Dear NASET News,
Welcome to NASET'sWEEK in REVIEW. Here, we provide you with the latest publications fromNASET to read and or download, as well as some of the most interesting articles that have happened this week in the field of special education. We hope you enjoy this publication. Feel free to send us articles for this publication or let us know your thoughts about the WEEK in REVIEW at news@naset.org. Have a great weekend.
Sincerely,
NASET News Team |
NEW THIS WEEK ON NASET NASET's Autism Spectrum Disorder Series
Lifespan Services for those Affected with Autism Spectrum Disorder This issue of NASET's Autism Spectrum Disorder series was written by Lisa Kwapis from Florida International University. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Lifespan service is a topic that is fast approaching the forefront of ASD related research in the 21st century. Although this topic is difficult to gather information due to the lack of research available, many feel it is necessary. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "An Increasing number of previously undiagnosed adults are being identified." These eluded Adults with ASD and those who have aged out of their formal educational training years are "having difficulties with employment, social relationships, housing and functioning independently", and continue to need supportive services. In this article, the following topics will be addressed: traditional understanding of autism spectrum disorder, challenges faced in adulthood, what is being done, and a conclusion statement. Read More |
Biological Mechanism of a Leading Cause of Childhood Blindness Revealed in New Research Scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (VTCRI) have revealed the pathology of cells and structures stricken by optic nerve hypoplasia, a leading cause of childhood blindness in developed nations. The discovery in a rodent model may provide insight into what happens in the visual systems of children born with a condition that prevents the optic nerve from fully developing. The condition is also associated with autism spectrum disorder. "Although clinicians have known about optic nerve hypoplasia for some time, the nature of the pathology was not clearly understood," said Konark Mukherjee, an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. Read More |
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Paraplegic Rats Walk and Regain Feeling After Stem Cell Treatment Engineered tissue containing human stem cells has allowed paraplegic rats to walk independently and regain sensory perception. The implanted rats also show some degree of healing in their spinal cords. The research, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, demonstrates the great potential of stem cells -- undifferentiated cells that can develop into numerous different types of cells -- to treat spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injuries often lead to paraplegia. Achieving substantial recovery following a complete spinal cord tear, or transection, is an as-yet unmet challenge. Read More |
Spanking Linked to Increase in Children's Behavior Problems
Children who have been spanked by their parents by age 5 show an increase in behavior problems at age 6 and age 8 relative to children who have never been spanked, according to new findings in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study, which uses a statistical technique to approximate random assignment, indicates that this increase in behavior problems cannot be attributed to various characteristics of the child, the parents, or the home environment -- rather, it seems to be the specific result of spanking. "Our findings suggest that spanking is not an effective technique and actually makes children's behavior worse not better," says psychological scientist Elizabeth T. Gershoff (University of Texas at Austin), lead author on the study. Read More |
Teenage Depression Linked to Father's Depression Adolescents whose fathers have depressive symptoms are more likely to experience symptoms of depression themselves, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. While the link between mothers' depression and depression in their children is well-established, the new Lancet Psychiatry study is the first to find an association between depression in fathers and their teenaged children, independent of whether the mother has depression, in a large sample in the general population. The effects of fathers' and mothers' depression on their children's symptoms were similar in magnitude. "There's a common misconception that mothers are more responsible for their children's mental health, while fathers are less influential -- we found that the link between parent and teen depression is not related to gender," said the study's lead author, Dr Gemma Lewis (UCL Psychiatry). Read More |
Ibuprofen May Block Damage from Fetal-Alcohol Exposure An anti-inflammatory drug may have the potential to stall the damaging effects of alcohol on the fetal brain, a new study suggests. Ibuprofen reduced neuroinflammation and behavioral signs of alcohol exposure in a rat model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The study was the first to directly link alcohol-induced inflammation in the hippocampus to cognitive impairment later in the life, said Derick Lindquist, senior author and a professor of psychology at The Ohio State University. The findings, which appear in the journal Behavioural Brain Research, could have eventual implications reaching beyond fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, because neuroinflammation is a hallmark of many neurological diseases, he said. Read More |
Board Certification in Special Education Available to NASET Members  Through an agreement with The American Academy of Special Education Professionals(AASEP), NASET members now have the opportunity to achieve AASEP Board Certification in Special Education - (B.C.S.E.) at a reduced fee. AASEP Board Certification in Special Education - (B.C.S.E.) is a voluntary choice on the part of the candidate. The candidate for Board Certification wishes to demonstrate a commitment to excellence to employers, peers, administrators, other professionals, and parents. From the standpoint of the Academy, board certification will demonstrate the highest professional competency in the area of special education. Board Certification in Special Educationestablishes a much needed standard for professionals, across disciplines, who work with exceptional children.Read More |
