Autism News Articles
November 11th – November 19h 2007
AFA (The Alliance for Families with Autism) prepares these news articles as a courtesy to your inbox and can be found archived at:
www.autismnewsarticles.blogspot.com
visit often.
Send your articles to:
Ktchmeifucan2002@yahoo.ca
Come and join us for the next Sibshop!
For Siblings of children with special needs
Sudbury Ontario
For children 8 to 13
Date: Saturday December 8th, 2007
Time: 9:30 - noon
Location: Children’s Treatment Centre
Cost: $5.00 (scholarships available)
Theme: It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
For further information or to register, contact Joanne Tramontini at 523-7337 extension 1483. The Sibshop will proceed if there are enough registrations.
From a listmate
Good days and bad days: Seven Strategies to cope
If you have a child with autism, then you know life is NOT like a rollercoaster ride. It’s more like….. (read the rest)
http://www.nlconcepts.com/autism-cope.htm
Seven Dollar Savings
Pick two packs of your choice from the well known Learn to Talk About series and get a $7 discount. This offer is valid for 2 weeks only. To qualify for this discount you must use the following coupon code: nov1410
http://www.nlconcepts.com/index.htm
Natural Learning Concepts
http://www.nlconcepts.com
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From a listmate
November 13, 2007 NEW BRUNSWICK TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL PAGE: A1 (NEWS;NEWS)
Dad's blog shines light on autism
Autism Father advocates son's condition via blogging
Melissa Dunne For the Telegraph-Journal
As Harold Doherty's autistic son grows bigger, stronger, and harder to handle, so too does his blog about his youngest child's condition.
The Fredericton lawyer, along with other members of Autism Society New Brunswick, is constantly lobbying the provincial government to provide more funding, more trained individuals to deal with autistic children in schools, and more institutions designed to deal with the needs of adult autistic children.
Doherty's son, Conor, 11, has severe, low-functioning autism and communicates through shrieks and sometimes bites and physically lashes out at his family.
Doherty usually rises before the crack of dawn to update his blog, to answer e-mails from other autism advocates, and to set plans to get his message heard. He reckons he spends close to 20 hours per week on his advocacy work, on top of working full-time as a lawyer since his son was diagnosed nine years ago.
"I don't like it when things are glossed over," says Doherty.
"Nine years ago there were a lot of buzz words like 'community inclusion' being used, but nothing was actually being done, there were no real strategies. I decided to get things done and be very focused about it."
He started out doing traditional advocacy work, writing letters to members of the provincial legislature, picketing, and meeting with like-minded people.
Then, in 2006, Doherty represented controversial local blogger Charles LeBlanc, who went on trial for charges of obstructing a police officer and was later acquitted.
"Charles LeBlanc annoys a lot of people," says Doherty. "But I realized talking to some lawyer friends that a lot of people in the government read his blog just to see what he wrote about them."
A light bulb went off.
Doherty wanted the government to read what he had to say, too - so he started his blog, Facing Autism in New Brunswick, and now gets visitors from all over the world reading and posting on his site.
With about one in 165 Canadian children being diagnosed with some form of autism these days the blog offers a place not only for Doherty to spout his opinions, but also a place to get information and to connect with other families raising autistic children.
The blog has also drawn some criticism.
Some readers do not think Doherty should detail the life of his son on his blog, or advocate for easier access to therapy.
Since autism manifests itself differently in each person, some in the autism community argue intense therapy and isolation is not needed, says Doherty.
In turn, Doherty argues even though not everyone with autism needs the same amount of special care his son does, he has the right to share his story.
"I like to put pictures of my son up showing he's enjoying life, but also showing the realities of living with autism.
"I will always keep on blogging and doing advocacy work, I can't see myself stopping."
Doherty says many New Brunswick families he knows with autistic children end up having to go to Nova Scotia or Maine to find a medical institution that can house and treat the needs of autistic adult children. He does not want the same thing to happen to his family.
"The province shouldn't be sending autistic (adult) children out of province. It has to be tough on parents not to have their kids near home with them."
