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Archive for January 19th, 2011

First Published Thursday, 2 April 2009


China

China’s autism parents walk lonely road for help


Wed Apr 1, 2009 4:09am EDT

By Lucy Hornby


BEIJING (Reuters) – When Li Mingqiu was two, his parents noticed that he had lost the ability to speak, didn’t respond to his name, and was fixated by television commercials.


Even though the hospital gave him a clean bill of health, his mother was convinced there was something wrong. After exhaustive research on the Internet, she came up with the answer: autism.


For decades, autism went largely undiagnosed in China even as in the West awareness was growing of the condition. China only recognized autism as a disability in 2006.


“Autism is very unknown in China. If you ask people on the street, 90 percent of them have never heard of it,” said Tian Huiping, the founder of China’s pioneering school for autism, Stars and Rain, in the suburbs of Beijing.


Mingqiu is one of China’s luckier children because he was diagnosed early. By the time many autistic children arrive at the special schools springing up across China, they are too old for therapy that might give them some semblance of a normal life.


“The only way we know to improve the prognosis is early intervention. That’s what makes early diagnosis so important. The earlier, the better,” said Li-Ching Lee, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.


In the West, autism and related disorders strike between two and six of every 1,000 children, or one in every 166 children. With China’s enormous population, that means at least 2.6 million people might have autism, although there is no conclusive data.


“There are a lot of resources and expertise concentrated in Beijing, but it takes a lot for families to travel here, financially,” said Lee, who is developing screening tests for the disorder.


“The facilities for education are here but not in the provinces. Where I work in Shandong, there are no education and treatment facilities specifically for autism.”


A lack of proper diagnostic tools in Chinese and various cultural factors such as the inability of parents to compare development milestones against siblings due to the one-child policy are among the factors inhibiting diagnosis.


Autism is a developmental disorder which appears in the first few years of life and affects the brain’s development of social and communication skills. The exact causes of autism are unknown but there is extensive research underway.


A Beijing School

Chinese parents, most of whom have only one child, have founded schools and associations to deal with autism because of the dearth of state support.


China’s rudimentary social services mean that parents often rely on children to take care of them in their old age. But parents of autistic children may instead find themselves trying to support their autistic child in their old age as there are no programs or facilities for teens or adults with the disorder.


“For a family where the child is disabled, the future is very, very dark,” said Tian, whose adult son is autistic.


GRASSROOTS COPING


China now has about 100 preschools for autistic children, many of them run by NGOs that send their teachers to Stars and Rain to learn from its model. Most teaching materials are sourced from overseas, then translated into Chinese.


“It takes a long time to train people,” Lee said. “A lot of people here work very hard to make this happen.”


Awareness is growing. In Guangzhou, NGOs mark World Autism Day on April 2 with events to share education tips with parents of autistic children.


Some provinces have also begun to set up state-backed schools, in a sign that autism, known in Chinese as “lonely syndrome,” is finally getting recognition.


Families come to Stars and Rain for an 11-week course on social skills for the children and coping skills for the parents.


Children's Art

With cartoons painted on walls and the shouts of children at play, the center is filled with the hubbub of any kindergarten.


In the playground, children in a relay race show no signs of trying to run fastest as they orbit a chair and drift back to their teams. But they have learned to take turns, to pass the baton, and to respond to verbal commands, and their cheering parents looked relieved.


“Now, the fifth week of class, is the best time, because the parents see their kids’ progress, and feel confident,” Tian said.


“Two or three weeks more, and they will worry again about the future, and what will happen when they are dead.”


In 1986, Tian left her infant son for a coveted opportunity to study abroad for two years in Germany. When she returned, he had developed the first signs of autism, a condition that only three doctors in China could diagnose at the time.


Frantic to help him, Tian quit her job as a professor to found Stars and Rain in 1993, when the boy was eight.


“I never believed that if I just made a lot of money I could get him the security and respect he needed. He will only be safe when all the children like him are secure and respected,” said Tian, a petite woman.


Many parents have no resources to draw on for help outside their family, and many are riven by the shame and the stress.


“When I started here in 2004, most of the parents wouldn’t tell anyone they had this problem,” said Wang Peipei, at the school’s development department.


“Now more and more are open about telling people, pressing for their kid’s rights and for more help, but society still isn’t very aware of autism.”


Seven-year old Shao Zhennan, a handsome boy with a big smile and bright eyes who couldn’t speak or distinguish colors when he first came to the school, plays peek-a-boo from across the room before mustering the courage to approach and say hello.


“He wants to communicate with you but he doesn’t know how,” said his mother, Sun Yanhong.


(Editing by Megan Goldin)


Source:   http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE53014I20090401?feedType=RSS&feedName=lifestyleMolt&sp=true



First Published Thursday, 2 April 2009


Manchester Airport

Published Date: 02 April 2009

Manchester Airport has launched an unique information guide to help passengers travelling with autistic children.

The free printed guide called ‘Airport Awareness’ uses airport images to show what to expect on your journey through the airport, starting from arriving to checking-in to going through security and returning home.


The guide is the initiative of airport employee, Katy Gough, who secured funding from the airport’s Customer First scheme, which invests in staff suggestions that improve the airport for passengers.


Launched to coincide with World Autism Awareness Day and the start of the busy Easter season, Ms Gough created the guide after several passengers requested photographs of the airport to allow them to plan their trip.


Katy, who works as a press officer at the airport, has personal experience of the disorder through a member of her immediate family and wanted to use her experience to help those passengers whose children have Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD).


The unfamiliar sights and sounds of the airport can cause a great deal of stress and worry both for the young passengers with ASD, but also their families.


Ms Gough explained: “I’ve worked with several autism charities such as Bolton Kidz2gether, The National Autistic Society and Autistic Society Greater Manchester Area to understand what makes travelling through airports difficult.


Manchester Airport

“The main problems are that the airport environment is an alien one and processes such as check-in and security require co-operation with strict guidelines.  However, by including chronological information in the guide about each stage of travelling through the airport and by illustrating the guide with photographs, parents are able to plan their journey with their child, helping them to understand what to expect.


“It’s our aim that by launching this guide on World Autism Awareness Day, many people affected by the disability will hear about the guide and use it as a way to experience foreign travel for the first time.”


Jane Asher, President of the National Autistic Society, said of the book: “I’m delighted by Manchester Airport’s useful and understanding initiative: an airport can be a very confusing place for anyone, and for someone on the autism spectrum it can be especially frightening and disorientating.”


Source:   http://www.lythamstannesexpress.co.uk/latest-north-west-news/Airport-launches-guide-for-autistic.5133542.jp


New airport awareness book published


Manchester Airport, with the help of The National Autistic Society (NAS), has produced an information guide to help adults travelling with children with autism. The free guide uses images to show what to expect on a journey from arriving to checking-in, to going through security and returning home.


The guide can be downloaded from Manchester Airport’s website (follow the link at the bottom of this page), or you can pick up a copy from information desks in the airport.


Airport press officer Katy Gough, who has personal experience of autism, created the guide after she received several requests from carers for airport pictures, to help them plan their trip. Katy said:


“The main problems are that the airport environment is an alien one and processes such as check-in and security require co-operation with strict guidelines.”


“However, by including chronological information in the guide about each stage of travelling through the airport and by illustrating the guide with photographs, parents are able to plan their journey with their child, helping them to understand what to expect.”


Jane Asher, President of the National Autistic Society, said of the book:


“I’m delighted by Manchester Airport’s useful and understanding initiative. An airport can be a very confusing place for anyone, and for someone on the autism spectrum it can be especially frightening and disorientating.”


