Shrinking special ed counts in San Diego Unified

9 Mar

The On Special Education blog at Education Week has a piece up that intrigued me: Fewer Special Ed. Students? Or Fewer Identified?

On Special Education referred back to this story (Where Did the Kids with Disabilities Go?) on Voice of San Diego.org.

I’ve been reading a lot of stories about the high numbers of special education students around the country lately. San Diego Unified has the opposite trend:

“School district officials counted nearly 1,600 fewer special education students this December than three years ago. That adds up to a 9.5 percent drop over the same time that overall enrollment fell only 1 percent,” writes Emily Alpert.

I decided to take a quick look at the data for San Diego Unified. I’ll warn you here, I didn’t find a clear indication of what is going on:

Total Special education students:

2006: 17,015
2007: 16,849
2008: 16,450
2009: 16,124

A drop of 891 students (about 5%)

Compare this to the figures for San Diego County as a whole:

2006: 58,745
2009: 58,475

A drop of 270 students (0.5%). San Diego Unified, the district, is dropping about 10x faster than San Diego county.In other words, the rest of San Diego County actually went up by about 600 students while San Diego Unified went down.

For those wondering (this is an autism-focus blog, after all), the number of students in the “autism” category went up notably in that time for the district, from 848 to 1,275. This is the opposite trend as the Special Education numbers as a whole, and more consistent with what the rest of the state is seeing.

Back to the drop: So why are the number of special education students going down? Emily Alpert of Voice of San Diego wrote about why she chose this story:

Some of the biggest drops have been in the same kinds of disabilities that a Harvard researcher tagged as having disproportionate numbers of minority students.

I decided to take a look by category and by race/ethnicity. It isn’t so clear to me. There are big drops in multiple categories including:

Specific Learning Disability: 7,260 (2006) to 6,584 (2009)
Speech Language Impairment: 4,040 to 3,351
Mental Retardation: 1,058 to 936
Emotional Disturbance: 1,032 to 839.

How does this break down by racial/ethnic status?

Let’s look at Specific Learning Disability as an example. Checking the three largest racial/ethnic groups (African American, Hispanic, White). Between 2006 and 2009, there were drops the SLD counts for all three:

White: 25% drop
Hispanic: 1.3% drop
African American: 21% drop

All three groups are seeing drops in the SLD counts, but Hispanics much less so, percentage wise.

Checking Speech Language Impairment (SLI) between 2006 and 2009:

White: 22% drop
Hispanic: 15% drop
African American: 44% drop

Again, there are drops across all three of these (the largest) racial/ethnic groups in San Diego Unified. And, again, Hispanics have the lowest drop. In this case (SLI), African American’s have the largest drop, percentage wise.

I know this is not a clear result. But I think that applies to the comments made in the San Diego press as well. Emily Alpert asked: “Is the imbalance in disability rates among students of different races changing or are the numbers just dropping?” It looks like neither is a clear answer. I wish I had the time to look at this more deeply. Clearly something or somethings is/are going on in San Diego Unified.

Is the imbalance in disability rates among students of different races changing or are the numbers just dropping?

Year one of the iPad–and the super secret Leo project

8 Mar

Apple celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the iPad just recently. Why not, they made a ton of money off these things. iPads have had much discussion on the web as being beneficial for the disabled. Amongst the autism-parent bloggers, probably no one has carried that torch more than Shannon Des Roches Rosa, who writes on BlogHer. Squidalicious, and The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism.

If you follow those blogs you know this already: Shannon, Leo and Iz were in the video that Apple produced for the Year One event. Leo in the Apple: iPad – Year One Video and My Son the Top-Secret Apple iPad Project.

Here’s the video. They start talking about autism at about

There is a lot of talk about the iPad and the iPod touch as educational tools, AAC devices and the like. I got pulled into the world nearly two years back with discussion of the benefits of the iPod touch, by one of my favorite commenters on this blog. I really like the way Shannon posed it though: a piece of independence.

Lack of Infection with XMRV or Other MLV-Related Viruses in Blood, Post-Mortem Brains and Paternal Gametes of Autistic Individuals.

7 Mar

Another paper has come out showing no link between XMRV (Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) and autism. A study last year (discussed on LBRB here) stated “These results imply that XMRV is not associated with autism.” In a study just released in the journal PLOS One, we see more evidence against such a link:

Lack of Infection with XMRV or Other MLV-Related Viruses in Blood, Post-Mortem Brains and Paternal Gametes of Autistic Individuals.

Lintas C, Guidi F, Manzi B, Mancini A, Curatolo P, Persico AM.

Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Neurogenetics, University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy.
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impaired language, communication and social skills, as well as by repetitive and stereotypic patterns of behavior. Many autistic subjects display a dysregulation of the immune system which is compatible with an unresolved viral infection with prenatal onset, potentially due to vertical viral transmission. Recently, the xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been implicated in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and in prostate cancer by several, though not all studies.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We assessed whether XMRV or other murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related viruses are involved in autistic disorder. Using nested PCR targeted to gag genomic sequences, we screened DNA samples from: (i) peripheral blood of 102 ASD patients and 97 controls, (ii) post-mortem brain samples of 20 ASD patients and 17 sex- and age-matched controls, (iii) semen samples of 11 fathers of ASD children, 25 infertile individuals and 7 fertile controls. No XMRV gag DNA sequences were detected, whereas peripheral blood samples of 3/97 (3.1%) controls were positive for MLV. CONCLUSIONS|

SIGNIFICANCE: No MLV-related virus was detected in blood, brain, and semen samples of ASD patients or fathers. Hence infection with XMRV or other MLV-related viruses is unlikely to contribute to autism pathogenesis.

The study concludes quite simply:

Our results, combined with those reported by Sutherfield et al [14], render XMRV contributions to autism highly unlikely. Nonetheless we cannot exclude that MLV-related viruses may play a role in rare cases.

Note that “Sutherfield” is a typo. Should be Satterfield. The reference is to the paper in Molecular Autism which was the topic of the discussion from last year that I linked to in the introduction to this piece.

Something we’re all guilty of

6 Mar

We don’t always manage to hold on to our ideals as we are all people and sometimes we all screw up and do the wrong thing.

In the case of Kevin Leitch and Harold Doherty to name just two people, these people have ideals about using pejorative terms but don’t always see that the terms they _do_ use are just as pejorative.

So its time to change that behaviour I believe. From this point on LBRB will try its absolute best to be a pejorative free zone. We would never use racist terminology so using ableist terminology should be equally without a place on a blog dedicated to enhancing the rights of autistic people.

Some may believe this is political correctness gone too far but I don’t believe it is. It wasn’t that long ago that ‘idiot’ was pejorative, as was ‘moron’, ‘imbecile’ and a whole host of other terms. So lets not bring the stigma back to those terms and lets willfully try and not refer to people in these terms. We’re here to debate ideas, not to attack people after all. Its time I remembered that and its time a lot of others did too.

And whilst we’re at it, maybe when we’re visiting and commenting on others blogs, when we see behaviour like that in others, a polite pointing out of the pejorative nature of the word in question may dissuade them from using it again.

Bullying Revisited: Retarded?

4 Mar

There’s a good article on the Huffington Post that I want to draw some attention to. Tim Shriver Jr. and Soeren Palumbo wrote a piece, Bullying Revisited: Retarded?. They discuss the
Spread the Word to End the Word campaign by Special Olympics (and supported by about 200 more organizations).

I know it is pretty much preaching to the choir here talking about the harmful message in words like “retarded” as it is commonly used today. But, perhaps the choir could go over there and show some support. I’d like to see the Huffington Post host more pieces like this than, well, some of the material they host.

Jaundice as a cause of autism? Probably not.

4 Mar

A few months back an article appeared in the journal Pediatrics: Neonatal Jaundice, Autism, and Other Disorders of Psychological Development. It’s one of those articles I meant to blog and just never got around to.

Here’s the abstract:

Objectives The goals were to study the association between neonatal jaundice and disorders of psychological development in a national, population-based cohort and to study whether gestational age, parity, and season of birth influenced that association.

Methods A population-based, follow-up study of all children born alive in Denmark between 1994 and 2004 (N = 733 826) was performed, with data collected from 4 national registers. Survival analysis was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs).

Results Exposure to jaundice in neonates was associated with increased risk of disorders of psychological development for children born at term. The excess risk of developing a disorder in the spectrum of psychological development disorders after exposure to jaundice as a neonate was between 56% (HR: 1.56 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05–2.30]) and 88% (HR: 1.88 [95% CI: 1.17–3.02]). The excess risk of infantile autism was 67% (HR: 1.67 [95% CI: 1.03–2.71]). This risk for infantile autism was higher if the child was conceived by a parous woman (HR: 2.71 [95% CI: 1.57–4.66]) or was born between October and March (HR: 2.21 [95% CI: 1.24–3.94]). The risk for infantile autism disappeared if the child was conceived by a primiparous woman (HR: 0.58 [95% CI: 0.18–1.83]) or was born between April and September (HR: 1.02 [95% CI: 0.41–2.50]). Similar risk patterns were found for the whole spectrum of autistic disorders.

