Disability Articles
Risk of Visual Impairment and ROP in Premature Infants This article discusses the risks of visual impairment and ROP in premature infants. This article relates to my teaching because now I am aware of how a child might obtain a vision problem. Even though I am unable to do anything to physically help the students, I am now more aware and exposed to the conditions that cause vision problems. Here is a brief summary of the article.
The tiniest and most premature babies are most at risk for future vision problems. Fifty percent of infants diagnosed with ROP in the NICU show decreased visual acuity, myopia (nearsightedness), glaucoma (an increase in eye pressure), strabismus (crossed eyes), and amblyopia (a lazy eye) in early childhood. Cortical visual impairment or blindness may result from a serious IVH or other injury to the brain. It is not acceptable to wait a week or two past the scheduled due date for your baby's eye appointments. For babies with suspected cortical vision problems, developmental follow-up and early intervention referrals will also be necessary.


**Parenting Children with Disabilities: Discover the Gift that is Yours**
This article discusses Parenting Children with Disabilities from a spiritual viewpoint. It provides many examples and ways of coping when finding out that you are expecting a child with special needs. This article is important for teachers as well as parents, because as teachers when we are introduced with child with disabilities we too, can feel overwhelmed and may need to go through these stages that are being proposed by this article. Here is a summary of the article
Research about parenting children with disabilities has often focused on the negative aspects, such as family disruption and stress. But many researchers are now saying they've overstated the negatives and overlooked the positives. While families with disabled children do experience challenges, newer studies show that with good support they're as vibrant and healthy as families without disabled children. While each family experiences struggles unique to their child's disability and family situation, the families who report a positive parenting experience tend to share several characteristics in common. Researchers recommend the following based on their findings:


Strategies To Bolster Self-Esteem
This article is actually a letter that parents of a child with low self-esteem wrote a psychologist in Plymouth Meeting, PA. In the letter the psychologist suggests many different ideas of reasons why the child might have low self esteem and ways to improve his self esteem. This article is great for teachers because the teacher can take and use these suggestions in their own classroom for a student that they feel might have low self esteem. Here is a summary of the article.
One of the most troubling dilemmas for parents is when children show signs of low self-esteem. Unfortunately, these signs serve to confirm their negative self-view, setting in motion a self-defeating cycle that can lead to even more disturbing consequences. When children are trapped in this cycle parents are often beset by feelings of powerlessness themselves. We may point to plenty of positive things about our child but sense our voice is being drowned out by an internal voice inside our child that screens out the good and emphasizes the bad parts of self. Here are some suggestions for coaching your child to a strong and stable self-esteem:



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