Related resources



External links


Source:  http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=253&a=19193



First Published Friday, 3 April 2009


Depression/PTSD

Emma Ross


fMRI

Preliminary research examining the difference in brain activity between soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and those without it moves scientists a step closer to the possibility of being able one day to use brain scans to help diagnose the condition.


The search for the footprints left in the brain by psychiatric disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a growing area of research. Scientists hope it will lead to the identification of brain patterns that could be used to improve diagnosis and track the effectiveness of treatment. The latest study was presented at the World Psychiatric Association congress “Treatments in Psychiatry” by Dr Florin Dolcos, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.


As technology improves, imaging research is increasingly providing insights into the brains of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, pointing to potential biological markers distinguishing the PTSD-affected brain,” said Dolcos, a co-author of the study, performed at Duke University in Durham, USA. “The field is still in its infancy, but this raises the possibility that one day we may be able to see the disorder in the body as plainly as we now can see conditions such as heart disease and cancer.


Several studies have examined the brain patterns of emotion processing in PTSD by provoking symptoms, but very few have investigated the significant cognitive processing problems associated with the condition.


PTSD is as an anxiety disorder triggered by exposure to traumatic events. Symptoms include intrusive memories of the trauma, avoidant behavior and hyper arousal, where those affected are more likely to perceive a threat in seemingly neutral situations or people. Impaired concentration is also characteristic. The disorder is currently diagnosed using an interview by a mental health professional.


The study involved 42 American soldiers (52% men) who had recently served in Iraq or Afghanistan. There were two groups with comparable levels of combat exposure. One group of 22 had developed PTSD and the other group of 20 had not. The scientists used functional magnetic resonance imaging scans (fMRI) to examine the brain patterns of each soldier while they performed a three-part short-term memory task that included distractions. The test is indicative of the ability to stay focused, which is reduced in PTSD.


In the first stage, the soldiers were shown photographs of three similar faces. After a delay period to give their brains time to retain the information, they were shown a single photograph of a face and had to press a button indicating whether the face was one of those they had seen earlier or whether it was new.


About two seconds into the delay period, the soldiers were randomly shown photos irrelevant to the faces – either two photos depicting combat scenes from Iraq or Afghanistan, two photos of non-combat (neutral) scenes such as a man playing the trombone, or two digitally scrambled pictures depicting nothing. After a break to allow brain activity to return to normal, the test was repeated 40 times, with no repetition in the photos.


In an area of the brain involved in the ability to stay focused (the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex), the scientists observed that while the group without PTSD was far more distracted by the traumatic photos than by the neutral ones, the PTSD group was equally affected by the two types of photos. The findings were reflected in the results of the memory test, with the PTSD group performing more poorly in identifying whether the final faces were new or old regardless of whether the photos that distracted them were traumatic or neutral.


This sensitivity to neutral information is consistent with the PTSD symptom of hypervigilance, where those afflicted are on high alert for threats and are more distracted by not only threatening situations that remind them of the trauma, but also by benign situations,” said the study’s leader, Dr RajenDr Morey, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University and director of the neuroimaging lab at Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center. “This has not been seen at the brain level before. If further research confirms this preliminary finding, this pattern could be useful in distinguishing the PTSD brain.


The researchers also found marked differences between the two groups in an area of the brain governing the sense of self. When the soldiers were shown the combat photos, this area, found in the medial prefrontal cortex, lit up remarkably in the PTSD group, but very little in the non-PTSD group.


This is consistent with what we see behaviorally in PTSD, where people with the disorder are much more likely than others to connect traumatic triggers to events that have increased personal relevance, such as the combat situations in war veterans” Dolcos said. Previous findings by the same group indicate that activity in the medial prefrontal cortex also predicts the severity of PTSD symptoms. “Collectively, these findings raise the possibility of another brain pattern being potentially useful for distinguishing PTSD,” Dolcos said.


Consistent with previous studies, the researchers also found that the combat photos produced much greater activity in the brain region governing emotion processing (the amygdala) in the PTSD group than in the control group.


Morey said further research confirming the findings, as well as studies comparing brain patterns in PTSD with those in other psychiatric disorders such as depression, are necessary before brain scans can be used as an additional diagnostic tool for the disorder. Dolcos added it is also important to further investigate differences between individuals in the sensitivity to emotional challenge, to see whether brain scans can help flag increased susceptibility to conditions such as depression and anxiety-related disorders.


Dolcos F, Morey R, Cabeza R, McCarth G. Role of individual differences in the response to emotional challenge: evidence from brain imaging studies in healthy and clinical groups. Presentation NRS13.1, WPA Congress, 2009 Apr 3, Florence Italy.


Comment:
While accurate diagnostic fMRI scans may become available in the future their cost may limit widespread useage. Doctors already have cheap tools such as the Hamilton Anxiety (PDF) and Depression (PDF) Rating Scales which can reliably diagnose most mental illnesses, and even some tests which claim to assess future mental disorder risk such as predictD



First Published Friday, 3 April 2009


Migraines

Br J Psychiatry. 2009;194:350-354


Migraine in recurrent depression: case-control study


Samaan Z, Farmer A, Craddock N, Jones L, Korszun A, Owen M, McGuffin P.


Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK; Department of Behavioural Neurosciences, Mood Disorders Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK; Division of Neuroscience, University of Birmingham, UK; Barts and The London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK


Declaration of interest: M.O. and N.C. have acted as consultants to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and have received honoraria for academic talks from Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca and GSK. A.K. has received research grants from GSK and Sanofi-Synthelabo and has received honoraria from Eli Lilly. A.F. has received honoraria for presentations and chairing meetings from Eli Lilly, GSK and Wyeth, and has acted as a consultant for GSK. P.M. has received honoraria from Eli Lilly and GSK, and has acted as a consultant in the recent past for GSK and AstraZeneca.


Funding: The study was funded by the [British] Medical Research Council.


Background: An association between depression and headache is well established, but the specificity to migraine is unclear.


Aims: To investigate the specificity of the association of depression and migraine.


Method: People with recurrent depression (n=1259) were compared with psychiatrically healthy controls (n=851) to investigate headache defined according to International Headache Society criteria in each group.


Results: All headache types were more prevalent in the case group than in the controls. However, the strongest association was between depression and migraine with aura (OR=5.6). Among participants with recurrent headaches, migraine with aura (but not other forms of headache) was highly significantly associated with depression.


Conclusions: The data suggest that not only is there a general relationship between headache and depression but also that among people with recurrent headache there is a specific association between depression and migraine with aura. The association is likely to be explained by overlapping aetiological risk factors.


Source…



First Published Friday, 3 April 2009


Math Anxiety

6 out of every 10 university students, regardless their field of study, present any symptom of anxiety when it comes to deal with Mathematics, according to a research work carried out at the University of Granada. In addition, there are significant differences between men and women in this sense, as men suffer less anxiety when it comes to deal with mathematical tasks (47% of men against 62% of women).


The research has been carried out by professors Patricia Pérez-Tyteca, Enrique Castro, Isidoro Segovia, Encarnación Castro and Francisco Fernández, of the department of Didactics of Mathematics of the UGR, and Francisco Cano, of the department of Evolutionary and Education Psychology. This study was carried out in a sample consisting of 885 first-year students from 23 different degrees given at the UGR which include the subject of Mathematics, both compulsory and core. The sample included four of the five university fields of study: Health Sciences, Experimental Sciences, Technical Education and Social Sciences.


The symptoms of mathematical anxiety


The researchers applied to the students the so-called Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales, a questionnaire validated by experts from all over the world which has been used since the 70s; the student underwent such questionnaire at the beginning of the second four-month period.


Mathematical anxiety appears through a series of symptoms “such as tension, nervousness, concern, worry, edginess, impatience, confusion, fear and mental block” when dealing with the subject of Mathematics, according to the researchers of the University of Granada.


