The Law Office of Nigel M. AtwellThe Law Office of Nigel M. Atwell2024-03-11T14:24:12Zhttps://www.lawofficeofnigelmatwell.com/feed/atom/WordPress/wp-content/uploads/sites/1400173/2020/07/cropped-fav-icon-min-32x32.pngOn Behalf of The Law Office of Nigel M. Atwellhttps://www.lawofficeofnigelmatwell.com/?p=468652021-03-26T03:43:25Z2021-03-23T03:42:41ZWhat is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is the most common type of learning disability in the U.S. and affects around 20% of the population. Yale reports that between 80 and 90% of people who have learning disabilities suffer from dyslexia. People with dyslexia have difficulty differentiating between the phonological sounds made with speech, which can cause them to have trouble with reading and writing. However, this learning disability is not correlated with intelligence, and many people who have dyslexia are smart.
Importance of the new bill
The bill that was passed by the DC Council still requires funding. However, it promises to offer critical help as children begin returning to school. Many children have fallen behind over the last year, and those who have undiagnosed dyslexia might especially struggle to learn. By providing evidence-based training and resources for the early identification of children with dyslexia, schools can offer tailored help to accelerate the learning process.
Without appropriate intervention, children can continue falling behind and face poor educational outcomes when they suffer from dyslexia. While the DC Council passed the bill, it still needs to be approved by Congress and funded. Ninety jurisdictions across the U.S. have passed similar legislation. However, since the District is a city instead of a state, its legislation must receive congressional approval and funding before it can be effective. While Congress has experienced recent delays, it is hoped that it will soon act on this important bill to help many children in the District.]]>On Behalf of The Law Office of Nigel M. Atwellhttps://www.lawofficeofnigelmatwell.com/?p=468592021-03-26T03:40:37Z2021-03-16T03:38:34Zeducation equity disparities even more.
Minority students overwhelming chose continued online learning
The reasons Black and Hispanic students largely chose to continue virtual learning varied. The first was that minority populations have been hit harder by the COVID-19 pandemic. People of color have had higher infection rates and some Black and Hispanic parents didn’t want their children to face coronavirus exposure with in-person learning. Overall, only 9,200 of the 15,000 eligible students in the Washington, D.C. school district chose to return to classrooms in late January. The district overwhelmingly has students of color enrolled.
Another reason minority students and those in poorer neighborhoods chose to continue online learning is that parents were concerned about childcare options. Parents didn’t want to face losing before and after school care amid a COVID-19 outbreak. Parents already had found other childcare options for their children and didn’t want to change those. Some parents chose to continue their children’s virtual learning because their children couldn’t attend school in-person for more than a few hours a day.
Online learning’s impact on student learning
Students who struggle in school are more likely to struggle even more with online learning, though. For minority students with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia or ADHD, virtual learning is even more difficult. Students who aren’t native English speakers also face more challenges with online learning.
In fact, many minority and ESL middle school and high school students have failed classes they’ve taken through virtual learning. Many education experts are concerned about how online learning may widen the achievement gap between White students and students of color. They feel minority students who fail online learning classes will be discouraged and may then fall even further behind.
It may take another year or more to understand the full impact of virtual learning on education equity. For now, unfortunately, the pandemic has put many minority students more behind and struggling to catch up.]]>On Behalf of The Law Office of Nigel M. Atwellhttps://www.lawofficeofnigelmatwell.com/?p=460522020-06-30T10:21:14Z2017-06-04T16:12:50Z
“Girls Coping With Trauma Are Often Met With Harsh Discipline At School,” by Casey Quinlan, Think Progress, September 26, 2016: https://thinkprogress.org/girls-coping-with-trauma-are-often-met-with-harsh-discipline-at-school-ce0928dea4c8#.ml02e4brd
]]>On Behalf of The Law Office of Nigel M. Atwellhttps://www.lawofficeofnigelmatwell.com/?p=460492021-04-01T10:52:17Z2017-06-04T15:35:18Z
Divorce
Homelessness
Incarceration or other separation from a parent
Violence in the home or violence in the community
Depression of a parent in the home
Death of a parent or very close relative
Physical abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse
Chronic neglect
Is your child also struggling with 1 or more of the following issues in school?
