Opioid Epidemic Raising Special Education Concerns
September 17, 2018
By: Christina A. Samuels
Source: Education Week
Tens of thousands of babies are born each year to mothers who abused opioids when they were pregnant.
Now, a new study offers a snapshot of the educational impact of that early trauma—and a hint of what schools are already facing and may have to grapple with for years to come.
Researchers examined the educational status of a group of Medicaid-eligible children in Tennessee ages 3 to 8. Some of those children were born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, meaning that they spent their earliest days coping with the health effects of opioid withdrawal. The other children were not diagnosed with the syndrome.