Over on Science-Based Medicine, Dr. David Gorski has an extended entry entitled “2009: Shaping up to be a really bad year for antivaccinationists.” Dr. Gorski, who has repeatedly written on the topic of putative causes of Autism, connects lots of dots in this piece.
Monthly Archive for February, 2009
The US National Academies Press announced the publication of a book entitled Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities that discusses prevention of problems during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Edited by Mary Ellen O’Connell, Thomas Boat, and Kenneth E. Warner, the book represents the work of the Board on Children, Youth and Families. It is available in hardback, as a PDF, or online (the last option is free).
Mental health and substance use disorders among children, youth, and young adults are major threats to the health and well-being of younger populations which often carryover into adulthood. The costs of treatment for mental health and addictive disorders, which create an enormous burden on the affected individuals, their families, and society, have stimulated increasing interest in prevention practices that can impede the onset or reduce the severity of the disorders.
Prevention practices have emerged in a variety of settings, including programs for selected at-risk populations (such as children and youth in the child welfare system), school-based interventions, interventions in primary care settings, and community services designed to address a broad array of mental health needs and populations.
Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People updates a 1994 Institute of Medicine book, Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders, focusing special attention on the research base and program experience with younger populations that have emerged since that time.
Researchers, such as those involved in prevention science, mental health, education, substance abuse, juvenile justice, health, child and youth development, as well as policy makers involved in state and local mental health, substance abuse, welfare, education, and justice will depend on this updated information on the status of research and suggested directions for the field of mental health and prevention of disorders.
Link to the press release or the ordering page.
The Virginia Institute of Autism (VIA) will host a workshop by Joanne Gerenser, Executive Director of the Eden II Programs (New York, NY; US), entitled “The Key to Quality of Life: Effective Communication.” The focus of the workshop, which is aimed at professionals who work with individuals with Autism, is on meaningful communicate interactions. It is slated to occur from 1:00 to 4:30 PM on 24 March 2009 at the University of Virginia Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Charlottesville (VA, US).
Download a PDF flyer about the event. Links: (a) VIA School, Eden II and Genesis Programs, & KCRC.
Mental Health America, a large and active US group that advocates for people with emotional and behavioral disorders, will focus its centennial celebration around the theme, “’Celebrating the Legacy; Forging the Future’ 1909 – 2009.”
Mental Health America is celebrating 100 years of advocacy, public education, and support for Americans with mental health conditions. Over the past century, we have transformed our nation’s approach to mental health by working to create a just, humane and healthy society in which all people are accorded respect, dignity and the opportunity to achieve their full potential free from stigma and prejudice.
These are the folks who famously recast as a bell the shackles that had been used to restrain people with mental illness. That bell now symbolize improved—but still not perfected—understanding and treatment for people with mental illness. In addition to offering many other valuable services (policy advocacy, hotlines, etc.), MHA educates the public about mental health and mental illness. It provides fact sheets about (to list just a few) anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, schizophrenia, and suicide.
Mental Health America
2000 N. Beauregard Street, 6th Floor Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone (703) 684-7722
Toll free (800) 969-6642
TTY 800/433-5959
Fax (703) 684-5968
In the context of increasing cases of measles in Great Britain—cases rose from 990 in 2007 to 1348 in 2008; add those ‘08 data to the accompanying graph—there is another report that the foundational study of the putative link between vaccinations and Autism may have used cooked data. Writing in the London (UK) Sunday Times on 8 February 2009 under the head line “MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism,” Brian Deer reported the results of an investigation of medical records for the cases on which Dr. Wakefield based his famous (notorious?) study published in The Lancet:
THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found.
Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.
Mr. Deer has been hard on this case for some time now. This is the latest in his on-going investigation. (As a result of his reporting, he has been accused of being in the pocket of pharmaceutical companies.) One can learn much more about his investigation from Brian Deer: the Lancet scandal.
The measles data come from a BBC story. Flash of the electrons to Phil Plait (and Todd Cissell) of Bad Astronomy for the alert to the most recent Times article. For more reaction, see Orac (great detail), Pharyngula, MedicFacility, SkepticsBook, The Voyage, JohnRay, and HunterGatherer. Harold Doherty of Facing Autism in NB considers the conviction of Dr. Wakefield premature: “These are obviously very serious allegations. Perhaps I am biased, being a humble, small town lawyer in New Brunswick, Canada but I prefer to await the decision of the tribunal before reporting the verdict.” For a contrary view, see on Sunday Times – Sinks To New Low With Yet More MMR Junk Journalism on ChildHealthSafety. Others will emerge.
Later this month Ronald Leaf and Mitch Taubman of Autism Partnership will present a workshop in the Los Angeles area, and it is likely to be of interest and benefit to some readers of EBD Blog. The session. entitled “It Has To Be Said! ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,’” promises to discuss contemporary topics such as causes, alternative treatments, inclusion, effectiveness, and more. It’s slated for 8:30 AM -2:30 PM 26 February 2009 in Seal Beach (CA, US). Here’s a special plus: Unlike many workshops, this one will not costs $100s—It’s only $90 per person ($75 for parents)!
I wonder what they’re mad about. Could it be the lunchmeat that is served as fine food in the Autism world? I hope someone who attends will report back to me by dropping a comment.
Download an announcement (PDF) of the workshop.
Under the title “The Father Factor: How Dad’s Age Increases Baby’s Risk of Mental Illness: Could becoming a father after age 40 raise the risks that your children will have a mental illness?” in Scientific American, Paul Raeburn reported on the association of paternal age with childhood schizophrenia and Autism. Using the birth of his own child as a springboard, Mr. Raeburn recounts some of the research on this topic. For example, he covers Dolores Malaspina’s epidemiological work as well as mouse-analog studies by Jay Gingrich. It’s a good introduction to the topic.
Read Mr. Raeburn’s article. Also, for additional resources, please see Leslie Feldman’s “Fathers’ Age as Contributor to Risk for Autism” from right here on EBD Blog.
by.
Over on Behavior Mod Info I posted an entry about CNN covering brief, intensive intervention for a family with a child who has Autism. The story covers work done by the Autism Partnership. Here’s the link.
EBD Blog Comments