This work has also revealed that there are significant differences in the students’ attitude towards Mathematics depending on their field of study. Thus, the students of degrees of the field of Health Sciences are those who fear Mathematics the most (this is, show more anxiety), unlike those of Technical Education, who are the less concerned.


According to the researchers, “an indirect effect of mathematical anxiety is that of avoiding studies related to Mathematics, which later conditions the type of degree they can choose”. In other words, many students choose degrees different to those they preferred and in which they would be really good in many cases in order to avoid studying subjects connected with Mathematics.


University of Granada
http://www.ugr.es


Source:   http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/144703.php



First Published Friday, 3 April 2009


Article Date: 03 Apr 2009


The past 18 months have seen a spectacular reversal of economic fortunes in much of the developed world, particularly in the UK.


Current research into the psychological impact of the recession and how psychology could help revive the economy presented yesterday at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Brighton.


Peter Cooper, chief executive of CRAM International, and Professor Stephen Lea of the University of Exeter will present their findings to date and introduce ongoing work. They will also suggest ways for psychology to help shape future policies and thinking to help get the economy out of recession.


Professor Lea will talk about the psychology of money. He says: “Money is a strong motivating force in society. Yet unlike other strong motivators such as food or sex, it has no apparent or direct biological basis. It can be seen not only as a useful tool for society, but also as a powerful drug. “Modern money is, in a sense, a mutual confidence trick. Money and financial instruments like stocks and shares only work because everyone believes that they will work.


“Confidence in the supposed instrumental support for some kinds of money, or money-related tools, has collapsed resulting in substantial disorder in behaviour. On the other hand, many people have suddenly been put in a situation where they are either in debt or are almost bound to go into debt.


“We need to consider whether there has been a mass psychology of both money and debt that has contributed to the credit crunch”.


Peter Cooper, who is also a Fellow of the Market Research Society, is currently researching how the economic crisis impacts on our mental health and well-being.


Mr Cooper said: “For many people the recession is creating profound fears about loss of home, love, self-respect, and above all loss of meaning in their lives.”


“Anxiety and depression are increasingly evident. Many blame the ‘greed’ of the past. Others see it as an opportunity for ‘cleansing’ and a ‘new beginning’. However, many people lack the psychological resources to cope.


“Psychological factors have played a part in the origins of the crisis, and are now critical in its resolution for individual and social well-being. Understanding psychological needs and working in partnership with organisations in fields like economics, ecology and politics can help forge the new world people are seeking.”


The British Psychological Society Annual Conference takes at the Holiday Inn on Brighton Seafront from 1 – 3 April 2009.


Source
British Psychological Society
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/144844.php



First Published Friday, 3 April 2009


Computer Rage

Article Date: 03 Apr 2009


A study presented at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Brighton claims swearing and shouting at your computer, hitting the keyboard and smashing the mouse have become everyday expressions of anger and stress relief.


Dr John Charlton from the University of Bolton questioned 126 participants on how frequently they expressed anger at their computer and to provide a written description of one such incident. He found that the majority of people had become angry three or four times each month, and more than 10 per cent reported anger occurring ten times or more.



Overall, around 54 per cent of people had expressed this anger in verbal aggression towards their computing equipment. But 40 per cent of the participants had actually engaged in physical aggression towards the computer.


People reported that anger against computers was most often linked to two triggers: unsatisfactory work progress and time pressures.


Dr Charlton commented: “Although the study did not look at health factors, habitual, unrestrained expression of anger is known to be a significant cause of ill-health. However, moderate outbursts of anger, in the form of shouting at a computer might actually be beneficial.”


The British Psychological Society Annual Conference takes at the Holiday Inn on Brighton Seafront from 1 – 3 April 2009.


Source
British Psychological Society
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/144850.php



First Published Friday, 3 April 2009


London Protests

Gary McKinnon’s mother, six others back his effort to avoid being extradited to the U.S.


McKinnon, a 43-year-old London resident, was indicted on hacking charges in November 2002 in a U.S. District Court in Virginia, after he admittedly broke into computers belonging to the U.S. military and NASA. He was arrested by London police four years ago and has lost numerous efforts to block his extradition since then. But he is drawing increasing support from politicians and celebrities who don’t want him to be sent to the U.S. to face trial.


At today’s rally, McKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp, and six other demonstrators performed a rewritten version of “Chicago,” a protest song recorded nearly 40 years ago by Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fame. Nash granted Sharp permission to modify the song’s lyrics to focus on her son’s legal plight as well as his autism.


Nash is one of several high-profile musicians who have gotten involved in the effort to stop the extradition of McKinnon, who could face as many as 70 years in prison if convicted on the seven counts of computer-related fraud he was charged with. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and Sting, lead singer and bassist for the Police, have also expressed their support for McKinnon.


Although McKinnon has publicly admitted to hacking into government and military computers in the U.S. over a two-year period, he maintains that he was merely looking for evidence of UFOs and not trying to cause any damage to the systems.


However, the U.S. government alleges that while engaging in the hacking activities during 2001 and 2002, McKinnon did $900,000 worth of damage to computers in 14 states and caused the shutdown of critical military networks shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to federal prosecutors, McKinnon deleted critical files on the systems he hacked and copied usernames and passwords that he discovered.


British authorities are pouring more money and police efforts into fighting cybercrime. But McKinnon’s hacking activities appear to be widely regarded as harmless within the U.K., and his supporters say the U.S. is pushing too hard to punish him for what he did.


“It has been seven years now,” said Johnnie Smith, a friend of McKinnon’s who attended today’s rally. “It’s tormenting the family. It’s time to move on.”


McKinnon didn’t attend the rally, which also fell on World Autism Awareness Day, an event designated by the United Nations. Sharp said her son, who now is fighting extradition on the basis that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, has been deeply depressed. “When a knock comes on the door, he’s afraid they’re going to drag him off,” she said.


After using a series of legal challenges to postpone his extradition, McKinnon is awaiting a judicial review of the extradition order by the U.K.’s High Court of Justice. The review is scheduled to take place on June 9 and 10 in London.


Asperger’s is a neurological disorder related to autism that’s characterized by obsessive behavior and deficiencies in social interaction. One of McKinnon’s legal arguments is that because of his medical condition, he isn’t fit to stand trial in the U.S.


He said previously that he would plead guilty to an offense under the U.K.’s Computer Misuse Act if he could remain in that country. But British authorities announced in February that they wouldn’t prosecute McKinnon because of a 2002 agreement in which jurisdiction over the case was ceded to the U.S.


Source:   http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=networking_and_internet&articleId=9130985&taxonomyId=16&intsrc=kc_top


Pink Floyd frontman backs McKinnon musical protest


By John Leyden

Posted in Security, 6th April 2009 04:30 GMT


A small group of protesters held a successful musical protest against attempts to extradite UFO enthusiast turned hacker Gary McKinnon to the US on Thursday.


Janis Sharp, McKinnon’s mum, organised the sing-in protest outside the US embassy on Thursday to coincide with President Barack Obama’s visit to London for the G20 conference and UN World Autism Awareness Day.


Gary McKinnon US embassy sing-in protest

Janis Sharp, McKinnon’s mum, is accompanied by musician/guitarist James Litherland in her rendition of “Chicago”


Sharp rewrote the lyrics (but not the tune) of Graham Nash’s “Chicago” as a protest against long-running attempts to wrench her son over to the US to face trial and probable incarceration for hacking into US government and military systems. The protests also sought to highlight concerns with the lop-sided UK-US extradition treaty more generally.


These efforts gained a massive publicity boost when David Gilmour, legendary singer and guitarist with Pink Floyd, agreed to sing on the backing track of the song. Gilmour wasn’t able to attend the event himself, but he did post a message of support for McKinnon on his website, adding his name to those who oppose McKinnon’s extradition.