From a listmate
Dad's blog shines light on autism
Autism Father advocates son's condition via blogging
Melissa Dunne For the Telegraph-Journal
As Harold Doherty's autistic son grows bigger, stronger, and harder to handle, so too does his blog about his youngest child's condition.
The Fredericton lawyer, along with other members of Autism Society New Brunswick, is constantly lobbying the provincial government to provide more funding, more trained individuals to deal with autistic children in schools, and more institutions designed to deal with the needs of adult autistic children.
Doherty's son, Conor, 11, has severe, low-functioning autism and communicates through shrieks and sometimes bites and physically lashes out at his family.
Doherty usually rises before the crack of dawn to update his blog, to answer e-mails from other autism advocates, and to set plans to get his message heard. He reckons he spends close to 20 hours per week on his advocacy work, on top of working full-time as a lawyer since his son was diagnosed nine years ago.
"I don't like it when things are glossed over," says Doherty.
"Nine years ago there were a lot of buzz words like 'community inclusion' being used, but nothing was actually being done, there were no real strategies. I decided to get things done and be very focused about it."
He started out doing traditional advocacy work, writing letters to members of the provincial legislature, picketing, and meeting with like-minded people.
Then, in 2006, Doherty represented controversial local blogger Charles LeBlanc, who went on trial for charges of obstructing a police officer and was later acquitted.
"Charles LeBlanc annoys a lot of people," says Doherty. "But I realized talking to some lawyer friends that a lot of people in the government read his blog just to see what he wrote about them."
A light bulb went off.
Doherty wanted the government to read what he had to say, too - so he started his blog, Facing Autism in New Brunswick, and now gets visitors from all over the world reading and posting on his site.
With about one in 165 Canadian children being diagnosed with some form of autism these days the blog offers a place not only for Doherty to spout his opinions, but also a place to get information and to connect with other families raising autistic children.
The blog has also drawn some criticism.
Some readers do not think Doherty should detail the life of his son on his blog, or advocate for easier access to therapy.
Since autism manifests itself differently in each person, some in the autism community argue intense therapy and isolation is not needed, says Doherty.
In turn, Doherty argues even though not everyone with autism needs the same amount of special care his son does, he has the right to share his story.
"I like to put pictures of my son up showing he's enjoying life, but also showing the realities of living with autism.
"I will always keep on blogging and doing advocacy work, I can't see myself stopping."
Doherty says many New Brunswick families he knows with autistic children end up having to go to Nova Scotia or Maine to find a medical institution that can house and treat the needs of autistic adult children. He does not want the same thing to happen to his family.
"The province shouldn't be sending autistic (adult) children out of province. It has to be tough on parents not to have their kids near home with them."
From a Listmate
Autism Can Be Treated
http://www.newswithviews.com/Dean/carolyn37.htm
From a Listmate
http://ca.geocities.com/bruce_mcintosh2003/culturemyass/index.html
Our reality.
From a Listmate
Compassion and intelligence were sadly lacking in the Taser death of Robert Dziekanski
November 16, 2007.
Vancouver Sun
Gerald Dewan
As upsetting as may have been to him, I had no choice but to show my 15-year-old son Thursday's headlines with pictures showing the death of Robert Dziekanski at the hands of the RCMP. My son, you see, has an invisible developmental disability. Because he's high functioning, many people would not assume that he has a form of autism. But faced with frustration, he has experienced public meltdowns involving kicking inanimate objects and yelling. At these times, he is unable to communicate his needs to others. After a few minutes to collect himself, he is always most apologetic to those around him.
I needed to show him Dziekanski's final, awful moments to teach him that any time he loses it in public he might have less than 23 seconds before being brutally Tasered and perhaps dying at the hands of the authority figures he has been taught to respect.
Gerald Dewan
Burnaby
Ask Lindsay Moir:
The "best" diagnosis to attract resources
Friday, November 16, 2007
Note: This question was a result of a family consultation with a client and I have omitted personal information about the student which I was privy to by telephone and e-mail.
Question:
Our child has a multiple diagnosis. Our school erroneously told us we could list "only one diagnosis", but we now know about "Multiple" as a category of exceptionality! However the process of working through this, has led us to this question:
"In listing the various exceptionalities, is there one that we should list first, in order to get a higher level of support?"
