Tag Archive for 'current issues'

US ED resource on restraint and seclusion

Published on 15 May 2012 in Administration, Advocacy, Behavior management, Families, News, Policy, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The US Department of Education (ED) published Restraint and Seclusion: Resource Document today. After the extensive discussions the last few years about abuses of management procedures (see , especially those used with children and youths with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, ED contracted with an agency to create this document that provides guidelines for the appropriate use of restraints and seclusion.

The foundation of any discussion about the use of restraint and seclusion is that every effort should be made to structure environments and provide supports so that restraint and seclusion are unnecessary. As many reports have documented, the use of restraint and seclusion can, in some cases, have very serious consequences, including, most tragically, death. There is no evidence that using restraint or seclusion is effective in reducing the occurrence of the problem behaviors that frequently precipitate the use of such techniques.

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Virginia mental health needs

Published on 22 January 2012 in Advocacy, Families, Mental health, Musings, News, Policy and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

In a statement entitled “A proposal that would assist troubled youths in Virginia” the Washington Post editorial board lent its support to efforts to fund mental health services for children and youth. The editorial, published 11 January 2012, recounted a history of rueful cost cutting and encouraging advocacy in my commonwealth.

A YEAR AGO, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) proposed slashing millions of dollars from the state’s already badly fragmented and underfunded programs for at-risk children and teenagers. The cuts targeted funding for specially trained foster families and other services for children, including some who posed a danger of violence to themselves and others. The cuts were rejected, and funding restored, thanks to a bipartisan group of lawmakers responding to an outcry from advocacy groups and local governments, which would have borne the brunt of the governor’s proposal. In the end, the debate turned a useful spotlight on a critical hole in the state’s social services safety net.

The Post editorial team explained that the current budget does not contain such cost-cutting measures, but that difficulties for mental health services persist because of other problems (e.g., local government fiscal shortages). In the end, the need for services is great and, as the editorial shows, the need for serious discussion about funding of them is clear. Read the full editorial on the Post’s Web site.

If you’re in Virginia and you can make it to Richmond, join Voices for Virginia’s Campaign for Children’s Mental Health for “Advocacy Day at the General Assembly” Thursday 26 January 2012. If you live somewhere else, scout about for ways you can help support mental health services in your local or regional government.

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Addressing bullying via PBIS

Published on 7 October 2011 in Acting out, Administration, Behavior management, Bullying, News, Professsional development, The press and Treatment. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .


Tim Lewis

Do you want to learn how to do something about bullying in schools? Here’s a way to get started.

Under the auspices of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Tim Lewis will present an online seminar (“Webinar”) entitled “Addressing Bullying Behavior Through Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports” on Thursday 20 October 2011 from 4:00 to 5:00 PM (Eastern Time, US). Professor Lewis, who teaches and conducts research at the University of Missouri, has a wealth of experience and expertise in the area of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS), so this an excellent opportunity to get a good grounding in how to use the features of PBIS to help a school manage bullying problems. Follow this link to learn more about the event and how to register for it; it is one in a series of Webinars on the topic of PBIS that Professor Lewis is providing via CEC. (I don’t have a financial interest in them.)

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Virginia campaign promotes action agenda

Published on 22 June 2011 in Families, Mental health, News and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

The Campaign for Children’s Mental Health outlined an agenda for improving mental health policy for children and youths in the US commonwealth of Virginia on 14 June 2011. The “Action Agenda” expresses the need for Govenor Bob McDonnell to exert leadership in three policy areas so that the problems of 100,000 minors with mental health issues are addressed:

  • Children with mental health disorders and their families need to have a full array of high quality treatment and support services in their own communities, no matter where in Virginia they reside.
  • Children with serious mental health disorders who require public sector services need to have access to the same array of services regardless of payment source or custody status in order to maximize the impact of and curb inappropriate use of public dollars in the treatment system.
  • Children with mental health disorders and their families should be recognized and included as experts on their own and their children’s treatment needs.

Visit the 1 in 5 Website (see it over in the sidebar, too) and download the full statement of the Action Agenda.

I am very glad to have and I hope others will join me in signing a petition to support this effort. Isn’t it great to have this effort right here in Virginia? Do you have similar efforts in the area where you live?

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50 Cent’s anti-bullying book

Published on 21 June 2011 in Bookshelf, News and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

According to the Publishers Weekly, rap artist 50 Cent is writing a book with an anti-bullying theme.

50 Cent, whose book Playground was bought by Razorbill publisher Ben Schrank, will address the topic of bullying in novel format; the book is planned to be a first person fictional account and the title will be edited by Laura Arnold. Marc Gerald at the Agency Group brokered the world rights deal, and Playground is scheduled for January 2012.

Other news reports indicate that the novel will be aimed at the young-adult market and that it draws on Mr. Cent’s personal experiences as a youth. The lead character is a 13-year old “who finds redemption as he faces what he’s done.”

