Special Education Law Blog

Hard Economic Times Creating More Physical Barriers

When you are in a wheelchair (which I experience vicariously through my son everyday) a cracked sidewalk is a major obstacle. On more than one occasion, especially in urban areas, we have been forced into the street to make our way to doctor's appointments, restaurants any other places in the community. Lack of funds for maintenance, especially in hard economic times, has created enormous access issues on public sidewalks. Well I am happy to report that in Texas and other places around the country, people with disabilities are filing ADA lawsuits for safe and barrier-free access to public sidewalks.  The stakes are high but you should not have to risk your life just to access the community.

Vitamin May Reduce The Effects of Fetal Alcohol by Amanda Windom

Prenatal damage to infants by drinking alcohol while pregnant is a growing problem.  Estimates vary from, for every 1000 live births in the U.S. 1-2 infants are born with fetal alcohol syndrome and 3-5 are born with fetal alcohol effects (a less severe diagnosis) to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders occuring in 1 out of every 100 live births.  Despite increased warnings that drinking alcohol while pregnant is damaging to the developing fetus statistics show that more than 50% of pregnant women between the ages of 15-44 reported drinking while pregnant.  As a result, scientists are now looking for ways to treat fetal alcohol effects after birth.

Bipolar Disorder and IEP's by Amanda Windom

Bipolar disorder diagnosis in youth (under 20 years of age) drastically increased in less than ten years. A comprehensive study published by Archives of General Psychiatry found that in 1994-1995 twenty-five per 100,000 office based visits for youth resulted in bipolar diagnosis.  By 2002-2003 that number had risen to 1003 per 100,000 and experts say that by now it has almost certainly risen more.  Some experts believe that greater awareness is allowing kids access to treatment, while others feel the disorder is being over diagnosed reports The New York Times.

The Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation(CABF) explains how bipolar disorder in children may vary from that in adults.  For example, as opposed to having marked changes in mood and energy as adults do, children often have ongoing mood disturbance that is a mix of mania and depression.  Children with bipolar disorder are entitled to special education and an IEP if the disorder affects their ability to be educated.  The IEP should reflect supports necessary when the child is experiencing symptoms as well as when the child is relatively well.  Some necessary accommodations may include  an extra set of books at home, unlimited access to water fountain and bathroom, small class size, a one-on-one aide for assistance, or reduction in homework.  Click on the link for CABF for a more comprehensive listing of accommodations.

Dyscalculia Research Reveals Possible Cause by Amanda Windom

Current Biology recently published a study on the math disability, dyscalculia.  Dyscalculia, according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, is a term referring to a wide range of life-long learning disabilities involving math.  Dyscalculia affects a person's ability to understand and manipulate numbers and may be caused by visual-spatial disability (difficulty processing what the eye sees) or language processing difficulty (difficulty processing what the ear hears).  Some symptoms of the disability include inability to balance a checkbook, difficulty estimating time and/or costs, and poor sense of direction.  In young children symptoms include difficulty learning to count or understanding how numbers relate to things in the world (ex. 4 dogs, 6 cats).

The researchers found, as reported by Time,  the exact part of the brain that is responsible for human's sense of magnitude, or more specifically stated by Dr. Roi Cohen Kadosh of  the UCL institute "...This provides strong evidence that dyscalculia is caused by malformations in the right parietal lobe..."  This gives hope that someday scientists may be able to develop a diagnostic tool for diagnosing and/or treating the disorder.

In the meantime there are many things parents and teachers can do to help children with the disorder. Some ideas include explaining ideas and problems clearly, ensuring student comprehends the problem, providing a quiet place to study, allowing extra time for problem solving, encouraging the student to ask questions, encouraging visualizations, and providing multiple real life examples.  As with other "invisible disabilities" it is critical to insist on in-depth evaluations to identify the issues and then write a good measurable IEP. 

