Archive for the 'Treatment' Category

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Altering Autism insurance coverage legislation in VA

Published on 30 March 2011 in Autism, Families, News, Policy, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Writing in the Richmond Times Dispatch, Olympia Meola reported on potential changes in support for insurance coverage for therapy for children with Autism in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the US. Under the headline “McDonnell will try to amend autism bill,” Ms. Meola described developments in Governor Robert “Bob” McDonnell’s plans for altering recent legislation requiring insurance payments for treatment.

Gov. Bob McDonnell is expected today to reveal proposed changes to a bill requiring insurance coverage of autism treatments, and some could be substantial alterations to what the General Assembly passed.

Conversations were continuing as of Tuesday between the governor’s office, lawmakers and interested parties about possible changes to a measure that would require coverage of autistic children ages 2 to 6.

Advocates of the bill said some significant tweaks could be “deal breakers.”

The amendments floated in the past week range in scope, from technical to more substantial, including changes in who could supervise treatment and when the law would take effect, according to those familiar with the proposals.

Link to Ms. Meola’s story.

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ASAT newsletter’s available

Published on 8 February 2011 in Autism, Families, News, Research, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

For those readers interested in Autism who do not already subscribe to the newsletter of the Association for Science in Autism (ASAT), I have a nourishing treat: The latest issue of Science in Autism Treatment (SIAT) is now available. You can learn about ASAT and SIAT by going to the ASAT homepage and scouting about the many valuable resources there, including learning about and subscribing to the SIAT newsletter. Subscribe and you won’t have to depend on my flaky reminder system to let you know when one arrives in my mailbox!

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Follow up of Fast Track

Published on 7 February 2011 in Acting out, News, Prevention, Research, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

These are the lead researchers in the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group with their current universities (over the years, some have changed affiliations):

The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, a team of composed of seven of the most eminent US scholars studying the development of childhood behavior disorders, published another in its series of papers tracking the outcomes of the children it has been following in a long-term study about preventing acting out disorders. In this longer-term follow-up analysis, the team found that the effects were still present for the children who showed the most risk of having behavior disorders in the first place.

This project and these folks are the big time. The work has been conducted very carefully and cannot be represented as an example of over-hyped findings.
Continue reading ‘Follow up of Fast Track’

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Mental Health Initiative

Published on 9 November 2010 in Autism, Depression, Families, Musings, News, Policy, Schizophrenia and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Sometimes folks lose sight of the fact that disability and mental health issues are international in scope. They’re not confined just to one’s own neighborhood, locality, geopolitical area, etc. Fortunately, there are groups that transcend borders (you can probably think of the names of some well-know organizations that function internationally), and there are some in EBD, too. The Open Society Mental Health Initiative is an example:

The OSI Public Health Program’s Mental Health Initiative aims to ensure that people with mental disabilities (mental health problems and/or intellectual disabilities) are able to live as equal citizens in the community and to participate in society with full respect for their human rights. The Mental Health Initiative focuses on ending the unjustified and inappropriate institutionalization of people with mental disabilities by advocating for the closure of institutions and the development of community-based alternatives. The initiative works in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (read more about the history of mental health policies in this region).

The OSI initiative is more than a one-trick pony. It’s about a lot of things, and its foci include children with Autism, mental health issues, and more. I encourage readers to check the site. Here is a link to the OSI MHI home page.

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If we ignore problems, they don’t go away

Published on 20 September 2010 in Administration, Families, Musings, News, Policy, The press and Treatment. 3 Comments

Ignoring children’s mental health problems will just make things worse. Left to their own devices, very few kids are likely to work things out independently. And a lot more problems exist than we might like to admit exist.

The schools in Virginia identify about 1 student in every 100 students as needing special education services because she or he has emotional or behavioral disorders. Yet, the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services estimates that 1 in every 5 children will need mental health services. To be sure, not every child who needs mental health services will need special education services, and vice versa. Still, the discrepancy between these numbers illustrates the enormous gaps in recognition of needs and provision of help for children that different agencies offer. Greater coordination and collaboration are important. It should start with understanding and communication. Case management, wrap-around services, and similar practices would be fine results of such communication.

Not all mental health problems are manifested in destructive, overt, disobedient actions. Nor are all mental health problems hidden, repressed, anxiety disorders. They come in lots of shapes and sizes, affect children across the intellectual spectrum, are not confined to any particular ethnic group (nor is any ethnic group immune to them). Mental health problems can strike anywhere, rarely briefly and too often for a lifetime.

Don’t ignore. Deal.

In Virginia (US) we are fortunate to have the Campaign for Children’s Mental Health. Visit this effort to promote awareness and encourage policy makers to recognize the need for action on behalf of children. Learn about the many marvelous organizations that have supported the work of the Campaign for Children’s Mental Health. If you have an organization in your geographical region (whether it is a locality in the US or elsewhere on Earth [or even in the cosmos!]), drop a note in a comment recognizing it, please. Meanwhile, over in the left rail, please check out NAMI, FFCMH, and other Web resources related to children’s mental health.

