Glue Sniffers with Special Needs

Glue sniffing and the misuse of solvents by children and teenagers have seriously affected school populations throughout the United Kingdom during the last 10 years. Children with special educational needs seem more likely to indulge in solvent abuse than other children because some tend to suffer from anxieties, frustrations and inferiority feelings generated by the stresses arising both from their conditions and the attitudes of other people towards them, writes Dr Denis O'Connor, lecturer and director of the Counselling Clinic for adolescents, School of Education, Newcastle University.