


Archive for January, 2011
 
Pediatricians First Line of Defense, Experts Say
That was the explanation a recent visitor to the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness in West Palm Beach, Fla. gave when asked why she starved herself to the point of hospitalization. She was eleven years old.
Anorexia and its sister-disorder, bulimia, have historically been thought of as striking white, middle to upper class teenage girls. But a recent report from the American Academy of Pediatrics warns doctors that eating disorders are happening to younger girls — and boys — at an alarming rate.
“People tend to have this idea of who gets eating disorders, but an eating disorder doesn’t discriminate between age, gender, race, or class,” says Johanna Kandel, founder and director of the alliance.
“Some research says that as much as ten percent of those with eating disorders are under the age of ten. What I’m finding at the alliance is that the number of parents seeking help for their 7-, 8-, 9-year-olds is escalating rapidly,” she says.
A 2009 analysis found that in the last decade, hospitalizations for eating disorders more than doubled among children under twelve and now account for four percent of all such hospitalizations.
“Pediatricians need to be aware of the early symptoms of eating disorders because they are the medical professional that a child is mostly likely to see in any given year,” says Dr. Jim Lock, director of the Eating Disorder Program at Packard Children’s Hospital. “They are the gatekeepers.”
It used to be that the onset of an eating disorder tended to be around mid-adolescence, around age fifteen or around the time of first menses at about age thirteen. So why are there a growing number of girls who are showing signs of bingeing and purging as young as eight?
Read in Full:Â http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/eating-disorders-prevelant-kids-twelve/story?id=12238077
 
Liz Lynch, author of Smart Networking, adds, “I started my business 10 years ago in late October, so holiday networking was vital for my prospecting strategy.†Lynch believes that networking with existing contacts is the fastest way to bring in new clients. Why? “Because the people who already know, like, and trust you are more ready to hire you or refer you to people they know,†she says.

 
 
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Windsurf Publishing LLC offers a new book called What Can You Expect When You Fly? by Maureen Lagana for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. What Can You Expect When You Fly? was created to help reduce the stress of airline travel for children with autism who benefit from knowing what to expect in advance.
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Greenwich, CT (PRWEB) November 26, 2010
Windsurf Publishing LLC now offers a book for children on the autism spectrum to help prepare them for airport and airplane travel. Many children with autism and other developmental disabilities have challenges in public settings such as airports. Airport travel can be quite difficult because many children with autism can get overwhelmed from the crowds of people, noises, demands of standing on long lines, and going through airport security. What Can You Expect When You Fly? by Maureen Lagana is written by someone who knows. The author is the mother of a child with autism who is also the narrator of this book. And yes, in real life he is on the autism spectrum. Pictures and text in this book are used to both visually and verbally prepare these children for airplane travel.
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Maureen Lagana remembers when her son didn’t travel as well as he does now. There was a time when it was particularly challenging because her child would not be able to stand in the long lines at the airport without getting upset and having some anxiety. Yet, although her son travels much better now, she doesn’t think there is enough substantive support for families with children with autism at our airports nationwide. She feels that in her experience there was no one to go to for assistance if needed and that most airports do not have enough proactive protocols in place to help families with children with autism. As airplane security and travel is increasingly getting more invasive on people, this should be a concern of airport personnel and policy. Many children with autism get very upset when people touch them. For some, it could feel like someone is hurting them. And for many others standing still, even for a few seconds or minutes through an airline security machine, can be challenging. What kinds of accommodations are going to be made for these children? And what is most concerning to Windsurf Publishing LLC, who is supportive to families with autism, is whom can you go to if you need assistance?
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What Can You Expect When You Fly? is a book that can help many children with autism that are not yet comfortable during airport and airplane travel. It is a what to expect book just for children with autism and other disabilities. You can rehearse what to expect with your son or daughter and help to prepare them for a future trip. While Windsurf Publishing LLC is pleased to make this title available, it’s timing is interesting. Airline companies are starting to get involved in mock flight preparation for children with autism that need it. While Windsurf Publishing LLC thinks this is great, Windsurf Publishing LLC also feels that there are still much needed interpersonal protocols for airport personnel and how they treat individuals with autism and their families.