Answer:
The five Ministry Categories & Definitions of Exceptionality are, as follows:
• Communication... listed as "Communication-Autism" or "Communication-LD" etc
• Physical...
• Intellectual... listed as "Intellectual-Gifted", "Intellectual-Mild Intellectual Disability" etc
• Behaviour...
• Multiple...listed as "Multiple-Physical & Communication-Autism" etc
At any stage of the Identification process, I believe that NEEDS attract resources . . . health and safety needs draw resources, because the consequences of failing to meet these needs creates "liability" for the school and board — if a child is a "runner" and adequate supervision is not provided, and something bad happens, the educators can be held responsible. As a principal, it is easier to draw extra resources if there is a health or safety concern. When allocating resources, principals assign resources to cover these NEEDS first. If your child has a HEALTH or SAFETY need, list the category that creates that need first. (i.e. if this is because of their "Communication-Autism", list Communication-Autism first. If it due to a medical condition, list "Physical" first.)
In my experience, there always has been a "flavour-of-the-month" . . . an exceptionality which captures the fancy of the general public, is of high interest to the Ministry and educators, and is funded in a way which allows schools to access extra supports and resources, specific to that exceptionality.
Currently the emphasis is on Communication-Autism. This high-profile exceptionality is on everyone's lips. School boards have "Autism Teams", the Ministry is funding extra teacher and support staff training, new curriculum initiatives are creating support documents.
Before Autism was so prominent, Sign Language for Deaf children caught our fancy, and interpreters were funded and trained, every event had an interpreter prominently included, ASL versus Signed English was a hot topic on PD days, and the debate over amplification versus Deaf Culture was in vogue.
Before that, Learning Disabilities and compensatory technology was the "flavour of the month".
I believe that Fetal Alcohol Syndrome will be the next exceptionality to capture the public fancy.
It is obviously to your child's benefit to emphasize any exceptionality at the peak of its "popularity".
As I have always said, "NEEDS drive everything", but you have raised an important secondary consideration for students who have a "Multiple Exceptionality" . . . the order in which you list their exceptionalities can place emphasis on certain needs or help to access certain resources —thank you for helping me to take a broader look at "identification". Anything which helps students to have their needs met, is a positive step.
Lindsay Moir retired from the Ministry of Education in 1997 and has been assisting agencies, associations and parents in obtaining appropriate special education services for exceptional pupils.
Family Net welcomes your questions about special education in Ontario.
E-mail Lindsay at ask.questions@yahoo.ca He will answer as many questions as possible.
From a Yahoo Group – listmate
Just a reminder to anyone who is interested.
I am presenting to the Catholic board SEAC next Wednesday Nov 21, 7:00p.m.
in the Board Room at the main board offices.
I am asking SEAC to post a motion that there needs to be visual curriculum
for all ASD children and for that matter any child who is a visual learner.
In essence this means that regardless of your child's functional language
level or literacy ability, visual materials would be deemed mandatory for
any course at any grade level and would circumvent language difficulties.
Typically no-one sits in the public gallery for these meetings, because the
gallery is not allowed to speak. I am asking anyone who is willing to come
and fill a seat so that the committee at least feels this is an issue that
is met with considerable interest. Additionally since the only thing I can
request of SEAC is that they take note of my presentation and follow up with
a motion, I would also love it if the gallery followed up with emails to
SEAC to make sure they actually do just that.
For all those with younger children, or those just in the early stages of
school and more concerned with IBI - it has often been said that unless we
are actually going through the journey of a certain age, developmental level
- we are not aware of the issues to come, or how they fit in to the big
picture - so in brief:
Let's assume a child makes jumps in ability, perhaps in part due to IBI
therapy, it doesn't really matter - unless they are fully recovered there
will probably come a time, when they are capable of sitting in a regular
classroom and learning. However chances are their language is in some way
and to some level deficient. It is also probable that even though they may
appear quite literate they actually do not have full comprehension of the
textbooks their peers use. So now you have a child who is older - possibly
in middle school, with 6 teachers, none who know anything about autism, none
of whom have time to make materials suitable for your child, or even learn
that much about your child. Your child may be at an ability level that
surpasses the EA, or just in a class that is not in the EAs repertoire
(music!) - and of course remember, EAs don't teach. So without adequate
language skills your child will not learn in this environment and no-one
will raise the bar to expect anything of them. If every course was
accompanied by a textbook made of visuals your child could achieve and
learn anything expected of his peers. EAs would layer on language as suited
your child, and teachers would be able to interact with your child guided by
an established yet visual curriculum. For heavens sake your child might
actually be expected to graduate.
