Archive for the 'Musings' Category

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Secretin reminder

Published on 17 August 2009 in Autism, Musings, Research, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Although I have followed the promotion of secretin as a treatment for Autism pretty much since the first reports about it, I hadn’t checked on it lately. My initial foray into the topic in 1998 resulted in some skepticism with hedges. As the research evolved, it became clear that the skepticism was warranted.

However, I was surprised that Stephen Edelson, writing in a 2008 article entitled The secretin story: Still a promising treatment for autism,” considered “the studies investigating the efficacy of secretin have been very positive.” Coupled with some vaguely remembered notion that fewer than 50% of physicians discouraged use of secretin, the article gave me pause. I thought, “Hmmm. Maybe you’re earlier analysis was hasty, John.”
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Media matters

Published on 30 July 2009 in Bi-polar, Depression, Families, Musings, Schizophrenia and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The recent posts about news coverage of mental illness (e.g., “Danny Watt’s Story” and “Jani Illustrates Troubles“) has had me thinking about how popular media portray these problems. Over on Psych Central, Margarita Tartakovsky has an article entitled “Media’s Damaging Depictions of Mental Illness” that I recommend to readers of EBD Blog. In addition to discussing myths that are too commonly perpetuated by media such as television and film, she recommends ways to help distinguish between accurate and inaccurate portrayals of mental illness.

Link to Ms. Tartakovsky’s article.

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Remembering seclusion and restraint

Published on 21 April 2009 in Behavior management, Families, Musings, News, Policy and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Over on her Ed Week blog, Christina Samuels posted an entry entitled, “Use of Seclusion, Restraints on Students at Issue: Watchdog agency preparing report on practices.” She reports not only about current efforts to keep awareness of the issue high, but also about the sometimes-tragic background on the issue.

In my view, paddling and spanking should also be on the list. These are not appropriate, let alone effective, methods.

Because students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders are probably more likely to experience seclusion and restraint, it is important for the special education and mental health communities to help in sustaining awareness of the issue.

Read Ms. Samuels’ post.

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Stanford Medicine Magazine

Published on 20 April 2009 in Autism, Musings, News, Policy, Prevention, Research, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The spring 2009 issue of Stanford Medicine Magazine, a publication of the Stanford University School of Medicine, examines the turmoil swirling around vaccines. In “Hot Shots: Vaccines under the gun” one can read any of ten articles (not counting an introductory comment by Rosalyn Carter):

  • The demonization of immunization: Shots get the once-over
  • What is a vaccine? Immunization demystified
  • Asking How: Vaccine Side Effects Probed
  • When science gets hijacked: NBC News chief medical editor tells why she broke her silence
  • Insourced to India: A vaccine for a scourge of the developing world
  • Peet’s passion: The medical education of Amanda Peet
  • Field yields: Can genetically engineered plants provide vaccines?
  • Shoot it, don’t smoke it: An injectable tobacco-grown vaccine
  • Golden needles: Vaccines for seniors
  • Grow up: Can vaccines built for kids work in older immune systems too?

Few of the folks who ardently oppose vaccines will likely be swayed by the content provided here. However, this magazine provides an excellent broad-brush treatment of the topic for those who are curious, savvy, and vulnerable to reason.

Link to the issue on the Web. Flash of the electrons to Liz Ditz for alerting me to this excellent resource.

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Lest we forget about teaching academics

Published on 27 March 2009 in Musings, News, Prevention, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I’ve harped on this a couple of times before, but I’m returning to it because it is very important. We have to resist the sirens’ call to ignore academic instruction for students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Just as much as their peers who do not have disabilities, these pupils need to learn the skills and content that will allow them to have a reasonable chance at success in life. Reading competence is critical.

Watch this video as a refresher course:

Link to the video and to the Children of the Code Web site. Explore there.

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Does Rossignol et al. show HBOT’s effective?

Published on 21 March 2009 in Autism, Families, Musings, News, Research and The press. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

“Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial” by Daniel A. Rossignol, Lanier W. Rossignol, Scott Smith, Cindy Schneider, Sally Logerquist, Anju Usman, Jim Neubrander, Eric M. Madren, Gregg Hintz, Barry Grushkin, Elizabeth A. Mumper appeared as an on-line publication 13 March 2009 and will appear in print in BMC Pediatrics. The article URL is http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/9/21

The recently published study by Rossignol and colleagues about hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for Autism has generated lots of commentary and is sure to lead to more. Because it is a treatment study and employs more careful methods than are common in many of the therapies promoted these days, I sat up and said, “Hmm. I ought to read this one.”

So I did. And I found it to be, indeed, a cut above much of the ersatz research that’s passed off as evidence in the Autism arena. But, I found some concerns, too.

Those concerns led me to poke about a bit on the Internet to see whether there were any others who were raising questions. There are. And I still have some more poking to do. But, I thought I ought to record my concerns. Thus this post.

