Publications > Week in Review > Week in Review 2015 Archives > Week in Review - July 24, 2015
July 24, 2015 - Vol 11, Issue 30
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Dear NASET News,
Welcome to NASET's WEEK in REVIEW. Here, we provide you with the latest publications from NASET 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 theWEEK in REVIEW at news@naset.org. Have a great weekend.
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What About Asperger's?
By Regina E. Kearley
Doris Adams Hill
This issue of NASET's Autism Spectrum Disorder series was written by Regina Kearley and Doris Adams Hill. The authors examined the six court cases found in the LexisNexis database regarding Asperger's disorder and IDEA decided in 2010, to exemplify how qualification for services and placement in the least restrictive environment are often dependent on state definitions and professional interpretation. For individuals impacted by Asperger's disorder, getting a diagnosis can be frustrating, and getting much needed services subject to the expertise of professionals using DSM criteria, strength of family advocates, an administrative classification under one of 13 disabilities under IDEA. The authors synthesize information for LEAs regarding service provision and qualification, and contend that understanding the changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, interpretation of state definitions, and administrative classification under IDEA impact individuals with Asperger's. These six cases from 2010 are a benchmark to compare future outcomes in consideration of changes in the DSM.
Parent Teacher Conference Handout Issue #119
Why Children Exhibit Overall Academic Failure in School
Many times parents are unaware of the different reasons why their children may not be performing or successful in school. For a teacher this may be hard to explain to parents. This Parent Teacher Conference Handout provides the parents with an explanation of all the possible reasons why children may not be learning in school.
Mental Health Problems in Childhood Linked to Adult Woes
Poor mental health in childhood may lower the chances of success in adulthood, a new study suggests. Duke University researchers found that children with mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and/or behavioral problems were six times more likely than those with no psychiatric problems to have difficulties in adulthood. Those later struggles included addiction, early pregnancy, criminal charges, difficulty getting and keeping jobs, education failures and housing instability, the study authors said. Even children with mild or passing episodes of psychiatric problems were at increased risk, according to the study in the July 15 issue of the journal JAMA Psychiatry. To read more, click here
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Another Study Sees Link Between Antidepressants and Birth Defects
New research provides more evidence of a possible link between antidepressant use early in pregnancy and a small increased risk of birth defects. But the study didn't prove that the medications cause birth defects, and experts aren't advising women to stop taking the drugs entirely. "Depression can be very serious, and women should not suddenly stop taking their medications. Women should talk to their health care providers about available options, ideally before planning a pregnancy," said study author Jennita Reefhuis. She is an epidemiologist with the U.S. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To read more, click here
Asbestos Found in Kids' Crayons, Toy Kits: Report
Asbestos fibers have been found in crayons and other toys sold in the United States, according to a new report from an environmental health advocacy group. The fibers were found in four brands of crayons and two children's crime-scene toy fingerprint kits, according to the EWG (Environmental Working Group) Action Fund report released Wednesday. "We were surprised," said report co-author Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst with the Washington, D.C.-based group. "Crayons and crime-scene toys were found to have asbestos in years gone by, and the manufacturers of both had already promised to deal with the problem," she explained. To read more, click here
Early Intervention Shows Promise in Treating Schizophrenia
Interventions that include resiliency training, education and job support may boost the mental health of patients in the early stages of schizophrenia, new research reveals. The finding, reported in the July issue of Psychiatric Services, followed an assessment of several specialty care programs, including some funded through a U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) initiative known as RAISE (Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode). The comprehensive treatment programs also include family education and goal-setting. Investigators found that patients who completed RAISE fared better both socially and on the job. They also showed fewer symptoms and were less likely to relapse. To read more, click here
Approximately how many spinal cord injuries (SCI) happen every year in the U.S?
All answers must be submitted no later than Monday, July 27, 2015 at 12:00 p.m.