Here’s the link to the Publishers Weekly story; the quote is at the bottom of it. In an interesting twist, as I searched for the original press release I found that the blog on Mr. Cent’s Web site quotes a story from MTV about the book. Here’s a link to that post. I would have thought that the rapper’s site would have had the authoritative source…?

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NAS presses MH pubs

Published on 25 January 2011 in Bookshelf, Mental health, News, Policy and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Noting recent news in the US, the National Academy of Sciences has taken the opportunity to promote some of its publications related to mental health. Among these is one that is relevant to those concerned about EBD among children and youths, a 2009 report by the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council that I’ve mentioned previously, Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People. Here’s the full release:

Mental Health Care Gains Attention in Wake of Tucson Shooting

By Christine Stencel

January 21, 2011 – The attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her audience in Tucson, Ariz., has touched off a national discussion about the capabilities of the country’s mental health system. The majority of respondents to a USA Today-Gallup Poll survey said failure of the mental health system bears “a great deal” of the blame for the Tucson shooting. Two reports from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council provide guidance on improving mental health care in the United States.

Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People, a 2009 report by the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, calls for national leadership in the prevention of these disorders and promotion of young people’s mental health. Many preventive programs and strategies have been shown to be effective, the report notes, but the country lacks priorities and public goals for these efforts. The report outlines steps that federal and state agencies, community groups, and parents can take to intervene when symptoms arise and to promote mental health.

Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions, an earlier report from the Institute of Medicine, underscored the need for greater parity for care of mental conditions and substance abuse in the nation’s health care system. The separation of mental health from other forms of medical care undermines the overall quality of Americans’ well-being, it says. The report outlines an agenda to capitalize on recent advances in diagnosing and treating these conditions and better integrate them into the health care delivery system.

Link to the NAS Web site for appropriate links to the documents.

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Deer’s fraud case in BMJ

Published on 7 January 2011 in Autism, Causes, News, Research and The press. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

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.
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Props for Ron Artest

Published on 8 November 2010 in Bullying, News, Policy and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Some readers of EBD Blog might know that I follow basketball. That gives me a unique opportunity to mix my interest in hoops with my concern about EBD in this post. I have the chance to acknowledge efforts by Ron Artest, a professional basketball player, to support mental health initiatives. My hat’s off to Mr. Artest for using his celebrity in this helpful manner.

Let me provide a little detail. In one of these efforts, Mr. Artest announced plans to use the ring he received as a member of Los Angeles Lakers when they won the 2010 National Basketball Association championship in a fund-raising raffle for mental health work. Interested readers can learn how to buy raffle tickets here. But that’s only one activity. To read about them all, follow this link. In fact, if one really wants to learn how substantial Mr. Artest’s impact has been, wade through the results of this Google search showing the press coverage of his efforts.

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Bipolar or temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria?

Published on 17 May 2010 in Acting in, Acting out, Assessment, Bi-polar, News and The press. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Under the headline “Time to reexamine bipolar diagnosis in children,” Brendan Borrell reports on proposed changes in the American Psychiatric Association
s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for the identification of bipolar disorder. In addition to presenting the basic information, Mr. Borrell has alternative views by Dr. Gabrielle Carlson and Dr. David Axelson.

Psychiatrists in favor of a new label, temper dysregulation disorder, cite a spike in bipolar diagnoses. But others worry it will add uncertainty to the treatment of an already confusing condition.

I wonder which side the psychiatrists who were concerned about the change from “manic depressive” to “bipolar” are on with this newest change. Will I have to change the category label in EBD Blog?

Link to Mr. Borrell’s story. Use the short link for this entry: http://wp.me/peQI7-iw

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Carter talks sense

Published on 6 April 2010 in Autism, Families, Musings, News and Policy. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I rarely point to posts on the Huffington Posts, but an entry by Liane Kupferberg Carter entitled “Autism: A time for civility” deserves recognition. Ms. Carter, the mother of a child with Autism, notes how factionation (if I may create than word) among people with interests in Autism has created divides not needed. The basic notion is that in contemporary diagnoses, Autism reflects a diverse spectrum of disorders. Educators, parents, policy-makers, and others need to accept the diversity and not fight among ourselves. Ms. Carter makes this point well. I encourage readers to read her post.

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ASAT Online

Published on 1 April 2010 in ADHD, Autism, News and The press. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

AST Online’s most recent newsletter (as of this date) provides lots of helpful information. Check it!

Maternal age increases risk of Autistic offspring

Published on 9 February 2010 in Autism, Causes, Families, News, Research and The press. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Janie Shelton and colleagues at the University of Califonia at Davis reported that women over 40 years of age who give birth have an increased risk of the child having Autism. By studying a large sample of births, the researchers were able to disentangle the relative contributions of maternal and paternal age to the likelihood of having a child with Autism.

This study conflicts with some previous research that pointed at paternal age as a factor in Autism (see the EBD Blog page by Leslie Feldman on Fathers’ Age as Contributor to Risk for Autism). The Shelton et al. analysis expressly examined the relative contributions and points at maternal age as an independent factor. Additional research will help to clarify the relationships.
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