MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'adolescence'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:01:45 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181719&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fadolescent-special-needs-epic-trip.html 35 friends and relatives across five sites. Two provinces and 7 states. More than 3,300 miles of driving. It was an epic family car trip.A car trip with 1 dog, 1 neurotypical child, and two boys on the spectrum. Two boys, and two hormone wracked adolescent.It was a great holiday. We had no need of a lawyer, a physician, a veterinarian, a mechanic or a psychiatrist.So it can be done, assuming one is a special needs veteran and accustomed to crises that might topple a regular parent. The mixture of motion, of car time and time limited but intense visits seems to work for our guys. It's not something I remember from the days I read parenting texts, but we're data driven. We go with what works.The trip is an opportunity to reflect on the autistic adolescent. On the one hand, the desires are in... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181719 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:40:00 +0100 5181719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086454&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35095&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FAutismsEdges%2F%7E3%2FlTdyxsGy5AA%2Fat-last-we-are-muggles.html (Source: Autism's Edges) Autism's Edges blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086454 Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:57:00 +0100 5086454 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820923&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F05%2F12%2Fthe-stupid-complex%2F Nowhere in the DSM-IV does it mention “the stupid complex,” but I’m telling you it’s an epidemic these days. I used to suffer in silence. But ever since I’ve come out of the closet, I swear I find a fellow sufferer every day. At my last therapy session, I was telling her how scared I was that everyone was going to find out that I was inherently stupid. She laughed out loud and said, “Do you know how many times I hear that a day?” Oh. Good. Then it’s not just me. I don’t know when it started. It could be a result of being a twin, and needing to form a sense of identity separate from my sister. Since she stole “tomboy” early on, I became “the brain,” except that mine didn’t work, but no one really knew that but me. And I was able to keep it a secret all throug... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820923 Thu, 12 May 2011 15:35:01 +0100 4820923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4803128&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FaCTg-x0NxeE%2F The following is a guest post by Jenni Sunde. Jenni is a freelance fashion writer and pop culture junkie. She specializes in all things lifestyle-related. From home and design to health and beauty. With her love of art and all things beautiful, she delights in sharing her sense of style from her life to your computer monitor. Her title pegs her as an editor at a website that specializes in providing people with car insurance quotes, but her passion leads her into writing with a little more substance and a lot more heart. By Jenni Sunde. The benefits of a sound mind and body can be traced all the way back to ancient Greco-Roman cultures.  Despite how long the concepts behind mind and body connection have been around, they are frequently overlooked in our modern society.  The connectio... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4803128 Tue, 10 May 2011 13:25:07 +0100 4803128 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934049&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fadolescent-computing-training-wheels.html My 14 yo's computer skills have continued to be a real strength. Of course, being both 14 and having disabilities in executive function, he does not always use them wisely.Years ago I hoped the iPhone and other iOS devices would provide app-restricted services while limiting web access. Sadly, I've been disappointed by Apple's deceptive iOS "parental controls" [1]. That didn't work very well. On the other hand, monitoring his computer use and punishing misuse isn't working that well either. We can't be looking over his shoulder everywhere -- such as in his school room.So now I'm trying Plan B, an educational program of trial and reward based on techniques that have worked before.I've set up an account on a machine using OS X Parental Controls [2]. I've whitelisted a number of sites he's i... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934049 Sat, 07 May 2011 03:27:00 +0100 4934049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4794825&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fadolescent-computing-training-wheels.html My 14 yo's computer skills have continued to be a real strength. Of course, being both 14 and having disabilities in executive function, he does not always use them wisely.Years ago I hoped the iPhone and other iOS devices would provide app-restricted services while limiting web access. Sadly, I've been disappointed by Apple's deceptive iOS "parental controls" [1]. That didn't work very well. On the other hand, monitoring his computer use and punishing misuse isn't working that well either. We can't be looking over his shoulder everywhere -- such as in his school room.So now I'm trying Plan B, an educational program of trial and reward based on techniques that have worked before.I've set up an account on a machine using OS X Parental Controls [2]. I've whitelisted a number of sites he's i... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4794825 Sat, 07 May 2011 03:27:00 +0100 4794825 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4723772&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Ftransition-tool-kit-from-autism-speaks.html Autism Speaks [1] has put together a Transition Tool Kit targeting families with special needs children ages 14-22. The goal is to support transition into the community when school services end.The kit is downloadable, but as best I can tell the kit is the same set of PDFs that are found on the above page. An "online appendix" is a curated set of links to additional information.The kit is pretty generic, because state rules vary [2]. Autism speaks has state resource guides (ex: MN) with sections on adult transition. Minnesota's data is a well done list, and it includes a state specific transition guide.I'm including all of MN specific information in my MSP special needs custom search engine.[1] In the past they've been associated with the immunization obsessed, but I wonder if they're tr... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4723772 Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:07:00 +0100 4723772 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4658413&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F30%2Fgrowing-up-bipolar%2F “Were you bipolar growing up?” a magazine editor asked me the other day. “I don’t know,” I said. “Do you think you were misdiagnosed back then as depressed?” “I don’t know,” I said. I wasn’t annoyed. I wasn’t rushed. I just really don’t know. I can clearly say that something was wrong with me, but I’m very careful to throw the “bipolar” word around when it pertains to kids given all the debate today on the topic. Friends of mine rant on another friend for medicating their daughter for bipolar disorder, who, according to the friends’ eyes, is perfectly fine. And then I hear the sadness and utter frustration of another friend whose bipolar daughter was just expelled from school. While I tend to be pretty conservative about meds myself (you’d never guess t... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4658413 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:30:32 +0100 4658413 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4233240&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F12%2F06%2Fviolent-games-increase-prosocial-behavior%2F Dr Shock is utterly biased when it comes to gaming. Especially when Call of Duty is used for research into the topic of possible negative or positive influences of exposure to violent games. This recent research with the action game “Call of Duty” did not support any negative influence of gaming on prosocial behavior or civic engagement. On the contrary this research found some support for increased prosocial behavior and civic engagement in those playing action games especially when their parents were more technically savvy and involved in game play. So all parents should play with their kids, even action games. Probably the team oriented multiplayer options in many of these games increase more social behavior. Prosocial behavior is caring about the welfare and rights of other... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4233240 Mon, 06 Dec 2010 06:45:35 +0100 4233240 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4203146&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fhardest-behavioral-intervention.html Our Husky mix loves to play hide and seek. She stalks the gate, bolts through an opening, and runs with joy. She races across the neighborhood then hides for the seek. She cannot be seen, she is a natural predator. She'll do this for an hour or so, waiting for us to walk nearby then bolting past us.  Eventually she's sated, and she comes to us. Until recently she got a treat on the return, because our expensive experts told us that's what we needed to do.Running, playing with the pack, eating the treat. Doesn't get better than that. We spent more money than I care to think about on this problem, consulting with the best experts. None of the expert advice worked.Kind of like with our eldest. Almost everything that's worked with him we invented.Lately, we've been trying the hardest behavior... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4203146 Fri, 26 Nov 2010 02:21:00 +0100 4203146 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4197010&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fapple-ipadiphone-app-store-has-special.html The iPhone/iPad App Store has a section devoted to special education. I was able to find some announcements from the end of October, so it's quite new.There's a lot there, from sign language to communication to accessible readers to language development apps.This opportunity to market and sell focused special needs apps could be a very big development. I'm excited, I've written before about our own experiences with my son's iPhone, including the weaknesses in iPhone parental controls. He's probably moved beyond most of these offerings, but we'll be examining them in more depth. (Lately he's been using the money to earn to buy games, which is an improvement on using it to buy candy.) (Source: Be the Best You can Be) Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4197010 Wed, 24 Nov 2010 04:04:00 +0100 4197010 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4183268&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Funderstanding-different-mind-memory.html As my oldest son moves into his adolescence, his mind continues to change. Observing him, I get new insights into how his mind works.He has a pen pal now, a young woman who is studying special education. She started writing him as part of a school program, and has continued on. She is a wonderful correspondent.My young adolescent tells her stories to impress her. They aren't, however, true stories.They are generally plausible stories, no more or less impressive than the things he actually does. Often they are things he has done, just not things he has done recently. On the other hand, he omits adventures that I, in his place, would certainly include.I think he's dissembling a bit, but mostly I think he doesn't really remember what happened yesterday. He may remember it in detail six months... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4183268 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 04:27:00 +0100 4183268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151685&cid=t_112430_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F10%2Fjournal-of-the-american-medical-association-2010-vol-304-no-18%2F This study aims to determine incidence and risk of severe obesity in adulthood by adolescent weight status. An NHS Athens password is required to access this article online, alternatively contact the Library for a copy of this article. Filed under: Athens Password, E-Journals, Journals Tagged: Adolescence, Adulthood, Morbidity, Obesity, Prevalence, United States (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151685 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:15:48 +0100 4151685 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151880&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F08%2Fintroducing-the-psychology-of-teenagers%2F I’m pleased to introduce The Psychology of Teenagers with Ann Naragon, Ph.D. The Psychology of Teenagers blog will be covering a wide variety of topics, all of them having to do with teens and adolescents. Topics will include: Academic concerns in middle and high school Motivation and procrastination Adolescents and relational aggression Social groups, peers and popularity Transitions in adolescence Dr. Ann Naragon received her degree in educational psychology from Temple University and specializes in adolescent development, relational aggression, and achievement motivation. You can learn more about her here and give her a warm welcome over at the new blog — The Psychology of Teenagers. (Source: World of Psychology) World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151880 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:44:08 +0100 4151880 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4134272&cid=t_112430_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FAiEX7B1HzKY%2F Image via Wikipedia Adolescence is synonymous with change. It is the period of one’s life when an individual changes physiologically, emotionally, socially, and academically from a child in a protected environment to an independently functioning adult. It is a time to learn how to deal with success and failure, praise and rejection, happiness and disappointment, frustration and confrontation. It is a time to make choices and deal with the consequences of those choices while still in a semi-controlled and semi-protected environment. Traditionally, this time frame was believed to start at approximately 12 years of age and to be completed by 18 years of age. In the past several years, there has been considerable discussion that this time frame has broadened, with the onset beginning... