3029.2: Monday, November 17, 2003: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM | |||
Oral | |||
| |||
| During the week of July 21, 2003 a ground-breaking meeting took place at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, WI (the site of numerous landmark reports and consensus statements) to define a collective research and policy agenda on the emerging connections between developmental/learning disabilities and environmental health. The meeting, bringing together for the first time two key public health constituencies -- the developmental disability community and the environmental health community -- launched the beginning of a national interdisciplinary statement and agenda to address how the environment impacts the life span from fetal brain development to people living their lives with developmental disabilities. Learning and developmental disabilities (LDDs), including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental retardation and autism, are widespread and of increasing concern. Residents of communities across the United States have expressed concern about elevated rates of neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and possible associations with environmental exposures. Emerging science is beginning to unravel some of the complex interactions between genetic, social and environmental factors and how these may contribute to neurologic conditions. This panel will cover what we currently know about the impact of various neurotoxicants on brain development and what research gaps remain. The economic and emotional costs to individuals and society will also be underscored. In addition, the outcomes of the 2003 Winspread Summit will be discussed along with specific examples of other collaborative efforts, such as the Learning Disabilities Association’s national Healthy Children’s Project, will be highlighted. These efforts will include outreach activities to raise awareness of these issues among diverse constituencies and policy initiatives to help minimize preventable LDDs and protect those with LDDs from environmental insults that may exacerbate their conditions. | |||
| Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to: 1. Identify the key findings of the 2003 Wingspread Summit and elements of an emerging national agenda 2. Describe the perspectives of the two constituencies, namely the environmental health community and the developmental and learning disability communities 3. Describe new interdisciplinary approaches to better understand the research and policy implications of the connections between developmental and learning disability and the environment. | |||
| See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information. | |||
| Robin Lee, MPH Russ Lopez, MCRP, DSc Patrick Bohan Marni Rosen, MPA Beth A. Resnick, MPH Leon Vinci, MPH Kevin Delaney, MPH | |||
| Elise Miller, MEd | |||
| Introductory Remarks | |||
| Windows of vulnerability: An overview of the brain development and susceptibility to environmental contaminants Ted Schettler, MD, MPH | |||
| Developmental disabilities and environmental toxicants: A new collaboration Sheryl White-Scott, MD, FACP | |||
| Learning disabilities & correlation with environmental pollutants Jo R. Behm, Ms, RN | |||
| Prevalence studies of multiple sclerosis in communities concerned about environmental exposures Curtis W Noonan, PhD, Judy Henry, MS, Robert W. Indian, MS, Sharon Lynch, MD, Judith Maher, MD, Ruth Ann Marrie, MD, John Neuberger, MBA, MPH, DrPH, Randolph Schiffer, MD, William R. Schmidt, MPH, Marla Sutton, Janine Trottier, RN, Laurie Wagner, MS, Dhelia Maria Williamson, MS | |||
| Organized by: | Environment | ||
| CE Credits: | CME, Environmental Health, Nursing, Pharmacy | ||