So if you are not content with the status quo, please come and join me.
Thanks
Carole
Carole Greiss" carolegreiss@yahoo.ca
Google alert
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2007/11/18/4665069-sun.html
New leash on life for kids
Children with autism paired with trained canine companions
By TARINA WHITE, SUN MEDIA
After waiting 21/2 years, four Alberta children with autism met their new canine companions that will be tasked with providing assistance to keep the kids safe.
The four Labrador retriever service dogs flew into Calgary from Toronto yesterday to begin an intense week of training with their new families.
Wilma Pronk of Coaldale said she's thrilled to be receiving a service dog for her nine-year-old son, Jason, who is prone to running away.
"Unless you have a child like this, you don't understand having to watch somebody 100 percent of the time," she said, adding Jason has twice crossed a busy highway alone.
"Having a dog will just give him so much more freedom.
"If he's with the dog, we know he's safe -- it will just be a huge difference."
The Labs have been donated to the families by National Service Dogs, an Ontario-based charity starting a satellite training program in Calgary, said program director Chris Fowler.
The dog, which is attached to the child's waist by a belt and a leash held by a parent, works for the autistic child, but takes commands from an adult.
For example, if the child tries to walk off the sidewalk, the parent can tell the dog to stop and stay and the dog will use all of its power to slow the child down.
"Our primary focus is around safety," said Fowler.
"Often families that have a child with autism are confined to the house -- having the dog allows them to get out as a family."
Each dog has received two years of training at a cost of approximately $18,000, he said.
In addition to improving the children's safety, the dogs also have a calming effect on the kids and help them socially, said Fowler.
"It breaks down social barriers and a lot more people will approach the child."
Autism is a lifelong communication and behavioural disorder that about 1-in-200 Canadians is born with.
National Service Dogs is the only program in North America training dogs to help children with autism.
Google alert
http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?channel_id=131&relation_id=1883&news_channel_id=131&news_id=23507
Children with autism paired with dogs
Provided by: Sun Media
Written by: TARINA WHITE
Nov. 18, 2007
After waiting 21/2 years, four Alberta children with autism met their new canine companions that will be tasked with providing assistance to keep the kids safe.
The four Labrador retriever service dogs flew into Calgary from Toronto yesterday to begin an intense week of training with their new families.
Wilma Pronk of Coaldale said she's thrilled to be receiving a service dog for her nine-year-old son, Jason, who is prone to running away.
"Unless you have a child like this, you don't understand having to watch somebody 100 percent of the time," she said, adding Jason has twice crossed a busy highway alone.
"Having a dog will just give him so much more freedom.
"If he's with the dog, we know he's safe -- it will just be a huge difference."
The Labs have been donated to the families by National Service Dogs, an Ontario-based charity starting a satellite training program in Calgary, said program director Chris Fowler.
The dog, which is attached to the child's waist by a belt and a leash held by a parent, works for the autistic child, but takes commands from an adult.
For example, if the child tries to walk off the sidewalk, the parent can tell the dog to stop and stay and the dog will use all of its power to slow the child down.
"Our primary focus is around safety," said Fowler.
"Often families that have a child with autism are confined to the house -- having the dog allows them to get out as a family."
Each dog has received two years of training at a cost of approximately $18,000, he said.
In addition to improving the children's safety, the dogs also have a calming effect on the kids and help them socially, said Fowler.
"It breaks down social barriers and a lot more people will approach the child."
Autism is a lifelong communication and behavioural disorder that about 1-in-200 Canadians is born with.
National Service Dogs is the only program in North America training dogs to help children with autism.