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4134272 Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:44:27 +0100 4134272 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4086240&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fautism-after-childhood-profile-of.html This article illustrates how poorly we understand the lifelong natural history of the injured, healing, and evolving brain.The article also introduces us to the somewhat spectrumish researcher Peter Gerhardt. Gerhardt, a speaker for Spectrum Training Systems (WI), is one of the very few American researchers who studies autistic adults. (Yes, medical science does have structural problems.)Gerhrdt, we're told, is developing a "program" focused on "adolescence to adulthood" at New York's (ABA intensive) McCarton School.  I followed up on that lead, but unfortunately he doesn't have a blog, though he does have a public Facebook page.Dr. Gerhardt appears to have some ongoing relationship to the Virginia based Organization for Autism Research, the "only autism organization which focuse... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4086240 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:24:00 +0100 4086240 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3982010&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Frethinking-neuropsychiatric-diagnoses.html I started bemoaning the classification (aka ontology, nosology) of neuropsychiatric disorders about 8 years ago. I'm not the only one. One of the things I liked about Greene's Explosive Child book is that he is clearly unimpressed with the DSM IV nosology.We're due for another DSM edition, but I doubt that will be any better.The good news is that in the last 8 years it's become clear to every researcher that all of the common neurospychiatric conditions, from "ADHD" to "ODD" to "Autism" to "Aspergers" to "Bipolar disorder" to "Schizophrenia" are very rough categorizations of thousands of different "phenotypes" (where a phenotype is the end-result of the interaction between genes and environment) that are themselves dynamic over the lifetime of the brain. (Even after adolescence, we see maj... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3982010 Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:30:00 +0100 3982010 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3702925&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fadolescence.html It would have been nice if our pediatric endocrinologist had been right and we had been wrong. Nice, but unlikely.So our eldest guy with disabilities both a teen and physiologically adolescent. We've moved into phase II of the "great game" of his life.It is a good time to review the objectives we've held since studying the most important book every written.Avoid serious irreversible harm to others.Avoid serious irreversible harm to self.Avoid America's well funded special needs residential care programMaximize the cognitive skills that will be most useful to him in work and in life. Reading and social intelligence of course, but also leverage his relative gift for technology use.Maximize his physical health and personal happiness.Find the best possible adult residential arrangement with th... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3702925 Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:26:00 +0100 3702925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3614695&cid=t_112430_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FvxX1jYJGlZY%2F Sobriety High The writer Anais Nin said that “adolescence is like a cactus.” The teenage years are indeed prickly ones, filled with uncomfortable emotions and uncharted terrain as teens enter high school and move self-consciously into young adulthood. High school presents even more challenges for teens recovering from addiction who struggle to remain clean and sober after treatment. Drugs and alcohol are easy to come by in most schools, and the pressure to use them is often great. According to the national Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the number of students age 12-17 who received treatment for substance abuse rose 20 percent from 1994-1999, with well over 100,000 young people entering treatment each year. Studies show that approximately ... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3614695 Sun, 30 May 2010 15:00:01 +0100 3614695 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3603546&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=34925&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbestyoucanbe.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fadolescence-and-beyond.html The years go by.One SNC (special needs child) is doing very well. So well his teachers want to end his services and his IEP. We think they're premature, so we're negotiating for measurable milestones. If he passes those then we're ready to try the next grade without services.Teachers and administrators have as much trouble with measurable milestones as, for example, software developers and physicians. Measurement is painfulAnother SNC is also doing well in many ways, though we do not expect him to live without services. His written expression has improved greatly thanks to excellent teachers, and perhaps due to his fairly regular texting. He's done so well at texting that we've gone to an unlimited texting family plan. I hate the $360/year cost, but it's cheaper and more effective than pay... Be the Best You can Be blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3603546 Thu, 27 May 2010 03:08:00 +0100 3603546 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3362534&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35095&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FAutismsEdges%2F%7E3%2F9DkshH3vdXc%2Fmost-beautiful-girl-in-world-and-other.html (Source: Autism's Edges) Autism's Edges blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3362534 Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:22:00 +0100 3362534 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3322412&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F03%2F01%2Fsuicide-celebrity-and-young-adulthood%2F With the recent spate of celebrity-related suicides — Alexander McQueen (a fashion designer), Andrew Koenig (from the TV series, Growing Pains), and now Michael Blosil, Marie Osmond’s 18-year-old son — it seems like a sad but appropriate time to weigh in on this tragic outcome of untreated (or under-treated) depression, which is the leading cause of suicide. Alicia Sparks, blogging over at Celebrity Psychings, notes recommendations for the media when reporting on suicide, because suicide contagion is a real phenomenon. That is, there is a small but statistically significant increase in suicide deaths after a reported suicide makes the media rounds. Especially when the person who died by suicide is a celebrity. While suicide feels like a very personal and intense situation tha... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3322412 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:05:32 +0100 3322412 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3294541&cid=t_112430_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F21%2Fjournal-of-the-american-medical-association-2010-vol-303-no-7%2F This article evaluates change in prevalence of obesity and other chronic conditions in US children, including incidence, remission, and prevalence. AN NHS Athens password is required to access this article online Filed under: Athens Password, Current Awareness, E-Journals, Journals Tagged: Adolescence, adolescents, Children, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Prevalence, United States (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3294541 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:22:04 +0100 3294541 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3294542&cid=t_112430_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F21%2Fjournal-of-the-american-medical-association-2010-vol-303-no-6%2F This article compares the outcomes of gastric banding against an optimal lifestyle program in adolescent obesity. The article concludes that among obese adolescent participants, use of gastric banding compared with lifestyle intervention resulted in a greater percentage achieving a loss of 50% of excess weight, corrected for age. There were associated benefits to health and quality of life. An NHS Athens password is required to access this article online Filed under: Current Awareness, E-Journals, Journals Tagged: Adolescence, adolescents, Bariatric Surgery, Exercise, Gastric Banding, Healthy lifestyles, Nutrition, Quality of Life, Randomised Controlled Trials, United States (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3294542 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:49:16 +0100 3294542 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3118983&cid=t_112430_129_f&fid=36038&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Ftrevis-life-with-multiple-sclerosis-ms%2Fholiday-blog-contest-winner-the-good-that-has-come-from-ms%2F The second of our Holiday Guest blogs comes to us from Sarah of Boston, MA.  This may have been the most difficult of our editorial panel’s decisions as we had so very many wonderful submissions.  It seems that there are many of us who, facing the stark realities and unknowns of multiple sclerosis, choose, for reasons of solace or of survival, to see some kind of good which has come as a result. Sarah’s new gained perspective and thus compassion is a good way to enter the Christmas holidays. Growing with MS by Sarah Tourjee Multiple sclerosis appeared in my life when I was 17 and just edging into adulthood.  Recently, I read and have to agree that some of the most formidable years of personality development occur in your late teens to mid 20s.  As such, I realize now that my diagno... Life with MS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3118983 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:37:37 +0100 3118983 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3115039&cid=t_112430_86_f&fid=36669&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffadelibrary.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F23%2Fimmunisation-against-infectious-disease-2006-the-green-book-updated-21-december-2009%2F Title: Immunisation Against Infectious Disease 2006 – “The Green Book” (updated 21 December 2009) Skinny: Update of  ‘The Green Book’, it presents latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures for all the vaccine preventable infectious diseases that may occur in the UK.  In particular it deals with those immunisations that comprise the routine immunisation programme for all children from birth to adolescence. Publisher: DH Size of Publication: 491p. Published: 22/12/2009 Posted in Children, Grey Literature, Immunisation, Infants, Young People Tagged: Adolescence, Children, Grey Literature, Immunisation (Source: Fade Library) Fade Library blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3115039 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:08:02 +0100 3115039 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2992699&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F11%2F14%2Fam-i-depressed-or-just-deep%2F I spent my adolescence and teenage years obsessing about this question: Am I depressed or just deep? When I was nine, I figured that I was a young Christian mystic because I related much more to the saints who lived centuries ago than to other nine-year-old girls who had crushes on boys. I couldn’t understand how my sisters could waste quarters on a stupid video game when there were starving kids in Cambodia. Hello? Give them to UNICEF! Now I look back with tenderness to the hurting girl I was and wished somebody had been able to recognize that I was very depressed. Not that I would have accepted the help. I believed, along with all the other adults in my life, that my melancholy and sensitivity were part of my “special” make-up, that they were gifts to celebrate, not neu... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2992699 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:42:53 +0100 2992699 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2943785&cid=t_112430_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.addresources.org%2Farticle_adhd_treatment_dodson.pdf If medication adherence is a problem for adults, consider how difficult it is for young people with chronic medical conditions. Alternate flavorings, formulations, and suspensions can help the medicine go down in children.  