Mar 1, 2018, Dayton (OH) Daily News: Officials hope mental health screenings will prevent school violence https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/officials-hope-mental-health-screenings-will-prevent-school-violence/OUKzfFDw4apWlEcJJwDR1L/ The plan to offer free, annual mental health screenings to students at all school districts in Montgomery County was in development before the Feb. 14 mass school shooting in Florida, but the tragedy has put an even bigger spotlight on the need for intervention before people get hurt, officials say. “This is disturbing behavior and behavior we have to do something about,” said Andrea Hoff, director of prevention and early intervention for the Montgomery County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board. “People continue to think that it could never happen here… and we know that that’s not true.” … Earlier this week, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its guidelines for diagnosing and treating depression in teens, recommending annual screenings for all children 12 and over. … In half of all mental health cases, issues begin by age 14, Hoff said. More than 50 percent of adolescent depression cases currently do not get identified before adulthood, according to the new AAP guidelines. … The screenings would take place during the school year much like student vision, hearing and scoliosis screenings do now. It would be offered for middle school, junior high and high school students, and would be conducted by a professional from Samaritan Behavioral Health. … Identifying potential mental health issues is one of the many strategies being discussed throughout the country in response to school shootings like the one at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which killed 17 people.
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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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