In a move that I hope other states will emulate, the US state of California has establish an advisory committee to address the education of students with Autism. The state department of education announced that the committee convened its first meeting 26 February 2007. The committee is charged with developing means for disseminating research findings including establishing a clearinghouse for educationally relevant research on Autism.
Continue reading ‘CA Autism Advisory Committee’
Monthly Archive for February, 2007
Roni Rabin reports that older males may be contributing to the incidence of disorders such as Autism and schizophrenia. Writing in the New York (NY, US) Times on 27 February 2007 under the headline “It Seems the Fertility Clock Ticks for Men, Too,” Ms. Rabin covers some of the same evidence Leslie Feldman covered here for EBD Blog. This is Ms. Rabin’s lead:
Continue reading ‘NYT on paternal age’
Wednesday 21 February 2007 the US Federal Drug Administration ordered that medications for treating ADHD must carry warnings about possible risks associated with taking them. The drugs place people taking them at risk for cadiovascular problems and adverse psychiatric reactions. Here are the first paragraphs of the press release:
Continue reading ‘ADHD medication risks’
I came upon the Web site and blog of Rayna and Andrew Houvouras, and I was glad to see it. “Applying Behavior Concepts” is a resource for those interested in the application of scientific understanding to problems of students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Autism, Mental Retardation, and related disabilities. The Hourvourases are licensed to practice behavior analysis by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board, which is a substantial stamp of quality.
Continue reading ‘Houvourases resources’
In a segment about Autism that aired 18 February, the US television magazine 60 Minutes got some things right but misrepresented some other things. Gina Green, an eminent authority on Autism wrote a letter to 60 Minutes explaining the misrepresentation and encouraging the show’s producers to correct it. Gina generously agreed to let me publish the letter here.
Dear “60 Minutes:”
Having worked with “60 Minutes” producers several years ago on a story on the bogus autism intervention Facilitated Communication, I know that yours is one of the few network news programs that makes an effort to present accurate information based on sound evidence. That was confirmed in the portion of your February 18 segment on autism that featured a scientist who spoke to the lack of objective evidence that there is an “epidemic” of autism. But the portion of that segment that dealt with early intervention was not up to your standards. The discovery that early intensive intervention using the methods of applied behavior analysis can produce normal functioning in a large subset of children with autism was not made recently by the MIND Institute, as your program implied, but by Dr. Ivar Lovaas back in 1987. That finding has been replicated several times by other behavior analysts, as documented in published studies (see the attached reference list). It would be great if “60 Minutes” could do a followup story on that very exciting science and some of the wonderful human success stories that have resulted from it.
Sincerely,
Gina Green, PhD, BCBA
Link to the 60 Minute Web site that provides access to some of the show’s contents.
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