Budget Crisis
A MESSAGE FROM MASSACHUSETTS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN
State Aid for Special Education Funding (Circuit Breaker) has been cut by $97 Million
CALL YOUR SENATOR NOW
As you may already be aware, the Senate Ways & Means budget continues the cut to state aid for special education by funding special education circuit breaker at only $133 million. Circuit breaker was funded at $230 million in FY '09. (This cut was offset by stimulus funds in FY 10, which will very likely not be sufficient to cover this proposed cut for FY11.)
The proposed Senate funding level is a cut of $97 million or a decrease of 42%.
Senator Karen Spilka has filed floor amendment # 365 to seek an additional $21 million to increase circuit breaker funding to $154 million.
Call or e-mail NOW and ask your state senator to co-sponsor Karen Spilka’s Amendment to increase funding for the special education circuit breaker.
Please call or e-mail your state senator today and ask them:
1) Sign on to support Senator Spilka’s special education circuit breaker
amendment
--This amendment seeks an additional $21 million for this critical program
serving all students with significant disabilities
--Even with the increase of the $ 21 million requested for special education
funding it still reflects a severe cut of $76 million for students with
disabilities from FY 09
2) Tell them if you have any personal experience with funding related issues
regarding your child, student, or client
To identify your state senator and state representative, go to state senator or rep
If you would like more information, please contact Johanne Pino via email or by calling 617-357-8431x234
Study: A Link Between Pesticides and ADHD
Check out this interesting article on a study that found a link between exposure to pesticides and ADD/ADHD at ADD Link.
Mental Health
DSM-5 The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version 5
Does your child have a mental health diagnosis?
Does your child have any of the following disorders?
Autism disorder, Asperger’s disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome, sensory processing disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, post traumatic stress disorder, skin picking disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, reactive attachment disorder, Tourette’s disorder, trichotillomania, hoarding disorder, an eating disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, depressive disorder and the list does go on.
If your answer is yes, then please read this message as these changes affect your child and your family.
The DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version 4) is the current version of the psychiatric diagnostic manual. This diagnostic manual is published by the American Psychiatric Association but is used by all mental health professionals. Proposals for changes to the DSM-IV to become DSM-5 in 2013 are being made now. Comments regarding these changes are being accepted UNTIL April 20th, 2010. Please take the time to read these changes to the relevant diagnosis and make your comments and urge your mental health providers to make their comments as well.
The proposed DSM-5 includes changes to many disorders. These changes include elimination of some disorders, reclassification of some disorders into other categories, additions of some disorders, additions of sub classifications that currently do not exist in DSM-IV and having some disorders disappear by rolling them into other disorders.
Some of these changes you may consider to be beneficial such as the proposals by outside groups to add disorders (naming just a few) sensory processing disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome and seasonal affective disorder. Comments are needed in order to have these disorders considered for publication in DSM-5.
Some of these changes you may not consider to be beneficial such as having Asperger’s disorder being rolled into Autistic disorder (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) or the complete removal of Rett’s disorder to name just a few. Many of these disorders do not even have the severity criteria for the disorder posted and yet the timeline for public comment has not been extended.
Please visit the DSM-5 Development website by clicking here. To view the categories and specifics changes to disorders either scroll down the page or select Proposed Revisions from the menu. To make your comments click on the "New User? Register Now" link on the right near top of the page and fill in at least the fields username, first name, last name, email address and country.
View the Asperger's Association of New England response to the DSM-5 proposal for Asperger's Action Alert
