The Next Big Thing

As the school year started, I spent time thinking about the trends in special education. To be specific, I was thinking about how certain diagnoses become the de rigueur diagnosis; it seems like everyone is seeking the diagnosis during each evaluation. During 90's, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) was diagnosis that everyone was getting, and still is. Last decade, we saw an increase in students getting a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and those continue to grow. Some figures estimate that 1 out of 160 children born have Autism. Now as we move into the '10s, there is a diagnosis that has gotten some press recently and I predict it will increase in prevalence. We'll be talking about over the next decade.

Drum roll....

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This will impact schools in the coming years, especially as parents and physicians become more aware of the symptoms and implications of having the disability. The media and sports have become more aware of it. Concussions are now a major concern for the NFL and the NCAA. This will trickle down to high schools, junior high schools, and Pop Warner football in the coming years, if not sooner. Also, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to more soldiers returning with TBI and doctors are now correctly diagnosing it. Before, it was thought to be PTSD, but doctors are starting to see the subtle differences. One distinction is the cognitive impairment that results from TBI. This will be a big diagnosis, and I expect school psychologists will be dealing with it more in the coming years.

BBC

Changes

The new school year started off with some new changes. A new principal is roaming the halls. The first day of school was interesting because it was the beginning of a new era. My former principal had been in my building for 15 years. She witnessed a lot, and put a lot of systems into place. The beginning of the day started with students arriving to school. Some were confused and were found roaming the hallways before the morning bell rang (a no-no in my building). Arrival was chaotic because buses arrived late and parents were meeting teachers outside and people had new responsibilities and duties. The day started a little later than usual, but it went as smoothly as possible.

I was stuck in my office all day, playing detective, trying to find records on new students. That's how I usually spend my first few days. It's really funny when I get to know a student through his/her paperwork, yet I never lay eyes on him/her until a few days later. We have 2 new sixth graders that require one-on-one aides. This is quite a switch for us, because one-on-one aides are not that common in our building. I will try to learn what I can about these new students. I'm already scheduling meetings for them so that we can meet the families and revise their IEPs as needed.

My new principal is moving us towards the technological age. I promise this will be its own posting. Look for Land of the Luddites, Part 2.

At the end of the day, we had a major problem. None of the teachers had bus lists. Usually the teachers would have these lists so that they could verify them before the end of the day. Our school dismisses at 3 PM. At about 2:58, teachers received bus lists so that they knew which buses their children ride. You would think that most of the children know which bus they ride, but maybe you haven't met the average kindergartner. The end of the day was very hectic and nerve-wracking and we only had one child get on the wrong bus. Not bad for the first day.

BBC