Gary McKinnon US embassy sing-in protest

John Smith, London Rap artist, and his friend Olivia put a shout out for McKinnon.


Crank up the volume


Music has been a feature in McKinnon’s long-running campaign against extradition. Celebrity supporters of McKinnon’s include former Police frontman Sting and wife Trudie Styler.


Nash, famous as a member of Crosby, Stills, & Nash, gave permission for his song “Chicago” to be rewritten to reflect McKinnon’s plight. He, along with Gilmour, also number themselves among McKinnon’s supporters.


McKinnon’s friends and family hope to produce a music track/compilation CD – involving some famous musicians – in support of Gary McKinnon’s legal fight against extradition, the Free Gary support blog reports.


Other high-profile supporters outside the world of music include London mayor Boris Johnson, Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of anti-terror laws, and former Beirut hostage Terry Waite.


The ‘sit-in’ musical protests took place two months before a judicial review on whether Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was correct to allow extradition proceedings against McKinnon to continue in spite of his recent diagnosis with Asperger’s Syndrome. This hearing represents McKinnon’s best hopes of avoiding extradition after the failure of earlier appeal to the House of Lords and elsewhere last year, prior to McKinnon’s diagnosis with a mild form of autism. ®


Bootnote


A big Reg thank you to Janis Smith for use of the photographs. Janis and her husband Wilson are both musicians, which is why they came to live and work in London when Gary was a child. “Gary is a gentle musician but unfortunately that’s not how he’s portrayed in the media,” she said.


Source:   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/06/mckinnon_extradition_musical_protest/


Go-Between actress backs McKinnon extradition fight


By John Leyden


Oscar winning actress Julie Christie has joined the campaign to save UFO conspiracy theorist turned hacker Gary McKinnon from extradition to the United States.


The star of Dr Zhivago and The Go-Between has joined supporters from the music business – former Police frontman Sting and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour – as well as other luminaries including London mayor Boris Johnson and former Beirut hostage Terry Waite in backing McKinnon’s long-running campaign. Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of anti-terror laws, is another significant McKinnon supporter.


News of Christie’s support came in a Twitter post by Janis Sharp, McKinnon’s mum, which promised further celebrity endorsements will follow. McKinnon’s ranks of supporters have swelled since he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in the aftermath of a failed appeal against extradition to the House of Lords last year. McKinnon, who admits hacking but denies US damage claims, and his supporters have been fighting against his extradition since 2005.


A judicial review on whether Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was correct in allowing extradition proceedings against McKinnon to proceed, in spite of his medical condition, is due to take place in June. This represents McKinnon’s best hope of avoiding an involuntary trip to the US, a trial and the likelihood of a lengthy spell behind bars. ®


Source:   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/07/christie_backs_mckinnon/

Previous Updates


http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/gary_mckinnon_updates__drop_hacker_case__terry_waite.htm



First Published Saturday, 4 April 2009

Child's Play Painting

Hope you’re all doing well. There is much to report on the education front, this 4th day of April, 2009. Despite global struggles, economic and otherwise, let us not forget to focus on the positives of life and living. There is a lot to be said for strong, stable leadership. If you find yourself at the helm, in charge of delivering a learning programme to others, be it home education or in a more formal setting, does your programme excite and inspire those reliant on you or is it time for an inspiration boost? Some of the most inspirational teachers I knew have moved on, but their message lives on. Nine tenths of education is encouragement. Respect the student, be consistent in approach, set the tone to “calm and controlled” ensuring you present as “safe and dependable”. When you are tested by your students, prove to them that you will be just that. “Those who trust us, educate us.” George Eliot

Children collaborate on story writing

Rise in Demand for Home Education


It has been widely noted that many families currently sending children to private schools are finding private education too expensive following the twin effects of rising school fees and the credit crunch. These causes have been exacerbated by pressure from the Charity Commission on private schools to provide more bursaries in order to show that they provide a public benefit. Public schools are building up resources to provide bursaries to families from more modest backgrounds, which in the case of Eton College must include some 95% of the population. St Paul’s School in London, for example, aims to raise £200 million in under thirty years for this purpose and Eton intends to raise even more. So far each school has raised some £25 million. Eton’s fees are currently £28,000 per year and the school hopes to increase bursaries so that at least 35-40% of pupils receive financial help. The net effect for fee-paying families is that fees are rising and this is contributing to families on the margin being less able to afford private education for their children.


This has led to a significant rise in inquiries to the www.home-education.org.uk website by families looking to home education as an alternative to sending children to state schools. If many of these families take up home education for prolonged periods this could result in a shift in the demographics of home-educating families, who have in the past been largely from lower income groups.

USA home education has been dominated by middle-class professional families, whereas in the UK this has not been the case. In the USA there has been a close relationship with the political right, partly as a result of the religious affiliations of many US home educators and also because the rightwing doctrine of personal responsibility inevitably attracts parents who want to take on the responsibility of their children’s education, particularly among those from higher income brackets. This was so pronounced during the campaign to re-elect Bush in 2004 that Senator Clinton made several veiled threats against home educators during her Democratic Party campaign in 2007-8. In contrast, in the UK home educators have not been linked to any particular party, though New Labour has not been seen as supportive over the last ten years, largely as a result of its reaction to child welfare crises.


If numbers continue to rise at the current rate in the UK, particularly if increasing percentages of home educators are higher income families, not only may there be attempts to politicise home education, but it is also possible that the Conservative Party might come to see home educators as target voters.


“People should be free to make for themselves the kinds of educational experience they want their children to have.” John Holt

Reach for the stars

Freedom for Children to Grow

The Home Education Campaign

http://www.freedomforchildrentogrow.org/

It's Not Cool To Be Cruel

Kidscape Survey of School Bullying


Kidscape has undertaken a large-scale survey of children and families attending its anti-bullying support sessions.


Of the 1,200 families attending its ZAP assertiveness training sessions across the UK it found that:


50% of children had either attempted or contemplated suicide.


86% of families said the school had failed to act to stop the bullying.


84% of parents had been told that their child was “too sensitive”.


63% of parents had been labelled as “over protective”.


48% of children had truanted.


98% of families said that bullying had affected the whole family.


During the face-to-face survey one mother revealed that, “The first time I knew that my daughter had attempted suicide was when I read the questionnaire she completed to come on the ZAP course. She had tried three times, but each time was sick and vomited the pills up. I sobbed and felt so guilty for sending her to school to endure all that torment. I had no idea it was so bad because she didn’t tell me. Thank God she let me read her answers – it was her way of telling me without having to say the words. I took her to the GP and now I home educate her – no way would I let her go back to that hellhole.”


A father recounted, “We have been to the school six times and each time they tell us that there is no bullying in the school and no one has witnessed my daughter being bullied, so they cannot do anything. Witnesses? Of course bullies don’t pick on their victims in front of the teachers. My daughter is miserable and I feel like a failure as her dad.”


Kidscape director Claude Knights said: “The results are disturbing, although not surprising. We have been running ZAP sessions for nearly ten years and we are hearing the same stories over and over again. This research highlights the need to improve the way bullying is handled in schools so that every child can learn in a safe environment.”

Home Ed

Parents Express Outrage and Disgust at Latest Government Attack on Families

The AHED press release Wednesday 21st January 2009


Home educating parents in England are expressing outrage and disgust as the government launches a vicious attack against them with yet another consultation affecting their family choices.[1]


National home education group Action for Home Education [2] today complained to the DCSF about the consultation which includes accusations that home educators are potential child abusers. “This is not the first time we have had to defend ourselves against wild, unsubstantiated accusations made in an attempt to excuse further interventions into our family lives. We are already regularly questioned about our arrangements and it appears that the government now intend to put us all on permanent enquiry,” said Barbara Stark who is a home educating parent and chair of AHEd.


