Self-care for school psychologists has received overdue attention in scholarly literature and training. Most work in self-care relates to mental health problems arising from the stressful and emotional nature of work in school psychology. However, there is an additional component of self-care that has yet to receive appropriate levels of…

Many school psychologists will work with a student with a medical condition in their careers, and information on the student's condition is crucial to understanding their individual needs. One type of medical condition that a school psychologist may encounter is childhood-onset autoimmune disease, such as pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus…

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a rare, but serious, metabolic disease that can cause a variety of neurological, psychological, and academic complications. Fortunately, many individuals with PKU who are identified and treated early can go on to live a relatively normal life. However, PKU does continue to present with a variety of complex underlying…

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder affecting approximately 1 in every 365 African American births. Students with SCD are likely to experience ongoing complications that will interfere with their attendance, functioning at school, and overall daily functioning throughout their lives. This article provides education about SCD…

On March 13, 2020, following the directives given on March 12 by the State Superintendent of Education in Maryland (Dr. Karen Salmon), all public schools across the state were to be closed for 2 weeks beginning March 16 following the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a pandemic. It was hard to believe that a new pandemic would be any…

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated school, state, and federal responses to curb infection and resultant fatalities, including extensive school closures and reliance on distance education for a substantial portion of the academic year. This article considers the equity issues laid bare by COVID-19, followed by the implications for MTSS, with a…

Sleep--not getting enough or not getting good sleep--can greatly affect students' cognitive, academic, behavioral, emotional, and social functioning. Sleep issues are relatively common, occurring in as many as 25% of children and are more prevalent in those with certain medical conditions (pain, asthma, traumatic brain injury) or psychiatric…

No other facet of curriculum has stoked as much debate in schools across the United States as sexuality education (Corngold, 2013). However, it is now the widely held consensus that some form of sexuality education should be implemented in public schools. The "Professional Standards of the National Association of School Psychologists"…

As noted in the first article in this National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Social Justice Committee (SJC) series on health disparities (see Proctor et al., 2020), health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially…

School psychologists, especially those on the front lines, are working under difficult conditions, dealing with new mandates and procedures, and often without the essential tools necessary to do their jobs optimally. Surmounting obstacles associated with COVID-19 will require school psychologists to develop new ways to provide essential services.…

Tourette's disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects many school-age children and adolescents across the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2019), one in every 160 school-age children in the United States has Tourette's disorder. School psychologists are called to work with these students…

Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis (CF), and each year around 1,000 new cases are diagnosed. About one half of this population consists of school-age youth. With an understanding of the psychosocial and mental health factors surrounding CF, school psychologists are well positioned to support children and…

Exposure to domestic violence can have significant short- and long-term effects on children and adolescents, including increased internalizing and externalizing behavioral systems, physical health effects including heart disease and diabetes, and a negative impact on school functioning (Delaney-Black et al., 2002; Felitti et al., 1998; Kitzmann,…

This article discusses the Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), also known as "factitious disorder by proxy" (FDBP) and fabricated and/or induced illness, which is a mental illness in which a person lies about the physical or mental well-being of a person he/she is responsible for. Most often the dynamic transpires between a mother and her child.…

This article is the second of a two-part series on allergic rhinitis (AR). Treatments for AR are now widely available in both prescription and over-the-counter form. The medication therapies include antihistamines, decongestants, leukotriene receptor antagonists, cromolyn sodium, and immunotherapy. Corticosteroids are also used via nasal…