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What Can You Expect When You Fly? by Maureen Lagana is available at Amazon online, Barnes and Noble online, and many others internationally.
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Source:Â
The Salt Lake Tribune
Dora Raymaker, above, of Portland, Ore., offers an inside look at living with autism. She is a member of the Oregon Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorder, co-director of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (www.aaspire.org) and sits on the board of directors of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (autisticadvocacy.org).
Can you speak to the importance of relationships in your life?
My relationships are the reason why I’m alive. That is not hyperbole. I’ve been very fortunate in that I’ve always had good people around me who care about me and who have been able to support me (and I them) and keep me safe and fed.
What about autism makes it difficult to maintain relationships?
The biggest difficulty I have is that it can be really hard for me to remember to, or figure out how to, contact people … . One way I deal with this is to make dates with people far in advance and get the dates solidly in my schedule. Every time I meet a new person, I learn a whole new language (and they need to learn at least a small amount of Dora-ese). This can be slow and a lot of work for both of us, but I also think it results in relationships that are richer and more honest and committed. It is hard to enter into a trivial or throw-away relationship with me.
There’s a perception that people with autism can’t internalize emotions and can’t empathize with others.
Just because someone may not express emotions in a way that is recognizable to others does not mean they are not feeling them. I often feel things too deeply or have too much empathy and have to run away, not because I am callous, but because I feel so strongly it causes my brain to shut down or freak out.
The notion that we don’t have feelings frees up people to commit atrocities against us without accountability. A person involved with my local school system once told me they heard a well-known educational speaker tell a room full of autism specialists not to worry about autistic students being bullied because the autistic students don’t have any feelings.
How do you help friends and family members empathize with you?
I love that it’s recognized that others have just as much of a responsibility to understand us as we have to understand them.
It took me a long time to realize I did need to explain my experience of the world to others in order to facilitate clear communication and understanding. Non-autistic people typically assume that I experience the world in some way similar to them, which leads to a lot of misunderstandings and at times dangerous situations, and I suppose I am no different.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50340283-76/autism-experience-autistic-relationships.html.csp
 
The Government announced a review of specialist disability employment programmes on 2 December 2010.
Ensuring equality for disabled people is a key priority for the Coalition Government. Since May 2010, the Government has set out an ambitious programme of employment support to ensure that people disadvantaged in the labour market will get the help they need to find and keep jobs. Our aim is that Government programmes should support more disabled people than ever before into employment.
On 25 October, DWP launched Work Choice – a new flagship programme to support disabled people with complex disability-related barriers to work. From summer 2011, the Work Programme will provide personalised employment support to a wide range of customers, including disabled people. Building on these foundations, the Department has announced an independent review of specialist disability employment programmes. Liz Sayce, Chief Executive of RADAR, the UK’s largest disability campaigning organisation, is leading this review.
To support this review the Government has published the following call for evidence. This provides an opportunity for people and organisations to submit written evidence to inform the review. We expect to publish the review by summer 2011.
This call for evidence will close on 28 February 2011.
Please send your responses or any queries about this document to:
Disability Employment Support Review Team
Disability and Work Division
Floor 2
Caxton House,
Tothill Street,
London, SW1H 9NA.
Email: employmentsupport.review@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
Fax: 0207 449 5746
Please ensure your response reaches us by 28 February 2011
Source:Â http://dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2010/disability-employment.shtml
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South Pasadena Middle School
I could tell you that my husband and I moved our children from South Pasadena public schools to private ones because of “fit,” and that would be true. Children are not interchangeable widgets, and to assume they will all thrive in the same environment is perhaps naive. But, mostly, we moved our children because it got to the point where I could not drive by the South Pasadena Middle School without crying.
Know this: There are good people at SPMS. Eric Aispuro gets to school an hour early every day to tutor students in math. Sella Simonian brings ancient history alive. The nurse, the administrative assistants, the counselors, the recently retired librarians: good people, every one.
But my kids are not widgets, and if you want to thrive at SPMS, it seems to me that not only do you have to be a widget, but you also have to be a high-achieving widget with no issues. To do well in your 38-student classes you’ve got to be smart, independent, energetic and self-motivated. If your parents can afford tutors or stay home and oversee your homework, that’s a plus.
You will need these advantages because SPMS demands a lot from children, which is appropriate. But I am not sure demanding a lot is the same thing as turning education into a rat race. Last year, my children spent the better part of all their weekends on homework, and that doesn’t even include the hours they spent on it most school nights–this despite the fact that evidence presented to the South Pasadena Unified School District’s own homework committee showed that more than about 90 minutes of homework a night is counter-productive in the middle-school years.Â
I’m also not sure that demanding a lot from children is the same thing as providing quality instruction. Let me say it again: SPMS has some outstanding educators, but it’s got clunkers too. I’m just saying what everyone knows. I used to think this was OK. Who hasn’t survived a bad teacher, after all? This is an actual statement I remember making to an SPMS mother: “In 7th grade, it doesn’t matter which teacher track your kids gets because there is a stinker in each one. So it’s fair.” But is that fair? Is that even acceptable?Â
Outside the classroom, your child will do well to be athletic, socially adept and familiar with the right pop culture references. Without them, go ahead and start them on anti-depressives. You won’t be the first. This is a competitive town–again, I’m just saying what everybody knows–and no place is more competitive than the SPMS quad, where people will even make fun of you if have seizures. I know. My daughter has seizures and she spent most of last year hearing people sing-song “seizure, seizure” behind her back–even at graduation.Â
Early on, when I met with the school about this, I was told, “Don’t worry, Mrs. Finnegan, earlier it was the boy with autism. It’ll pass.” It didn’t, and that’s pretty cold comfort anyway, especially if you’re the mother of the kid who is gay or has ADHD or has whatever difference someone decides to prey on.
When my kids were younger, I worked within the system. I volunteered in classrooms. I was a room parent. I organized science fairs. I served on School Site Council at Marengo and on the SPUSD homework committee. But I couldn’t help my daughter feel safe at her own promotion.
Read in Full:Â http://southpasadena.patch.com/articles/paying-for-superman