This consultation, the latest in an endless round of similar vexatious exercises, is part of a review of home education. However, “we are being asked to defend ourselves against unwarranted charges of child abuse and/or neglect and invited to partake in the construction of our own oppression by answering a question about what the government can do to ensure this abuse does not happen.”


Parents are telling AHEd that they are extremely fed up with the repeated and sustained attacks on them while the state-as-parent continues to fail the country’s children in breath-taking fashion. Many parents are home educating precisely because the authorites failed their children in school and are offended at the attempts of government to impose their much hyped desired outcomes on their children. “Children are entitled to have their own desired outcomes. We reject the right of the state to dictate or examine our desires,” said Barbara. AHEd stands by the right of parents to enable their children to aim for their own outcomes in their own way.


Every week we hear that the many and sometimes tragic failures of authorities to educate and protect the children with whose provision they are entrusted are due to lack of resources – so why misappropriate funds to an area of research backed success in order to persecute this minority group, labelling them as potential abusers?


AHEd supporter Clare Murton said, “If government can produce proper evidence of risk factors in home education, we are more than willing to examine that evidence and respond accordingly. However, whilst all that is put forward is rumour, slander and libel aimed at distracting the focus from their own despicable failures, we refuse to give credence to their leading questions.”


Our home educating parent blogs [3] “Your child can be bullied at school until they’re suicidal but dare to take them out and the government want to brand you a potential abuser. Your local authority can break the law, dragging their feet or flat out refusing to do anything about your child’s Special Education Needs but when you finally decide you’ve had enough and take them out of school, you’re a potential abuser. Stand up for your child when the state fails them and you need watching. Put your children before career and material possessions and there must be something wrong with you..”


Monika Dutta, another home educator, has very personal reasons for challenging their gross interference. She said about this consultation that it leaves her feeling moved to tears; “All I can think about is how family members were investigated by the government for not sending my mother to Hitler Youth meetings.”


Home educators do not know precisely what final solution the government has in mind for them but fear that, while expensive routine and abusing checking on the many thousands of home educators will be a red herring that will detract precious time and resources from genuine instances of need, members of our community will be required to tolerate increased state interventions aimed at controlling the choices of law abiding and loving families. Why else would government launch their third attempt at revising the law pertaining to education otherwise than at school in as many years, despite previous spectacular failures due to massive opposition and blatant legal inaccuracies?


This review is being seen as harassment and a threat by home educators who are tired of being ignored when it comes to their own views on what to do about home education, especially given the preference shown for the views of local authorities who routinely misunderstand education law and home education practice. Not only has the government ignored and tried to sideline us repeatedly, but now they try to silence and exclude us.


AHEd members are asking why only LA staff have been formally notified of this consultation? Home educators, the major stakeholders, discovered this consultation only through their own vigilance and networking while the time to respond to the consultation has been cut to only one third of the usual minimum time allowed under cover of the excuse of urgent overriding public interest requiring prompt action. AHEd has made a formal complaint demanding to know what overriding public interest justifies this action.


To add insult to injury we find that while we may all answer this 6 question consultation on what to do about home education, local authorities are being sent an additional questionnaire encouraging ultra vires practices and soliciting their detailed views about home education, containing 60 questions.


For information, contacts etc:

1 http:??www..dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfmaction=

consultationDetails&consultationId=1605&external=no&menu=1

2 http://ahed.pbwiki.com/About-AHEd

3 http://www.swsurrey-home-ed.co.uk/wordpress/

4 http://www.communitynewswire.press..net/article.jsp?id=5248914

Respect Poster

Education Otherwise Press Release Monday 19th January 2009


Education Otherwise (EO) has today expressed its dismay at the decision by DCSF to launch yet another investigation into home education and at statements contained in the press release announcing the review.[1]


Education Otherwise and home educating families have contributed to three major consultations on the guidance to local authorities since 2005. The latest guidance was issued in autumn 2007.[2]


Annette Taberner, member of EO’s Government Policy Group said “It has become clear to us that the Department and many local authorities have a very poor understanding of home education and the law which applies to it. No other community would be expected to suffer the prejudice and discrimination which our community has to endure. Our community will be infuriated by these latest statements.


“Many hours of time and public money has been expended in consultations. Ministers need to prioritise time to engage in meaningful discussions with our organisation which has thirty years of experience helping families who chose to exercise their right to educate their children at home.”


Statements on links between home education, forced marriage and child welfare made in select committee hearings and by the London Safeguarding Board have already been challenged by Education Otherwise. The charity requested sight of the alleged evidence upon which the statements were made but no evidence has been forthcoming.[3]


Education Otherwise continues to assert that the current legislation is adequate but poorly understood. Education Otherwise finds the implication from Government and local authorities that home educated children are at risk purely because they are home educated offensive.


Ann Newstead, spokesperson for the charity said, “The assumption that a child is safe and adequately educated if in the state system is simply not borne out by an increasing number of families in the UK.”


1 DCSF Press Release “Morgan: Action to Ensure Children’s Education & Welfare”

www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0013


2 DCSF Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities in England

www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities/_documents/content/7373-

DCSFElective%20Home%20Education.pdf


3 Alleged link between HE and forced marriage www.freedomforchildrentogrow.org/hascr.htm

single parents

Changes to Single Parents Income Support –

Information Pack


The Department of Work and Pensions has produced an information pack with details about the recent changes to the benefit system. Despite extensive lobbying the government decided that home educators should not be exempt, though the government says that assessors will be sympathetic to parental needs. However, those with experience of similar assessments are dubious about such claims. The changes will be phased in over the next three years.


From 24 November 2008, if your youngest child is aged 12 or over, or will be 12 in the next year, your Income Support may stop during that year if you are only claiming it because you are a lone parent.


From 26 October 2009, if your youngest child is aged 10 or over, or will be 10 in the next year, your Income Support my stop during that year if you are only claiming it because you are a loan parent.


From 25 October 2010, if your youngest child is aged 7 or over, or will be 7 in the next year, your Income Support may stop during that year if you are only claiming it because you are a lone parent.


It is planned that the Job Centre will contact claimants eight weeks before Income Support is due to stop to notify them when the last payment is due. JCP will also invite people to a “voluntary” interview with an adviser, who will explain what people need to do to make a claim for another benefit if they have not found paid work. The interview will also be an opportunity to set up the paperwork for Child Tax Credit payments while still on Income Support.


If CTC is already in place, this will minimise any delay in payments when the new claim for Jobseeker’s Allowance begins, since you will only have to claim the personal allowance component of JSA.

News from Germany


Home educators living in Germany could be forgiven for thinking that they are living in the front line of a war being waged by their government against home education.


Two German stories are currently in the news. The first is about asylum. Two families have officially applied for asylum. One family has been offered political asylum in Canada due to Germany’s persecution of home-educating parents, and another has applied for asylum in the USA. If the US application is successful it seems likely that others will follow.


The US state department, which handles requests for asylum, has said they are aware of and are monitoring the situation in Germany.


Another story is the good news that criminal charges against the Brause family, which could have led to a two-year prison sentence and the loss of their children, have been dropped.


To have brought these charges to court successfully the state had to prove intentional psychological harm to the children. The criminal charge was that of intentional child neglect. Mr, and Mrs Brause are charged with willingly and knowingly preventing their children from going to school. Preventing the child from receiving a school education is considered harmful to the wellbeing of the children in Germany.


The family’s defenders brought in US and UK experts and international human rights monitors. The state subsequently dropped the case as even the court’s own appointed experts (a youth worker and psychologist) submitted reports to the court that the children were developing well and showed no signs of neglect.


