More Extreme Preemies Are Surviving, Study Finds

More extremely premature U.S. infants -- those born after only 22 to 28 weeks of gestation -- are surviving, a new study finds. From 2000 to 2011, deaths among these infants from breathing complications, underdevelopment, infections and nervous system problems all declined. However, deaths from necrotizing enterocolitis, which is the deterioration of intestinal tissue, increased. And despite the progress that's been made, one in four extremely premature infants still don't survive to leave the hospital, the researchers found. "Although our study demonstrates that overall survival has improved in recent years among extremely premature infants, death still remains very high among this population," said lead author Dr. Ravi Mangal Patel, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. To read more,click here

Parent-Led Intervention May Lower Kids' Autism Risk

Training parents to enhance social interactions with their infant children may reduce the likelihood that kids at risk for autism will ultimately develop the disorder, researchers say. Families who participated in a video-based therapy program were able to improve engagement, attention and social behavior in their babies, according to findings published Wednesday in The Lancet Psychiatry. "Our findings indicate that using video feedback-based therapy to help parents understand and respond to their infant's individual communication style during the first year of life may be able to modify the emergence of autism-related behaviors and symptoms," said Jonathan Green, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Manchester in England who led the study. To read more,click here

Researchers Rethink Inner-City Asthma Theory

A new study challenges the widely held belief that inner-city children have a higher risk of asthma simply because of where they live. Race, ethnicity and income have much stronger effects on asthma risk than where children live, the Johns Hopkins Children's Center researchers reported. The investigators looked at more than 23,000 children, aged 6 to 17, across the United States and found that asthma rates were 13 percent among inner-city children and 11 percent among those in suburban or rural areas. But that small difference vanished once other variables were factored in, according to the study published online Jan. 20 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. To read more,click here

High Court Considers If Medicaid Providers Can Sue Over Pay

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could block hospitals, doctors - or anyone else - from suing states over inadequate payment rates for providers who participate in the Medicaid program for low-income Americans. Federal law requires Medicaid, which covers 70 million people, to provide the same access to care as that given to people with private insurance. But many doctors avoid seeing Medicaid recipients, saying the program pays too little. That can lead to delays and difficulties in getting care for millions of poor people. To read more, click here

Special Education Law Symposium

The 40th Anniversary of the IDEA: The Past is Prologue

REGISTER NOW: June 21 - June 26, 2015

Lehigh University's intensive one-week institute provides a practical analysis of legislation, regulations, and case law relating to the education of students with disabilities.The symposium is designed for special education coordinators and teachers, principals, psychologists, parent advocates, attorneys (on both sides), hearing officers, state officials, and other individuals interested in legal literacy concerning the education of students with disabilities.

The program offers two parallel tracks, one for basic that offers in-depth foundation knowledge about the IDEA and Section 504: Eligibility, FAPE, LRE, Student Discipline, and Remedies. The other track is for advanced participants, offering brand new "hot topics": Settlement Process, Exiting Special Education, "Meaningful" Parental Participation, Inadequate IEP Implementation as a FAPE Denial, Transition Services, Noncustodial Parent Issues, and State Complaint Resolution Process.

The experienced program faculty features attorneys Laura Anthony (Ohio), Edward Bauer (Florida), Maria Blaeuer (Washington, DC), Esther Canty-Barnes (New Jersey), Andrew Cuddy (New York), Laura Gillis (Massachusetts), Zvi Greisman (Maryland), Dana Jonson (Connecticut), Michael Joyce (Massachusetts), Isabel Machado New Jersey), Deborah Mattison (Alabama), Kevin McDowell (Indiana), Michael Stafford (Delaware), and-from Pennsylvania--Andrew Faust, Joshua Kershenbaum, Dennis McAndrews, Gabrielle Sereni, and Dr. Perry Zirkel.

The symposium begins on Sunday evening with a dinner and keynote lecture by Dr. Melody Musgrove, Director, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education.

The workshop is offered for graduate and continuing education credit. Weekly and daily options are available.  Full information is now available on our website:coe.lehigh.edu/law.  For any questions, email or call Shannon Weber or Donna Johnson atspecialedlaw@lehigh.eduor (610) 758-5557.

Sleep Position Linked to Death Risk for Those With Epilepsy

Sleeping on your stomach may boost your risk of sudden death if you have epilepsy, new research suggests. Sudden, unexpected death in epilepsy occurs when an otherwise healthy person dies and "the autopsy shows no clear structural or toxicological cause of death," said Dr. Daniel Friedman, assistant professor of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. This is a rare occurrence, and the study doesn't establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between sleeping position and sudden death. To read more,click here

Better Outcomes for Children Born With Fertility Treatments

Over the past two decades, the health of children born with the help of fertility treatments has improved substantially, according to a new study. Fewer babies are being born prematurely or with low birth weight. There are also fewer stillbirths or children dying within the first year of life, researchers in Denmark found. The study was published in the Jan. 21 online edition of the journal Human Reproduction. "During the 20-year period of our study, we observed a remarkable decline in the risk of being born preterm or very preterm," Dr. Anna-Karina Aaris Henningsen, of the Fertility Clinic at the Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said in a journal news release. To read more,click here