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Another photo for fun

Published on 14 September 2010 in Acting in, Acting out, ADHD, Administration, Assessment, Autism, Behavior management, Bi-polar, Bullying, Conduct disorder, Delinquency, Depression, Families, Photos, Policy, Prevention, Professsional development, Research, Schizophrenia and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I was moving some materials from one office to another when I came across this photo of some friends. Believe it or not, I took this with a film camera. Yes, it is from the 1990s, even before 1997 or so, I think.

I suspect it was at one of the annual meetings in Tempe (AZ, US) of the Teacher Educators of Children with Behavior Disorders, as these are some of the usual suspects who attended those meetings. A casual search on any of these folks’ names will reveal that they are prominent contributors to the literature about improving the lives of children and youths with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, the families of those children and youths, other students who do and do not have disabilities, their teachers and administrators, and on and on. Students who studied just these people’s writing in detail would get quite a valuable education.

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WWC on Lovaas model

Published on 24 August 2010 in Autism, News, Research and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

The US Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) released the results of its review of the model for teaching children with Autism that is based on the work of the late Ivar Lovaas on 24 August 2010. The WWC report is based on two of the many studies of the Lovaas method—often called “Applied Behavior Analysis”—and reports positive results for cognitive outcomes.
Continue reading ‘WWC on Lovaas model’

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What do educators need to know?

Published on 11 August 2010 in Acting in, Acting out, ADHD, Administration, Assessment, Behavior management, Conduct disorder, Policy, Professsional development, Research and Treatment. 18 Comments

I’m asking readers of EBD Blog to help me identify important research questions about interventions for students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. As I noted in a parallel post on LD Blog, these need to be BIG IDEA questions. What do teachers and parents need to know about how to help students with EBD?

Examples (just for provoking discussion): Continue reading ‘What do educators need to know?’

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ABAI on restraint and seclusion

Published on 5 August 2010 in Acting out, Behavior management, News, Policy, The press and Treatment. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Based on the work of a task force composed of highly qualified individuals, the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) has issued position statement about the use of restraint and seclusion in treatment. Members of the task force, which was appointed by the executive board, include Jon S. Bailey, Michael F. Dorsey, Louis P. Hagopian, Gregory P. Hanley, David B. Lennox, Mary M. Riordan, Scott Spreat, and Timothy R. Vollmer (chair).

The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) and its members strongly oppose the inappropriate and/or unnecessary use of seclusion, restraint, or other intrusive interventions. Although many persons with severe behavior problems can be effectively treated without the use of any restrictive interventions, restraint may be necessary on some rare occasions with meticulous clinical oversight and controls. In addition, a carefully planned and monitored use of timeout from reinforcement can be acceptable under restricted circumstances. Seclusion is sometimes necessary or needed, but behavior analysts would support only the most highly monitored and ethical practices associated with such use, to be detailed below.

In the “below,” the document goes on to present in detail the a set of guiding principles and specific recommendations about the use of seclusion and restraint. Read the statement, “ABAI Statement on Restraint and Seculsion” from the ABAI Website.

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Lovaas obituary

Published on 5 August 2010 in Autism, Behavior management, News, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Over on Spedpro I posted a brief account of the research conducted by O. Ivar Lovaas. Professor Lovaas, the eminent behavioral psychologist who developed detailed procedures for teaching individuals with Autism, died earlier this week.

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FDA warns seller of chelation product

Published on 24 June 2010 in Autism, News, Research, The press and Treatment. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning letter to the producer of a product that is sometimes used by people hoping to eliminate heavy metals from children’s bodies (e.g., chelate mercury from children with autism). In a letter addressed to Boyd D. Haley of CTI Science Inc., Teresa C. Thompson of the Cincinnati District Office of the FDA cited a host of problems in the classification and marketing of the product, OSR#1. Among these problems are the following:
Continue reading ‘FDA warns seller of chelation product’

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Virginia Autism insurance mandate gains traction

Published on 17 February 2010 in Autism, Families, News, Policy and Treatment. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

In the Virginia (US) legislature (which I sometimes call the “House of Burgess” for fun), efforts to mandate coverage of intensive behavioral therapy (AKA “ABA,” “discrete-trial training,” etc.) by insurance policies gained a little momentum 16 February when Senate Bill 464 passed by a nearly 2-to-1, bi-partisan margin. Earlier this legislative session, one similar bill (HB 303) was rejected by a narrow vote (4-to-4) in the committee on Commerce and Labor of the Virginia House but another (HB 34) may still be alive (I’m too uniformed about legislative processes to know).

The summary of the just-passed Senate bill, whose chief patron is Senator Janet D. Howell of Reston (VA, US), is as follows: Continue reading ‘Virginia Autism insurance mandate gains traction’

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