The family still have to face civil cases regarding their refusal to send their children to school and are being defended by the “International Human Rights Group”, which appears from its website to work exclusively for the human rights of Christians.

Twins of Zurich

Civil Disobedience in Zurich


The Zurich canton in Switzerland has introduced new legislation that outlaws parents from home-educating their children unless they possess a valid teaching qualification.


This affects some fifty families and eight families have so far stated their unwillingness to comply with the law. A number of courses of action are being considered, among them a programme of civil disobedience.


The education authority has stated that they believe that children need more than their family, which makes some suspect that this is the first move in a strategy that will eventually outlaw home education altogether, despite the fact that the Swiss Constitution makes childrearing the responsibility of parents not the state.


Zurich is a large international trading centre and home to a number of large US companies like Google and IBM as well as a number of banks. It is hoped that approaches by these companies may put pressure on the Zurich authorities to overturn the legislation, since significant numbers of workers at Google home educate their children and may refuse to continue to live in Zurich if the current climate prevails.


The issue of home education is fast becoming critical in Switzerland, where some of the other German-speaking cantons have already moved against the freedom to home-educate. An added pressure is that if ten cantons adopt a law then it becomes law in all twenty-six cantons. This will cause tension with the French-speaking cantons where home education has always been legal.


Another issue is a new law that is being adopted throughout Switzerland that would mean that children as young as three would have to attend a form of state schooling, whereas to date the age for the start of compulsory education has been seven.

Brazilian children

Brazilian Court Takes Hard Line on Home Education


On December 23rd a Brazilian court in Minas Gerais was offered evidence that the home-educated children of Cleber and Bernadeth Nunes had passed a series of tests imposed by the court in Mathematics, Geography, Science, History, Portuguese, English, Arts and Physical Education; tests that teachers admitted they could not themselves pass. The three-judge panel, represented by Moreira Diniz, nevertheless ruled that “We cannot even allow the examination here of the quality of education that is being given at home, because homeschooling never can be substituted for regular instruction.”


The courts clearly hoped that the children would fail the tests, giving further justification of their denial of human rights to the family.


One of the three judges claimed in his written verdict that, “The quality of our [state] education is undeniable. If we compare ourselves, for example, average Brazilian citizens with average North American citizens, the conclusion is devastating. North Americans know little in comparison to Brazilians. Our schooling is, to the contrary, very good in comparison to other countries.”


Joao Senna dos Reis, an opinion columnist with the Diario do Aco newspaper, mocked the statement, noting that “a simple official verification that 70% of Brazilians don’t know how to read and interpret five lines of banal text represents a shocking confession of how our education system is going.”


A quick search of the internet suggests that Joao is right. While the current president of Brazil is following Tony Blair’s “education, education, education” theme, a number of websites suggest that Brazil’s education system is towards the bottom of the heap in their region, with only Haiti performing worse.


www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08122308.html

Sex Ed poster

Sex and Our Children


Following reports about the high rates of teenage sexual activity, the National Children’s Bureau have advised the government that all secondary schools should have a sexual health clinic on site to offer advice on sexually transmitted diseases. It appears that young people will not use GPs, fearing they will tell their parents. The report also calls for compulsory sex education. In a related report NICE were asked to prepare guidance on the compulsory education of sexual health issues in schools and colleges. The committee of practitioners involved in writing the report then went ahead and broadened their remit to include home educators. NICE proceeded to refuse either to remove home educators from the list of those who would be affected by the guidance or to include home educators in the forthcoming consultation (5th March to April 3rd 2009).


Home educators could be left with guidance regarding compulsory content to their education yet with no consultation, which would mean that LAs could attempt to enquire about what sexual health education is provided and perhaps even mandate the content of provision. NICE’s remit only includes professional bodies and cannot be applied to families. Furthermore there are government rules that consultations must include all stakeholders. By including home educators NICE have put themselves in the impossible situation of only consulting organisations, but pronouncing on what families must teach. This is unacceptable not only because NICE was only ever intended to be able to mandate what organisations and not individuals do, but also because it tramples the parental right to educate according to family philosophy enshrined in the Human Rights Act.


A number of home education groups and individuals have issued complaints about NICE and its inclusion of home educators in its guidelines alongside further complaints at their exclusion from the consultation process. Many home educators already include sexual health education as part of their children’s education, but half-baked attempts to make this compulsory by bodies with no remit to interfere will only cause a storm of protest from families.


http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/StakeholdersPSHE.pdf

Texas

Gun-Toting Texan Teachers


Harold Independent school district has approved a plan for teachers in their schools to carry guns in class. The school district, the Texas equivalent to an LA, has unanimously voted to allow teachers who want them to carry guns. The district superintendant is quoted as saying, “We have a lock-down situation [in our schools], we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, ‘What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?’ It’s just common sense.”

Old Schoolhouse

US Education District Tries to Entice Home Educators to Return to School


In what must go down as one of the most naive attempts ever to entice home educators back into school, Wayne Alexander, Superintendent of Hernando School Board (Florida), invited the parents of all seven hundred and sixty home-educated children living in their area to a meeting to which only thirty parents turned up.


The principle motivation for the meeting was money. If all seven hundred and sixty children re-registered at a school, the county would receive $3.34 million in extra funding.


One teacher, Mike Maynard, stood at the podium and made the monumental error of telling parents that their children would receive a better education in school, a statement that was received with open laughter around the hall. Parents then queued up at the podium to explain why they took their children out of school in the first place. The reasons included bullying, inflexibility of the State’s curriculum, inadequate educational standards and a lack of moral standards.


Several parents pointed out that there are a further two thousand children lost by the public school system to private schools and asked if the board intended to chase these children also. No reply is recorded. No parents signed up to re-register their children for a return to school.


It has been known for some time now that Florida’s education system has been in a downward spiral of falling achievement and rising behaviour problems in many of its schools. As parents of more able pupils, or perhaps those parents more engaged with their child’s education, opt for private education (using federal grants), home education or virtual schooling, or indeed any option other than state schools, the State is left to educate the most challenging young people, leading to teacher shortages and further falling standards. It is therefore not surprising that the management teams of county education boards have begun to work proactively to bring back some of the pupils they have lost. This latest attempt was crudely thought out and badly managed.

John Harvard Statue, Harvard University

Ivy League Universities Target British Students


American universities are using recruitment agencies to identify and attract top UK students to their institutions.


These tactics are backed up by massive endowments available to offer grants to British students. Harvard, Yale and Princeton between them have £42 billion in endowments.


Yale has a “needs-blind” application process that ensures that if an admissions tutor wants a particular student the lack of funds will not stand in the way; those who need help will get it. Students with an income of less than £34,000 will not have to pay anything and support continues to around £70,000 joint income.


At Harvard help is available for students whose parents earn up to £90,000. This makes top universities in the US a very good prospect indeed for more able students.

Manchester University

Director of Institute of Science – “Give Children Performance-Enhancing Drugs”


John Harris, Director of the institute of Science, Ethics and Innovation at Manchester University, says Doctors and Ministers should consider making performance-enhancing drugs, such as Ritalin (methylphenidate), used frequently as a treatment for ADHD, available without a prescription for non-medical use.


His idea is that drugs such as these improve children’s attention span and exam scores. He adds that although they carry the risk of side effects, these effects are proportional to the benefits they offer.


US scientists have similarly suggested that the use of “smart drugs” in exams should be seen as a benefit to society. Mr Harris adds that there is nothing wrong in principle with trying to improve one’s cognitive functions.


The outlook for young people, should this policy be adopted, is appalling. In a world of competitive examinations many young people seeking to follow a conventional career path may be forced to take such drugs to retain any hope of success.