NASET Members Only
Another Genetic Error Linked to Childhood Leukemia
Scientists say they've identified a gene mutation associated with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. ALL, as acute lymphoblastic leukemia is called, is the most common type of cancer in children. "This is now the second such syndrome of leukemia susceptibility we have described recently, suggesting that there is a significant proportion of childhood leukemia that is inherited," said study corresponding author Dr. Kenneth Offit, chief of the clinical genetics service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The mutation is in the gene ETV6, which plays a role in cancers of lymphocytes -- immune cells that circulate in the blood. This gene mutation was found in several children with leukemia who are members of the same family, the research team said. To read more, click here
For Those With Social Anxiety, Acts of Kindness May Be Therapeutic
People with social anxiety who perform good deeds may have less trouble relaxing and interacting with others, new research finds. These acts of kindness can boost feelings of happiness and foster positive views of the world. Over time, deeds that promote positive interactions may enable people with this disorder to socialize more easily, the Canadian researchers said. "Acts of kindness may help to counter negative social expectations by promoting more positive perceptions and expectations of a person's social environment," study co-author Jennifer Trew, of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, said in a journal news release. "It helps to reduce their levels of social anxiety and, in turn, makes them less likely to want to avoid social situations." To read more, click here
Justice Department Says Georgia Illegally Segregates Students
At a school in Cordele, students with behavioral disorders must use segregated restrooms. They have separate lunch periods. They have to enter through a special door and, unlike their peers without disabilities, pass through a metal detector. In Rome, students in the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support program aren't allowed to engage with other students - or even leave the basement. "School," one student said, "is like prison where I am in the weird class." Through such programs, Georgia illegally segregates thousands of students with behavioral or psychiatric disorders, often in schools that are dirty, in poor repair and, in some cases, served as blacks-only facilities before court-ordered integration, the U.S. Justice Department charged this week. To read more, click here
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'Miniature Brains' Reveal An Outsized Secret About Autism
Scientists hoping to uncover the origins of autism have grown a passel of miniature proto-brains in a lab, using reprogrammed skin cells to rewind the clock to the brain's earliest days of development. From these small creations have come potentially big insights into autism, a diabolically complex disorder. Peering into the "organoids" they created - clusters of embryonic brain cells smaller than one-tenth of an inch across - the authors of the new research were able to observe that as the autistic brain is under construction, it overproduces the brain cells that act to quiet the cacophony of neural activity in the brain. To read more, click here
Human Brain Has Nearly Ideal Network of Connections, Research Shows
A new study examining why the human brain evolved the way it did could lead to new ways to treat brain disorders, researchers say. The brain developed into its present form to speed transfer of information from one region of the brain to another, so people can perform at peak capacity, according to Dmitri Krioukov, an associate professor of physics at Northeastern University in Boston, and colleagues. The investigators found that the brain's structure contains an almost perfect network of connections. The researchers first created a map of a brain network that provided the best transfer of information between brain regions. They compared this "idealized" map with the brain's actual network and found that they were 89 percent similar. To read more, click here
Analysis Ranks Best States For Disability Services
A diverse group of states spanning the nation came out on top in an annual ranking of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The analysis released Thursday by United Cerebral Palsy looks at Medicaid services offered across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. For the fourth year in a row, Arizona took first place in the listing. Other states leading the pack include Maryland, Missouri, New York, Hawaii, Colorado, Minnesota, the District of Columbia, South Carolina and Ohio. The ranking is largely based on data from 2013 and assesses a number of factors including how easily services are accessed, what types of environments people with developmental disabilities live in and how much they participate in the community. To read more, click here
Many Overweight or Obese Teens Don't See the Problem
Many overweight and obese teens don't believe they have a weight problem, a new study finds. Researchers reviewed data on about 5,000 teens. They were between 13 and 15 years of age, and they all lived in the United Kingdom. The teens had been asked about their weight and if they thought they were too heavy, too light or about right. Seventy-three percent of the teens had a weight within the normal range, 20 percent were overweight and 7 percent were obese. However, about 40 percent of those who were overweight or obese said they were about the right weight, and 0.4 percent even said they were too light, the findings showed. To read more, click here
