By Our Medical Correspondent As the wave of young crack victims swell, parents and educators who care for them warn of alarming learning disabilities and emotional problems. Dr. Howard describes them as “explosively impulsive.”
* Crack kids tend to fly into rages with little or no provocation.
* Many have difficulty concentrating on a task and completing it.
* They often relate poorly with people or fail to show emotion.
* They don’t seem to feel pain as easily as other children.
* Some develop skills such as crawling, sitting, walking and talking, as much as a year later than normal. These children also score significantly lower in overall intelligence.
* Many of them are physically awkward and rigid in a way experts associate with brain damage.
* They often seem to be unable to process information they see or hear.
San Francisco Head Start executive director, Greg Powell, sees a frightening future in the preschool classrooms. Between 20 and 30% of the children in San Francisco’s Head Start classes suffer from the effects of fetal cocaine addiction.
A 3. year old boy at his Head Start class displayed one of the more frightening problems recently as he played at the center. Ashe steered a tiny automobile across the floor, a little girl reached out for the toy. The boy reacted in rage. In seconds, the boy threw the girl to the ground and held her down with his hands at her throat.
These children are very tough with one another. Rather than pat, they slap. Rather than hug, they choke. In addition to this 3 year old, there are 20 other preschoolers at this center and half of the 20 children were born addicted to crack. Experts now are doing research to try and pinpoint how much of this trouble is caused by neurological damage and how much is related to environmental factors. The most recent research, however, points to the disturbing conclusion that crack babies suffer permanent brain damage, Stimulant drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines constrict blood vessels in adult addicts and fetuses, resulting in a high incidence of strokes and other brain damage.
Researchers at the University of California at San Diego recently found brain damage caused by tiny strokes in more than a third of a group of children addicted to cocaine. The strokes damaged an area of the brain associated with learning ability and behavior. Similar strokes occurred in fewer than 5% of other infants who suffered from poor prenatal care but no drug exposure. Be aware of the sign of drug use in your children. We all suffer a diminished quality of life from the influence of illicit drugs.
Signs of Drug Use
* Possession of drug related paraphernalia such as pipes, rolling papers, small decongestant bottles, or small butane torches.
* Odor of drugs, smell of incense. ‘or other “cover-up” scents.
* Identification with drug culture, drug related magazines, slogans on clothing and conversations and jokes that are preoccupied with drugs.
* Hostility in discussing drugs.
* Signs of physical deterioration such as a loss of weight (skinny), memory lapses, short attention span, difficulty in concentration, talking very fast, poor physical coordination, slurred or incoherent speech and unhealthy appearance, also puffy face, odd color to skin, bloodshot eyes, dilated pupils and an indifference to hygiene and grooming.
* Distinct downward turns in child’s grades. Assignments not completed.
* Increased absenteeism or tardiness.
* Increase in work hours, awake hours, great fluctuations in quality of work.
* Chronic dishonesty (lying, stealing, cheating). Trouble abiding laws.
* Changes in friends, evasiveness about new ones.
* Possession of large amounts of money or always broke.
* Increasing and unwarranted anger, hostility, irritability, and secretiveness. * Reduced motivation, energy, self-discipline, self-esteem.
* Diminished interest in family social functions, hobbies work or old friends.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 22, 1989