Allergy Amplifier Implicated in Asthma Also Intensifies Food Allergy Almost eight percent of children under three years old and four percent of adults suffer food allergies, which trigger not only discomfiting symptoms like dermatitis and diarrhea but can cause deadly anaphylactic shock. Allergic responses emerge when food components, like egg, shellfish, or peanut proteins, stimulate white blood cells called mast cells to dump excessive quantities of histamine or cytokines into the blood, fomenting inflammation in skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal tract, among other tissues. In 2012, LJI researcher Toshiaki Kawakami, M.D., Ph.D., reported that a small protein aptly named histamine-releasing factor (HRF) played a pro-inflammatory role in asthma. His group now extends that work in the November 13, 2017, online issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation by showing that HRF also serves as a "food allergy amplifier." Read More |
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children and Adolescents with OCD Works in the Long Run Some children and adolescents think that they will have an accident if they do not count all the lampposts on their way to school. Or cannot leave the house unless they have washed their hands precisely twenty-five times. They suffer from OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which is an extremely stressful psychiatric disorder that affects between 0.25 and 4 per cent of all children. Fortunately, the treatment method -- cognitive behavioral therapy -- is both effective and well-documented. The hitherto largest research study of OCD treatment for children and adolescents aged 7-17 now shows that cognitive behavioral therapy also has a long-lasting effect. The Nordic research project, which involves researchers from Aarhus University and child and adolescent psychiatry clinics in Norway and Sweden, has shown that children and adolescents who benefited from the therapy were also free of patterns of compulsive behavior and compulsive thoughts one year after the treatment ended. Read More |
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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Congratulations to: Julia C. Blair, Andra Hall, Aurea Flesher, Jessica Gaspar, Cindi Maurice, Cynthia Williams, Laurine Kennedy, Teresa Pitts, Hilary Hollihan Leavitt, Christine Hartman, Sharon Johnson-Hiltz, Patsy Ray, Olumide Akerele, Diane Campbell-Mitchell, and Tracey Christilles who all knew the answer to last week's trivia question.
QUESTION: According to new research presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, what allergy in children has increased 21 percent since 2010, and now, nearly 2.5 percent of U.S. children may have an allergy to it?
ANSWER: PEANUT ALLERGY THE TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK WILL RETURN ON DECEMBER 1, 2017
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Screen Time Might Boost Depression, Suicide Behaviors in Teens Increased time spent in front of a screen -- in the form of computers, cell phones and tablets -- might have contributed to an uptick in symptoms of depression and suicide-related behaviors and thoughts in American young people, especially girls, according to a new study by San Diego State University professor of psychology Jean Twenge. The findings point to the need for parents to monitor how much time their children are spending in front of media screens. "These increases in mental health issues among teens are very alarming," Twenge said. "Teens are telling us they are struggling, and we need to take that very seriously." Read More |
Potential New Autism Drug Shows Promise in Mice Scientists have performed a successful test of a possible new drug in a mouse model of an autism disorder. The candidate drug, called NitroSynapsin, largely corrected electrical, behavioral and brain abnormalities in the mice. NitroSynapsin is intended to restore an electrical signaling imbalance in the brain found in virtually all forms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). "This drug candidate is poised to go into clinical trials, and we think it might be effective against multiple forms of autism," said senior investigator Stuart Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Hannah and Eugene Step Chair at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), who is also a clinical neurologist caring for patients. Read More |
Breastfeeding Does Not Protect Children Against Asthma and Allergies The effect of breastfeeding on the risk of developing asthma and allergy has been debated for a long time. In a recent study, Uppsala University researchers show that breastfeeding might in fact increase the risk of developing hay fever and eczema, while not having any clear effect on the risk of asthma. The results have been published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Your risk of developing asthma and allergies depends on your genes, environment and lifestyle factors. Several lifestyle risk factors have already been well established in the scientific community, such as smoking. However, studies on breastfeeding have shown inconsistent results. Many studies have found breastfeeding to have a protective effect against asthma and allergy, while other studies have reported increased risk. Read More |
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What Can Twitter Reveal About People with ADHD? What can Twitter reveal about people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD? Quite a bit about what life is like for someone with the condition, according to findings published by University of Pennsylvania researchers Sharath Chandra Guntuku and Lyle Ungar in the Journal of Attention Disorders. Twitter data might also provide clues to help facilitate more effective treatments. "On social media, where you can post your mental state freely, you get a lot of insight into what these people are going through, which might be rare in a clinical setting," said Guntuku, a postdoctoral researcher working with the World Well-Being Project in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Penn Medicine Center for Digital Health. "In brief 30- or 60-minute sessions with patients, clinicians might not get all manifestations of the condition, but on social media you have the full spectrum." Read More |
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Genetic Treatment for Blindness May Soon be Reality
Patients who had lost their sight to an inherited retinal disease could see well enough to navigate a maze after being treated with a new gene therapy, according to research presented today at AAO 2017, the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Patients in the study had a condition called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), which begins in infancy and progresses slowly, eventually causing complete blindness. This new, first-of-its-kind gene therapy is currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for potential approval this year. There are currently no treatments available for inherited retinal diseases. Read More |
