Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

People Who Normally Practice Sport Have a Better Attention Span Than Those With Bad Physical Health

Excerpt from: Science Daily (click for full article)

 

This research has been carried out by scientists from the University of Granada.

New scientific evidence seems to confirm the famous Roman saying "Mens sana in corpore sano." Researchers from the University of Granada have demonstrated that people who normally practice sport have a better cognitive performance than those with bad physical health. More specifically, the results of this research indicate that the former have a better sustained attention span (they react more rapidly to an external stimulus introduced randomly while carrying out a monotonous task). Their autonomic nervous system also appears to work better when dealing with cognitive loads over a longer time period.

In an article published in the latest edition of the journal PLoS One scientists compared the cognitive performance in specific tasks such as sustained attention, time-oriented attention (generating expectations of when an event will occur) and time perception.

"When Can I Go Back to Camp, Mom?"

Excerpt from: ADDitude (click for full article)

 

Summer camp isn't all about outdoor activities and having fun. The most important part of camp for kids with ADHD can be building self-esteem and finding a social network that feels right. ADDitude talked with several parents who hoped — and found — that summer camp would do wonders for their kids. If you’re considering camp for your child this summer, you will find these three stories encouraging and inspiring.

COMING OF AGE AT CAMP

Most families think of summer camp as something for teens and tweens, but Club Kodiak is for young adults over the age of 18. Jacqueline Ford's son, Thomas, graduated from Camp Kodiak to Club Kodiak when he turned 18, five years ago.

Thomas has learning disabilities and has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Many years ago, his educational psychiatrist suggested that getting away from home would help him.

"It took us years to convince Thomas to go to Camp Kodiak and overcome his anxiety about staying away from home," says Ford. "We finally told him we thought this was an important part of growing up."

Autism, Psychiatric Disorders Close Genetic Cousins

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

In the largest study of its kind, researchers are reporting that autism may be more closely tied to a handful of other psychiatric disorders than previously thought.

Scientists analyzed the genomes of more than 60,000 people finding that those with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia may all share genetic risk factors.

For the study published online this week in the journal The Lancet, researchers looked at the genomes of 33,332 people, each of whom had one of the five psychiatric disorders targeted, and 27,888 people with no mental health issues. They found four areas of genetic code with variations seen in people with all five psychiatric conditions.

The discovery could help improve understanding of the psychiatric disorders, researchers said, and may lead to more accurate ways to diagnose the conditions.

Coping with a Child's Bipolar Disorder and Childproofing Your Home

Excerpt from: About.com (click for full article)

 

Making your home safe for every child is important, and it is especially important if your child has learning disabilities. Children with developmental delays, language development problems, attention deficit disorders, and mental disabilities require special consideration when child-proofing your home. Learn what to look out for when childproofing your home for a child with learning disabilities.

2013 Youth Achievement Award

Excerpt from: Smart Kids: Learning Disabilities (click for more information)

 

Nominations are now open for the 2013 Fred J. Epstein Youth Achievement Award. This $1,000 award recognizes the strengths and accomplishments of young people with learning disabilities and ADHD. It will be given to a student 19 or younger who has demonstrated initiative, talent and determination resulting in a notable accomplishment in any field—including art, music, science, math, athletics or community service. Honorable Mentions will also be awarded.

The award will be presented at the organization’s annual benefit on the evening of Friday, April 26, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Transportation and hotel accommodations will be provided for the winning student and his/her parents.

The application may be submitted by parents, teachers, coaches, mentors or students themselves. Please submit the application and documentation by the contest deadline of January 31, 2013 to Smart Kids with LD, 38 Kings Highway North, Westport, CT 06880. For information, contact us via email at [email protected].

Download the 2013 Youth Achievement Award application form here

What Does It Feel Like to Have ADHD?

Excerpt from: ADDitude (click for full article)

 

We asked ADDitude readers, "What does it feel like to have ADHD?"

Having ADHD does not "feel like" anything. Unlike a physical problem--a broken bone, say--ADHD is invisible. People offer sympathy when you are in pain. Trying to explain ADHD without seeming to make excuses is tough. Perhaps if someone were to create a "sling" or "splint" for ADHD, the public might have more sympathy for having the condition. -Ann, Tennessee

Every day is a struggle, but you make the best of it. Meds help, but they aren't a miracle cure. You take things people say literally. -Argelia, Georgia

Crazy, frustrating, and sometimes the funniest thing ever—once you learn to laugh at yourself! And we all need to. -Amy, Ohio

It is as if you are driving through thick fog, on a dark road, trying to get to where you know you are supposed to be. The problem is, you lost the directions and have no GPS to guide you--and, in the background, the radio is playing loud songs that are changing. -April, Texas

What Doctors (and Their Office Managers) Need to Know About Patients With Hearing Disabilities and Interpreter Services

Excerpt from: Center for Independent Living of South Florida Advocacy Blog (click for full post)

 

"I'm a doctor in private practice, and I can choose my patients - If a patient  is deaf, and doesn't agree to bring their own interpreter,  I can turn them away, right?"

