Special

=Disability Links =


 * ===General Information ===
 * ===Learning Disabilities ===
 * ===ADHD ===
 * ===Mental Illness ===
 * ===Emotional & Behavioral Disorders ===
 * ===Language Difficulties ===
 * ===Autism & Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) ===

General Information about Disabilities
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 * [|Council for Exceptional Children] www.cec.sped.org/ Council for Exceptional Children. Links to Divisions, Federations, & Special Education Info, check this often for CEC newsbriefs, new postings and for jobs.
 * [|Disability Info] http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/ Federal government's web site to provide services for Americans with Disabilities.
 * Disability Resources www.disabilityresources.org/ Nonprofit organization that monitors, reviews, and reports on resources related to disabilities daily.
 * [|Special Education Resources on the Internet] (SERI) seriweb.com/ A collection of Internet accessible information resources of interest to those involved in the fields related to Special Education. Lists of Links.
 * [|Technology and Media Division - CEC](Council for Exceptional Children) www.tamcec.org/
 *  [|CASEL] [|www.casel.org/] Center for Academic, social and emotional learning
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|National Institute of Neurological Disorders] www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/disorder_index.htm Index of all disorders considered neurological in nature- ADHD, Autism, Aphasia, Apraxis, Aspergers
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|SAMHSA] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services www.samhsa.gov/index.aspx
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|National Institute of Mental Health] www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/ Index of all disorders under the domain of mental health: Anxiety, ADHD, depression, eating, OCD)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|Mental Health of America] www1.nmha.org/children/prevent/stats.cfm Children's Mental Health Statistics and information on disorders of mental health: depression, bi-polar, anxiety, ADHD
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|NICHCY] National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities www.nichcy.org/disabinf.asp Fact Sheets on all disabilities included in IDEA
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|Child and Adolescent Psychiatry] www.aacap.org/cs/root/resources_for_families/child_and_adolescent_mental_illness_statistics Quick Statistics for teachers and families
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|Science of Mental Illness] science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/mental/default.htm NIH curriculum for Grades 6-8, teachers guides and complete curriculum with clear explanations and diagrams
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities AAIDD]
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Teaching Tolerance] activities for teachers www.tolerance.org/ www.aaidd.org/index.shtml Definitions and community living resources

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Learning Disabilities**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Students with LD compose 46% of all those with disabilities and usually 80% of their time or more in the general education classroom. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (top)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Division for Learning Disabilities] www.teachingld.org/ Focus on evidence based practices for teaching
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|LD OnLine] www.ldonline.org Excellent resources for parents, teachers and students focuses on learning disabilities.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Council for Learning Disabilities] www.cldinternational.org/ Access information on CLD and LDQ
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Learning Disabilities Association] www.ldanatl.org/ Organization to advance the education and general welfare of children and adults with learning disabilities.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|National Center for Learning Disabilities] ncld.org/ Organization to promote public awareness of learning disabilities.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|International Dyslexia Society] www.interdys.org/ Organization dedicated to the study and treatment of dyslexia.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|National Institute for Literacy] www.nifl.gov/ Federal agency that provides leadership on literacy issues including the improvement of reading.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|LD Resources] www.ldresources.com/ Richard Wandersman site for resources and articles. Many great hints related to technology.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> ADHD
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">ADHD is one of the most common mental disorders that develop in children. from www.himh.hih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (top)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Impulsiveness: a child who acts quickly without thinking first.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hyperactivity: a child who can't sit still, walks, runs, or climbs around when others are seated, talks when others are talking.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Inattention: a child who daydreams or seems to be in another world, is sidetracked by what is going on around him or her.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mental Illness
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">from science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/mental/guide/info-mental-a.htm ===<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents === <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Mental illness is not uncommon among children and adolescents. Approximately 12 million children under the age of 18 have mental disorders. The National Mental Health Association33 has compiled some statistics about mental illness in children and adolescents: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Warning Signs for Mental Illness ** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Each mental illness has its own characteristic symptoms. However, there are some general warning signs that might alert you that someone needs professional help. Some of these signs include <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A person who shows any of these signs should seek help from a qualified health professional.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not receiving the help they need.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Less than one-third of the children under age 18 who have a serious mental health problem receive any mental health services.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As many as 1 in every 33 children may be depressed. Depression in adolescents may be as high as 1 in 8.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-years-olds and the sixth leading cause of death for 5- to 15-year-olds.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Schizophrenia is rare in children under age 12, but it occurs in about 3 of every 1,000 adolescents.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Between 118,700 and 186,600 youths in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental illness.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of the 100,000 teenagers in juvenile detention, an estimated 60 percent have behavioral, cognitive, or emotional problems.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">marked personality change,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">inability to cope with problems and daily activities,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">strange or grandiose ideas,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">excessive **anxieties**,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">prolonged depression and apathy,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">marked changes in eating or sleeping patterns,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">thinking or talking about suicide or harming oneself,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">extreme mood swings—high or low,
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">abuse of alcohol or drugs, and
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">excessive anger, hostility, or violent behavior.

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> from childstats.gov/americaschildren/health3.asp <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (top)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">More males than females were reported by a parent to have difficulties. Children ages 15–17 generally had the highest rates of serious emotional or behavioral difficulties.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 2005, 7 percent of children living below the poverty level had serious emotional or behavioral difficulties, compared with 5 percent of children in near-poor families (those with family incomes of 100–199 percent of the poverty level) and 4 percent of children in non-poor families (those with family incomes of 200 percent or more of the poverty level).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Among the parents of children with serious (definite or severe) difficulties, 81 percent reported contacting a health care provider or school staff about their child's difficulties, 40 percent reported their child was prescribed medication for their difficulties, and 47 percent reported their child had received treatment or help other than medication.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">from childstats.gov/americaschildren/famsoc5.asp <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (top)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">About 6 percent of school-age children spoke a language other than English at home and lived in linguistically isolated households in 2005. A linguistically isolated household is one in which no person age 14 or over either speaks only English at home or speaks another language at home and speaks English "Very well."

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Autism & Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">from www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/autism/symptoms.shtml

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">ASDs or pervasive developmental disorders range in severity, with autism being the most debilitating form while other disorders, such as Asperger syndrome, produce milder symptoms. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (top)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Estimating the prevalence of autism is difficult and controversial due to differences in the ways that cases are identified and defined, differences in study methods, and changes in diagnostic criteria. A recent study reported
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Autism and other ASDs develop in childhood and generally are diagnosed by age three.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Autism is about four times more common in boys than girls. Girls with the disorder, however, tend to have more severe symptoms and greater cognitive impairment.