Engaging Children in Math at Home Equals a Boost in More than Just Math Skills Preschool children who engage in math activities at home with their parents not only improve their math skills, but also their general vocabulary, according to research from Purdue University. "Exposure to basic numbers and math concepts at home were predictive, even more so than storybook reading or other literacy-rich interactions, of improving preschool children's general vocabulary," said Amy Napoli, a doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies who led the study. "And one of the reasons we think this could be is the dialogue that happens when parents are teaching their children about math and asking questions about values and comparisons, which helps these young children improve their oral language skills." The findings are published online in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. Read More |
Breakthrough Research Suggests Potential Treatment for Autism, Intellectual Disability A breakthrough in finding the mechanism and a possible therapeutic fix for autism and intellectual disability has been made by a University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher and his team at the Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI). Woo-Yang Kim, Ph.D., associate professor, developmental neuroscience, led a team of researchers from UNMC and Creighton University into a deeper exploration of a genetic mutation that reduces the function of certain neurons in the brain. Dr. Kim's findings were published in this week's online issue of Nature Neuroscience. "This is an exciting development because we have identified the pathological mechanism for a certain type of autism and intellectual disability," Dr. Kim said. Read More |
Honor Society for Special Education Teachers
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Boys Could Benefit from Greater Numbers of Girls in Schools Boys are more likely to perform well in schools with a higher proportion of girls, shedding new light on why girls continue to outperform boys in many educational subjects. A new study published today in School Effectiveness and School Improvement investigated how the school environment influenced boys' and girls' educational performance in secondary schools. Studying the reading test scores of more than 200,000 15-year-olds from over 8,000 mixed-sex schools around the world, researchers discovered that boys' performance was significantly better in schools where more than 60% of the pupils were girls. Read More |
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Student Self-Reporting Can Help Educators Catch Academic, Mental Health Problems Early At the start of the school year, many students expect to go through the process of getting their ears and eyes checked by school nurses for hearing and vision issues. Increasingly, students might also expect to be screened for potential mental health problems. Stephen Kilgus, an associate professor in the Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology in the College of Education at the University of Missouri, is analyzing how a new screening tool, which is completed by students, can help teachers identify potential academic, social and emotional problems. The data might help give teachers better tools to improve children's lives in the classroom and beyond. Read More |
LATEST JOB LISTINGS POSTED ON NASET
* Special Education Teacher - The Adolescent Care Unit (ACU) at Tséhootsooí Medical Center on the Navajo Nation seeks a Special Education Teacher to work with 8 to 10 teens aged 13-17 with mild emotional or behavior issues in a subacute 60-day inpatient program. ACU combines western therapy with Native American traditional cultural methods to foster health and Hozho or harmony, and is located in northeastern AZ. To learn more - Click here
*SEIT - Seeking qualified, dedicated professional educators who are fully licensed by NYS to work as seits. Immediate need in Manhattan and Brooklyn, general need in Queens, Bronx as well. To learn more - Click here
*Early Childhood Special Educator - Sterling Medical has an opening for Early Childhood Special Educators to work with children of American military families stationed at overseas. Positions currently available are located at Lakenheath UK, Naples Italy, and Okinawa Japan. Position works in a home-based early intervention program, providing services to infants and toddlers of American military families stationed overseas. To learn more - Click here
* Early Childhood Special Education Teacher - This private special education school services students with language, learning, sensory motor disabilities, and moderate to high functioning Autism. This special education teacher position is for an early education classroom. To learn more - Click here
* Licensed Special Education Teacher - Think is a multidisciplinary center offering services to children in Bahrain who have developmental and behavior disorders. We are a dynamic center with in-clinic and outreach programs, supervisors, leads and primary therapists in addition to SLT and OT services. We have a beautiful, custom facility that accommodates over 20 clinical staff. To learn more - Click here
*Special Education Teacher - JCFS is currently seeking a Special Education Teacher to work with individuals and small groups of children (K - 12) with emotional and behavior disorders in a therapeutic special education classroom. The Therapeutic Day School is located in West Rogers Park, Chicago, IL. To learn more - Click here
* Special Education Teacher - Various Positions Open: 2 positions for Special Education Resource 5th - 8th, Special Education Resource K-3rd, SPED - Social Skills le-4th, SPED - Social Skills 6th - 8th, Arizona certification required. To learn more - Click here
*Licensed Special Education Teacher - Now Offering $2,000 sign on payment** and **$2,000 relocation allowance (if applicable). Youth Villages' Residential Treatment programs serve children with emotional and behavioral problems. Our residential campuses provide the setting for an intensive treatment program that combines the unique balance of structure and freedom. To learn more - Click here
* Teacher of the Visually Impaired - Lighthouse Louisiana is seeking a Certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired who is eager to use his/her skills and creativity to provide itinerant vision services and to develop youth programs for children with vision loss in the Greater New Orleans area. To learn more - Click here
* Private Teacher - Flexible start date between now and Spring/Summer of 2018! Family based in Lincoln Park, IL seeks a Private Teacher to co-develop, manage, and implement the education plan/home school program for an elite student athlete who is entering high school next year. To learn more - Click here
* Lead ED Special Education Teacher - The Lead Special Education Teacher for Cornerstone is an integral member of the academics team whose focus is to guide students in their social-emotional and academic development. To learn more - Click here If you are an Employer looking for excellent special education staff - Click here for more information |
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