AD/HD AWARENESS WEEK is this week, October 10-22. At the AD/HD Awareness Week site you can find resources concerning the condition. In the meantime, the American Academy of Pediatrics has just updated its guidelines on diagnosing and treating AD/HD in younger children and in adolescents. Emerging evidence, says AAP, makes it possible to diagnose and manage AD/HD in children from ages 4 to 18 (previous AAP guidelines covered ages 6 to 12). The new guidelines describe the special considerations involved in diagnosing and treating preschool children and adolescents. They also include interventions to help children with hyperactive/impulsive behaviors that do not meet the full diagnostic criteria for AD/HD. Find out more. To help parents understand the new guidance on AD/HD, the AAP has published a detailed and updated consumer resource book entitled “ADHD: What Every Parent Needs to Know.” Parent information is also available at www.healthychildren.org/adhd.
MORE ON AD/HD. The New York Times has initiated a discussion on AD/HD, posing the questions, "Are Americans More Prone to AD/HD?" along with "Do the American and educational systems inflate the numbers?" So far the discussion has generated seven pages of posts. Read or contribute.
AUTISM DOCTOR DISCIPLINED. Parents of autistic children are often desperate to find treatments that will help their children. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has filed a complaint against an Illinois doctor who used methods such a chelation, hormone modulation, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, stating that "none... has been proven to influence the course of autism." Read more.
SCHOOL AVOIDANCE was the subject of an article on HealthDay recently -- and we're betting that many 2e kids have the desire to avoid school because they might not fit in one way or another. Find the article, along with a pointer to AAP information on the topic.
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR WRITING. Education Week covered a variety of assistive technologies for kids who have problems writing, including a list of free resources. Got a student or offspring with this problem? Find the article.
FOR IDEA WONKS. CEC has released a side-by-side comparison of updated IDEA regulations and those from 1999. If IDEA is a big part of your life, check it out.