Unique Therapy for Cerebral Palsy by Amanda Windom

DuPage Easter Seals in Villa Park, Illinois is offering an intensive therapy for children with cerebral palsy with real functional results.  In Sacramento, California, children have 4 hours of therapy per day, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks and as reported on KCRA.com  children are experiencing positive results.  The program, called Suitability, is described on the Easter Seals website and  provides intensive physical and occupational therapy and has many benefits including improved head and trunk control, balance and coordination, decrease in uncontrolled movements, strengthening, positive speech benefits, improved gait and both fine and gross motor skill improvement.  The program is called Suitability because an important component is the suit that is worn, which is a modification of one designed by Russian scientists to minimize the physical effects of weightlessness for astronauts.

The suit allowed one student to walk across the stage for his high school graduation and another student was able to kick a ball with her left foot for the first time after the treatment.  Still another was able to lift her arms to hug her Mom for the first time.  Another child was able to better maintain posture and balance while moving after three rounds of the program.  While these results sound almost too good to be true a study released in 2004 by the Therasuit LLC/Pediatric Fitness Center stated that 100% of participants have improvements in strength and range of motion, 92% show functional improvements, and 75% are able to sit independently after the program. Other reports detail a 94% improvement in fine and gross motor skills and 64% in speech productivity and fluency.

Environmental Triggers for Autism Researched by Amanda Windom

A news article on Boston.com addresses environmental triggers as a cause of autism.  About $2 million dollars are being put into a groundbreaking study that will intensely track possible environmental triggers of autism starting in the womb.  According to Dr. Gary Goldstein, chairman of the scientific board Autism Speaks, until recently 90% of research focused on genetics, but that is about to change.  Mark Blaxill, co-founder of Safe Minds, says that genes cannot account for the epidemic proportions that autism have reached.  The article also mentions the recent study in California that found autism in 8 of 29 children whose mother lived near fields that had been sprayed with pesticide .  Goldstein also spoke of Reye's syndrome, which was easily eradicated when children stopped receiving aspirin.  "Wouldn't it be wonderful, he said, if we found something like that?" 

The idea of autism having an environmental trigger is one that has been proposed before.  For example in October of 2006 a press release from Cornell University suggested a connection between autism and early childhood television viewing.  The study found that higher rates of autism occurred in rainy climates where children are more likely to watch TV and where they have greater access to cable.  Other reports have claimed that mercury contained in children's vaccines, or even in utero, was to blame.  Some experts believe that autism is caused by vulnerable genes and environmental triggers.  Nancy Duley, parent of an autistic child, perhaps put it best when she said she hopes this new study will answer one of the "burning questions"  for many families of children with autism.

Thomas gets an A for Autism by Amanda Windom

A recent study by the UK's National Autistic Society explores the relationship between children with autism and Thomas the Tank Engine. The research found that nearly 90% of the over 700 children participating liked Thomas very much and nearly 50% of parents reported that their child had learned about colors and numbers from Thomas. The popular train also influenced over 30% of the participating children in positive ways in regards to language. Parents reported that children who did not communicate with typical language were able to communicate with 'Thomas' language. Many parents also reported that children were able to learn about human emotion from the expressions on the trains. Another benefit to children with autism and their siblings is that they can begin to interact by watching a Thomas video or playing with the toy trains together. The overall effect of Thomas the Tank Engine was reported as positive and helpful, not only to the autistic children but to their parents as well. Click on the link above to read the full results from the study.

Fetal Alcohol in the News by Amanda Windom

Too many children with fetal alcohol syndrome grow up to become adults in trouble with the law, 60% in fact. Parents feel like there is little help to take control and keep their children out of trouble.  That may be changing thanks to Illinois legislation sponsored by Senator Don Harmon (D-Oak Park).  The proposed Illinois bill, as explained in the Chicago Tribune June 1, 2007, would give parents the option of guardianship which up to now  had not been available for the parents of young adults with FAS.  This would allow parents to care for the financial and personal interests of the adult with FAS (called the ward), if a judge determined that the ward could not make sound decisions.  It is important to mention that becoming a guardian to an adult with disabilities does not make the guardian responsible for the wards debts or actions, but does give the guardian authority to care for the personal and financial interests of the ward.  As of July 5, 2007 this bill had passed through both houses and  was sent to the Governor.

For those in States other than  Illinois, this legislation could be used as a model to protect individuals with FAS.