Feb 25, 2019, KTNV-TV, Las Vegas: Shortage of school psychologists leads to frustration all around https://www.ktnv.com/raisingthebar/shortage-of-school-psychologists-leads-to-frustration-all-around Nobody is more aware of the shortage of school psychologists than the psychologists themselves but unlike the students, they simply can't get to, the doctors have the coping skills to deal with the frustration. Six thousand four hundred calls were made to SafeVoice in Nevada to report safety concerns involving schools last year. Of those, 400 involved reports of suicide threats, 250 for threats against schools and 240 for depression. While other students and teachers recognize the signs of those issues, when it comes to preventing them from school psychologists say they don't have enough time in the day. … At the same time, there was an 11 percent increase in the number of students institutionalized last year. … A study by Child Trends estimates more than half of Nevada children go through at least one adverse childhood experience with the most common of the traumatic events being divorce, but also including neglect, abuse or the arrest of a family member. Those traumas, if left unaddressed, can lead to negative impacts on learning. Nevada Department of Education officials know the value of psychologists like Dockweiler. "Without them at the schools, teachers have to deal with everything all on their own. So not only teaching math, literature or science, they also have to deal with trauma," Christy McGill, Director of the Office of Safe and Respectful Learning Environment said. While they would like to increase the number of mental health professionals on campuses, the big problem is the same thing that impacts a lot of shortages statewide. … The Department of Education is also hopeful Governor Steve Sisolak will be able to mental health dollars from the marijuana tax toward school safety. … This as Dockweiler says UNLV has the only program in the state and the licensing process for a psychologist requires at least seven years of education, with starting psychologists earning the same pay as teachers despite the extra educational requirements. "So the demand and the supply are not lining up," Dockweiler said. …
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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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