Nike Unveils Shoes For People With Special Needs
Thanks to a plea from a teen with cerebral palsy seeking shoes he could put on his feet independently, Nike is introducing sneakers designed specifically for people with disabilities. Matthew Walzer, then 16, wrote an open letter to Nike in 2012 asking the athletic-wear giant to make a more accessible line of shoes that would still provide the support people like him need. "At 16 years old, I am able to completely dress myself, but my parents still have to tie my shoes. As a teenager who is striving to become totally self-sufficient, I find this extremely frustrating, and at times, embarrassing," Walzer wrote. "My dream is to go to the college of my choice without having to worry about someone coming to tie my shoes everyday." To read more, click here
Banning Soccer 'Headers' Won't Solve Concussion Problem: Study
While many experts have called for a ban on "heading" the ball in youth soccer because they believe it is a leading cause of concussions, a new study suggests the body contact that often occurs during such play is to blame for most brain injuries. So banning headers among high school players would not reduce concussion rates as much as enforcing existing rules on rough play would, the researchers added. Heading the ball "is very much at the heart of soccer culture," explained study author R. Dawn Comstock, a faculty member in the department of epidemiology with the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado in Aurora. "And, yes, we found that heading is the activity in soccer during which most concussions occur among both boys and girls," she added. To read more, click here
Gene Therapy Restores Hearing in Deaf Mice
Using gene therapy, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School have restored hearing in mice with a genetic form of deafness. Their work, published online July 8 by the journal Science Translational Medicine, could pave the way for gene therapy in people with hearing loss caused by genetic mutations. "Our gene therapy protocol is not yet ready for clinical trials--we need to tweak it a bit more--but in the not-too-distant future we think it could be developed for therapeutic use in humans," says Jeffrey Holt, PhD, a scientist in the Department of Otolaryngology and F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children's and an associate professor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School. To read more, click here
Call for Breastfeeding Guidance for Babies with Down's Syndrome
Despite compelling evidence about the benefits of breastfeeding little is known about the breastfeeding experiences of mothers of infants with Down's syndrome. In the UK, clinical commissioning groups and practitioners have a vital role in empowering and enabling these women to access help and support as soon as the child is born. Mothers of babies with Down's syndrome need tailored guidance to help them breastfeed and reduce the risk of health inequalities they may otherwise face. An article in the July edition of Learning Disability Practice states that more research is needed to explore and improve breastfeeding practice in this group to give newborns with Down's syndrome a healthier start in life. To read more, click here
Why Kids' Recovery Times Vary Widely After Brain Injury
Why do some youngsters bounce back quickly from a traumatic brain injury, while others suffer devastating side effects for years? New UCLA/USC research suggests that damage to the fatty sheaths around the brain's nerve fibers--not injury severity-- may explain the difference. Published in the July 15 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience, the finding identifies possible biomarkers that physicians could use to predict higher-risk patients who require closer monitoring. The study is the first to combine imaging scans with recording of the brain's electrical activity to reveal how damage to the protective coating around the brain's circuitry affects how quickly children and teens can process and recall information after a concussion or other head trauma. To read more, click here
Why Concussion Recovery Takes Longer for Some Kids
Some children recover more slowly from concussion and other types of traumatic brain injury because they have extensive damage to the protective coating around brain nerve fibers, a new study says. Researchers looked at 32 patients, aged 8 to 19, who had suffered a moderate to severe brain injury in the previous five months. The kids underwent tests to assess how fast they could process and recall information. The researchers also recorded electrical activity in the patients' brains to determine how quickly their brain nerve fibers could transmit information. And imaging scans assessed the structural condition of the youngsters' brain wiring. To read more, click here
Feds: Most States Failing To Meet Special Ed Obligations
Federal officials indicate that less than half of states are meeting their obligations under special education law. The U.S. Department of Education says that just 19 states qualified for the "meets requirements" designation for the 2013-2014 school year. The rest of states were classified as "needs assistance" or "needs intervention." Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Education Department must evaluate states annually on their efforts to implement special education programs. The ratings carry significant weight. If a state fails to meet requirements for two or more years, the Department of Education must take enforcement action, which can include a corrective action plan or withholding funds, among other steps. To read more, click here
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