Special Needs Resource and Training Blog

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Category Archives: Children with Special Needs

Why School Stress Is Devastating for Our Children

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Published by: ADDitude Magazine
Written by: Jerome Schultz

Chronic stress at school can make kids (particularly those with ADHD or LD) dread going — and change their brains for the worse. But parents and teachers can help alleviate the stress that is stopping these bright kids from succeeding.

For over 35 years, I’ve carried out comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations of kids and young adults, seeking to confirm, clarify, or rule out a diagnosis of ADHD. I’ve focused on the relationship between attention and the learning disabilities that often go along with ADHD. My role as a diagnostician has been to identify a pattern of neurocognitive weaknesses and strengths, so that I can help my clients and their parents better understand how they learn best.

An important part of the neuropsychological evaluation is to teach students what they can do to overcome or work around impediments to efficient learning and manage stress at school. This process is helpful, but it often falls short of my goal of helping a client change his or her learning trajectory. Many times, after I used test results to explain a client’s learning profile or convince a student that he or she had the cognitive capability to do well in school, I heard, “If I’m so smart, why do I feel dumb all the time?” Click here to read the rest of the story.

Mom bringing awareness to daughter’s rare condition

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Published by: Kuam News
Written by: Isaiah Aguon

Cri du Chat is also known as 5P-  occurs when there is a loss of genetic material on the short arm of the fifth chromosome. Its main characteristic is the kitten-like cry or soft cry that is due to an underdeveloped larynx.

May 5 was Cri du Chat Awareness Day.  Forty-one-year-old Jamielanie Guerrero Salas is a Dededo resident and is a mother to two beautiful daughters. Her youngest daughter, Savana Jo, was diagnosed with Cri du Chat at birth.

“When I delivered with Savana Jo I had to have an emergency c- section and with that after Savana Jo was finally delivered it was her high-pitched cry that alarmed,” she shared. “Dr. Santos and from there they had her tested for her chromosomes or her genetics and from there it was sent off to Honolulu confirmed that she did have Cri du Chat which is the deletion of the short arm 5p chromosome.” Click here to read the rest of the story.

Stopping dementia in Down syndrome patients

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Published by: Medical Express
Written by: Kyoto University

Down syndrome is mostly known for the learning disabilities it causes, but patients typically suffer from a wide number of ailments. One is the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Using iPS cells from Down syndrome patients, a new study by CiRA researchers suggests that the molecular signs of Alzheimer’s disease result from higher oxidative stress in neurons and that antioxidants could have therapeutic effects.

“The extra copy of the gene increases the expression of APP and the subsequent production of beta-amyloid, and many Down syndrome patients with cognitive impairment show high levels of beta-amyloid plaques,” explains CiRA Associate Professor Megumu Saito, who led the study. Click here to read the rest of the story.

 

Help prevent vision loss from keratoconus in patients with Down syndrome

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Published by: Healio Optometry
Written by: Mitch Ibach

Keratoconus, like many ocular diseases, has genetic, systemic and environmental associations that affect prevalence.

One of the systemic conditions where keratoconus incidence is much higher is in the Down syndrome (DS) population.

DS is a genetic condition where the affected individual gets three (full or partial) copies of chromosome 21 (trisomy 21). According to the National Down Syndrome Society, one in 700 babies in the U.S. is born with DS, making it the most common chromosomal disorder.

As keratoconus (KCN) awareness continues to rise, disease prevalence studies are variable, but the trend continues to show higher incidence than previously thought.

Certain regions show higher patient numbers, but using a recent systematic global review, the authors concluded about one in 750 patients develop KCN (Hashemi et al.). In patients with DS, KCN prevalence has a larger range depending on inclusion criteria to define it, but a recent literature review showed a condensed range of 8% to 36% (Kristianslund et al.). This aligns with reported incidence of KCN being 10 times to 20 times higher in a patient with DS compared to the general population (National Keratoconus Foundation). Click here for the rest of the story.

UNMC studying how video-game therapy helps young people with cerebral palsy

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Published by: 6 News
Written by: Sharon Chen

UNMC is one of the first in the nation to go high-tech for a treatment program for kids diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

CP is a motor disability, and it’s treated with intense physical therapy. Usually kids don’t like it.

But that’s not the case at UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute.

A total of eight kids attended Habit VR Camp, a two-week video-game camp at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

At the camp, there’s more going on than meets the eye.

“They come in here, they sit down, and they put the headsets on, and they do right to work.”

Cameron Jenkins, 8, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at just a year old.

“He had issues with his left hand since he was an infant,” his mom, Amanda, said. “It was all a shock because he was so young when he was diagnosed.” Click here to read the rest of the story.

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