The corollary to this of course is stunted growth, high blood pressure, toxic psychosis, psychotic episodes, drug dependence syndrome, weight loss and severe depression upon withdrawal, not to mention a world where drug enhancement is simply part of accepted life.


The Telegraph January 1st 2009.

Teacher Suspensions

Rise in Teacher Suspensions


The number of teachers suspended over claims of pupil mistreatment has nearly doubled, though overall figures are relatively low. (Of the 537 thousand teachers in the UK, only 0.01% are suspended each year.)


BBC Radio 5 obtained figures from 40% of local authorities throughout the UK. If one extrapolates from these figures for all authorities in the UK then close to 800 teachers could be suspended this year for pupil mistreatment, that’s four or five suspensions in each LA. Suspension periods vary from around a week to as long as four years in one case.


The most common reason given for suspension was child protection issues, including allegations of verbal abuse, unreasonable force against a pupil, indecent assault and downloading child pornography. Other reasons were misuse of drugs or alcohol, and gross misconduct. There also appears to be a wide variation in suspension rates around the UK. For example, Essex has suspended eighty teachers in the last five years whereas Camden had no suspensions over the same period.


Teaching unions are concerned about false allegations made against teachers by pupils or their parents, but weaken their case by suggesting that all unproven cases are false allegations.

Guitar

Stardom for Home-Educated Singer-Songwriter


Tiger Rox, real name Sophy Wilcox, an eleven-year-old self-taught guitarist from Brighton, has signed a multimillion dollar recording and TV contract in the US.


Sophy started playing about four years ago when she was aged 7 and living in the Scottish highlands. Sophy was spotted at a charity gig in a local pub last September.


Her first album, Wild Bliss, is now due for release and she will perform on the Jay Leno show in the US. She is also to have her own show, called Tiger Rox.


A local fan and professional coach commented, “I saw this girl busking outside Brighton station. She is awesome! I stood with all the others watching for about an hour, could not believe my eyes, her songs are so deep and her voice gives you goose bumps and she’s always smiling, bless her. She deserves this, she is special, I’ve worked in the industry for years as a vocal coach and her pitch is perfect. A joy to watch. I was late for work because I could not stop watching her wondering what she would sing next. An amazing talent. Great to see her get recognition.”


In her blog she says that she has what is called “Endemic Memory”, which apparently means she remembers sequences of letters and numbers she sees forever. This helps with her guitar playing.


profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=412417924

Family Fun

Family Fun & Education with the FSC


Looking for a holiday that will inspire and educate your whole family? Then look no further than Field Studies Council (FSC), an independent, environmental educational charity that offers family holiday courses to help families spend time together and learn more about the environment.


FSC Family courses are based at FSC centres throughout the UK which are set in stunning locations, ranging from the majestic Scottish Highlands to the beautiful South Devon Coast. Each centre not only helps people learn more about the environment but is also run in an environmentally sensitive manner, and many have Eco-Centre status.


There are four different types of FSC family holiday course: wildlife and discovery, active family (adventure activities), creative family (art and crafts) and courses for unaccompanied young people. All courses are filled with activities for all the family to enjoy, but they also draw upon our 65-year history of providing environmental eduction, so are carefully structured to stimulate enquiring minds of all ages in a fun and memorable way.


This summer, splash about in rock pools, search the skies for bats, go pond dipping, hunt for creepy crawlies whilst at the same time enjoying the spectacular Pembrokeshire coast on FSC Dale Fort’s Seashore Adventure (09-13 April, 21-25 August). FSC Rhyd-y-creuau in Snowdonia invites you to discover more about the fantastic variety of wild inhabitants that thrive in the Welsh Countryside, on Family Wildlife Discovery (11-17 April, 16-21 August).


Alternatively, get creative on FSC Juniper Hall’s Wild Arts and Crafts (22-24 May) weekend. Forays into the field provide the materials to make mobiles and sculptures. Families can have a go at painting, paper and kite making and poetry writing on this inspirational family course in the North Downs.


Get active on FSC Malham Tarn’s Wild Days in the Dales (21-28 August) where you will visit mountains, lakes, and caves in search of wildlife and thrills. Or spend a week in rural Perthshire Exploring the Highlands (30 Jul -07 Aug). Rafting, orienteering and climbing are just some of the adventurous activities you can have a go at whilst on this course at FSC Kindrogan.


Weekend family courses start at £100 per adult and £79 per child. This includes all meals, accomodation and transport during the course and above all the interesting and fun programme of activities making them excellent value for money. To find out more about or to order a Family Holiday Courses brochure visit the FSC website www.field-studies-council.org/family or contact FSC Head Office on 01743 852100.


The Field Study Council is an environmental education charity committed to helping people discover, explore, understand and be inspired by the natural world. Its network of centres provides day and residential courses for all ages from young children to retired adults from schools and communities throughout the UK. It also reaches many others through its publications and community-based programmes.

Summer camp fun

Do It 4 Real Summer Camps – For 10 to 19 Year-Olds

http://www.doit4real.co.uk/

online library

Education Journal – Questia Online Library

The Questia library now contains over 67,000 books and 1,500,000 journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.

http://www.questia.com/library/jp-education.jsp?CRID=jp_education&OFFID=se1jp&KEY=education_articles

Education News


VIDEO Michelle Obama “Smart is cool”:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/business/2009/g20/7980476..stm


“Cyberbullying affects 1 in 10 teachers”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/apr/04/cyber-bullying-schools-teachers-survey


“Science GCSE standards lowered”:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7966688.stm


“Pupils should study Twitter”:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7962912.stm


“Graduates need work experience”:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7964144.stm


“Longer schooling cuts dementia”:

http://news.bbc..co.uk/2/hi/health/7968131.stm


Autism & Education “Other education programmes”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/besttreatments/autism-treatments-other-education-programmes


“Why can’t I go too? Louise Tickle on how disabled children are excluded from school trips”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/24/school-trips-disability


“Autistic student turns to comics to express herself”:

http://www.gazette.net/stories/02192009/collnew172506_32478.shtml


“12-Year-Old autistic Director debuts film at Beloit Film Festival”:

http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/39889412.html


“Creaking special needs system faces overhaul”:

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6006483&navcode=94


“School action urged on behaviour: Many SEN children failed by school system”:

http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/school_action_urged_on_behaviour__many_sen_children_failed_.htm


“UK backbenchers threaten revolt over proposed fee hike”:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25236970-12332,00.html


“Global battle for foreign students”:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25236631-12332,00.html


“Razor gang hits $7bn university funding”:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25248991-12332,00.html


“Students up as the economy shrivels”:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25236967-12332,00.html


“Technology sets school miles apart”:

http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/technology_sets_school_miles_apart.htm

“Our children must have the opportunity to learn an instrument”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/apr/04/musical-instrument-teaching-schools


The impact on students of budget cuts at universities “It’s an erosion of education”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/14/university-budget-cuts

“Alarm over security of children’s database”:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article5594645.ece


USA “Obama urges US education reform”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/10/obama-administration-education


China “High-tech exam cheats jailed”:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7980607.stm


South Africa “Laying the foundations of an inclusive society”:

http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/south_africa__laying_the_foundations_of_an_inclusive_societ..htm


Italy “Students give up wheels for their own two feet”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/europe/27bus.html?_r=1&ref=education


“Strip-search case tests how far schools can go”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/us/24savana.html?ref=education


“Kitchen chemistry for middle schoolers”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/ideas-kitchenscience-t.html?ref=edlife


“Brother and sister act – Summer camps”:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/ideas-KIDSINCAMP-2-t.html?ref=edlife


“Primary schools fighting to support children with diabetes”:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/17/diabetes-children


Video(19:24) “Sir Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity”:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

South Koreans Spend Record Sum On Education


South Koreans spent nearly 30 billion dollars on education in 2008, more than in any previous year, despite the deepening economic downturn, official figures showed Sunday.


