Academic Remediation

Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) Myths & Facts

From the always-reliable National Center for Learning Disabilities

FAPE is the acronym for a Free and Appropriate Public Education. It is one of the most misunderstood concepts of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). And it often causes the greatest conflict between parents and schools. A required component of IDEA, FAPE mandates that school districts provide access to general education and specialized educational services. It also requires that children with disabilities receive support free of charge as is provided to non-disabled students. It also provides access to general education services for children with disabilities by encouraging that support and related services be provided to children in their general education settings as much as possible.

Over the years, the courts have helped define what FAPE is and is not. In short, it is vital for parents to understand that IDEA is not an entitlement program that provides disabled children with a better education than is provided to non-disabled students. Use the chart below to help you learn what FAPE can mean to you and your child, and to dispel the many myths about FAPE.

Girls with autism or ADHD symptoms not taken seriously, study suggests

Girls with autism or ADHD symptoms not taken seriously, study suggests.

ScienceDaily:  Girls With Autism or ADHD Symptoms Not Taken Seriously, Study Suggests ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2010) — When girls with symptoms of autism or ADHD seek professional medical help, their problems are often played down or misinterpreted, and there is a real risk that they will not get the help or support they need. As such, more training is needed in this area, particularly in the public sector, reveals a thesis from the University of Gothenburg.

Diagnosis and treatment of ADHD varies significantly across countries

Diagnosis and treatment of ADHD varies significantly across countries.

Social attitudes about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and treatments vary by country, according to a new study of the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in nine countries. The study appears in the May issue of the American Psychiatric Association’s journal Psychiatric Services.

ADHD is widely recognized internationally as a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder leading to impairment and requiring treatment. Until recently, epidemiological research supported the conclusion that the prevalence of ADHD varies significantly from country to country. However, a recent meta-analysis indicated that differences in prevalence are largely attributable to methodological differences in the studies themselves (e.g., differing definitions) rather than to cultural or national-level factors. The new survey shows that treatment procedures do vary a great deal between countries, even though ADHD prevalence may not.

Much Ado About ADHD-Research: Is there a Misrepresentation of ADHD in Scientific Journals? « Laika s MedLibLog

Much Ado About ADHD-Research: Is there a Misrepresentation of ADHD in Scientific Journals? « Laika s MedLibLog.

With Iaonnides as an editor, a new PLOS-one paper has recently been published on the topic 1 . The authors Gonon, Bezard and Boraud state that there is often a huge gap between neurobiological facts and firm conclusions stated by the media. They suggest that the misrepresentation often starts in the scientific papers, and is echoed by the media.

Although this article has already been reviewed by another researchblogger Hadas Shema , I would like to give my own views on this paper Gonon et al found 3 types of misrepresentation.

* 1. Internal inconsistencies between results and claimed conclusions . In a non-systematic review of 360 ADHD articles Gonon et al. 1 found two studies with “obvious” discrepancies between results and claimed conclusions. One paper claimed that dopamine is depressed in the brain of ADHD patient. Mitigations were only mentioned in the results section and of course only the positive message was resonated by the media without further questioning any alternative explanation in this case a high baseline dopamine tone . The other paper 3 claimed that treatment with stimulant medications was associated with more favorite long-term school outcomes. However the average reading score and the school drop-outs did not differ significantly between treatment and control group. The newspapers also trumpeted that ”ADHD drugs help boost children’s grades” .

2. Fact Omission To quantify fact omission in the scientific literature, Gonon et al systematically searched for ADHD articles mentioning the the D4 dopamine receptor DRD4 gene. Among the 117 primary human studies with actual data like odds ratios , 74 articles state in their summary that alleles of the DRD4 genes are significantly associated with ADHD but only 19 summaries mentioned that the risk was small. Fact omission was even more preponderant in articles, that only cite studies about DRD4. Not surprisingly, 82% of the media articles didn’t report that the DRD4 only confers a small risk either. In accordance with Ioannidis findings 2 Gonon et al found that the most robust effects were reported in initial studies: odds-ratios decreased from 2.4 in the oldest study in 1996 to 1.27 in the most recent meta-analysis.

3. Extrapolating basic and pre-clinical findings to new therapeutic prospects Animal ADHD models have their limitations because investigations based on mouse behavior cannot capture the ADHD complexity. Analysis of all ADHD-related studies in mice showed that 23% of the conclusions were overstated. The frequency of this overstatement was positively related with the impact factor of the journal.

The Dangers of Labeling

I don't agree with everything she says, but this struck me

a child develops a healthy sense of self when the people who care for him recognize the meaning of his behavior, rather than substituting their own adult meaning. Parents who receive a diagnostic label for their child inevitably go through a period of mourning. The child they had is gone and replaced by the child with a "disorder." For a very young child whose development is unfolding, his "true self" might be lost.