Florida Foster Children with Disabilities Will Finally Get Needed Care

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman has been fighting with state officials for several years to get help for Miami foster children. She held hearings last month for 35 Miami foster children who have been on a waiting list, some for years, for speech, occupational and physical therapy and other services covered by the State. In recent weeks the state has moved to qualify over 300 kids for services. 

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New Research on the Causes of ADHD

About one-third of attention deficit cases among US children may be linked with tobacco smoke before birth or lead to exposure afterward, according to new research. Lead levels considered acceptable appear to increase a child’s risk of having ADHD. New research build on previous research linking attention problems, including ADHD, with childhood lead exposure and smoking during pregnancy offers one of the first estimates of how much these environmental factors might contribute.

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Major Study on Girls With ADHD: The Risks to Girls Are as Real as for Boys

A major long-term study of girls diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in elementary school has found they are at greater risk for substance abuse, emotional problems and academic difficulties in adolescence than their peers who don’t have ADHD. The study is a much anticipated five year followup study of one of the largest samples of girls with ADHD ever examined.

To read an article in Medical News TODAY about the study, click here.

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A Couple Fights to Stay a Family

A New Jersey couple is engaged in a constant battle to prove their fitness as parents. They lost custody of their son for 18 months when child welfare authorities put him in foster care. They are among thousands of parents around the country with mental limitations who face the same struggle.

Nationwide, 40 to 60 percent of parents with mental limitations will have a child taken away by the child protection system, at least temporarily. Deciding whether a child is safe at home, or needs to be placed in foster care, is a tough decision. When mentally disabled parents are involved, the decision is even tougher.

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Which Children Receive a Diagnosis of ADHD in the US Elementary School Population
 
A report on research in the latest issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says that girls, black children, and Hispanic children were less likely to have the diagnosis even after controlling for other characteristics. There were regional differences too. The report concludes that ADHD diagnosis is likely to be influenced by a child’s social and school environment as well as exogenous child characteristics. (I looked it up. Exogenous: something coming from outside a system.) Read the abstract at the link above.

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College for Intellectually Disabled Kids

There are currently 115 postsecondary programs for intellectually disabled students in the country. The goal of many of the programs is to help children develop the skills they need to get and keep a job. The key to the success for such programs is early intensive intervention.

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National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities

Services and support offered at this new web site include technical assistance, Enews, research, and information about effective practices to increase school completion rates and decrease dropout rates among students with disabilities.

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Millions of Young Americans are Misusing ADHD Drugs

A new study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that more than 1.6 million American teens and young adults misused these drugs during a 12-month period, and 75,000 became addicted. ADHD drugs allow users to stay awake longer and finish work more quickly.

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Warning for ADHD Drugs

A federal expert advisory panel has recommended that several drugs widely used to treat ADHD should carry a prominent “black Box” warning because of reports they may have caused sudden deaths or serious complications.

 Members of the board said the recommendation was driven as much by worries that the drugs are being overused in the United States as by the possible side effects. About 10% of 10-year-old American boys are taking the medications and there have been sharp increases in the number of adults taking them.

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Opportunities for People with Down Syndrome

In recent years young adults with developmental disabilities are finding opportunities that once would have been unthinkable. While a curriculum may be modified and practical skills are usually part of the mix, the choices are far more challenging than the menial labor and sheltered workshops of an earlier era.

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