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in both the U.S. and the U.K. These articles explain just how worried  Shock Therapy to Combat Anxiety and Depres-
         everyone is about it, but are they looking in the right place for answers?  sion.” According to Leigh Academies Trust in
         Aug. 6, 2017, KSL-Salt Lake City: “Safe UT App Making Inroads De-  Kent, England, there is now a device being used
         spite 36 Youth Suicides So Far in 2017” and Feb. 19, 2017, Express.co.uk:  to “have a positive impact on levels of anxiety,
         “Children Committing Suicide Hits 14-year High.” Is it stress? Bullying?  depression and sleep disorders—all symptoms
         Social media? Home life? Maybe. Maybe not.                    of stress among its staff.” Other adults affected
             Coverage of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is also  by mental health disorder include university
         getting a lot of press. This article, July 31, 2017, KRISTV: “ADHD Rising  students. Those requiring special consideration
         Steadily,” talks about a new report from the Centers for Disease Control  in exams due to mental health problems have
         and Prevention (CDC) estimating that 9.5 percent of children ages three  risen exponentially in the past five years. July
         to seventeen in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD. The explo-  9, 2017, UK Independent: “Number of Univer-
         sion in this disorder is once again explained by better diagnosing, and  sity Students Claiming Special Circumstances
         the recommended best treatment is “medication.”               for Mental Health Problem ‘Soars.’” And this
             Could there be a connection between soaring rates of teen suicide  article explains that the number of students in
         and the psychotropic drugs being prescribed for conditions like ADHD?  higher education with a disability has more than
         Not according to the CDC—the same agency, which based on their own  tripled in ten years: Oct. 27, 2017, Independent
         research, has known for more than a decade that measles, mumps, rubella  Irish News (Dublin): “Increase in Students with
         (MMR) vaccines contribute to autism. Watch the documentary Vaxxed  a Disability in Third-Level—but No Change in
         for the whole story.                                          Funding.”
                                                                           Seeing hundreds of stories about schools
         ISN'T ANYONE WORRIED?                                         dealing with increasingly disabled and behavior-
             Have we obliviously surrendered to the learning problems and mental  ally challenged students should make everyone
         health disorders in our children? Do we no longer expect our kids to be  scared about the future. “Teacher shortages,
         normal? Just as with the explosion in autism, it seems no one is really  kids suspended, critically ill students, kids who
         worried. As Dachel says, “No one cares what is happening to our kids,  can’t learn normally. It just goes on and on, and
         and if you haven’t picked up on that yet, you should join Autism Speaks  will only get worse if we don’t address the real
         [an uncritical autism advocacy organization] and pretend that blue lights  causes,” says Dachel.
         matter. Our schools, especially elementary schools, are mental wards.     How are we going to deal with so many stu-
         We have lots of calls for awareness, policy changes, workshops, better  dents who can’t function normally? What will
         understanding, etc. but these things are not going to put a stop to the  the adult population soon look like? Imagine
         increasing numbers of injury. It seems today we expect our children to  what’s coming next year…in five years…in ten
         be injured. We’ve all been schooled to accept the damage, physical and  years. Will we somehow learn to adjust? This
         developmental. Given enough time, will the world not remember when  disaster is a time bomb. Schools are battlefields.
         physical restraints and seclusion rooms weren’t typical of school districts?  This “new normal” should not only give pause,
         Or will we remember a time when behavior coaches weren’t regular  it should cause alarm…deafening alarm.
         members of the staff in elementary schools?”
             Dachel used to believe that the number of autistic children would
         get so high that the media, doctors and health officials would have to
         recognize that something was terribly wrong. That never happened. “The
         rate was never a concern. A whole month of celebrations (April), an of-  JOURNAL NOW AVAILABLE AS
         ficial organization that is supposed to speak for autism, and a total lack   A DIGITAL TALKING BOOK FOR THE
         of interest on the part of officials and doctors doomed autism to forever   VISUALLY IMPAIRED
         be a medical curiosity we have all the time in the world to figure out.”   We now have our journal converted into an
         According to Dachel, the real, undeniable issue happening everywhere   audio format for the visually impaired. Special
         is the mental health crisis in our schools. “Try as they might, this can’t   software is required for this, such as Dolphin
         be filed away under better diagnosing or 'these kids have always been   Easy Reader. Go to the JOURNALS tab on
         here.' The clock is ticking. They’ll blame social media, stress, trauma at   our home page. Starting with Fall 2011, click
         home…but it can’t be dismissed.”                                the journal you are interested in. Please tell
                                                                         others! Many thanks to Amy Adams of
             And what about the mental health and wellbeing of our teachers? July   ePubUSA.com for this service!
         1, 2017, The Telegraph: “Stressed Teachers are Being Offered Electric

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