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Ten-year-old Caleb Ward, of Linby Road, suffers from Fragile X Syndrome, which is the most common genetic cause of autism. It means he gets anxious, struggles to interact socially and has difficulties in forming relationships with others.
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But since being suspended for five days on two occasions in June and July — amid claims he charged at teachers — he has been out of the educational system.
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The school’s head teacher, Pat Snowdon, and Notts County Council, have rubbished this, saying a place is available for Caleb. He has also been offered a spot at the Carlton Digby Special School in Mapperley.
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“He was doing really well,†said Nichola, who has three other children — Trinity (eight), Lucas (five) and Bay (two), who also has Fragile X.
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“As far as we were concerned, he was experiencing breakthroughs. He was starting to play with other children and write words for the first time. But we were called into the school because Caleb had started to become more aggressive.
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“He was suspended twice and then we had to pick him up every lunchtime.â€
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“Caleb’s parents, however, have expressed a preference to move their son to a special school and have therefore not allowed him to return to school for the term that began in September.
 
Article Date: 01 Dec 2010 – 2:00 PST
For many of us, the festive season around Christmas brings out our worst over-indulgent habits: we eat, drink and spend more than we would normally do, and regret it come New Year when we step on those scales, or the credit card bill lands on the doormat.

Mindful Drinking

Mindful Eating
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 Make sure you have about 20 minutes on your own when you won’t be disturbed, and have a small bowl of raisins with you.
- *Pick up a raisin: put it in the palm of your hand, press it, look at it, examine it from all angles, see how it reflects the light, then squash it a bit between your fingers, explore its textures, colors, and smell.
- *Then put it in your mouth, gently roll it around and let the taste buds on your tongue slowly sense the raisin, without biting it.
- *Then, bite into it, and again, roll it around in your mouth, explore its taste and texture with your tongue.
- *Now chew it, slowly, and again, be aware with all your senses of the stage by stage transformation of shrivelled, dried up grape to the chewed morsel releasing its sweetness and flavor in your mouth.
- *Then, and only then, allow yourself to swallow it.
- *Imagine what is happening to the raisin as it travels down your gullet into your stomach, and then into your gut.

Mindful Shopping
- 1. Why am I here?
- 2. How do I feel (good, bad, uncertain, guilty, sad, frustrated, etc)?
- 3. Do I need this (how much would it score on the necessity index)?
- 4. What if I wait?
- 5. How will I pay for it?
- 6. Where will I put it?

Everyday Mindfulness

 
Article Date: 01 Dec 2010 – 0:00 PST
Women who publicly confront instances of sexism in the workplace tend to feel more capable and competent in their jobs and about themselves in general, a new study shows.
The research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln examined how both men and women perceive, react to and relate to everyday episodes of workplace prejudice, and found that women who challenge sexist behavior experience psychological benefits such as self-esteem, empowerment and competence.
“Most everyday instances of prejudice are somewhat subtle, but things like sexist jokes can undermine workplace performance and perceptions of competence and control for women,” said Sarah Gervais, assistant professor of psychology at UNL and the study’s lead author. “Importantly, directly challenging such instances of sexism can serve as an antidote for negative psychological effects – turning a negative event into an instance that makes women feel better about themselves and their work, and even to feel empowered.”
For the study, researchers set up a simulated online interaction. After participants were presented with a sexist comment that was openly directed at a woman in the group, they were given the chance to respond publicly to the statement and discuss its appropriateness.
The analysis showed that workers of both sexes most likely to confront the comment were the ones who were more “communal oriented” – that is, they saw their workplace as a community, and were naturally more willing to help others, with no expectation of getting anything in return.
Unlike women who confronted the sexist remark, calling out the employee’s sexist behavior had little relationship to men’s general feelings of competence, self-esteem or empowerment at work. That suggests, Gervais said, that confronting workplace prejudice may be particularly important for those who are the traditional victims of the behavior – in this case, women.
Gervais said the study’s findings also could help employers look at confrontation of workplace prejudice in a different light, promoting a work culture that would foster greater understanding between employees.
The study is the first to examine employees’ communal orientation as a factor in confronting workplace prejudice, and suggests that companies may want to think about ways to reward workers for helping others, Gervais said.
Also according to the study:
- Participants who identified as “exchange oriented” — more self-interested and likely to think about what personal gains might be made in helping others — were far less likely to confront the sexist comment.
- It is possible that “communal oriented” people are perhaps not equally concerned with the needs of all others. Instead of allowing the offender in the simulation to save face, it seems communal oriented participants were more concerned about the needs of women in the group and the importance of acting in a socially responsible way.
“Challenging prejudice can be good for the workplace and can help overcome some of the negative effects victims of prejudice might experience,” Gervais said. “The next time you hear a prejudiced statement, it could be an opportunity to make a difference for yourself and others.”
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/209605.php

