young Baltimore boy has two new transplanted hands to replace ones he lost to amputation five years ago, his doctors announced. Zion Harvey, 8, became the recipient of the world's first double hand transplant performed on a child, following 10 hours of surgery by a 40-person team in early July at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Zion already can move and flex his new thumbs and fingers, and is taking part in rehab to regain further dexterity, said Dr. Scott Levin, chair of orthopaedic surgery at Penn Medicine and director of the hospital's hand transplantation program. To read more, click here

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Despite Court Ruling, Survey Finds Child Welfare Professionals Oppose Corporal Punishment

Nearly a month after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that parents have the right to use corporal punishment to discipline their children, a new survey finds that most leading child welfare professionals think spanking is harmful for children and leads to more aggressive behavior. Tulane University researcher Catherine Taylor surveyed more than 500 mental health professionals, physicians and other members of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), a national organization for professionals who work to prevent and respond to child abuse, this summer to gauge their opinions on corporal punishment, including spanking, and whether they felt comfortable advising parents on this topic. To read more, click here

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Teens Using E-Cigs More Prone to Take Up Smoking: Study

Teenagers who use electronic cigarettes may be more likely to smoke the real thing, new research suggests. The study, which included almost 2,100 California high school students, found that one-quarter had ever "vaped" (tried e-cigarettes). Ten percent of the teens were currently using e-cigarettes. And those current users were much more likely than their peers to also smoke cigarettes. One-third of e-cigarette users also smoked tobacco cigarettes, versus 1 percent of kids who'd never vaped. Researchers said the findings do not prove e-cigarettes act as a gateway to tobacco use. To read more, click here

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Building Confidence Helps People with MS Have Fuller Lives, Reports Researcher

The physical symptoms of weakness and fatigue from multiple sclerosis (MS) can rock a person's confidence and ability to engage in what he or she feels is important, from being a good parent and friend to taking up a hobby, according to Matthew Plow, assistant professor from Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. To help people with MS maintain autonomy and independence, a team of researchers set out to determine what factors prevented individuals from undertaking and enjoying the activities they believe are most important to live fulfilling lives. To read more, click here

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Childhood Stress Might Raise a Woman's Risk for Preterm Birth

Stressful events in childhood may increase a woman's risk having a preterm baby, a new study suggests. The research included 200 mothers in Canada who provided information about stressful experiences when they were youngsters. One-third of the women had given birth preterm, while the others delivered at term. Preterm birth is considered to be any birth occurring before 37 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Mayo Clinic. A normal pregnancy usually lasts about 40 weeks. "All of the adverse childhood events that we asked about had to occur prior to the age of 18, and the average age of delivery in our study was 28 years. These adverse childhood events occurred, on average, 10 years or more before the women actually delivered," study co-author David Olson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Alberta, said in a university news release. To read more, click here

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Diagnosis of Psychiatric Disorders not as Important as Outcomes

Nailing the diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder may not be important in prescribing effective treatment, according to Mark Zimmerman, M.D., a clinical researcher at Rhode Island Hospital. His opinion editorial was published online today in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. "During the past 35 years, we have witnessed a revolution in the treatment of psychiatric disorders," said Zimmerman, director of outpatient psychiatry and the partial hospital program at Rhode Island Hospital and director of the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project, a study that integrated assessment tools and procedures of researchers into a hospital-affiliated outpatient practice. "Prescription medicine and therapy are effective for a wide range of psychiatric disorders, thus the need for precise diagnosis is often unnecessary." To read more, click here

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Early Birth Linked to Introversion, Neuroticism in Adult Life

Adults who were severely underweight at birth or who were born very prematurely may be more likely to be introverted, neurotic and afraid to take risks, a new European study suggests. The findings may help explain why these adults are more likely to have relationship and career problems, the researchers contended. However, the study did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Babies born at less than 32 weeks of pregnancy were considered very premature in the study, while those born at about 3.3 pounds were considered a very low birth weight. To read more, click here