But what is the solution when taste is not the problem?  One approach we need to take is to put the young person center and first.  Talking past the child to the parents is a practice that continues today and even with many young adults patients.  If we want young people to succeed in self-medication management, they must be the drivers of their care. Child-centered care:  Psychoeducation: As soon as the child is able to participate, he needs to be educated about his condition and medication regimen so he understands what his happening to his body.  Participating... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2943785 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:34:07 +0100 2943785 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2881292&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FrD6b9N3hKxA%2F The Net has certainly let loose the dogs of both support and criticism for some parents of children with ASD. In El Paso, Texas, parents and teachers around the world have chimed in regarding a 10-year-old with boy with Asperger’s who got a ticket for $260 for disrupting class. Students can be ticketed and their parents fined in the state for such actions, and the mom says her son kept falling asleep in class, made noise in the hall, and got down on the floor and refused to get up. She agrees the behavior is not okay and that he should be punished, but she disagrees that this punishment was “suitable” for what her son did, claiming he he didn’t hurt anyone or break anything. The ticket was later dismissed.  Local news outlet KFOX got several e-mails and comments rega... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2881292 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:09:11 +0100 2881292 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2858740&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fj4C1fBhG-6Y%2F For the first time since we had a chaotically late driver a few years ago, we’ve run into a snag with Alex’s school busing common to the autistic. The driver says Alex is constantly getting up while the bus is in motion and refuses to behave during transport. One part of us finds this hard to believe: Though Alex is certainly capable of disruptive behavior (our family holiday dinners being People’s Exhibit A), he is and always has been a model traveller. Never a whisper of a complaint from any bus company (never a whisper of a compaint from the airline whose planes he once travelled on, either). One part of me, however, believes he’s getting older and more willful, and I can well believe he might be getting up, which is of course unacceptable. “You have to sit... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2858740 Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:22:05 +0100 2858740 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2846566&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Ftbb554LxvTo%2F This is kind of eye-catching (especially if you have Jill’s eye), from a review in today’s New York Times TV section of “The Middle,” which premiers tonight: ”The youngest child, Brick (Atticus Shaffer), is peculiar, and not in a cute way, which makes him all the more appealing. His teacher describes him as ‘clinically quirky’ and wants him tested. ‘I just hope that he’s weird enough that our insurance covers it,’” says one character. Tested for? How weird would that have to be, exactly? Could the money-counters who govern prime time entertainment finally be realizing that one of every 150 kids could translate into a lot of interest from would-be sponsors? * * * President Obama has announced $5 billion in new research grants to... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2846566 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:08:58 +0100 2846566 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2842721&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FymxmocolWic%2F UCLA has a class that offers an instruction to ASD teens that’s often lacking from a menu of therapies: How to make friends. The teen years are tough enough, but for those with ASD this time could only be a nightmare in terms of interacting with peers. The UCLA program teaches its 33 students (28 of them male) to watch for all the social clues they might commonly miss — body language, hand gestures, facial expressions, speech inflections — and try to turn those improved interpretations into connections. The class, called PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills), involves students meeting once a week for 12 weeks for 90-minute sessions, with instruction given in groups of seven to 10 teens. Parents were also required to attend separate, conc... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2842721 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:50:15 +0100 2842721 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2793364&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FJbP5nayGyYs%2F This week we’re highlighting images that illustrate the concept of spectrum with puzzle pieces. I like the idea of the puzzle piece, but not that computer-generated clip art that is often used as a shorthand to say “autism.” Today’s image, from a photographer named Jared on flickr.com, seems even more appropriate to the spectrum because the pieces are from a sky-patterned puzzle, and I often view the sky, with its sense of the unfathomable and limitlessness, as an image that feels so right to describe autism. Photo courtesy of jared (flickr.com) •     •     • It seems like a pretty clear-cut case. Sixteen-year-old high school student, female, diagnosed with autism (though able to communicate verbally), pressed into sexual relationship with her basketball ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2793364 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:15:45 +0100 2793364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2786221&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FyO_34vs3LgM%2F Today’s picture struck me because it incorporates another familiar autism symbol, the puzzle, giving two symbols for the price of one. •     •     • The first day of school came two days late for Chicago student Lily Edelstein, 14, whose individualized education plan included busing plans. But the bus never came for Lily, who has autism, due to a communication glitch. Apparently, the school district didn’t submit the transportation request to the city’s Bureau of Student Transportation until Sept. 4, the Friday before the Labor Day weekend, and it usually takes five days to process a request. People whose kids are typically developing may not understand why Lily’s family didn’t simply take her to school themselves. Lily is 5′9″ and often ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2786221 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:00:55 +0100 2786221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2758022&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FVdGjnynngqU%2F The site I Teach Autism is an excellent resource for the coming school year. Almost 20 sites and blogs are mentioned, and awareness materials offered for sale. I Teach also offers tips on parent/student/educator cooperation, a few of which we hope to post here before, as the Staples commerical once put it, “the most wonderful time of the year” begins again. Especially useful: tools for teachers, including transition tips, picture communication examples, and peer initiation strategies. * * * Our note about the young Michigan woman with autism who has carved out a living cutting rags gave us great hope for Alex at precisely the right time of his life. We join many parents of children with autism, I think, in being terrified of our kids’ adulthoods in terms of care and l... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2758022 Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:54:06 +0100 2758022 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2727354&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FdyVQIWg1i1g%2F Adult autism is bound to become a huge topic in coming years, and several institutions are moving to anticipate the need. Massachusetts General Hospital is creating a program to provide specialized medical care to adults with autism. The hospital expects to receive $29 million to help add “a major adult component to its pediatric autism program,” allowing the the hospital to expand services for children with autism. The hospital notes, not that many parents of the adult autistic needed to hear it, that some doctors are hesitant or unsure how to talk to and examine adult autistic patients. *   *    * Photo courtesy of gadgetdude (flickr.com) Arizona State University has added a master’s program in special education. Officials at the school claim that one of the motiv... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2727354 Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:58:06 +0100 2727354 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2649214&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FwG3g2xGBFNM%2F This morning Jill and I had a spat that centered around control. Amid Alex’s dawning sexual awareness and continuing inscrutable behaviors, and our own beginnings of the health concerns common to our ages, Jill and I wage a battle to keep control. Or rather the illusion of control, since nobody has control, really. Image: Chinatradeonline.com But some people have at least more of an illusion of it, and a condition like autism does a lot to erode that illusion. Often even we, his parents and the people — aside from maybe Ned — who know him best, must ask ourselves: Why does he bolt? Why won’t he eat vegetables, even delicious buttered ones? Why does he line up his big metal letters across the middle of the living room floor, and arrange his toy plastic animals right... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2649214 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:46:15 +0100 2649214 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2681978&cid=t_112430_111_f&fid=34834&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FMentalNurse%2F%7E3%2FoH3yGbeuJiQ%2F Thanks to Penny Red for pointing out this article by the psychologist and author Oliver James. He has a shocking revelation. Over a quarter of our nation’s teenage girls are severely mentally ill. In fact, a new study suggests that 15-year-old girls – and especially offspring of the class of person who reads this paper – are probably the most mentally ill single group of people in the whole country: a staggering 43% of them are seriously emotionally distressed (ie mildly depressed or anxious) and 27% are suffering a full-scale major mental illness (severe depression or anxiety). Wow, 27% of 15 year old girls have severe depression or anxiety. Now, given that the ICD-10 criteria for a severe depressive episode would expect the patient not just to be feeling a bit glum but... Mental Nurse blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2681978 Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:35:53 +0100 2681978 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2511168&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F06%2F14%2F6-steps-to-serenity%2F I don’t know how many times I utter the Serenity Prayer in a day, but it’s well into the double digits. In fact, the words penned by the late theologian Reinhold Niebuhr may very well be imprinted on my plastic brain because its message is so central to my mission of chasing after sanity. I want so desperately to be able to let go of all the stuff I can’t change, to take charge of the things in my life that are under my control, and to distinguish, once and for all, the difference between laziness and illness, between persistent and stupidity, and between doable and “leave it the hell alone.” Here are just a few ways I “do” the Serenity Prayer in my life: techniques that help me separate the unchangeable from the changeable … a half-dozen ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2511168 Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:45:21 +0100 2511168 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2448008&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FZ3MtAX0wEcw%2F 1. Elmo (sadly) remains a favorite. Maybe it’s just a comforting habit now; he doesn’t seem riveted the way he did when he was younger. Photo by Kitten Fleming 2. Chocolate chip cookies. (Never-fail recipe secret here!) Equally enthusiastic about homemade and freshly baked or dusty old Chips Ahoy. 3. Prefers homemade brownies. The first time he had them, on Christmas Eve about four years ago, he followed me around for about an hour saying, “Brownie? Brownie? Brownie?” (Note: After several different recipes, I’ve settled on the sublime Katharine Hepburn brownies with an added half-teaspoon of almond extract.) 4. The part of “Arthur’s Pet Business” where Arthur’s baby sister Kate wails. Loudly. He loves to rewind to this part. Sometime... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2448008 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:57:42 +0100 2448008 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441687&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F05%2F29%2Fteens-text-a-lot-adults-worry%2F I sometimes wonder if we’re not living in a mirror world every 20 or 30 years. Because it seems like that’s about the time period where some new technology comes along, and suddenly adults — almost always led by well-meaning doctors, child professionals and researchers — get up in arms about the negative effects of that technology on children. With each significant technological development within society, we can go back into history and find newspaper and magazine reports about the potentially “harmful effects” of the technology, led by academics and researchers. For instance, it was very disturbing to many in society at the time when the radio entered into the American household and suddenly changed the nature of many families’ communications. In... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441687 Fri, 29 May 2009 14:37:07 +0100 2441687 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2442383&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FVHc6I2fmkNs%2F Jill mentioned the Boy Alone memoir by Karl Taro Greenfield, and that some of the comments left on the NPR site berated Greenfield for selfishness and lack of empathy when discussing his special-needs sibling. Yet even a special-needs parent doesn’t face the Everest of most sibs. Don Meyer, Washington state-based pioneer of the contemporary sibshop model, has noted that some of these siblings will be in the lives of and overseeing care of special-needs brothers and sisters for as much as 70 years. Seventy years. No one who doesn’t face such a thing has any right, I think, to open their mouths. “The brother or sister is closer than the parent is,” says Ned, Alex’s 8-year-old typically developing brother. “The same height, same age, same thoughts, same idea of pl... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2442383 Wed, 20 May 2009 22:29:23 +0100 2442383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2390202&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FIMOJw8luA8E%2F Alex is entering 6th grade in the fall, and he will go to a new school. It’s been six years since we toured special-needs schools. Back then, as Jill points out, we were looking for a kindergarten, and kindergarten classrooms for the autistic don’t differ much from kindergarten classrooms for the typically developing. So this will be new. First stop was the school of Ron’s, Alex’s old terrific EI special-educator who’s now unit teacher of a special-needs site in a New York City public school. I got to the meeting before Jill this morning; I rounded a corner and there Ron was. “There he is!” Ron said. A friend. He’s greyer (”More dignified,” I told him) but otherwise the same spark and firm handshake. I did know  what to expect s... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2390202 Mon, 04 May 2009 21:08:02 +0100 2390202 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376579&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FEgigvk3AQBc%2F Just seconds after Jill announced from the bathroom that Alex could squeeze out the toothpaste by himself I hear her announce, “And we have bleeding gums!” I’ve always been grateful for any toothbrushing that Alex did for himself. They taught him at school, and after an initial shakedown - he had to remember to brush the tops as well as the bottoms - at least it was another task he could handle by himself. But bleeding gums? My gums bleed sometime during dental cleanings, but I’m 47. Alex is 10. So now we turn to all those things they say you’re supposed to do and all of us feel guilty for not doing enough. Floss. A Waterpik on the low setting. Elemental teeth care, which in our case will be taught against the wall of sand that is autism. “Ned,” I... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376579 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:11:22 +0100 2376579 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348537&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F19%2Frelax-unwind-and-go-back-in-time-it%25e2%2580%2599ll-do-you-some-good%2F Having fun should come naturally. Right? You simply drive to the closest watering hole, grab a beer with a friend, and bam, you’re there! Except that I no longer drink … which was the only way I knew how to relax. Because liquor became a kind of babysitter for my brain, quieting all the rowdy children in my head so that I could sneak out for a soirée with some friends. Although I’ve been sober for over 20 years, I still haven’t gotten the hang of chilling out … without any aids, that is. Gerard Musante, Ph.D., writes in “The Structure House: Weight Loss Plan”: When people ask me how often they can find something enjoyable to do during their leisure time, I often ask them to think about their childhood and the games they played or activities in which they participated. The ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348537 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:27:46 +0100 2348537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2349379&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FzE1mVNN4gIA%2F Worst thing about Alex? Waking us up in the middle of the night. Even worse than his waking up in the middle of the night is his LAUGHING in the middle of the night. He didn’t used to do this - but about once a month, after I hear the scurry of little feet rousing me, I hear belly-shaking laughs. Laura Kreuger Crawford mentions this as a Smutch custom in her great essay, “Holland, Schmolland,” a parody of the well-known “Welcome to Holland.” When I first read it I thought, Well, we don’t have that. But we do now. It seems to add a layer of misery to an already wrenching situation. Cleft in the chin, devil within? Best thing about Alex is how forgiving he is. Five or ten minutes after yelling at him, he’s back to his sweet-natured self. All is forgi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2349379 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:02:26 +0100 2349379 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2061066&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fx251kywh-8g%2F Seems likes CNN is running a three-day series under the name of “Autism 911,” in which they’re focusing on a California family, the Bilsons, whose middle child, 13-year-old Marissa, is autistic and has tantrums that are “off the charts and seemingly unwarranted.” In “Supernanny” fashion, an autism consultant from an ABA provider, Autism Partnership, has been called in and, it seems, the CNN show will see if it’s possible to “[rein] in” Marissa’s behavior. Since she’s 13, I’m wondering if she’s entering, or isin the midst of, puberty? As noted, adolescence and the hormonal and other changes has made this school year—already challenging as Charlie started middle school—-even more, well, challengin... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2061066 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:09:00 +0100 2061066 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2061518&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=35671&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.anxietyinsights.info%2Feconomic_adversity_in_childhood_has_lasting_mental_health_im.htm Mike Ferlazzo The economic crisis could have lasting effects on children from families that fall into poverty, according to a new paper by researchers from Iowa State University's Institute for Social and Behavioral Research. Their study of 485 Iowa adolescents over a 10-year period (1991-2001) found that early socioeconomic adversity experienced by children contributes to poor mental health by the time they become teens — disrupting their successful transition into adulthood by endangering their social, academic and occupational attainment as young adults. "The main finding shows the continuity of family adversity over generations — from family-of-origin to a young adult's family. In other words, it's the transmission of poverty," said K.A.S. Wickrama, an ISU professor of human ... Latest entries from www.anxietyinsights.info blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2061518 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:42:00 +0100 2061518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2035853&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FK2fLwbKGN0w%2F My son Charlie is, as I’ve noted here, 11 1/2 years old. He’s been attending middle school since September and it hasn’t been easy, and we’ve started to get the feeling that it’s not going to get easier. Charlie is in a self-contained classroom, located in a large middle school in our school district. There are three other boys—all older than him by a year or two, and all shorter than him—a teacher, and four aides in the room. He starts the day with Adapted Physical Education (APE) around 8.30am) and has speech therapy briefly with a speech therapist most days of the week. An occupational therapist sets up programs on specific skills, like writing and washing his face, that he works on throughout the day. He has a really good teacher and behavior c... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2035853 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:03:48 +0100 2035853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2035858&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fv3UB4FiJwVA%2F In the midst of talk of diagnosis and disability rights, of treatments and of what’s an appropriate education for an autistic student, we took a hands-free cold walk last weekend to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza, and passed a wall of snowflakes too. Age of Diagnosis and the Apparent Increase in Autism A study in the December Archives of Pediatrics and General Medicine examines autism prevalence trends over time in Denmark and states that “the apparent increase in autism in recent years is in part attributable to a decrease over time in the age at diagnosis. Recovery Distracts How the notion of “recovery from autism” colors—not for the better— parents’ decisions about “treatments” and “therapies” for autism, and also on the popular percept... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2035858 Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:36:32 +0100 2035858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2033260&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FZsTTvmqgD64%2F In her Domestic Disturbances column today, Judith Warner writes about “emotional enmeshment,” which she defines as “the boundary collapsing” that, she thinks, is the “signature characteristic of motherhood (and parenthood) in our time.” Warner scrutinizes her relationship with her two daughters, aged 11 and 8. While she notes that she’s sought to establish boundaries between herself and them: I despised the cliché “you can only be as happy as your least happy child.” What drivel this was, I thought. What self-indulgence. Wasn’t it a parent’s responsibility to remain whole in the face of a child’s unhappiness, the better to buoy him or her through difficult times? As the years passed, I refused to be a good Suzuki mother and sit in on my ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2033260 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:00:15 +0100 2033260 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2027194&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FKYZXtFhvO64%2F All That Noise Is Damaging Children’s Hearing, said an article in yesterday’s New York Times—noise from headphones, video games, computers, TVs, “power mowers, leaf blowers, snow blowers, car and house alarms, sirens, motorcycles, Jet Skis, loudspeakers, even movie previews,” not to mention music from weddings, parties, rock concerts…………………. All of which falls rather ironically on my ears since the only reason Charlie is wearing headphones is because he’s become so sound-sensitive and needs to block out noise…………………. Tags: alarms, arizona, asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, cars, disabilities blog, disability, Education, headpones, Health, hearing, hearing loss, lawnmowers, ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2027194 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:19:02 +0100 2027194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2027197&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fn1WgatgCdvs%2F I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. I write fairly frequently here about Charlie growing up. Of course, he’s not the only one around here getting older: It’s my birthday today, and I’m 40. Fout-ohmygod, as one my mom-blog-friend puts it. Like the narrator in T.S. Eliot’s poem, I grow old, I do grow old, and I actually do roll the bottoms of my trousers (ok, pants), because I’m too lazy to get out a needle and thread and hem them. My mother did teach me to hem, years ago, and it really is years ago, due to this birthday thing. She taught us the basics; I think my first “creation” was a pocket made of fabric from the scraps of the Halloween costumes and jumpers and curtains and pillows she used to mak... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2027197 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:08:38 +0100 2027197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2017838&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FWl4OGrSUFt4%2F Lately hormones have been on my mind a lot. “It’s those hormones,” someone seems to say at least once a day in reference to Charlie. Not only has he grown some six inches this year (that’s what Jim and I have been estimating). Physically, he is really growing up: For the past few weeks, it’s become very apparent that his voice is changing (though I still hear, mixed in with new, lower tone, the familiar light voice that is Charlie’s). At times his moods seem to change in a split second or less. I’ve been remembering back to my own adolescence and to how waves of feelings seemed to arise in me with no warning, and how these weren’t always expressed in the best of ways, as I didn’t know how to express what I was experiencing—–... