Diverse+Learners

= Who are Diverse Learners and Where can I find Information? = > > **
 * **In 2005 13.8% of the students received special education services as part of IDEA, Part B. Of this group 5% were classified as Learning Disabled and 3% as Speech and Language Impaired (Source: Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2005) **
 * ** 20 percent of all seniors graduating from high school can be classified as being functionally illiterate. //Source: National Right to Read Foundation// **
 * **In 2005, 20 percent of school-age children spoke a language other than English at home and 5 percent of school-age children had difficulty speaking English. (Source: Childstats.gov) **
 * **The prevalence of autism is one child in every 150. (Source: Center for Disease Control) (Approximately .6%)
 * **Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders include FAS and FASD. They are 0% curable and 100% preventable. FAS rates ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 per 1,000 live births in different areas of the United States. Other FASDs are believed to occur approximately three times as often as FAS. (Source: Center for Disease Control) Approximately .6% **
 * **Of the 100,000 teenagers in juvenile detention, estimates indicate that 60 percent have behavioral, mental or emotional problems. (Department of Justice) **


  ===[|Mental Illness] from science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/mental/guide/info-mental-a.htm ===

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Mental Illness in Children and Adolescents
<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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">An estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not receiving the help they need.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Schizophrenia is rare in children under age 12, but it occurs in about 3 of every 1,000 adolescents.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Between 118,700 and 186,600 youths in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental illness.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Of the 100,000 teenagers in juvenile detention, an estimated 60 percent have behavioral, cognitive, or emotional problems.

<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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> A person who shows any of these signs should seek help from a qualified health professional.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">marked personality change,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">inability to cope with problems and daily activities,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">strange or grandiose ideas,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">excessive **anxieties**,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">prolonged depression and apathy,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">marked changes in eating or sleeping patterns,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">thinking or talking about suicide or harming oneself,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">extreme mood swings—high or low,
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">abuse of alcohol or drugs, and
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">excessive anger, hostility, or violent behavior.

===<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">// [|ADHD] // is one of the most common mental disorders that develop in children. === <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> (from www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Impulsiveness: a child who acts quickly without thinking first.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">// from childstats.gov/americaschildren/health3.asp // <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">from childstats.gov/americaschildren/famsoc5.asp <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Autism & autism spectrum disorders (ASDs)]
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">from www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/autism/symptoms.shtml

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
<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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Autism and other ASDs develop in childhood and generally are diagnosed by age three.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">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.