News, commentary, resources, and more about Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.
World Autism Awareness Day is upon us. Check on it!
While you’re thinking about the topic, learn a lot by watching Fred Volkmar’s presentation about interventions for Autism: “Treatments for Autism: Overview of Model Programs.”
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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.
Sphere: Related ContentFor 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!
Sphere: Related ContentUnder the headline “Autism legislation advances in Virginia” in the Washington Post Fredrick Kunkle and Anita Kumar reported about the slow-but-significant progress that parents in the US state of Virginia have made in advancing toward mandating coverage of treatment for Autism by insurance companies. That the advances run counter to many conservative US legislators’ opposition to health policies that mandate coverage for those in need of services and that it is occuring in an election year in Virginia, a state that usually tilts toward the conservative, makes the analysis especially intriguing.
Sphere: Related ContentIn the beginning, several Northern Virginia families whose children have autism thought that their wrenching stories would be enough to get some help from their representatives in the General Assembly.
Continue reading ‘Autism legislation in Virginia’
The Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders (CCBD) is hosting a meeting at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk (VA, US) and the registration deadline is tomorrow, 3 February 2011. CCBD has reduced the fees and there are spcial discounted rates for teams of three or more attendees.
Continue reading ‘CCBD conference 2011′
Brian Deer, the journalist who has doggedly pursued the story about a link between materials in vaccines and the onset of childhood Autism proposed by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and colleagues in the late 1990s, has published details explaining why he considers the original research establishing that link to have been fraudulent. In the first of a series of articles appearing in the prestigious British Medical Journal, Mr. Deer reports the results of his efforts to locate and interview the originally anonymous parents of the children included in the study by Dr. Wakefield et al.—which was published in the Lancet and then retracted—and it is sure to generate lots of heat, and perhaps a little bit of light.
Continue reading ‘Deer’s fraud case in BMJ’
I’m not usurping the responsibilities of our assistive tech friends, but for those who are interested, over on Squidalicious one can find a good first-person run-down of iPad applications being used by a boy (young man now?) with Autism.
Sphere: Related ContentSometimes 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.
Sphere: Related ContentI 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.
Sphere: Related ContentSometimes 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.
Sphere: Related ContentThe 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’
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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