For Tuesday Nov 20th
From a listmate
WHO WILL CARE”
Once she’s gone, Jean Winters, 55, worries who will look after her adult son Alec, who has Autism. It is a dilemma for thousands of parents of children with disabilities.
Trish Crawford reports Tues, in the Living Section (Tor Star)
From a listmate
In the Region
Long Island, Westchester , Connecticut and New Jersey
WHEN her son, Matthew, was born seven years ago, Evelyn Ain “set out to be the best parent” that she could be.
Having moved as a child from Russia to Israel , then settling in Valley Stream at age 12, she craved stability. She was an only child, and she wanted to provide her son “with everything that I didn’t have,” she said, including play dates and activities.
For Ms. Ain, 36, who opened a retail cellular phone shop at age 19 and nurtured her business into a nationwide chain of more than 100 stores, “that didn’t mean being a part-time parent,” she said. She walked away from her career and set up her life “to revolve around my family,” she said. Her husband, Gary , 43, is a real estate broker and investor.
She read about raising a child and, from the day Matthew was born, kept a log “just for fun” of every babble and crawl. It turned out to be a very useful document. She noticed that her son at 11 months wasn’t looking at her anymore, no longer babbled and seemed to have “lost his personality,” she said. Her pediatrician told her not to worry, but she saw “a drastic regression.”
Told by specialists to return when Matthew was 2, she didn’t want to wait, she said. At Kendall Speech and Language Center in Florida , an evaluation at 12 months concluded that he had pervasive developmental disorders, another term for autism spectrum disorders.
“I had to learn to be a parent of a child with special needs,” she said; she also became an advocate. Last April she founded Autism United, a national advocacy group, with Robert Krakow of Great Neck, a lawyer, and John Gilmore of Long Beach , who is executive director. It has a mailing list of 7,000.
On Nov. 7, Ms. Ain and 14 other parents from the nonprofit group gathered with protest signs outside the Nassau County Supreme Court here. Facing television cameras at a rally, they said local schools have not been providing the necessary intensive therapies and services to autistic students, and they threatened to sue the state.
“We have such a strong emphasis on early intervention, early detection,” said Ms. Ain, of Oyster Bay Cove, who in 2004 began publishing Spectrum, a bimonthly national magazine for families with children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Children are re-evaluated after preschool, she said, and services change. “What good is it if the services” don’t follow them through their school years? she asked.
As the number of children with a diagnosis of autism has skyrocketed, parents are fighting for appropriate education from districts straining to meet the increased demand, Mr. Gilmore said.
“We have parents on waiting lists for years to get into programs,” Ms. Ain said. She isn’t sure where her son, who now attends Variety Child Learning Center , a nonprofit program in Syosset, will be appropriately schooled once he becomes too old for that program next year. Matthew can read but cannot speak and, like all autistic children, has difficulty with social interactions.
The number of students on the Island classified as autistic more than doubled, from 1,343 in the 2001-2 school year to 3,005 in the 2006-7 school year, said Dr. Rebecca H. Cort, deputy commissioner for the New York State Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities. She attributed the increase in the numbers partly to a better diagnosis and “understanding of the range of the autism spectrum.”
The types of services that autistic students receive are “very individually determined,” Dr. Cort said. While there “isn’t any cap on the numbers of students who can be labeled with special education,” she said, there are shortages of professionals “in several areas of special education, not just in autism.”
While some districts offer services, others send students to programs run by one of the Island ’s three Boards of Cooperative Educational Services.
Matthew gets an hour of home therapy from a special education teacher after every school day, except during school breaks and vacations. Ms. Ain asserts that autistic children are entitled to a 12-month program; otherwise, she says, they regress.
Ms. Ain’s group, which raised about $150,000 at its inaugural walk in September, recently started resource centers at two agencies with programs for disabled individuals, the Family Residences and Essential Enterprises in Old Bethpage and Lifespire in Manhattan .
Ms. Ain said school districts need to go beyond academics to help autistic children. “My child needs to learn how to turn on the water to make sure it’s not too hot before he washes his hands,” she said. He can search the Internet and print out pictures of toys, but “he needs to learn how to cross the street in a safe fashion.”
“He needs to learn things that other kids don’t need to learn.”
E-mail: lijournal@nytimes.com
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