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Gun safety at home

Published on 23 December 2008 in Families, Musings, News, Prevention and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The combination of a child and a gun is frightening to me. Although guns are certainly not involved in all of them, “In the United States, unintentional injury, homicide, and suicide are the first, second, and fourth leading causes of death among persons aged 1–19 years, respectively,” according to Stephanie J. Bernard, Leonard J. Paulozzi, and L. J. David Wallace, of the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (U. S. Center for Disease Control).

When one adds into the kids-guns mix the variable of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, the situation becomes even more concerning. Some children with EBD may lack the ability to discriminate between a real and a toy gun; others may not have the impulse control to defer acting like they are shooting a gun upon picking one up; clowning around might lead to an accident. And none of those examples even begin to consider the possibility of premeditated actions.
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Teaching them matters

Published on 20 November 2008 in Acting out, ADHD, Behavior management, Conduct disorder, Musings, News, Research, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , .

In “Failing Sam,” Jessica Shyu—who taught special education for two years at an American Indian reservation school in New Mexico—makes an important point about what we provide educationally for students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Teachers may become lulled by having a quiet, disruption-free classroom and overlook the need to provide beneficial instruction. She recalls a particularly challenging student named “Sam.”

His reputation preceded him. A week before he even arrived at school, the teachers were eagerly sharing horror stories they’d heard about the 12-year-old. It was a mix of rumor and truth. They told me about his alcohol problem. They told me about how he doused his cousin with gasoline and lit her on fire. They told me I would be lucky to get him to sit down and not hurt anyone.

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Greene on Floortime

Published on 18 October 2008 in Autism, Musings, News, Research, The press and Treatment. 2 Comments Tags: .

Writing for the New York Times, Melissa Fay Greene provides a sympathetic view of the variation on D.I.R.-Floortime (D.I.R. stands for “developmental, individual-difference, relationship-based) methods employed by The Community School of Decatur (GA, US). In “Reaching an Autistic Teenager,” Ms. Greene describes several youths behavior and progress at the school, which was started by a parent of one of the students.
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Legislation to cheer

Published on 10 September 2008 in Families, Musings, News and Policy. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

According to correspondent Julio C. Abreu (Senior Director for Government Affairs at Mental Health America), negotiators for the US House and Senate are near or have reached a compromise that reconciles H.R. 1424 (“No Discrimination in Health Insurance Act of 2008″) and S. 558 (“Mental Health Parity Act of 2007″). These two bills are different versions of similar legislation that will require private health insurance plans to cover mental health (and other) services, just as they cover other conditions. This is, excuse me, HUGE for families of children and youths with emotional and behavioral disorders. I hope that the mental health community, including Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Alliance for Children and Families, springs into action and endorses resolution of this long-festering problem.
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Large dose of reason needed

Published on 19 June 2008 in Autism, Families, Musings and News. 2 Comments Tags: , .

If you are a person who might have thought “facilitated communication” was too far out, think again. This one will probably make you shake your head in disbelief.

School officials called Colleen Leduc and asked that she go to the school of her daughter Victoria, an 11-year old who has Autism. When she got there, they told Ms. Leduc that they had allegations that Victoria was being sexually abused. Of course, the school officials had performed their legal duty and notified child protective services.

How did they come by such startling knowledge? Leduc was incredulous as they poured out their story.

“The teacher looked and me and said: ‘We have to tell you something. The educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular time if she works with a little girl by the name of “V.” And she said ‘yes, I do.’ And she said, ‘well, you need to know that that child is being sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.’”

What’ll folks come up with next?

Of course, you should read the entire story here or here (thanks, Mark), or track the coverage here. Flashes of the electrons to PZ Myers (Pharyngula), Janice Liedl, and BoingBoing.

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MDRI added

Published on 23 May 2008 in Administrivia, Musings, News and Policy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I’m pleased to add a link to the Web Resources section of EBD Blog that points to the Web site for Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI). MDRI is devoted to ensuring that people with disabilities can participate in society, regardless of the country in which they live. Among other things, MDRI has influenced laws and governmental agencies to promote the human rights of individuals with disabilities.

MDRI documents conditions, publishes reports on human rights enforcement, and promotes international oversight of the rights of people with mental disabilities. Drawing on the skills and experience of attorneys, mental health professionals, human rights advocates, people with mental disabilities and their family members, MDRI trains and supports advocates seeking legal and service system reform and assists governments to develop laws and policies to promote community integration and human rights enforcement for people with mental disabilities. The organization is forging new alliances throughout the world to challenge the discrimination and abuse faced by people with mental disabilities, as well as working with locally based advocates to create new advocacy projects and to promote citizen participation and human rights for children and adults.

Individuals with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders should enjoy the same basic human rights as anyone else. From this perspective, it is easy to see why EBD Blog endorses the efforts of MDRI. To save readers the need to locate the link in the side bar, here’s a jump to MDRI’s home page.

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