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2017838 Sat, 06 Dec 2008 07:25:59 +0100 2017838 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1999137&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FTkI3-YarwUE%2F Made it through Thanksgiving; did some holiday shopping from the comfort of home (and here’s some gift suggestions); time to get back on the school bus! Autism and Schizophrenia: The Same “Disease”? According to the latest theory, “an evolutionary tug of war between genes from the father’s sperm and the mother’s egg can, in effect, tip brain development in one of two ways.” Girls and Getting a Diagnosis Are girls and women sometimes not diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum because they do not have the same symptoms as boys and men do? Denis Leary Tries (Tries) to Defend Himself Contrary to what he said a few weeks ago, Denis Leary doesn’t seem to be so sorry after all about what he said Nicotine Addiction and Autism While studying drug abuse and addiction, re... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1999137 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:00:26 +0100 1999137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1996401&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FZIwO-tSz2KY%2F Patternicity. It’s a term that refers to “the tendency to find meaningful patterns in meaningless noise,” as noted by Michael Shermer in the November Scientific American: Traditionally, scientists have treated patternicity as an error in cognition. A type I error, or a false positive, is believing something is real when it is not (finding a nonexistent pattern). A type II error, or a false negative, is not believing something is real when it is (not recognizing a real pattern—call it “apatternicity”). However, as Shermer notes, we don’t have a “Baloney Detection Network in the brain to distinguish between true and false patterns”—-patternicity does seem to be at work when it comes to theories of autism causation. There’s no doubt that s... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1996401 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:02:57 +0100 1996401 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1990893&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FrIWsFTm30h0%2F The poet John Donne talks about “trepidation of the spheres” and, I was thinking last night after settling Charlie in bed, that there’s been some trepidation in our little corner of the cosmos. This whole business of adolescence combined with an ongoing growth spurt has made our daily routine well, “interesting-er“: A neologism, but maybe that’s the best way to describe the latest chapter of life with Charlie. Throw in the fact that the holiday season is upon us, with Thanksgiving tomorrow and a half-day of school for Charlie and no school on Friday, a recipe for potential not-so-peaceful-easy-feeling-ness. A distinct air of deep tiredness seemed to haunt my college classes; I watched a couple of students, wearing floppy gray sweats, yanking their suitca... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1990893 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 07:50:24 +0100 1990893 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1980900&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F_FoQ2GXr8XM%2F I’m on the train to Washington D.C., to attend a meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which coordinates efforts concerning autism within the US Department of Health and Human Research. There’s a list of the federal and non-federal members of the IACC here; the committee has been overseeing the writing of the Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Research. Over the past year, there have been numerous calls for input from “stakeholders”—from anyone concerned about autism—and other meetings of the IACC and of workgroups concerning various parts of the plan. I went to an IACC meeting just about a year ago and read this statement. While I wrote up and sent in a statement for today’s meeting, there apparently is not spac... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1980900 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:37:24 +0100 1980900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1964130&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FxHgz_cDy5Sc%2F Saying “a lot happened” in the past two weeks kind of seems like an understatement. The Search for Certainty (or, why we’re going to the dentist at 3.15pm) An emergency dentist visit for Charlie prompts me to think about why parents so often try to find medical reasons for why something’s going on. David Kirby exonerates thimerosal Maybe not exactly but the day may be coming…… Today Show Today on Autism and Vaccines I’m briefly interviewed on a feature about vaccines and Dr. Paul Offit. A “Crusade Against Autism”—-To What End? Do we really need such a “crusade”? . Michael Fitzpatrick (who’s the parent of an autistic child) writes about how such a “crusade” does more harm than good. The Great Now What Though parents of just... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1964130 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:07:48 +0100 1964130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1955302&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FU0JXO9naSBA%2F As I note regularly here, finding the right school and teachers for Charlie, and making sure the education he’s receiving is appropriate, challenging, tailored to his needs, are our constant concern. ABC News visits the Community School in Decatur, Georgia; the school was the subject of a recent article in the New York Times magazine. The school doesn’t seem quite suited to what Charlie might need, but the focus on educating older—adolescent, teenaged—autistic students really interests me. Sometimes it seems the last time that most of us felt sort of confident that we had an idea about the right sort of educational setting and programming for Charlie was when he was preschool age—–elementary and now middle school remain territory for which there’s ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1955302 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:57:14 +0100 1955302 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1947290&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F1BAbqjBnDPI%2F Let’s End Adolescence writes Newt Gingrich in the October 30th Business Week. Adolecense, argues Gingrich, is a 19th century invention and, indeed, a “social experiment” that has largely failed. Why keep supporting a “system for delaying adulthood and trapping young people into wasting years of their lives”? Why not skip the whole notion of some kind of transition stage between childhood and young adulthood and stop (as Gingrich seems to suggest)  delaying the inevitability of adulthood, and have kids “shift to serious work, learning, and responsibility at age 13 instead of age 30″? Well, Newt, let me tell you something. At 11 1/2, my son Charlie’s definitely in the throes of adolescence. Almost all the clothes he wore last summer have eithe... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1947290 Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:00:27 +0100 1947290 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1933327&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FTk6hP3hy34A%2F I’ve become rather obsessed with exercise—-no, I’ve not become a calorie counting fiend tracking the minutes on the treadmill. It’s making sure that there’s enough physical activity integrated throughout Charlie’s day in general and at school in particular that have preoccupied my thoughts. I’ve noted that the very layout and physical space of his middle school classroom are very different from the windowed, light-filled classroom of his elementary school last year; the fluorescent lights just seems to buzz and glow more harshly. Charlie has gym every morning around 9.30am. He has a locker now and has to change into and out of his gym clothes. The adapted physical education (APE) teacher has put together a very fine schedule of activities including... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1933327 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:41:48 +0100 1933327 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1926558&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FIemCECmXMAk%2F Vaccines don’t cause autism and yet a connection between the two seems to have become deeply lodged in the public consciousness. Some believe in a vaccine-autism link with something akin to religious faith, or fervor, to the point that, no matter how often one cites scientific studies refuting, such a link, some are not, will never be, convinced. Some say that parents should have the right to choose to vaccinate or not; meanwhile, measles has been on the rise this year with some 131 cases so far reported, This focus on vaccines has come to preoccupy discussions about autism, over and above the very real concerns of appropriate schools and educational programs, and housing and jobs for adults. The excessive attention given to a hypothetical vaccine-autism link keeps discussion about a... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1926558 Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:35:35 +0100 1926558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1924542&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Ft46whc0tCpg%2F Brooke Dickerson’s 19-year-old so, Quinn Carey, has attended 10 different schools, yesterday’s Santa Cruz Sentinel reports. Diagnosed with autism as a young child, Quinn has not been able “to receive the consistent care that is needed to develop the skills he is lacking.” His mother notes that his physical size has been a factor: Now fully grown at 6 feet tall and about 300 pounds, Quinn is more than a handful. The family has taken him to schools in Morgan Hill, San Jose and Palo Alto, but the schools shut down or turned Quinn away because of his size. “It’s nuts because he’s entitled to appropriate education,” Dickerson said. “He is denied treatment here because of his size and then he is denied over the hill because he is from Santa C... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1924542 Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:05:20 +0100 1924542 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1918058&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FuLHISV2vL30%2F Phonagnosia is the inability to recognize voices, yesterday’s Science Daily reports. A case study published in Neuropsychologia reports on “KH,” who is ……unable to recognise people by their voice, including her own daughter whom she has great difficulty identifying over the phone. The woman, known as KH, avoids answering the phone where possible, and for many years has only answered ‘booked calls’. KH books calls with friends or co-workers, so she knows who to expect when the telephone rings at a certain time. In the 1980s, KH had a job in which she introduced herself with a different form of her first name so she would know that it was someone related to her job when they called and asked for her using that name. Charlie doesn’t say so much using wo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1918058 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:24:06 +0100 1918058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1914719&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FEJPiVH7UjvA%2F For the past two weeks something’s been up with Charlie’s teeth, or so we think. He’s been chewing the string on his sweatshirt and his shirt and poking a finger into his mouth (on the upper right side, I think) and just dabbing at some parts of his teeth with his toothbrush (still brushing the fronts). This has certainly been the Year of Losing Teeth; there’ve been more than a few times when, after a fretful, unsettled day, Charlie has been found with a bloody tooth in his fingers. After a check-up in August, Charlie’s dentist noted that he was right on schedule to be losing so many teeth. This latest instance of possible-pain-in-the-mouth has been going on for awhile so Monday afternoon I found myself calling the dentist’s office and felt most fortunat... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1914719 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:00:19 +0100 1914719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1895055&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fo7KBhlZt6lI%2F Yesterday’s Pathophilia reviews a group of studies (two by Mark and David Geier) about testosterone levels in autistic children. Pathophilia finds that testoterone is not increased in autistic children. The Cambridge-based Autism Research Centre is also researching hormones in autistic individuals. The Foetal testosterone Longitudinal Study seeks to find out whether elevated levels of foetal testosterone are associated with a later diagnosis of autism spectrum conditions. The Current hormones Project is looking at whether current hormone levels might also be atypical in autism and Asperger Syndrome. And another project is looking specifically at puberty. Yes, as you may have guessed, I’ve got puberty—so to speak—on my mind. Charlie’s 11 (and five months, to be... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1895055 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:07:55 +0100 1895055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1886446&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fk8ZTriPWJK8%2F A long article to appear in the October 19th’s New York Times Magazine describes the D.I.R./Floortime approach for teaching autistic children and, specifically, autistic teenagers. A Decatur, Georigia, school, The Community School is profiled. D.I.R./Floortime is contrasted to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which is based on the principles of behavioral science and is widely used to teach autistic children. The goal of D.I.R./Floortime is said to be a “kindling of a student’s curiosity, intelligence, playfulness and energy, the lessons can take on a spontaneous, electric quality” and the “essence” said to be that “a person learns best when self-motivated, when an inner drive sparks the acquisition of skills and knowledge.” It’s the case t... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1886446 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:41:41 +0100 1886446 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1883392&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FF2EHRdCSaHk%2F Palin has experience with special needs kids, says an October 16th Associated Press article which I discussed some in the previous post. Says the Associated Press: Sarah Palin is frequently seen at campaign stops cradling her infant son Trig, who has Down syndrome. Her decision to give birth to Trig even after learning her fifth child would have the condition has burnished her anti-abortion views with conservatives. So viewers of Wednesday night’s presidential debate might have been somewhat taken aback when John McCain said his running mate understands “what it’s like to have an autistic child.” Palin, it’s noted “does have a 13-year-old nephew with autism”: Karcher is the son of her sister and brother-in-law, Heather and Kurt Bruce and the family... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1883392 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:14:32 +0100 1883392 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1837291&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FAoHK2UlydM8%2F We began the week with Monday in Manhattan and ended it with dinner and a walk across the Hudson River. Inbetween: Simon Baron-Cohen on “Disorder,” “Cure,” and Autism Says Baron-Cohen: “The word ‘disorder’ is too negative. I use the word “condition” – autism can be disabling, but not all of its features involve disability. Some of them are strengths.” Autistic Defendants Often Misunderstood In Criminal Justice System A 20-year-old man stabs his mother in Florida. And when we were wrong, we promptly admitted it In recognition of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, b5media bloggers on the Health and Wellness Channel are blogging about the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. Deconstructing the Vaccine-Autism Scare Dr. Rahul Parikh review... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1837291 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:16:37 +0100 1837291 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1833266&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F9mgvvLlXQ0k%2F Just extremely really tired. A phrase like this has often come to mind about Charlie in the past few weeks and it’s been used on and off by Charlie’s teacher in her emails home. Thursday he was groggy all day. When he comes home from school he walks straight to the refrigerator, eats a plentiful snack, and then just curls up on his couch chair with some fleece blankets and all but falls asleep. He’s been accommodating himself really well to having to get up much earlier to get on the bus by 7.30am and sometimes earlier. I’ve been trying to get him to go to bed earlier, but 9.30 is pretty much the earliest that Charlie seems able to go to sleep (and maybe I’ve still some very strong memories of when Charlie used to fall asleep at midnight regularly—-9.30 ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1833266 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:18:46 +0100 1833266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1802768&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F5Kb-he4Y444%2F My son Charlie has, for most of his life, been a hands-down good eater. As a baby, while he did have more than a few gross motor delays), he had no difficulty learning to nurse. We’re not always or, indeed, often sure about what Charlie might be thinking due to his limited language, but we’ve generally been able to assume that he’s ever ready to eat. And then, this summer—-amid various other changes—a most curious thing happened. Charlie (who is definitely an adolescent) must be in the throes of a growth spurt. He’s needed new shoes after only a few months and shirts that seemed loose and baggy now are just the right length. He’s gotten decidedly lanky and lean. And he’s been eating less than he usually has, and left fries and burgers uneaten... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1802768 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:38:37 +0100 1802768 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1782713&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FEvHQ7P5FYG8%2F A new study by sociologists and social work researchers from the University of Chicago and University of Wisconsin-Madison has found that parenting children with disabilities becomes less taxing over time. From today’s Science Daily: …….over time, parents learn to adapt to the challenges of caring for a disabled child. As these parents age, the study shows, their health more closely mirrors the health of parents with children who don’t have disabilities. The study, Age and Gender Differences in the Well-Being of Midlife and Aging Parents with Children with Mental Health or Developmental Problems: Report of a National Study, is published in the September 2008 Journal of Health and Social Behavior. Am only speaking for myself—-but, for Jim and me, parenting has gott... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1782713 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:27:35 +0100 1782713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1713979&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FizzERyCOROE%2F Yet another report of an autistic individual—Angel Brooke McKinnley, a 22 year old woman in Provo—-who is missing. There’s been numerous stories about autistic children and adults missing this summer, and Project Lifesaver has been mentioned a couple of times. A friend’s son has one of the Project Lifesaver devices and I was surprised at how big it is; it’s a lot of plastic strapped onto a small boy’s wrist. He’s okay wearing it but I don’t think Charlie would tolerate it at all and would probably try to get the device off his wrist, and not be too happy when he was not able to. Impossible these days not to look at Charlie and think, big kid. Standing on the edge of the ocean, deeply tanned and with strong shoulders, he’s (as Jim likes ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1713979 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:21:58 +0100 1713979 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1696279&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F7MNQZvp8DDQ%2F Two days at the beach and it’s turning out to be a bit different from our previous vacations. We’ve gone to the same beach—the same spot on the Jersey Shore—since Charlie was a baby; for the past three years, to the exact same beach house. Jim used to vacation on this beach as a kid and I first came here soon after we’d met. I had never liked the beach until coming here and it’s been where Jim and I, and then Jim and Charlie and I, have vacationed nearly every year since the late 1990’s. Ever since the first time he came here, Charlie’s been drawn to the water and the waves. Many years followed of Jim and me carrying him into the waves and holding Charlie while the water came in and out around him, and then of Jim piggybacking him into the wa... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1696279 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:33:27 +0100 1696279 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1658174&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F347662171%2F Charlie’s never been to summer camp. We’ve thought about it every year and been urged to send him off, and end up with these rationalizations: 1) He’s got Extended School Year until late July or early August—next week is his last week and, far from just “only maintaining” his skills, he’s moving ahead. It also looks like (following a class field trip last week) that he’s taking a liking to roller skating. 2) There’s a day camp run by the state’s Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) but—as another family we know told us—the pace is sloooooow and it’s not only for autistic children. Charlie’s done well in his current school placement because the pace is anything but slow; it’s intense and he&#... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1658174 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:15:15 +0100 1658174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1605961&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F332514633%2F I’ve started teaching summer school, in a special program for local high school students and a course on translating Virgil’s Eclogues. The Eclogues are pastoral poems about shepherds and poetry and…….ok, that’s a bit too far from the usual discussion on this blog. The other class is on Psychology and Literature and, as of today, we’ve read this, this, and this, and discussed Freud’s theories of psychosexual development (the oral stage, the anal stage…..) and Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development—-and I’ve been reflecting on how different Charlie’s development has been. I know that these theories are “just” theories; that they’re grids for stages and norms that no actual human being can ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1605961 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:51:57 +0100 1605961 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1603109&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F331495165%2F On Tuesday night Charlie faked needing help. On Wednesday afternoon, he helped himself. We went bowling with our little “special needs bowling league.” We ended up sharing a lane with a boy same age as Charlie, with an older and younger sister—both of whom were easily assisting their brother. They brought over a metal contraption with a roller coaster-ish chute and set it on the lane. (”What’s it called?” I asked to the younger girl. “A ball ramp?” was the answer.) The other boy, his older sister gently guiding him and rubbing his back after he sent the ball rolling, went first. I directed Charlie to do the same the first time; he then did it on his own twelve more times (someone turned off the electronic scoreboard and deleted everyone&#8217... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603109 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:19:02 +0100 1603109 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1551453&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F320920781%2F A story no one wants to hear about but that reminds us that you can’t be too safe and sure when you’ve got someone babysitting a special needs child with limited communication skills: C and G News reports that a 21-year-old Macomb township man, Jonathan Maltese, was allegedly caught on camera molesting two young autistic children he was watching on June 19th. Maltese was employed by an agency that specializes in the needs of autistic children. The children’s parents “decided to monitor Maltese not because they had reason to believe he was molesting their children, but more so out of curiosity.” I’ve noted that my son has entered puberty; there are a number of new things we’ve had to teach him, regarding what’s ok in public vs. at home. This s... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1551453 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:30:23 +0100 1551453 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1526337&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F313650755%2F Summer school, that is—-Charlie’s first day of Extended School Year is tomorrow. (Yes, we’re back in Jersey, courtesy of a red eye to Newark Airport.) His last day of the regular school year was last Thursday so he’s only had a few days off. From experience, this very brief break is the best thing for Charlie, who’s most at ease when things are orderly and routine. I wasn’t surprised that he missed his dad and home (and that he tried to walk back to Jersey, all the way from California). I think it’s important to “shake things up” occasionally or the routine becomes like a box that we can’t get out of, and Charlie grows a little with each trip and the change it entails. One inevitable change of visiting the west coast is the time d... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1526337 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:46:27 +0100 1526337 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1499998&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F305944387%2F Depending on what website you are reading, the past week, the first week of June 2008, will go down as The Week Vaccines Got Green, or David Kirby Went to Parliament and Briefed 1 MP, 4 Lords, and a few others, or a really good autism book was released in the UK, or I did something unusual and interesting on Monday that you’ll be hearing more of, or …… This past week was Charlie’s last week in elementary school in the lovely stone building he’s been in for the past two years, and with the wonderful, amazing, kindly, supportive [insert superlative adjective here] teacher, therapists, and instructors who’ve been teaching him. Next week is a short week with two half-days after which Charlie has a few days off and then begins Extended School Year at…&#... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1499998 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:37:49 +0100 1499998 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1480748&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F301017971%2F For the past two weeks, one post after another has been about the exclusion of autistic individuals: 13-year-old Adam Race from church—and by a restraining order. 5-year-old Alex Barton from his kindergarten class—and by a “voting out” process that has had more than a few echoes of the “Survivor” reality TV show. But these cases weren’t the stuff of network drama (like this TV show—remember the “mercuritol”?). They were real things that happened to real autistic people and—based on what’s been said ‘round the web and here on this blog—this kind of exclusion is not at all uncommon. And it’s not unusual especially when attempts are made to include autistic individuals—in “mainstream” e... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1480748 Fri, 30 May 2008 05:17:53 +0100 1480748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1472547&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F298924232%2F Charlie’s been off from school since Friday for the long Memorial Day weekend. Here in Jersey, Memorial Day signals the start of summer, as swimming pools open up and lifeguards return to their stations. We’d stayed mostly close to home (except for a kayak ride on the Hudson) and noted lines of cars heading down the shore via the Garden State Parkway. Charlie, as I’ve often noted, loves the ocean. It’s the place where he is in his natural element. He’s a tremendous swimmer in the waves and the easy beach life—where all you have to do is wear swim suits and t-shirts, eat lots of seafood and fries (swimming takes up a lot of energy, you know), get in the water and walk on the sand—more than suits him. This strong love for the ocean and the beach is m... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1472547 Tue, 27 May 2008 08:00:53 +0100 1472547 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1466120&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F296694844%2F Discussion/debate/dissent about Adam Race and the parish of St. Joseph’s continues—–and here’s another case involving an autistic child and a discrimination suit. Over a year ago, the parents of 14-year-old Casey Reilly, who has Asperger’s, filed a lawsuit against Pacific Palisades Boy Scout Troop 223. As reported in the May 22nd Palisadian Post: The parents, Palisades residents Jane Dubovy and Mike Reilly, argue that Boy Scout Troop 223 violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when the Scout leaders excluded their son, Casey Reilly, from a week-long scouting trip, which prevented him from advancing in rank. In October 2006, Federal District Court Judge S. James Otero dismissed the case, ruling that the Boy Scouts is a private club that does not hav... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1466120 Fri, 23 May 2008 17:00:33 +0100 1466120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1460938&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F05%2F21%2Fsometimes-how-you-ask-is-just-as-important%2F This study helped rectify previous studies’ contradictory findings in adolescent risk-taking behavior, by showing how the researchers asked the questions could generate two seemingly-contradictory answers. Reference: Mills, B., Reyna, V.F. & Estrada, S. (2008). Explaining contradictory relations between risk perception and risk taking. Psychological Science, 19(5), 429-433. (Source: World of Psychology) World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1460938 Wed, 21 May 2008 18:30:36 +0100 1460938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1454350&cid=t_112430_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F05%2F20%2Fteens-and-oral-sex%2F One of the common myths about teens and sex (it appears to be “Teen Week” here at World of Psychology!) is that teens nowadays are trying to hold on to their virginity by engaging only in oral sex as opposed to full intercourse. New research largely debunks this myth. The study, published in the July issue of Journal of Adolescent Health, looked at 2,200 teens ages 15 through 19 and found that teens become sexually active with both oral sex and intercourse largely at the same time. Just under half reported having full intercourse when survey, and just over half reported having had oral sex. Those who identified themselves as virgins were far less likely to say that they had tried oral sex than those who admitted to having had full intercourse. Within 6 months of having thei... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1454350 Tue, 20 May 2008 13:25:44 +0100 1454350 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1454494&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F294090983%2F According to Dr. Fernando Miranda of the Bright Mind Institute, maybe not. A report in the May 19th Good Morning America/ABC News describes some children who were initially diagnosed with autism, and later found to have Landau-Kleffner Syndrome. For some of the children, anti-seizure medication has produced dramatic results and Dr. Miranda is said to insist that “you have to look inside the brain to determine what’s wrong,” via MRIs and EEGs. The ABC report portrays parents as greatly relieved to know that there is a medical issue for their child’s disorder, and that the child does not have autism: To watch Beckett [Kavanaugh] today, you might think he has a bit of trouble speaking, but it’s minor. You’d never think he was autistic. He’s being main... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1454494 Tue, 20 May 2008 08:00:13 +0100 1454494 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1429102&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F285843297%2F The decision to put an autistic child on medication is never easy for a parent to think about. When the medications in question are antipsychotics (like Risperdal) and antidepressants (like Zoloft), and when the child is disabled and has little or no language to explain how he feels while on the meds, a parent has to proceed with caution. Weight gain is a frequently reported side effect of taking Risperdal and a new study on the use of antipsychotic medications in children indicates that taking these drugs results in an almost immediate increases in body mass index (BMI) and triglyceride levels, as reported in the May 7th WedMD. John Newcomer, MD, the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, presented preliminary research from a study of children taking Zyprexa, Risperdal, or... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1429102 Thu, 08 May 2008 04:55:24 +0100 1429102 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1419328&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F283173148%2F It was a couple of months ago that my son Charlie started—for the first time in his life—to show sensitivity to sound by putting both hands over his ears. We’ve known autistic children and adults who’ve found the sound of merry-go-round music, clapping, sirens, and much more unbearable, but never (we thought) Charlie. And then the ear-covering thing started and it’s as if a whole new world of sounds and frequencies and pitches has become evident to us. I took Charlie to hear a production of Cabaret at the college where I teach; Charlie lasted for almost the entire first act, but kept his hands over his ears for almost all of it and cringed when the drums played. It’s human voices—-especially high-pitched ones (including mine sometimes)—that s... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1419328 Sun, 04 May 2008 08:01:23 +0100 1419328 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1382405&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F272740207%2F Marla who blogs about life with her daughter Maizie wrote recently about Maizie’s uncertainties about change and preference for things to stay the same. This is a topic I have thought about a lot: My son Charlie, like many (most?) autistic children, is hesitant about change and doing things differently. He’d like me to always wear a certain brown and pink shirt, and Jim to wear a certain pair of black shoes with black socks; going to the grocery store means he has to get sushi, whether or not he might want to eat it. Transitions can be hard precisely they involve a change, a shifting from one activity to another. Things have been different around here today and will be until Saturday night late. Jim left this morning for a conference at a large Midwestern university whose initi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1382405 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:27:48 +0100 1382405 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1331441&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F259255051%2F We’re still going back and forth with Charlie’s case manager about a time for his IEP and annual review—-the district seems to want to have students’ meeting by the end of April (although it is possible for any member of the Child Study Team (CST) to call an IEP when that member wishes to; I understand there is a need for districts to get the meetings done to plan ahead for personnel and other administrative reasons). There are some dates and times that Jim and I just cannot make a meeting as (1) we both have classes to teach ourselves; (2) where we both work—-Manhattan for Jim and Jersey City for me—is nowhere near where we live. At first it was proposed that Jim “attend” the meeting via a conference call but there’s nothing like face-... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1331441 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:00:46 +0100 1331441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1329102&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F258446953%2F Eat your breakfast and (if you’re an adolescent) you’re less likely to become overweight, according to a recent study in Pediatrics (March 2008) of adolescents from Minneapolis-St. Paul public schools (here’s a write-up in the New York Times, too.) Charlie definitely eats, and definitely needs, his breakfast—but he’s never ready to eat it before getting on the bus. He just does not seem inclined to eat on first waking up (well, I’m not either, though I need my coffee). I used to struggle to get him to eat something, and found myself picking up lots of waffle pieces and bits of cereal from the floor of my kitchen or car. Just over a year ago, Charlie’s then-teacher—noting that he had started to ask for lunch around 10 o’clock and ate rav... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1329102 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:30:32 +0100 1329102 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1317807&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F255184078%2F Read about it here in the March 15th Philadelphia Inquirer. The therapy has autistic children build with Legos and animate what they make by taking a sequence of digital photographs. Members of the “Lego Club” meet for one hour a week at the Center for Neurological and Neurodevelopmental Health in Voorhees, N.J. under the supervision of three adult leaders. The therapy was devised by pediatric neuropscyhologist Daniel “Dr. Dan” Legoff. To force communication and collaboration, Legoff assigned rotating roles. The “engineer’s” design had to be acceptable to the “builder,” who had to get parts from the “supplier.” Jonathan’s year-old group, one of eight at the center in Voorhees, has reached the club’s premier level... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1317807 Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:53:46 +0100 1317807 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1303316&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F251532365%2F A post here on adult sexuality in autistic individuals led to a very interesting exchange, including critique of the survey itself. The survey is being conducted by the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System is and the University of New Brunswick and the researchers have sent me a response (see below, after the jump). Being the mother of a 10 year, 10 month old son who (as I’ve noted) has started a moustache —-puberty is right around the corner—-I very much value the findings of the research and, too, discussion of this topic among readers. If you review the “Ashley treatment“—which involved the removal of her uterus and breast buds, so that she will not start to menstruate and will also be “kept small,” Ashley growing up and into adult... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1303316 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:05 +0100 1303316 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1246644&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F238670979%2F To be “in the Nation’s Service and in the Service of All Nations” is the “informal motto,” of Princeton University, where I went to college. On Tuesday, Princeton announced that it hopes to create an “international ‘bridge year’ program,” in which “would allow newly admitted undergraduates [can] spend a year of public service abroad before beginning their freshman year.” The University hopes to start the program in 2009 and will not charge tuition for it, and will offer financial assistance to those who need it. In a February 19th interview with the New York Times, Princeton’s president, Shirley Tilghman, suggested that the program will be a “cleansing the palate of high school, giving [incoming freshmen] a year to r... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1246644 Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:53:47 +0100 1246644 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1221298&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F232954388%2F The North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System is doing a joint project with the University of New Brunswick on Adult Sexuality for individuals between 21 and 65 who fall into the Autism Spectrum. Individuals can participate in the study via a confidential online survey. Here is some more information: The purpose of this study is to better understand sexuality and relationships of adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The information collected from the study may increase knowledge of how best to help teens and adults with ASDs experience healthy sexual development. Participation in this study involves completion of a set of online questionnaires at www.unbstudy.com that will take between 45 minutes and 1¼ hours to complete. For more information about this ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1221298 Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:21:29 +0100 1221298 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1194821&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F227123407%2F A “group of German researchers” has announced that they have “perfected the method for inducing autism.” ??!!!?!?!??? They have also, it is parenthetically noted, figured out how to “cure” autism (this study on reversing symptoms of autism and Fragile X is cited). Cure being a fighting word in discussions about autism, I’ll note that this “autism-inducing drug” is described on io9, a science fiction blog: Need to finish that work project, and wish you had the mental intensity to do it? Just take a synapse-regulating inhibitor, induce temporary autism, and you’ll want to ignore your friends and do nothing but number-crunching for days. Autism-inducers could become as popular as Provigil among the geek set by 2020. Last night,... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1194821 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:14:39 +0100 1194821 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1121968&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F208358956%2F I have one older sister: When I found out, some 11 years ago, that I was going to have a boy, I panicked to Jim. What am I going to do with a boy! Jim was easily reassuring—”Don’t worry, you’re going to love him!”—and he parked the car and we went into Schnuck’s to shop for groceries. That was when we living in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, and I was teaching Latin to middle- and high-schoolers at the kind of school where the boys wear blue blazers with brass buttons, and Jim and I were driving around various parts of St. Louis and going to Open Houses. Flash forward to now: We’re still in the suburbs, but in Jim’s native NJ and in a rental condo, and I teach Latin, ancient Greek, and anything and everything about the ancient wor... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1121968 Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:17:54 +0100 1121968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1115103&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F205700518%2F I noted that making Charlie’s transition to middle school—-to a new and bigger school, a new teacher, many new students—-was on my Christmas wish list. Disputes about the causes of autism, controversies about how autism is represented to the public, new studies about treatments: These come and go, but what’s constant for me is the day by day of life with Charlie. Will his winter coat last through the season; it already seems like his arms have grown and the sleeves are too short. Who will his teacher be in middle school? There is already an experience teacher for the autism classroom that is currently at the middle school, but I’m not sure if there will be room for Charlie in her classroom. Charlie happy and learning at school: This is the sine qua non for J... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1115103 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:02:53 +0100 1115103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1048724&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F190200821%2F We went to the pool for a special Saturday program in which autistic children are paired with teenage volunteers. I was talking to two mothers I know and we all looked down at the same time and saw a little boy, swim diaper showing over his swim suit, crawling on the ledge that goes all the way around the pool. He was grinning and a teenager was right near by. The others mothers—their sons are 4 and 8—and I glanced at each other and shared a mutual chuckle, and a bit of a sigh: Our boys would never be little enough to crawl there again. Charlie was hanging onto a swim noodle and splashing around; he had been paired with an eighth grade girl just a few inches taller than him and had given her a big smile before getting into the pool in the shallow end. As I watched him doing his... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1048724 Sun, 25 Nov 2007 11:42:49 +0100 1048724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1034863&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F186842209%2F When it’s Charlie and me out in public together now, we’ve been getting some different kinds of looks. People seem not so sure how we are related: Siblings? Mother and son? We’re about the same height; he has the beginning shadow of a moustache; our conversation is mostly made up of exchanges of a few words (nouns, mostly—things to eat, things to do).  Charlie is growing up.Two recent comments from two mothers whose sons are around the same as Charlie raise two issues on my mind more: Charlie’s earlier years were a constant effort to find out about, assess, and try therapies; to find programs where he could have some (any) interaction with typical children; to search out toys that he might like after we taught him to play with. These sorts of concerns are ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1034863 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:00:58 +0100 1034863 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1002296&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F179355726%2F This study shows that the social and interpersonal skills of autistic adolescents can be improved, and we established that our method is efficient and does not require significant resources,” said Dr. Fombonne. Dr. Fombonne organized the first training group in 2002, with his colleagues Jack Strulovitch, social worker at the MUHC, and Vicki Tagalakis, therapist in psychiatry paediatrics at the MUHC. They wanted to address the needs of autistic adolescents who had no major delay in their language development or who were not cognitively challenged (high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome). Since then the training groups have been running twice a year for 14 sessions, each group involving seven to eight adolescents aged an average of 14.6 years. The major component of the sessions... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1002296 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:00:39 +0100 1002296 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=943029&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F168362462%2F These are the six “common life phases” according to New York Times columnist David Brooks in The Odyssey Years (October 9): childhood, adolescence, odyssey, adulthood, active retirement and old age Once upon the 1960s, the phases were four: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age This “odyssey” age is, true to its classical roots in the title of Homer’s epic about the 10-year-old journey home of the hero Odysseus after the Trojan War, the decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood. During this decade, 20-somethings go to school and take breaks from school. They live with friends and they live at home. They fall in and out of love. They try one career and then try another. Their parents grow increasingly anxious. Thes... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=943029 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:54:59 +0100 943029 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=850133&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F153612137%2F A few days ago, I asked, What is ‘best’ when there’s autism in the family?, in regard to an article in the September 2nd Arizona Republic is specifically about a family’s decision to place one of their six children, Colin Abernethy, in a group home to “save” their family. A similar story appears in today’s Mercury: The Voice of Tasmania about a family with a single mother, a 16-year-old son with “severe autism,” a teenager daughter with Asperger’s syndrome, and a baby brother. The article focuses on one aspect of the 16-year-old son’s behavior, sexual assault, and the family’s situation—-the mother has abandoned her son to the state government—seems, among much else, to testify to a pressing need to think about how to... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=850133 Fri, 07 Sep 2007 21:31:01 +0100 850133 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=840648&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F152138141%2F From 1994-2003, the number of children in the US being treated for bipolar disorder increased by 40%, as reported in the September 4th New York Times. Researchers from New York, Maryland, and Madrid analyzed a National Center for Health Statistics survey of office visits to doctors in group practices or in private practices. The number of visits in which a doctor recorded a diagnosis of bipolar disorder increased from 20,000 in 1994 to 800,000 in 2003: Many experts theorize that the jump reflects that doctors are more aggressively applying the diagnosis to children, and not that the incidence of the disorder has increased. But the magnitude of the increase surprises many psychiatrists. They say it is likely to intensify the debate over the validity of the diagnosis, which has shaken child ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=840648 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:43:47 +0100 840648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=814245&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F146697182%2F Says Tufts University philosophy professor Daniel Denett: Words are “like sheepdogs herding ideas” Prof. Dennett is quoted in the August 21st New York Times in regard to the “science of magic.” In noting the role of words on the brain Prof. Denett notes that “Learn a bit of wine speak — “ripe black plums with an accent of earthy leather” — and you are suddenly equipped with anchors to pin down your fleeting gustatory impressions.” And what if language is not exactly the primary mode of communication, as in the case of my son Charlie? Share This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=814245 Tue, 21 Aug 2007 23:24:26 +0100 814245 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=719431&cid=t_112430_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F131362023%2F Are you an owl or a lark? I don’t mean do you sound like this or more like this, but what are your sleeping habits? A Blog Around the Clock notes this distinction in a post entitled Sleep Schedules in Adolescents: Everyone, from little children, through teens and young adults to elderly, belongs to one of the ‘chronotypes’. You can be a more or less extreme lark (phase-advanced, tend to wake up and fall asleep early), a more or less extreme owl (phase-delayed, tend to wake up and fall asleep late). You can be something in between - some kind of “median” (I don’t want to call this normal, because the whole spectrum is normal) chronotype. Along a different continuum, one can be very rigid (usually the extreme larks find it really difficult to adjust to wo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=719431 Sat, 07 Jul 2007 09:45:46 +0100 719431 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=547263&cid=t_112430_122_f&fid=34736&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchanneln.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fteenage-brains.html title The Teen Braindescription The NIH 2002 Medicine for the Public Lecture Series presents child psychiatrist Jay Giedd on the neurodevelopment of the adolescent brain.producer National Institutes of Healthfeaturing Jay Gieddformat WMVdate 15/10/02length 01:00:36link http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=3125&fID=345Tags: webcast brain adolescence neurodevelopment (Source: Channel N) Channel N blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=547263 Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:39:00 +0100 547263