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Babies' Brains Show that Social Skills Linked to Second Language Learning

Babies learn language best by interacting with people rather than passively through a video or audio recording. But it's been unclear what aspects of social interactions make them so important for learning. New findings by researchers at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) at the University of Washington demonstrate for the first time that an early social behavior called gaze shifting is linked to infants' ability to learn new language sounds. Babies about 10 months old who engaged in more gaze shifting during sessions with a foreign language tutor showed a boost in a brain response that indicates language learning, according to the study, which is published in the current issue of Developmental Neuropsychology. To read more, click here

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Medical Marijuana May Pose Risk to Teens, Study Suggests

Teens who have legal permission to use medical marijuana are 10 times more likely to say they're addicted than those who get the drug illegally, a new study shows. University of Michigan researchers looked at nearly 4,400 high school seniors, including 48 who had medical marijuana cards, 266 who used others' medical marijuana and those who bought the drug from street dealers. Teens who used medical marijuana were far more likely to report problems with addiction, the researchers found. To read more, click here

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Early Prosocial Behavior Good Predictor of Kids' Educational and Other Future

Kindergarteners' social-emotional skills are a significant predictor of their future education, employment and criminal activity, among other outcomes, according to Penn State researchers. In a study spanning nearly 20 years, kindergarten teachers were surveyed on their students' social competence. Once the kindergarteners reached their 20s, researchers followed up to see how the students were faring, socially and occupationally. Students demonstrating better prosocial behavior were more likely to have graduated college, to be gainfully employed and to not have been arrested than students with lesser prosocial skills. "This research by itself doesn't prove that higher social competence can lead to better outcomes later on," said Damon Jones, senior research associate, Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center. "But when combined with other research, it is clear that helping children develop these skills increases their chances of success in school, work and life." To read more, click here

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High School Band Classes May Boost Teen Brains

Music training improves teens' hearing and language skills, a new study says. The findings suggest that music instruction can help teens do better in school, according to Northwestern University researchers. "While music programs are often the first to be cut when the school budget is tight, these results highlight music's place in the high school curriculum," the study's senior author, Nina Kraus, said in a university news release. Kraus is director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern's School of Communication. To read more, click here

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Honor Society for Special Education Teachers

Investigations Target Federal Disability Program

A program that distributes billions in federal dollars each year to secure work for people with disabilities is accused of failing at its very mission amid allegations of corruption and fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice and at least four inspectors general are investigating the federal government's AbilityOne program and SourceAmerica, a nonprofit that manages the employment efforts, according to a CNN investigation. AbilityOne allocates over $2 billion annually in federal funds toward contracts with various companies. To participate, at least 75 percent of a business's work must be done by employees who are blind or who have severe disabilities. To read more, click here

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Stillbirths Now Outnumber Infant Deaths in U.S.

Stillbirths have eclipsed infant deaths for the first time in the United States, a new government report shows. Several factors may be fueling the trend, including declining infant death rates, racial disparities in access to good care during pregnancy, and fertility treatments that often involve placing more than one embryo in a woman's womb, experts said. "The number of fetal deaths [stillbirths] is now slightly higher than the number of infant deaths," said report co-author Elizabeth Gregory, a health statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2013, there were 23,595 fetal deaths at 20 weeks of gestation or more, compared to 23,446 infant deaths, the report showed. To read more, click here

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States Urged To Promote Competitive Employment

The nation's governors are being asked to establish policies within their states that promote integrated employment at or above minimum wage for people with significant disabilities. U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez joined with Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, and South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, to send a letter this month to governors of each U.S. state and territory encouraging the state chiefs to embrace what are known as "Employment First" policies. Already adopted in many states, the "Employment First" approach is rooted in the concept that everyone can succeed in competitive employment if offered appropriate supports and accommodations. To read more, click here

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