Impulse control
Anger outbursts
Depression, withdrawal
Inability to calm down
Frequent aggressive, attention-getting or rule breaking behaviors
Frequent in or out of school suspensions or other exclusion from the classroom
Inattention, easy distraction, ADHD
Reading well below grade level and other academic failure in school
Struggle with speech, language
Threatening self-injury or expressing ideas about suicide
If your child has experienced or witnessed any of the adverse events described above and is also experiencing behavioral and academic struggles in school, then read on. You will learn how adverse experiences can negatively impact children’s brain development, their behavior and academic achievement in school, and their adult health outcomes. You will also learn steps that you can take to address the impact of adverse experiences and toxic stress on your child, starting this year. Read this especially if your child has an IEP or a behavior intervention plan or if you think your child should be evaluated to determine if she has a learning or other disability.HOW CAN TRAUMA AND SITUATIONS THAT CAUSE CHILDREN TO FEEL TOXIC STRESS AFFECT MY CHILD AND HER PERFORMANCE IN SCHOOL?
The Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente conducted a study (the “ACES Study”) during which researchers interviewed mostly white, middle class people to determine whether they experienced traumatic events during childhood. The researchers also asked the respondents about their health as adults. The researchers found that two-thirds of the persons whom they interviewed had at least one adverse childhood experience, and that 13% had four or more adverse childhood experiences. The researchers also found that individuals who had more adverse childhood experiences were more likely to have poor health outcomes in adulthood, such as alcoholism, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Research that followed the ACES Study confirmed that traumatic childhood events and toxic stress can adversely affect the brain development of children and their physiological and behavioral responses to stress. These changes in turn can affect children’s attention, their ability to process information, their ability to regulate their emotions, their reading and academic progress, their ability to form and maintain relationships, and their social/emotional development in school. Children who have experienced trauma or toxic stress are often failing school, reading below grade level, struggling with aggressive behavior and angry or emotional outbursts, and struggling with attention and distraction in the classroom.
CHILDHOOD TRAUMA SEEMS COMMON. WHAT ARE SCHOOLS, DOCTORS AND MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS DOING ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF TRAUMA AND TOXIC STRESS ON CHILDREN?
Unfortunately, pediatric and child psychology practitioners often do not screen kids for trauma or toxic stress when evaluating children struggling with maladaptive behaviors or academic failure at school. Often, when children who have experienced trauma or toxic stress are struggling with reading or acting out behaviors, health professionals who interact with them conclude that they are just oppositional, defiant, or have ADHD. So, children affected by trauma and toxic stress often do not receive the clinical or other research based social/emotional and behavioral supports they may need to address their adverse experiences and to cope and succeed in school.
Moreover, most traditional public and public charter schools are not trauma sensitive. They are not staffed with administrators, social workers, psychologists, and teachers who have been trained to respond to children’s behavioral or academic struggles and responses in a way that addresses underlying trauma and toxic stress. Schools that are not trauma sensitive respond to students whose behaviors are symptoms of underlying trauma and stress in ways that are directed toward the behavior, but do not address the trauma or stress. Schools may emphasize organization, activity breaks, isolation, time out, token economies to address inattention and distraction caused by traumas or stress, in the same way they might address students with ADHD. They might use purely disciplinary responses to contain rule breaking behaviors, such as frequent time out of the classroom, isolation and suspensions. Some schools believe that class wide or school wide socio-emotional or behavior management programs by themselves are enough to addresses behaviors that are manifestations of trauma or toxic stress. Other schools literally call on parents to try control the child’s behavior by pressuring parents to come to school and sit with their child in the classroom.
These approaches do not work because they do not address the root cause of the maladaptive behaviors – the traumatic childhood experience or a continuing situation that causes toxic stress — and the needs of traumatized children to have trusting relationships, to learn to regulate their emotions, learn coping skills or have access to other research based interventions.
