The purpose of special education is to provide students with effective interventions in order to ensure they perform up to their potential while enrolled in school and are prepared upon exiting school. The current study aimed to examine and compare school-based interventions, and the behavioral and psychological functioning of students with…

Few people would disagree that children with disabilities need adequate health insurance. But what kind of health insurance coverage would be optimal for these children? Peter Szilagyi surveys the current state of insurance coverage for children with special health care needs and examines critical aspects of coverage with an eye to helping policy…

We examined the association between state Medicaid spending for children with disabilities and the financial burden reported by families of children with autism. Child and family data were from the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (n = 2,011 insured children with autism). State characteristics were from public…

The increasing survival of children and young people with congenital disabilities such as spina bifida (SB) provides a challenge to health care systems globally about how best to respond to the multitude of health, developmental, and psychosocial needs of those affected by this complex disorder across the lifespan, not just in childhood and…

Nationwide, more than 13.5 million children have special healthcare needs and with increases in the prevalence and diagnosis of development disabilities, this number can be expected to increase in the coming years. For any child with special needs, it is very important that they have a medical home from which all services can be coordinated. The…

The health care needs of children with spina bifida are complex. They need specialists, generalists, and an integrated system to deliver this complex care and to align and inform all the providers. Most research in spina bifida has been focused on narrow medical outcomes; it has been noncollaborative, based on small samples of convenience, with no…

The increase in the number of students with disabilities and special health care needs and their need for health care transition (HCT) creates opportunity for education and health services professionals to work together. In response to this opportunity, the authors developed an HCT teaching module for 6th to 12th graders. A concern that surfaced…

This essential text and practitioner guide is unique in its emphasis on fostering academic learning as well as life skills. In-depth chapters cover reading, mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as health care needs, communication and social skills, daily living, and job skills. The expert authors present research-based best practices…

The comorbidity of health and mental health problems among Medicaid-enrolled children and youth in Florida with a designated health or mental health disability was examined and compared to that of Medicaid-enrolled children with no disability. Slightly higher rates of health problems (42%) were found among children with mental health disabilities…

The authors examined disparities in special education labeling among children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by merging calendar year 2002 special education records and Medicaid mental health claims for 4,852 children who had been diagnosed with ADHD in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thirty-eight percent were receiving…

An increasing number of people with disabilities live in the community in Australia and internationally. Many of these individuals live in the family home, on their own, in hostels or in the traditional "group home" model, and receive varying levels of support and care. There is a growing concern that many of the care and support needs…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that mental health is as critical to academic success as physical well-being. School nurses play a vital role in the school community by promoting positive mental health development in students through school/community-based programs and curricula. As members of…

This feature issue explores health needs of youth with disabilities as they make the transition from child to adult roles. "School Health Services: Supporting Students with Special Health Needs" (Dee K. Bauer) describes the role of the special needs nurse on multidisciplinary teams in Multnomah County (Oregon) schools. Two articles deal with…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between functional disability and the use of health care services in a nationally representative sample of older adults by using the Andersen behavioral model of health services utilization. Design and Methods: The study used 12 years of longitudinal…

Despite having similar or better potential access to health care, women with disabilities experience worse health care and worse preventive care than nondisabled women. This study examined the health care of a national probability sample of 8,721 disabled and 45,522 nondisabled women living in the United States. Logistic regression models,…