The increase, due largely to a rise in spending on private teaching including English-language learning, indicated South Koreans were reluctant to cut back on education despite a dramatic economic slowdown.

Household spending on education reached an all-time high of 39.8 trillion won (29.5 billion dollars) in 2008, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier, the Yonhap news agency said, citing Bank of Korea figures.

The global financial crisis has dampened consumer spending in South Korea and fuelled a rise in unemployment.

The country’s per-capita gross national income fell to 19,231 dollars last year from 21,695 dollars in 2007.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090329/tod-skoreans-spend-record-sum-on-educati-7f81b96.html

Oil Pastels

Resources


NAS Home Education Guidelines:

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=240&a=14166


The Autism Software Database

http://www.mousetrial.com/autism_software_database.php


TESconnect – Teaching Jobs, Resources & Community

http://www..tes.co.uk/


Maths-U-See

http://mathusee.com/


Murderous Maths: Guide for Homeschoolers

http://www.murderousmaths.co.uk/homeed.htm


Synthetic Phonics Software from SUMS Online

http://www.syntheticphonics.co.uk/index2.htm


Internet Safety Resources
Childnet International, “work in partnership with others around the world to help make the Internet a great and safe place for children”. Widget have recently partnered with Childnet to recreate the “SMART” rules with symbol support.

They can be downloaded from their website:
http://www.childnet.com/kia/sen/widgetsmart.aspx

Ideas for using the flashcards:
http://www.childnet.com/kia/sen/widgetflash.aspx


Incentive Plus

Listed below is a great range of our best-selling resources, which are ideal if your learners are on the Autism spectrum:

http://www.incentiveplus.co.uk/


Wacky Web Tales

Stories geared for grades 3 and above (Updated monthly):

http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

R-E-M the educational software and teaching resources specialist:

http://www.r-e-m.co.uk/rem/

Education City – educational games, fun learning, whiteboard resources, SATs:

http://www.educationcity.com/

Life Support Productions – Offering three Sex Education/PSHE DVDs for people with learning disabilities/special needs:

http://www.lifesupportproductions.co.uk/ys..php

Yellow Moon – Arts & Crafts, Educational Toys

Home Ed groups who sign up for this catalogue are entitled to discounts:

http://www.yellowmoon.org.uk/

Baker Ross – 1000s of art & craft products, games & toys etc:

http://www.bakerross.co.uk/

London Science Museum

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/


British Science Association: Online resources:

http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/nsew/GetInvolved/NSEWResources/


Art Tutorial:

http://hippie.nu/~unicorn/tut/xhtml/


Ever Wonder How To? :

http://www.wonderhowto.com/


Discover Primary science –

Download activity sheets in Irish and English for primary science projects:

http://www.primaryscience.ie/site/activities_activity_pdfs.php


Educational Resources – Brain Awareness Week:

http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/brain_awareness_week__march_16__22_2009.htm


Primary Times – Events, Theatre, Places to Go, Things to Do with Families, Children and School:

http://www.primarytimes.net/home.php

light summer reading

Subscriptions to Home Education – The Journal of Home Education in the UK & Beyond

The Journal is published 3 times a year. We intend the journal to become the highest quality source of news and information available on the subject. A publication that can be kept and referred back to for years to come. It is possible to subscribe either by post or online at:

www.home-education.org.uk/journal.htm

Cost – including postage:

UK £11.99 for 3 issues

£4.50 for 1 issue

The rest of the world £14.99 for 3 issues

£6.00 each

Support

Support Listings


For a comprehensive listing of online support see:
www.home-education.org.uk/support.htm


HOME EDUCATION SUPPORT

Home Education UK
England and Wales support and legal info mailing lists
www.home-education..org.uk

support@home-education.org.uk


AHEd
England, Wales & N. Ireland
www.ahed.org.uk

www..ahed.pbwiki.com


enquiries@ahed.org.uk


Education Otherwise
Support charity covering all of the UK
www.education-otherwise.org

PO Box 325, Kings Lynn, PE343XW
ph. 0845 478 6345
www.eoemailhelpline@education-otherwise.org


Schoolhouse
Support charity for Scotland
www.schoolhouse.org.uk
Schoolhouse association,
PO Box 18044 Glenrothes, Fife, KY 9AD
ph 01307 463120 (24/7 support line)
enquiries@schoolhouse.org.uk

Learning Unlimited
A support network for continental Europe
www.learning-unlimited.org


Free Range Education
www.free-range-education.co.uk


Choice in Education
Alternative education newsletter
www.choiceineducation.org.uk

PO Box 20284, London, NW1 3AA
ph. 0208 969 8935
info@choiceineducation.org.uk


IHSAN
Islamic Home Schooling Advisory Network
PO Box 30671, London, E1 OTG

Personalised Education Now
Promotes learner-managed learning
www.c.person.ed.gn.apc.org

113 Arundel Drive, Bramcote,
Nottingham, NG9 3FQ
ph/Fax: 0115 925 7261

BLOGS with content relevant to home educators:

www.wheretruthgrows.blogspot.com

www.daretoknowblog.blogspot.com
www.hsblog.org
www.henireland.org/blog
www.gfoh.blogspot.com
www.aspiehomeeducation.blogspot.com
www.sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.com
www.anunschoolinglife.blogspot.com
www.cypruslife.blogspot.com
www.byothermeans.co.uk
www.eclecticlearnings.blogspot.com/
www.tworedboots.co.uk/blog/
www.ellesfuntimes.blogspot.com

Independent Panel for Special Education Advice (IPSEA)
www.ipsea.org.uk


Enquire (SEN Helpline)
www.enquire.org.uk


Disability Rights Commission
Promoting the rights of disabled persons
www.drc-gb.org/


Disability Law Service
ph. 020 77919800

Family Law Association
help finding lawyers
0207 797 7837

Arch Ed
Action on the Rights of the child
www.arch-ed.org


Bullying Online

www.bullying.co.uk

help@bullying.co.uk


Kids Health Foundation

www.kidshealth.org/index.html


The Brook Charity (sexual health advice)

www..brook.org.uk/

ph. 0800 0185 023 (9-5)

ph. 020 7950 7700 (24hr)


Drugscope Info & help on drug abuse

www.drugscope.org.uk/

32-36 Loman Street

London SE1 0EE

ph. 0207928 1211

info@drugscope.org.uk


Childline
ph 0800 1111

Parentline
ph 0808 800 2222



First Published on AE Monday, 6 April 2009


Parents of children with autism face a postcode lottery which amounts to a “national scandal”, author Nick Hornby has said.


Nick Hornby Photo: GERAINT LEWIS

Nick Hornby

The author of About a Boy said he faced a “total lack of information and advice” when his son Danny was first diagnosed with autism, and little had changed.


One in 10 parents of children with autism have moved house to access better services and many others are left feeling isolated, confused and judged, a survey by TreeHouse, the autism education charity, found.


Mr Hornby, whose son attends a TreeHouse school in north London, said: “When my son was diagnosed with autism there was a total lack of information and advice on what we should do next.


“It seems that little has changed – and that is a national scandal.”


The average age of diagnosis varies from under three years to as old as seven years depending on the local authority, information released under a Freedom of Information request by the charity found.


Ian Wylie, chief executive of TreeHouse, said: “These findings reveal a shocking lack of consistency in how local authorities support children with autism and their families, most clearly borne out in the dramatically different ages at which a diagnosis is made.”


Source:   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5109307/Nick-Hornby-autism-postcode-lottery-is-national-scandal.html