Conclusions Neonatal jaundice in children born at term is associated with disorders of psychological development. Parity and season of birth seem to play important roles.

This week, three response letters were published in Pediatrics. These originally appeared as online letters:

Effects of perinatal asphyxia plus bilirubin?

Jaundice-Autism Link Unconvincing

and

neonatal jaundice: should we go crazy?

The first article (Effects of perinatal asphyxia plus bilirubin) was supportive, ending with:

Thank you for publishing the report by Maimberg et al., which will hopefully help direct research on perinatal brain vulnerability as an important area of investigation

The second article, as you might guess, was not. “Jaundice-Autism Link Unconvincing”. This was written by Thomas B Newman and Lisa Croen. Lisa Croen has previously published on biliruben (the substance which causes jaundice). They present a number of confounders which should be considered. They also note the potential problems with an incomplete study:

Raising concerns about the danger of jaundice could lead parents or clinicians to treat jaundice more aggressively. However, the Danish study also lacks any information on phototherapy. Thus, if the association is real, it could be due to phototherapy, rather than to the jaundice itself, in which case frightening families about jaundice could lead to an increase in treatment, which would be particularly counter-productive.

The third response notes “In this regard, it should be quoted the paper by Croen at al, who studied neonatal bilirubin levels (although the presence of haemolytic diseases was unspecified) in relation with autism spectrum disorders and did not find any association”. Yes, that’s the same Croen as in the second response. There was no association in those data and that previous study.

Another online letter is even more direct: Neonatal Jaundice Does Not Cause Autism.

In the Response from authors, we see that the authors have performed a reanalysis:

Sir, it has come to our attention that table 3 in our paper (1) only includes patients treated in somatic Danish hospitals identified in the Danish National Hospital Register. If we also add the patients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at the mental hospitals only (n=6171), the revised figures will look like this:

Association between neonatal jaundice and autism spectrum disorders (F84.0-F84.9):

All;

Crude HR=1.29, adjusted HR=1.07 (0.94-1.21)

Term=>37 weeks;

Crude HR=1.23, adjusted HR=1.06 (0.90-1.25)

Preterm< 37 weeks;

Crude HR=1.17,adjusted HR=1.05 (0.83-1.32)
As seen in the new analysis (including children from the mental hospital only)the association between jaundice and autism is substantially attenuated after adjustments which make us doubt the causal nature of our observation. If the association is causal it apparently only involves the more severe cases reaching the somatic hospital. Our findings are in line with what has been reported from Sweden (2) using a similar case mix. It is likely that our study and the Swedish study are confounded by co- morbidity.

“which make us doubt the causal nature of our observation.”.

I’m rather glad I didn’t blog this at the time. This looks like the science community working to self-correct itself.

No Autism Epidemic, Norwegian Study Suggests

3 Mar

A new study from Norway suggests that autism may be prevalent amongst 1% of the population, matching prevalence studies from the UK.

A sub-study of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) headed by Ms Posserud was conducted as part of the “Barn i Bergen” (Children in Bergen) project. The study shows that the diagnosis of ASD may apply to as much as one per cent of the population.

Our conclusion is that the rise in ASD can be explained mainly by the use of more thorough mapping methods and, consequently, that we are not seeing the emergence of an autism epidemic,” says Ms Posserud, who is a doctor and researcher in the field of child psychiatry at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen.

March Is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

3 Mar

For the past few years, each April gets a lot of attention for Autism Awareness Month. All well and good but are you aware that Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month has already started?

A message from The Arc:

March Is Our Month

Thanks to the advocacy efforts of The Arc in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan officially declared March to be Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month in 1987. For nearly a quarter of a century, The Arc and its network of 700+ chapters across the country have fostered respect and access for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (i/DD). We have made tremendous progress in promoting and protecting the rights of people with I/DD and creating opportunities for them to live, learn and work as valued members of their communities.

However, it’s time more people became aware of the challenges faced by more than 7 million Americans and their families as they strive to be fully included in society. Join us during March to help raise awareness. Volunteer at a local chapter of The Arc. Donate. Or simply speak up and help enlighten those around you. Find out more about I/DD and what you can do at www.thearc.org today. Watch our blog, Facebook page and Twitter profile for messages all month about things you can do as an individual to help raise awareness then spread the word…share and retweet and let’s get everyone talking about I/DD during March.

David Cameron intends to cripple those with disabilities

3 Mar

Today I received an email from NAS stating:

The Government has announced a one billion pound cut to Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Next week in parliament, MPs will debate plans for a new system which could make it much harder for adults with autism to claim DLA…

For those not in the know DLA is a state benefit given to children (or their parents depending on age) and adults who have an established need based on circumstances arising from their disability. For example, my child receives DLA because xe cannot care for xyrself and needs extra help that must be accounted for. It is not a huge amount of money but for people with a disability, every single penny counts.

