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Are learning disabilities as matter of public health
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No more polution
Nationally, the incidence of learning disabilities has been growing at a rate of 10-20% every 10 years since WWII. 50% of the children in special education nationwide have learning disabilities. Forty years ago it was only 2%. Since the gene pool is not devolving as such a rapid rate, one might suspect pollutants in the environment.
Learning is hampered when the chemical trauma from environmental toxins interfere with the growth and function of the central nervous system. Research clearly indicates that a learning disability is a deficiency in neural development that impedes learning. Children cannot learn if the brain and central nervous system do not have the neural connections necessary for learning to take place.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) estimated that of the 39 pollutants they measure in San Francisco neighborhoods, the highest concentration of 20 pollutants were found in Bayview Hunter’s Point. The neighborhood had four times as many toxins released as all other neighborhoods in the city, as well as four times the state rate of hospitalization for chronic diseases like emphysema, diabetes, asthma and hypertension. And the schools experienced a high incidence of exceptional children needing special education.
While San Francisco has addressed much of the Bayview Hunter’s point problem, the BAAQMD has identified 39 pollutants they continue to measure in San Francisco neighborhoods. We can’t stop with having addressed the problem in the Bayview; children all over the city continue to be poisoned by toxins every day. The incidence of learning disabilities in San Francisco remains at 10%, only 2% below the national average. Can we attribute the drop to the poor children from the Bay View who have relocated to areas outside the City, or perhaps because SFUSD doesn’t accept referrals to special education until third grade. That leaves three grades of children unevaluated.
Let's get back to basics and talk about what can be done in all the other neighborhoods in San Francisco to further protect our children. Research verifies that when the source of trauma is removed from the child's environment the brain and central nervous system eventually continues to mature, or return to normal function. Hopefully, the fight to protect the developing brains and central nervous system of children in San Francisco has not ended. Bay View Hunter’s Point was the worse, not the only.
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