Welcome to Child Uplift, Inc.  

Did you know these Facts....

  • Nearly 17% of all students in the U.S. have a correctable sleep disorder, but it usually won't disappear without some form of professional treatment or parental interventions?
  • Less than 2% of students with sleep disorders are identified, treated and corrected?                              
  • Some sleep disorders cause cognitive, memory, learning, behavior/emotional, and/or health/safety problems if not corrected in childhood.
  • Children and teens with a sleep disorder are much more accident prone and three times more likely to have vehicle accidents than peers without sleep disorders.
  • If some sleep disorders like Obstructive Sleep Apnea are not corrected early, these adults have a three times higher death rate by accidents or ensuing health problems (lower academic and intellectual functioning, more strokes, heart attacks, etc...).
  • Adults with uncorrected sleep disorders have a significantly higher rate of job loss, disability, and welfare support than those without a sleep disorder.
  • Immediate and significant improvements in behaviors and mood regulation occur in most children/teens after the sleep disorder is treated and corrected. 
  • A gradual, but significant improvement in GPA has been noted when some sleep disorders are resolved?

    This web site will: 
  • Provide parents with a tool to assist them in finding out if their child has a sleep disorder or problem sleeping. 
    (See a generic test results example: Graph & Page 1 of report). 
  • List the symptoms of sleep disorders so you know what to watch for in your children.
  • Inform parents and professionals about the wide range of sleep disorders that exist and impair children and adolescents' cognition (memory, visuo-spatial learning, verbal skills, etc.), learning, and cause problems with behavioral/emotional regulation, health, and safety.
  • Provide a list of accredited sleep centers across the United States (available at the end of every SDIS sleep screening report)..

This web site will help parents and professionals screen and identify children who have a high probability of a sleep disorder --then it is the parents' responsibility to follow the sleep screening recommendations, and in cases of sleep disorders needing medical treatment, take their child/teen to a pediatrician or a sleep specialist for a formal diagnosis and treatment.
 

There are three simple steps to quickly identifying students with major sleep disorders and improving their lives:  

  1. 1.  Both Parents and Professionals need to Universally Screen ALL children & teens  for the major sleep disorders impairing school performance, health, and safety.

2.  Screen with the "Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students" (SDIS) because it is the only sleep screening inventory available that screens for all of the major sleep disorders in children and teens that impair daytime performance & health.

3.  Parents need to take these students with high sleep problem scores on the SDIS to a pediatrician or sleep specialist for a comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment.
 

Dr. William Kohler, a Pediatric Neurologist and Sleep Specialist at University Community Hospital in Tampa, Florida has said:

"The SDIS is a very accurate screening instrument for sleep disorders that has the capability of improving the quality of children's lives nationwide if professionals working with students will use it.  In my sleep practice, I have personally witnessed that 95% of the children referred to me due to their high sleep problem scores on the SDIS have a sleep disorder, and the SDIS has been about 90% accurate in predicting which sleep disorder the child has!"

Dr. Kathy Bradley-Klug, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Graduate Programs in School Psychology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL states:

"Sleep disorders were once considered a problem only in the adult population.  Through her seminal research, Dr. Marsha Luginbuehl introduced knowledge of pediatric sleep disorders and their impact on the educational outcomes of youth to the fields of education and school psychology.  Her research resulted in the development of the first screening instrument to be used in the school setting, the Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students (SDIS).  The significance of her research and the SDIS is far reaching.  Approximately 70 million Americans suffer from some type of sleep disorder.  Until recently, medical personnel and educators paid little attention to the impact of sleep disorders on the educational outcomes of youth.  The SDIS provides educators and other professionals an instrument to screen children and adolescents for symptoms of sleep disorders and prevent the collateral academic and behavior problems often associated with sleep disorders.  Dr. Luginbuehl's research has impacted children and families struggling with sleep disorders across the country.  Her contributions to sleep medicine and research are recognized both nationally and internationally." 

 

 For more medical information for professionals:

Read this article found in "Modern Medicine" (03/09) about the main sleep disorders in children/adolescents, their effects on students' behaviors and performance and how they can easily be screened called "The Young and the Restless: A Pediatric Guide to Managing Sleep Problems".  It makes reference to our SDIS screening tools!

Here is another article by our very own Marsha Luginbuehl (and others), called "Pediatric Sleep Disorders: Validation of the Sleep Disorders Inventory for Students" found in School Psychology Review in the Fall of 2008.  It discusses our screening tool and its effectiveness in identifying potential sleep disorders.  
Little Pines Test Link