It is likely that your child will continue to struggle academically and behaviorally until the underlying trauma or toxic stress they experienced is addressed and adults interact with her in a trauma sensitive manner. MY CHILD HAS EXPERIENCED TRAUMA. MY FAMILY IS LIVING IN A STRESSFUL SITUATION THAT I THINK IS AFFECTING MY CHILD. THE SCHOOL RESPONDS TO MY CHILD’S BEHAVIOR WITH HARSH DISCIPLINE. MY CHILD IS FAILING IN SCHOOL. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Parents, there is something that you can do to help your child who is experiencing academic or behavioral struggles because of childhood trauma and toxic stress. First, at home, try to determine if your child has experienced adverse childhood experiences by taking the assessment at https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/. If your child’s ACES score is high, consider having your child evaluated by a trauma informed psychologist.
If you have access to such a psychologist in private practice, then contact that provider. You can also get in touch with a trauma informed psychologist by calling the DC Department of Behavioral Health’s Access Help Line at 1(888)7WE-HELP or 888-793-4357 (http://dbh.dc.gov/service/access-helpline). Once you call, a specialist will take information from you and can refer you to a community mental health provider that has trauma informed psychologists and provides other related services. A list of community mental health providers who have been certified by the Department of Behavioral Health can be found on the department’s website at http://dbh.dc.gov/page/list-community-based-service-providers. These providers take different insurance payments, including Medicaid, HSCSN and others. Other community service providers, who are not certified by DC, can also provide trauma informed services.
The psychologist will interview you and assess your child to screen her for trauma. The psychologist may use cognitive behavioral therapy or other evidence based therapies and interventions, may offer training in parenting skills, and may connect you to other services in the community to address challenges that have been determined to cause stress in child’s home or community. Some providers offer family therapy as well. The psychologists may be willing to work with your child’s school, including the IEP team and a special education lawyer, to provide input on an IEP or a behavior intervention plan for your child. A special education attorney can help you navigate this process.]]>On Behalf of The Law Office of Nigel M. Atwellhttps://www.lawofficeofnigelmatwell.com/?p=460552022-04-13T06:30:27Z2017-01-26T10:56:22ZACT NOW – BEFORE JANUARY 31, 2017!
Call or Email your Senators:
Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for the office of your Senators
Identify yourself as a constituent and the organization that you represent (if any)
Find your Senator’s email address: https://www.congress.gov/members
Suggested email or phone call comments could include:
FOR PEOPLE CONCERNED ABOUT CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES:
“I’m connecting with you to urge a NO vote on Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. To date, she has not shown an understanding of and deep commitment to the educational success and rights of students with disabilities. My child/children with a disability deserve to have a qualified Secretary who is knowledgeable about educational best practices and committed to enforcing federal law, protecting against inequity and discrimination and assuring accountability for all students in all schools, regardless of setting.
[SHARE A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR CHILD/A CHILD WITH A DISABILITY AND WHY IDEA MATTERS TO YOU/THEM.]
The Senate needs to put the future of millions of children’s lives above partisan loyalty and vote NO on the confirmation of Betsy DeVos.”
FOR PEOPLE CONCERNED ABOUT DEVOS’ POSITION ON SCHOOL VOUCHERS:
“Mrs. DeVos’ testimony indicated that she viewed vouchers as a solution for all families and that they could serve as a substitute for public education. She refused to commit to protect against discrimination in schools that accept children with vouchers. She did not seem to understand that some states require students to waive their rights under IDEA in order obtain access for vouchers to attend private schools. Vote NO on the confirmation of Betsy DeVos.”
FOR PEOPLE CONCERNED ABOUT DEVOS’ EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCY:
“Mrs. DeVos never attended public schools, nor have her children. She has never taught school, served as a school administrator, and does not have any degrees in education or education policy. During her confirmation hearing she failed to demonstrate understanding of basic education terminology. She demonstrated a lack of understanding of states’ obligations to implement IDEA; in her testimony she stated that implementation of IDEA should be “left to the states.” However, she has been a strong advocate and a generous patron of the expansion of charter schools in Michigan. Many of those charters are among the worst performing schools in the state. Mrs. DeVos is unqualified to be Secretary of Education, so please vote NO on her confirmation.”
Call Members of the Senate HELP Committee: Please also take 5 more minutes and call the members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (“HELP”). Find Senate HELP committee members at: http://www.help.senate.gov/about/members