Early Study Says Stem Cells May Reverse Multiple Sclerosis Disability

A therapy that uses patients' own primitive blood cells may be able to reverse some of the effects of multiple sclerosis, a preliminary study suggests. The findings, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, had experts cautiously optimistic. But they also stressed that the study was small -- with around 150 patients -- and the benefits were limited to people who were in the earlier courses of multiple sclerosis (MS). "This is certainly a positive development," said Bruce Bebo, the executive vice president of research for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. To read more,click here

Those With Autism May Have Unique Brain Connections, Study Shows

People with autism may have brain connections that are uniquely their own, a new study suggests. Previous research has found either over- or under-synchronization between different areas of the brains of people with autism, when compared to those without the disorder. The authors of the new study said those apparently conflicting findings may reflect the fact that each person with autism might have unique synchronization patterns. The new findings may help lead to earlier diagnosis of autism and new treatments, the researchers added. To read more,click here

Service Dog Dispute Prompts Civil Rights Complaint

John McDonald's service dog is by his side whenever the six-year-old with autism leaves his Sherwood, Ore. home. So, it was confusing to both the boy and his dog, Kai, when John had to leave the black Labrador outside the doors to Middleton Elementary School. Sherwood School District has refused to allow John's instructional assistant to oversee the dog while she works one-on-one with the boy in class, saying the family must supply a handler for the dog. John's mom, Jennifer McDonald, said the family cannot afford a handler, and she cannot quit her job to sit in the classroom, hold the dog's leash and occasionally give him commands. On Dec. 15, the family's attorney, Elizabeth Polay, filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming the district has violated John's rights under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. To read more,click here

Hope for Muscular Dystrophy Patients: Harnessing Gene Helps Repair Muscle Damage

The BMI1 gene has been previously linked to the body's ability to regenerate tissue cells in areas such as blood or skin. Led by Queen Mary University of London and published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the study provides the first proof of concept that manipulating the activity of this gene enhances the regeneration of the dystrophic muscle to a level where strength is visibly improved. For example, the mice were able to run on a treadmill for a longer time period and at a faster pace. This line of research will now be further developed and scientists aim to one day apply the treatment to patients with chronic muscle wasting such as muscular dystrophy. To read more,click here

Sleep Difficulties in Adolescents Can Predict Alcohol, Drug Problems

Sleep difficulties and insufficient sleep are common among American youth. New research has found that sleep difficulties can predict specific substance-related problems. Problems include binge drinking, driving under the influence of alcohol, and risky sexual behavior. Over-tiredness in childhood has also directly predicted the presence of binge drinking, blackouts, driving after drinking alcohol, and number of lifetime alcohol problems in young adulthood.To read more,click here

New Genetic Clues Found in Fragile X Syndrome

Scientists have gained new insight into fragile X syndrome -- the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability -- by studying the case of a person without the disorder, but with two of its classic symptoms.In patients with fragile X, a key gene is completely disabled, eliminating a protein that regulates electrical signals in the brain and causing a host of behavioral, neurological and physical symptoms. This patient, in contrast, had only a single error in this gene and exhibited only two classic traits of fragile X -- intellectual disability and seizures -- allowing the researchers to parse out a previously unknown role for the gene. To read more,click here

Family Income, Expectations Tied to Kindergarten Performance

U.S. children entering kindergarten do worse on tests when they're from poorer families with lower expectations and less focus on reading, computer use and preschool attendance, new research suggests. The findings point to the importance of doing more to prepare children for kindergarten, said study co-author Dr. Neal Halfon, director of the Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities at the University of California, Los Angeles. "The good news is that there are some kids doing really well," he said. "And there are a lot of seemingly disadvantaged kids who achieve much beyond what might be predicted for them because they have parents who are managing to provide them what they need." To read more,click here

Feds Put New Focus On Down Syndrome

As people with Down syndrome live longer than ever before, the National Institutes of Health is looking to reshape its efforts related to the chromosomal disorder. The federal agency is tweaking its Down syndrome research priorities and adding a new focus on life's later years and associated conditions. The changes come in the first-ever update to the NIH's Down Syndrome Research Plan. Originally issued in 2007, the revised plan was released last month. To read more,click here

New Cellular Pathway Triggering Allergic Asthma Response Identified

A novel signaling pathway critical to the immune response of cells associated with the initiation of allergic asthma has been identified by researchers. The discovery, they say, could point the way to new therapies that suppress the inflammatory allergic response, offering potential relief to millions of Americans with the chronic lung condition and potentially other allergic diseases.To read more,click here

Autism Tracking Device Proposal Gets Renewed Push

There is a fresh effort in Congress to secure $10 million in federal funds to provide free tracking devices to individuals with autism and other disabilities who are at risk of wandering. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he wants to draw national attention to a bill known as "Avonte's Law," which would establish and fund a federal program to provide electronic tracking devices to families of kids with developmental disorders who request them. Schumer first proposed the legislation last year after the remains of 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo were discovered following a massive search. The teen, who had autism, had been missing for months after bolting from his New York City school. To read more,click here

Parents of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities Plead For State Funding, Cite Growing Waiting List

Their plea was as simple as it was powerful. Parents of children with intellectual disabilities told a legislative panel Thursday that unless funding was increased to the Department of Developmental Services, thousands of families would be marooned on a waiting list for apartments or group homes. There are at least 2,000 families waiting now, and the number is growing. The only way a family can qualify for residential support for an intellectually disabled child is for the caregiver - the parents, in most cases - to die or become incapacitated. To read more,click here