Accessible substance abuse prevention for all children

Abstract

Even though moderate declines in the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) among adolescents have been seen over the years, the battle to prevent youth from using ATOD is still a focus for educators and researchers. The primary means of preventing ATOD is still through educational settings and school-based programs. However, the effectiveness of prevention efforts is substantially enhanced when the entire community is involved. Children with disabilities or children who have nontraditional learning styles are still not receiving prevention geared specifically toward their personal needs. This is despite research indicating that the presence of a physical, mental, or psychological disability places an individual at increased risk for substance abuse problems. This chapter outlines risk factors experienced by children with disabilities, community and psychosocial approaches to effective school-based intervention programs, and concludes with a discussion of the Prevention through Alternative Learning Styles (PALS) program that has shown much success since it was developed in 1992.