From USA Today:

Comedian Howie Mandel answers questions about his new book, “Here’s the Deal: Don’t Touch Me” , arriving in stores today. The book details his lifelong struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

An excerpt:

Q: In your book, you say any public restroom freaks you out because of the germ factor. You write about not being able to take your daughter into one when she was a toddler. What are some of your other issues?

A: The difference between you and me is that even when I wash my hands, I can’t get it out of my mind that they’re not clean. I have to go back to the sink, I can’t even continue with my day. I have to leave the party, leave work. Those thoughts are so intrusive and on a continual loop that I can’t inhibit it. Everybody has irregular thoughts, but not like this.

Earlier post here.

(USA Today photo)

Theo Emery writes in the New York Times: The Choice Blog that applying to college can pose more hurdles for students with learning disabilities than for their nondisabled peers.

After attending a workshop titled, “Supporting the Transition to College for Students with Learning Disabilities,” at a conference of 5,000 admissions officers and counselors in Baltimore, Emery offers some suggestions for applicants with disabilities including dyslexia, ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome.

• Decide whether you want to disclose your disability and take advantage of campus disability services. While it is illegal for admissions officers to ask, applicants may benefit if their disability status is known.
• Assess a college based on accommodations it is willing to make, services it will provide, and availability of programs for people with disabilities.
• Be aware of the contents of your transcript and psychoeducational evaluation, and let that information help guide your choice of where to apply.

From WTVF Nashville, and the [Columbia, TN] Daily Herald:

A judge has issued an emergency injunction against educators at a Tennessee elementary school following allegations that a student with developmental disabilities was stripped down to his underwear and locked in a seclusion room.

Michelle Parks, mother of the 9-year-old boy, said her son’s civil rights had been violated. “I don’t think our elected representatives envisioned a prison cell inside an elementary school for special needs children,” said Kevin Latta, her attorney.

Parks said she was called to Joseph Brown Elementary School in Columbia to pick up her son for acting out in class. She found him wearing only his underwear and standing in a small cinderblock seclusion room with a concrete floor, no chairs and a door with no handle.

The school suspension notice says the boy, who is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, was verbally abusive and kicked a teacher. Parks said she was told her son’s clothes were taken away for his own protection.

(Photo from Daily Herald)

By Alan Judd in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The suicide of 13-year-old Jonathan King highlights concerns about a lack of regulation of what are called “psychoeducational” schools for children with  behavioral problems.

Authorities say the schools offer a cost-effective way for allow such children to be educated in their communities. Some parents and advocates question their disciplinary tactics, especially physical restraint and seclusion.

Jonathan hanged himself in a stark 8-by-8 concrete-block “time out” room in his Georgia school, using a belt provided by a teacher. The boy, who had ADHD, had been repeatedly locked up there for misbehaving. Georgia educates about 5,600 students with disabilities at 24 “psychoeducational” schools. The state does not regulate restraint or seclusion of students.

Earlier posts here.

Related posts here.

(Photo from Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

From the Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Wall Street Journal:

Children taking stimulant drugs such as Ritalin to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are several times as likely to suffer sudden, unexplained death as children who are not taking such drugs, according to a study published yesterday that was funded by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute of Mental Health.

… In a press briefing called on short notice yesterday, FDA officials said that given the seriousness of ADHD and the rarity of sudden death — which strikes fewer than 1 in 10,000 children — the benefits of the drugs outweigh their risks. Agency officials urged parents to discuss concerns with doctors rather than deciding on their own to discontinue a child’s medication.

Last ‘Percy Jackson’ book is released as Fox shoots movie version of earlier title

From the Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly,  Austin American-Statesman:

Former middle-school teacher Rick Riordan, left, is “one of the hottest writers on the planet today,” thanks to his series of children’s books that pairs Greek mythology with a hero who has learning disabilities.

The series, which has already sold more than five million copies in the U.S., culminates this week with the release of the fifth and final installment, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Central to the concept is a hero who learns that he is the son of Poseidon. He also has ADHD and dyslexia — traits he shares with Riordan’s son, who inspired the series — and comes to understand that his learning disabilities are signs he was sired by one of the gods.

Dyslexia, you see, is simply the natural confusion that arises when you’re hard-wired to read ancient Greek but forced to read English. And ADHD? A side effect of the need to constantly survey your surroundings for monsters eager to destroy children who are part-mortal, part-god.

Twentieth Century Fox is shooting a movie version of the first book in the series. Starring Uma Thurman and Pierce Brosnan, it is expected to be released next February.

(Photo from Wall Street Journal)

From the New York Times:

Experts in medicine and education say that students with ADHD often need additional support as they head for college and move away from the informal support systems that were provided by family and friends during their high school years.

Varying class schedules, hour-long lectures and disrupted sleep routines can pose daunting hurdles for such students. Research suggests that students with ADHD are at greater risk for academic and psychological difficulties, and have lower-grade point averages, than peers without ADHD.

Tips are offered for easing the transition to college. Among them:

• Consider adjusting medications;
• Plan for a place to get refills; and
• Ask about college services.