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

Misuse and Abuse of ADHD Meds among college students

Excerpt from: Sharp Brains (click for full article)

 

The mis­use and abuse of pre­scrip­tion med­ica­tion is a grow­ing con­cern. I remem­ber speak­ing with col­leagues 15–20 years ago as reports about the non­med­ical use of stim­u­lant med­ica­tions used to treat ADHD (non­med­ical use is defined as use by indi­vid­u­als with­out a pre­scrip­tion) were first appear­ing in the media. At the time, these were gen­er­ally thought to be iso­lated inci­dents that were being over-dramatized in the press.

It has become clear, how­ever, that this is not the case today and that the non­med­ical use of ADHD meds, as well as mis­use by indi­vid­u­als for whom med­ica­tion is pre­scribed, is an impor­tant prob­lem. At the link above is a brief overview and sum­mary of research on these issues.

Professors provide help for students with disabilities

Excerpt from: The Daily Eastern News (click for full article)

 

Making accommodations for students with disabilities does not feel like taking an extra step at all for some professors.  Kip McGilliard, a biology professor, said he provides extra assistance to any student who needs it.

“Many of the accommodations I make for students with disabilities I actually make for any student,” he said.

Some things McGillard does in his class include providing a near-complete set of notes so students can listen and process information without having to worry about writing as much.  He said he made an entire unit of notes available in large print for one student who was visually impaired, and he tries to understand what each student needs.

“Students with disabilities are still trying to achieve an education, and we don’t want to stand in the way of their achieving a college education,” he said.

McGilliard said he expects students with disabilities to work just as hard as other students

Family of special-needs child gets $950,000 in teacher abuse case

Excerpt from: Los Angeles Times (click for full article)

 

A Bay Area family whose 5-year-old child was abused by an elementary school special-needs teacher in 2010 has been awarded $950,000 as part of a civil settlement with the Brentwood Union School District.

The settlement, which was reached last week, also stipulates that the teacher, Dina Holder, accept an immediate reassignment to a non-classroom setting and resign from the district at the end of the school year.

Attorneys for the parents of the special-needs child say that on May 25, 2010, Holder pulled the boy from his seat, kicked him twice and berated him with obscenities and derogatory language while about 10 to 12 students looked on.

The boy, who has a speech and language disorder, had refused to follow Holder’s commands to join a circle of other students, according to court documents.

Holder was so agitated another instructional aide took the woman out of the room to “calm her down,” according to the civil complaint.

Allergies, extra weight tied to bullying

Excerpt from: The Oakland Press (click for full article)

 

Kids who have food allergies or are overweight may be especially likely to get bullied by their peers, two new studies suggest.

Not surprisingly, researchers also found targets of bullying were more distressed and anxious and had a worse quality of life, in general, than those who weren’t picked on.

Bullying has become a concern among parents, doctors and school administrators since research and news stories emerged linking bullying - including online “cyberbullying” - with depression and even suicide.

“There has been a shift and people are more and more recognizing that bullying has real consequences, it’s not just something to be making jokes about,” said Dr. Mark Schuster, chief of general pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, who wrote a commentary published with the new research.

Free Webinars for Students with Intellectual Disbilities and Families

Excerpt from: Special Education Law Blog (click for full article)

 

Here is an interesting resource for students with intellectual disabilities and their families:

Think College is presenting a free monthly series of webinars about post-secondary options for students with intellectual disabilities.  The webinars will be presented between 2:00 and 3:30 pm.  the first monthly webinar will be presented on December 12th. The topic for the first webinar is legislation, advocacy and system change.  Other topics concern employment, college and forecasting the future.

You can learn more and register for the webinars on this website.

We like to share these sorts of resources for families and kiddos with disabilities.  Please tell us if you know of other free resources.