Tag Archives: Brain Development

Special Parents Confidential 66 Mental Health America

Mental Health America.

Mental Health is a subject that has taken center stage in large areas of our conversation. Everywhere you look in the media, people are talking about mental health. Certainly within the special needs community, the awareness of mental health for both people with special needs, and their caregivers, has become a major priority.

But where do the standards of care come from? How has the conversation changed over the years to get where were are now; that mental health is a major issue? And who is providing the oversight for how this condition is diagnosed and treated?

Mental Health Is Physical Health.

One of the major organizations for mental health awareness is Mental Heath America. Founded in 1909, MHA is the nation’s leading community-based non-profit dedicated to helping all Americans achieve mental well-being. MHA’s work is driven by a commitment to promoting prevention services for all. This includes early identification and intervention for those at risk, and integrated care and treatment for those who need it. They also work for policy standards and changes, with both local governments, and on the Federal level.

Online Screening

In this episode we talk to Theresa Nguyen, the Vice President of Policy and Programs with Mental Health America. She discusses the growing awareness of mental health issues, and some of the significant gains that have been made in diagnosis and treatments. For example, Theresa talks about MHA‘s new Online Screening Tools that can help you determine whether you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition. This offers many supports including DIY tools to help you get better.

Links Mentioned In This Episode.

MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA – The main website for MHA.

MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA’S ONLINE SCREENING TOOLS – Their free, private, online screening tools. These can help you determine if you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition.

ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA’S ONLINE SCREENING PROGRAM  – Explains all the details about how the screening is done and the results and where to get further help.

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Special Parents Confidential 54 Neurocore and the Education Secretary

Neurocore and the Education Secretary

The new Eduction Secretary of the United States has caused some controversy in the past months since her appointment over her views on special education, and her financial ties to a company called Neurocore. Specifically, she seems to have no interest in special education at all. Indeed, one of the first actions that took place after her appointment was the removal of all special education information from the Department of Education website. That information has since been restored, but it is still troubling. It should also be noted that this is the first time ever that an entire section of the United States Education Department’s website was deleted and only restored after public outcry. While it was claimed that there had been a simple mistake during the transition from one administration to another, many were quick to point out that this had never happened before in the entire history of the department during either administrative transitions, or otherwise.

Education and Special Education?

Further troubling is that Betsy DeVos’ only answer to any questions about the future of education in America, including special education, is to state her belief that, “parents have the right to choose what school they want their kids to attend”, and that, “states have the right to decide what that education will be”. Seemingly, without any federal government oversight. If that is truly the case, where does that leave special education, and the oversight of IDEA – the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, that was implemented by Congress in 1991 and has been administered by the Education Department in since then?

What Is Neurocore?

During her confirmation hearings it was revealed that Mrs. DeVos and her family are the majority owners of Neurocore – a brain training program that has been hyped as a way for people with learning challenges to succeed. (They are also majority shareholders in several for-profit Charter School corporations, which we addressed in SPC Episode 43 with Kristen Totten of the Michigan ACLU.)

Our Guest: Ulrich Boser

Back in May of this year an article appeared in the Washington Post, written by our guest for this episode, Ulrich Boser. He investigated Neurocore, went to one of the Neurocore Centers to have an exam done, and checked out their findings with medical doctors and education experts. He talks about the concerns about Neurocore’s claims of success, and the problems caused by Mrs. DeVos’ financial ties to the company.

Links Mentioned in the Podcast:

Ulrich Boser’s Website and Blog

Ulrich Boser’s profile at the Center for American Progress

The article about Neurocore in the Washington Post 

Learn Better – The book about how we learn, mentioned in the podcast 

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A Look Inside Children’s Minds – New Study from UI.

A very informative and interesting study is being done at the University of Iowa that shows how 3 and 4 year old children retain what they see around them.

Using an older technology that isn’t as invasive or difficult as an MRI, the researchers have been able to monitor how a child’s brain functions when memorizing. The researchers can now see neurological activity and brain development in children.

From the article: “The research is important, because visual working memory performance has been linked to a variety of childhood disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, developmental coordination disorder as well as affecting children born prematurely. The goal is to use the new brain imaging technique to detect these disorders before they manifest themselves in children’s behavior later on.”

This study is helping to emphasize the importance of early intervention.

Read the full article here: Iowa Now – A Look Inside Children’s Minds

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