Lawsuit challenges use of restraint, seclusion in California special education school

Four special education students and their parents or guardians filed a lawsuit last week against the state of California claiming they were emotionally and physically harmed when they were illegally put in restraint holds and secluded during behavioral interventions at their Concord school.

The four students attended Floyd I. Marchus School, operated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education. The public school offers special education services and integrated counseling to 85 children with emotional and behavioral disabilities. Students are referred to the school from districts in Contra Costa County and neighboring counties.

More >> Lawsuit challenges use of restraint, seclusion in California special education school

Class Action Seeks to End Illegal and Abusive Restraints and Seclusion Practices Used Against Children with Disabilities in California

Four elementary school children with disabilities and their parents and guardians filed a class action lawsuit Monday against the California Department of Education (CDE), directors of the Contra Costa County Office of Education, and staff at Floyd I. Marchus School to challenge the illegal and abusive use of restraints and seclusion in non-emergency situations.

More >> Class Action Seeks to End Illegal and Abusive Restraints and Seclusion Practices Used Against Children with Disabilities in California

California teachers can pin students face down. Does the danger outweigh the benefit?

It’s a scenario that sounds more likely in jails than schools: Arms pulled behind their back, a person is forced into a “prone restraint,” pinned face down on the floor with limbs held immobile by at least two people.

But prone restraints are regularly used in California schools, often on students with special needs such as those on the autism spectrum — and at a higher rate on black students, an analysis of federal data by The Sacramento Bee found.

More >> California teachers can pin students face down. Does the danger outweigh the benefit?

Youngest Children In A Class Are Most Likely To Get ADHD Diagnosis

The youngest children in a school class are most likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, when in fact their comparatively fidgety behavior may be due to their relative immaturity, according to a study published online Wednesday.

Scientists from Harvard University probed the way ADHD is assessed by taking advantage of a quirk found in many U.S. school systems: There's a Sept. 1 cutoff for enrolling in kindergarten. That means children born in August get in just under the wire, while children with September birthdays have had to wait until the following school year to enroll.

More >> Youngest Children In A Class Are Most Likely To Get ADHD Diagnosis

Study: Youngest Children in Classrooms Frequently Mislabeled as ADHD – Drugged

A recent study made some international mainstream papers recently that warned of medicating children misdiagnosed as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), simply because they were the youngest students in their class.

UK’s online Daily Mail included a quote from the lead author of that study, Dr. Martin Whitely, who stated:

“It appears that across the globe some teachers are mistaking the immaturity of the youngest children in their class for ADHD. Although teachers don’t diagnose it, they are often the first to suggest a child may have ADHD.”

More >> Study: Youngest Children in Classrooms Frequently Mislabeled as ADHD – Drugged

Maine filmmakers tell the story of children with behavioral issues

There is no shortage of problems in this world that don’t get the attention they deserve, and one of them is how to deal with children with serious behavioral and emotional challenges. Lone Wolf Media in South Portland has just finished a documentary on the subject called “The Kids We Lose,” which looks at the struggles faced not just by kids, but also by parents, teachers, administrators, police, and mental health experts.

More >> Maine filmmakers tell the story of children with behavioral issues

• http://www.thekidswelose.com/

Schools asking parents about their child’s mental health history

Tucked at the bottom of Palm Beach County’s student registration form, on the page that begins with who is permitted to pick up your child from school and just under the box to check if a student has life-threatening allergies, is a new question: Has the student ever been referred for mental health services?

Yes? No? Not known?

More >> Schools asking parents about their child’s mental health history

Mind-control engineers drugging children for “Social Justice”

It’s the latest thing. Psychiatrists are giving children in poor neighborhoods Adderall, a dangerous stimulant, by making false diagnoses of ADHD, or no diagnoses at all. Their aim? To “promote social justice,” to improve academic performance in school.

More >> Mind-control engineers drugging children for “Social Justice”

For Troubled Kids, Some Schools Take Time Out For Group Therapy

Evidence of Psycho-Babble School Systems

Sometimes 11-year-old B. comes home from school in tears. Maybe she was taunted about her weight that day, called "ugly." Or her so-called friends blocked her on their phones. Some nights she is too anxious to sleep alone and climbs into her mother's bed. It's just the two of them at home, ever since her father was deported back to West Africa when she was a toddler.

B.'s mood has improved lately, though, thanks to a new set of skills she is learning at school. (We're using only first initials to protect students' privacy.) Cresthaven Elementary School in Silver Spring, Md., is one of growing number of schools offering kids training in how to manage emotions, handle stress and improve interpersonal relationships.

