Sept 29, 2018, Canandaigua (NY) Daily Messenger: A cry for help, and the answer http://www.mpnnow.com/news/20180929/cry-for-help-and-answer Like most everyone else in the country, Canandaigua Police Sgt. Nate Lawrence watched the coverage of the Parkland, Florida school shootings last February on TV. … That’s what prompted him to begin researching the idea of a threat assessment team, modeled after a longtime federal program, at Canandaigua, to identify early warning signs and direct necessary help to a student before something as violent and tragic as a mass shooting happens. … This school year, the Canandaigua Police Department and Canandaigua School District are implementing what they call the Behavioral Intervention Team to better identify those red flags and connect the dots early on. Their goal is to get at-risk students the help they need before a situation escalates to violence. … Members of the team — they include representatives of the police department and school, Ontario County Sheriff’s Office, State Police, Finger Lakes Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program and Ontario County Juvenile Probation, Child Protective Services and Mental Health — will be meeting on a weekly or biweekly basis. … They will gather information about situations involving allegations of threats or concerns. They will assess that information. Then, they will develop strategies to address the situation and follow up until the case is closed. … Other warning signs include changes in behavior, a sudden, unexplained drop in grades, a mental health issue, signs of problems at home — whether a divorce or a history of violence or substance abuse….
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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