NAS’ email continued:

We need you to ask your MP to help protect this crucial benefit for people with autism.

Please also visit the NAS Who Benefits page to actively support the initiative and make David Cameron’s coalition led gvmt wake up to the reality that for autistic adults, DLA is a lifeline to not just personal independence but also simple everyday living.

IMFAR Conference 2011

2 Mar

IMFAR, the International Meeting for Autism Research, is held every year. It is presented by INSAR, the International Society for Autism Research. IMFAR is the largest autism conference held, with hundreds of presentations of new research results.

IMFAR 2011 will be held in San Diego, California, May 12-14, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

The program is not out yet, as they are still working on culling the over 1,000 abstracts submitted:

IMFAR 2011 Programming is Underway
Over 1,000 abstracts were submitted this year for IMFAR 2011. The Program Committee is currently reviewing abstracts and panel submissions. Abstract acceptance notifications are scheduled to be sent via e-mail by March 4

Keynote speakers have been announced:

Eric Courchesne, Ph.D

Eric Courchesne is Professor of Neurosciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and Director of the NIH-funded UCSD Autism Center of Excellence. He is an internationally recognized expert on brain structural and functional abnormalities associated with autism. His Autism Center of Excellence aims to identify biobehavior markers of autism that will allow for earlier diagnosis and treatment by integrating behavioral, developmental, genetic, neuroanatomic and neurofunctional findings. Current ACE Center research includes MRI studies have identified structures that are abnormal at infancy in autism and elucidated patterns of abnormal growth from infancy through adulthood. Current functional brain imaging techniques seek to establish links between autistic symptoms in infants and toddlers and the brain sites responsible for them. Studies of brain tissue have discovered novel gene expression profiles and cellular defects in the frontal cortex at the youngest ages in autism and have additionally characterized how these abnormalities change with age from early childhood and to adulthood. Dr. Courchesne’s studies have resulted in over 180 publications with an overall very high impact factor as determined by the ISI Web of Knowledge. His research has been published in Science, JAMA, Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine and is supported through grants from NIMH, NINDS, NICHD, the Simons Foundation and Autism Speaks.

Ricardo Dolmetsch Ph.D.

Dr. Ricardo Dolmetsch is a faculty member in the Department of Neurobiology at Stanford University where he directs a laboratory that studies the underlying cellular and molecular basis of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). He is a graduate of Brown University, received his graduate degree from Stanford and did his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School. His group has pioneered the use of adult stem cells to study the development of the brain and the mechanisms that lead to neurodevelopmental disease. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award in 2007 and the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award in 2008. He is the author of more than 30 scholarly publications and is the parent of a child with ASD.

Professor Annette Dionne Karmiloff-Smith

Annette Karmiloff-Smith was until 2003 Head of the Neurocognitive Development Unit at the Institute of Child Health in London where she ran a research team studying typical/atypical development and genotype/phenotype relations. She now occupies a Professorial Research Fellowship at the Birkbeck Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, University of London. She has a “Doctorat en Psychologie Génétique et Expérimentale” from the University of Geneva, where she studied with the famous Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget. She is the author of 7 books and of over 200 chapters and articles in scientific journals, as well as a series of booklets for parents on different aspects of foetal, infant and child development. Her research on neurodevelopmental syndromes focuses on identifying basic-level deficits in early infancy and their cascading effects over developmental time on the resulting cognitive phenotype.

All are excellent, but one stands out in my mind, just because I’ve read a lot of his work–
Eric Courchesne is one of the most published and most cited researchers in autism. He’s been working on brain structure (and other topics) for 20 years (earliest publication I see is from 1978). For publication geeks out there, his H-index is at least 59 (based on a quick search of his papers). For the 99.99% of people (or more) who have never heard of the H-index, I’ll just say, his publication record is damned impressive.

IMFAR is not cheap, at $475 for “early bird membership” for non-members. There is no reason to attend as a non-member. The price for a membership in INSAR is $100, and the conference fee for a member is $100 less than the non-member price.

IMFAR is a busy, scientific conference. Most talks are 15 minutes, including questions. This doesn’t leave much time for the speaker to give background information. Poster sessions will be large–many, many posters being shown at the same time. But just take a look at past conference programs. The amount of work presented is amazing.

I am waiting eagerly for the program to be announced. There is also a flurry of press releases during the conferences as the embargoes are lifted on research projects presented there. Yes, I get excited by new research and IMFAR is pretty much the most concentrated announcement of new research in the autism world each year.

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