More >> For Troubled Kids, Some Schools Take Time Out For Group Therapy

Perhaps they should offer free Karate classes to bullied kids instead of psycho-therapy.  You know something that helps to toughen them up so they aren't easy targets...

Just a thought.

PROZAC PRESCHOOL

From the time he was a baby, Max, now seven, struggled with crippling anxiety.

"He would fly into screaming rages for no apparent reason," says his mother, Stacy, a 44-year-old lawyer from Seattle who wanted to keep her family's identity private. "He was constantly on edge."

At two years old, Max began three years of behavioral therapy, "but it did nothing to help him," Stacy says. His fear-driven outbursts continued into kindergarten. "Some days, he couldn't even walk into class. I'd have 45 minutes of crying and screaming."


More >> PROZAC PRESCHOOL

Handcuffs and a psych exam for a 7-year-old? Schools do that too often, parents say.

A 7-year-old at Miami’s Coral Way K-8 Center was handcuffed, put in the back of a police car and taken to a hospital for an involuntary psychiatric exam after he hit and kicked a teacher during lunch.

More >> Handcuffs and a psych exam for a 7-year-old? Schools do that too often, parents say.

What to expect when your child is restrained at school

In a previous article, I called for a reduction in the use of seclusion and restraint in public schools by focusing on positive behavior interventions. In circumstances when restraint is used, parents need to be aware of the information they should expect to receive from their child’s school. I will address seclusion in a future article.

More >> What to expect when your child is restrained at school

Here’s why states want to make it tough to skip childhood vaccines

When Jennifer Stella’s two children were babies, she made sure they got all the usual vaccines. But when one started having seizures and the other developed eczema after they’d gotten immunizations, the Vermont woman decided her kids would no longer get shots required to attend school.

More >> Here’s why states want to make it tough to skip childhood vaccines

Kids with August birthdays are more likely to get an ADHD diagnosis. Here’s why.

One of the most contentious debates in child development in the United States is what's leading to the sharp rise in cases of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). More than one in 10 children ages 4 to 17 are estimated to have the diagnosis, and scientists are looking at the role things such as genetics, environmental exposures and low birth weight might play.


More >> Kids with August birthdays are more likely to get an ADHD diagnosis. Here’s why.

• ADHD Might Be A Misdiagnosis For Child's Maturity, Study Finds

Youngest Kids In Class At Higher Risk Of ADHD Diagnosis

By the time they're in elementary school, some kids prove to be more troublesome than others. They can't sit still or they're not socializing or they can't focus enough to complete tasks that the other kids are handling well. Sounds like ADHD. But it might be that they're just a little young for their grade.

More >> Youngest Kids In Class At Higher Risk Of ADHD Diagnosis

• Active Children Are Being Overdiagnosed With ADHD a New Study Finds
• Children born in August at increased risk of being diagnosed with ADHD than those born in September: Study

Children ‘most worried’ as they finish primary school, research finds

According to an article in the British Journal of Health Psychology, mothers reported that their children are at their most worried age 10 – when they will be coming to the end of primary school.

More >> Children ‘most worried’ as they finish primary school, research finds

Australian school welcoming of anti-vaccination parents suffers major chickenpox epidemic

80 pupils at the primary school in Melbourne have been hit by the infectious disease after staff asked parents to be 'tolerate' of those who did not want to vaccinate their children

More >> Australian school welcoming of anti-vaccination parents suffers major chickenpox epidemic

Back to school, back to drugs for ADHD kids, claims mental health watchdog

Children across the South West are going back to school – and back to drugs, a campaign group says.

Some 1,350 children in the Westcountry have been diagnosed with hyperkinetic disorder or ADHD, allowing their families to claim up to £82 a week in benefits, according to the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.

More >> Back to school, back to drugs for ADHD kids, claims mental health watchdog

John Rosemond: Educators Too Often Label Children ADHD

Our 8-year-old is scheduled to enter third grade at a public school this coming fall. Last year, he did very well; nonetheless, his second grade teacher was convinced he had ADHD. At a meeting with the principal, school psychologist, school social worker and the head of the special education department, lots of pressure was put on us to have him tested and put on medication.

More >> John Rosemond: Educators Too Often Label Children ADHD

Kids with ADHD must squirm to learn, study says

For decades, frustrated parents and teachers have barked at fidgety children with ADHD to "Sit still and concentrate!"

 But new research shows that if you want ADHD kids to learn, you have to let them squirm. The foot-tapping, leg-swinging and chair-scooting movements of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are actually vital to how they remember information and work out complex cognitive tasks, according to a study published in an early online release of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

More >> Kids with ADHD must squirm to learn, study says