Student Volunteer Finds Career Passion in Special Education
by Rebecca Rudolph – Four years ago, a teacher made a presentation to a class of freshmen about the special education program at Ellsworth High School. “I (wanted) to be a part of that,” Katie Deiss said. The next September Deiss walked into the special education classroom for her first day volunteering with the students. [...]
PERSONAL STORY
Girl with Multiple Disabilities Participates in Half Marathon
Sadhika Premkumar, an eight-year-old multiply disabled student at Bright Beginnings Learning Center, was pushed in an adaptive stroller for 4.5 miles and assisted by a physical therapist to walk the final 20 feet to cross the finish line in the Long Branch Half Marathon and Relay, a part of the New Jersey Marathon at the [...]
PARENTING
Eating Broccoli May Prevent Cerebral Palsy
by Katelyn Verstraten – The answer to preventing one of the main causes of cerebral palsy may be as simple as eating broccoli sprouts during pregnancy. Dr. Jerome Yager, a pediatric neurologist and research scientist from the University of Alberta, is working with animal models to determine if antioxidant-rich broccoli sprouts can protect the developing [...]
EDUCATION
Can Chicago Serve the Individual Needs of Students with Disabilities?
by Federico R. Waitoller – On May 22, the Chicago School Board will decide whether to approve one of the largest mass school closings in U.S. history. The impacts will be felt in different ways by the more than 46,000 mostly black students who’ll be affected. But the action is likely to create a perfect storm [...]
Research & Tech
Science Finds Possible Mechanism Underlying Many Learning Disabilities
Dysfunctional mitochondria in brain cells can result in learning disabilities, according to a new study in Molecular Cell. The association between dysfunctional mitochondria and Parkinson’s disease has been known, but this new study, led by neuroscientist Patrik Verstreken of VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and KU Leuven, has revealed that it is also present in [...]
Law & Politics
DSM-5 Revisions on some IDEA Disability Categories
by Christina Samuels – The long-awaited fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as the DSM-5, was released last weekend by the American Psychiatric Association with several revisions that affect conditions such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that are common in school contexts. The manual was last published [...]
COMMENTARY
Why Does the US Lead in ADHD Diagnoses?
by Collin Garbarino – G. K. Chesterton wrote, “Science in the modern world has many uses; its chief use, however, is to provide long words to cover the errors of the rich.” A rich man cannot be a thief. He must be a kleptomaniac. America, the richest society in the history of the world, applies [...]