No.  Doctors in private practice (not employed by a state or local government) are covered by title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),( regardless of the number of employees they have), and cannot discriminate on the basis of disability. (Doctors employed by a state or local government  are covered  by title II of the ADA.) 

 In addition, if they receive federal financial assistance, they are prohibited from discriminating against patients on the basis of disability by a law that has been in existence since 1973 - Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Violation of Section 504 of  the Rehabilitation Act could result in a suspension or termination of all federal financial assistance by the federal funding agency. This has great significance for public hospitals in particular.

Patients with hearing disabilities (and other disabilities) are a protected class under federal civil rights laws. Other protected classes under other federal civil rights laws are people of color, women, and people expressing religious beliefs, among  others.

Children with Disabilities: Medical Care, Education, and Cost

Excerpt from: The Future of Children (click for full post)

 

A recent Child Trends Research Brief, "Children with Disabilities: State-Level Data from the American Community Survey," uses data to look at the diverse needs of children with disabilities. Several critical findings and topics were also noted in the Future of Children's recent issue on Children with Disabilities.
 
Both the Child Trends research brief and the Future of Children note that there is little consensus in defining children with disabilities. "Researchers tend to focus on the individual causes of disability such as autism, asthma, cystic fibrosis, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder" (Future of Children). Regardless of the definition, children with disabilities need more specialized care medically, environmentally, and educationally.  Parents of these children "often need to advocate for their child across multiple domains, from managing the child's medical care, to ensuring an appropriate and individualized educational plan is in place, to meeting significant expenses that may arise due to the disability" (Child Trends).

As Child Trends notes, health insurance is vital for children with disabilities. The Child Trends brief cites Peter Szilagyi's Future of Children chapter, "Health Insurance and Children with Disabilities," which observes that the number of children with disabilities covered under private insurance declined by about 10 percent during from 2000 to 2008, while public insurance coverage increased. The two main public health insurance programs are Medicaid and SCHIP (known since 2009 as the Children's Health Insurance Program or CHIP).  Nearly half of children with special health care needs who have insurance are covered by one of these two programs; 90 percent are enrolled in Medicaid, the other 10 percent in CHIP. These are among several programs that provide health services for children disabilities. As Child Trends points out, "children with disabilities who are insured get more timely and comprehensive care, and that their parents are more satisfied with their child's health care than are parents of children with disabilities who lack insurance."

 

Study Finds that ADHD may Inhibit Societal Growth if Untreated

Excerpt from: About.com (click for full article)

 

Adults who were diagnosed with ADHD as a child may take pause at a new study on the learning disability. The recent study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry was a follow-up from a previous ADHD study conducted some 33 years ago on a selection of children. The initial study observed the behaviors of children diagnosed with ADHD and a separate group of children without the learning disability. Now scientists have compared how these two groups of children have grown up into adults all these years later, and the results are quite startling.

Here are just some of the discoveries that researchers made as a result of the study:

1. The adults who had ADHD as children earned significantly less than the adults who never suffered from ADHD. The study estimates that the adults without ADHD earned almost $40,000 more on average than those who did have the learning disability.
2. The adults in the group that didn't suffer from ADHD as children as had more schooling on average than those who had ADHD. The study states that adults with ADHD had an average of two and half years less schooling than those without ADHD-that's more than an associate's degree worth of education.
3. Adults with ADHD also had higher rates of substance abuse issues as well as issues with antisocial behavior. Addressing ADHD early and effectively: Though the numbers from this particular study appear to paint a bleak picture for people who had ADHD, it shouldn't discourage people who have the learning disability. If anything, the study points to the necessity of properly addressing and treating ADHD as the real disability that it is. ADHD shouldn't be disregarded as a mere disorder that promotes hyperactivity in children; this study proves that at least that much.

ABC’s of Accommodations

Excerpt from: New York Times (click for full article)

 

According to the most recent government figures, about 11 percent of undergraduates, or over two million students, have a disability. Most have learning disabilities, like dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but 15 percent have an orthopedic or mobility impairment; 6 percent have a hearing impairment; and 3 percent are blind or visually impaired.

Colleges that accept a physically disabled student must at least make essential spaces — library, residence hall, lab, classrooms — accessible. For instance, if a student in a wheelchair wants to take a political science course that is usually held on the second floor of a building that doesn’t have an elevator, reasonable accommodation would be to reschedule the entire class on the first floor.

But what is unreasonable? According to the government definition, an accommodation that would “fundamentally alter the nature of a program, lower or waive essential academic requirements, or result in undue financial or administrative burdens,” for example, installing elevators or new door openers in all buildings. Other accommodations considered unreasonable, said Susan Burns, associate dean for academic affairs at Morningside College, include expensive computer software, Braille readers or the salary for a personal assistant.