EBD Blog

Earlier this week, the Charleston (WV, US) Daily Mail carried a story entitled “Black children with autism diagnosed later” that reported about the problem of false negative identifications by ethnicity. The story recounts the case of a boy named Ronnie who went through a string of other diagnoses before being identified as having autism.
Continue reading ‘Ethnicity and diagnosis’

Danielle Deaver of the of the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal has a detailed and compelling pair of articles about Autism and the struggles of families to find and pay for effective treatment. Under the headlines “A Costly Search for Help, Answers” and “Effective Help is Out of Reach for Most Families,” Ms. Deaver proivdes an unusually good treatment of the difficult choices that families face and the constraints under which state and local education agencies operate.

Sadly, schools in some places may use policies favoring inclusion, generic labeling, and narrow interpretations of the Rowley principle in ways that preclude children and their families from receiving needed services. Ms. Deaver describes the case of Debbie and Michael Wittenberg’s son as an illustration of these sort of policies; the case is currently in legal review.
Continue reading ‘Autism coverage’

A blogger somewhere in EBD Blog’s neighborhood who is identified as “Hymes” maintains a site entitled Charlottesville Prejudice Watch. CPW appears to focus on psychiatric disability issues, some with a personal spin and others with a broader perspective. Although there are entries relevant to children and youth (see one about Whisper Ridge), CPW does not appear to have a specific interest in children and youth nor in schooling, but some of the issues covered there may be of importance to readers of this source, so I’m noting it here.
Continue reading ‘Charlottesville Prejudice Watch’

NARSAD: The Mental Health Research Association announced its grants for 2007, including 23 Distinguished Investigators and 222 Young Investigators. The awards represent more than $15 million in grants, and many of them are relevant to Emotional and Behavioral Disorders among children and youths.
Continue reading ‘NARSAD 2007′

Over on ms-teacher, a teacher has a little piece applauding a mother’s response to her daughter being suspended from school for bullying. The entry refers to a newspaper article describing how 12-year-old Miasha Williams’ mother had her hold a sign reading “I engaged in bullying behavior. I got suspended from school and this street corner. Don’t be like me. Stop bullying” in front of schools.
Continue reading ‘Bully picture’

In an article entitled “City special-ed lapses increase school violence,” Martha Woodall and Susan Snyder of the Philadelphia (PA, US) Inquirer describe how the local education agency’s failure to provide appropriate services to a student with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders played a role in that student’s beating of a teacher. On 23 February 2007 in a hallway outside Frank Burd’s algebra class, student Donte Boykin pushed his teacher (Mr. Burd) into another student, James Footman. Mr. Footman punched Mr. Burd in the face repeatedly, and Mr. Burd fell, breaking his neck.
Continue reading ‘Schools failed’

In November of 2006 a group of organizations and individuals concerned about violence in schools and interested in advocating for children—the National Consortium of School Violence Prevention Researchers and Practitioners (NCSVPRP)—developed and endorsed a statement about shootings in schools. As indicated in part of the statement, these folks are promoting sensible and evidence-based approaches to preventing school violence.
Continue reading ‘Preventing shootings’

Writing in the Toronto (ON, CA) Globe and Mail, Hayley Mick describes the case of Tina Szenasi and her effort to help her two autistic sons by feeding them gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet. Ms. Mick sympathetically reports Ms. Szenasi’s story and then politely points out that the research on the diet’s effectiveness is not as encouraging as the popular discussion of it.
Continue reading ‘Diet for Autism’

From Sarup Mathur, president of the Council for Children with Behavior Disorders (and a former student of Rob’s), here is a formal statement of the sad news that reached us this weekend about Rob’s death.

It is with profound sadness and deep sorrow that I inform you of the terrible news that one of our finest leader, colleague, mentor, and friend Robert Rutherford died unexpectedly at his home in Arizona on Friday, May 4, 2007.

Rob devoted his life to understanding individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders, working assiduously to help those most at-risk in our society develop ways to enhance their chances for success. His extraordinary dedication and commitment will always remind us to continually strive towards making the world a better place for students with emotional and behavioral disorders and their families.

I ask that you keep Rob and the Rutherford family in your prayers during this most sorrowful of times.

A viewing will be held Wednesday evening, May 9th, from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Messinger Mortuary 7601 E. Indian School Rd. Scottsdale, AZ.

The funeral will be held Thursday morning, May 10th, at 10:00 AM at Our Lady of Perpetual Help 7655 E. Main Street Scottsdale, AZ.

Sincerely,

Sarup Mathur, CCBD President

Here’s a link to the CCBD Web site. I’ll add my observations in a comment.

A school board in Milwaukee (WI, US) voted to develop a policy that would allow schools to permit the use of handcuffs on students. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commented on this issue in an editorial in late April. Here’s the beginning of that editorial:
Continue reading ‘Handcuffs in school’