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Archive for January, 2011

Job Interview

12 November 2010

The National Autistic Society (NAS) today welcomes the Government’s commitment to supporting people with autism and other disabilities into work but expresses substantial concern about the increased sanctions proposed for those looking for work.

Mark Lever, NAS chief executive, says:

Our research shows that 79% of adults with autism on incapacity benefit want to work, yet only 15% are in full-time employment, because they lack the information, advice and support to be able to be able to hold down a job. We hope that the Government is committed to fulfilling their pledge to support disabled people remaining in or returning to work. 

We do however, have substantial concerns about the increased discretion given to Jobcentre Plus Advisors to decide when to apply sanctions that could see people with autism and other disabilities have their benefits wrongly taken away from them. Autism is a complex disability and it is unrealistic to expect Job Centre staff to have required expertise to understand it without specific training. Unless additional support is given, this could devastatingly result in thousands of people with autism and other disabilities living without essential benefits and well below the poverty line. 

Source:  http://www.autism.org.uk/en-gb/news-and-events/news-from-the-nas/media-response-increased-sanctions-for-those-looking-for-work.aspx

Graduate view: Job seeking with Asperger Syndrome

Finding meaningful employment after graduating can be difficult for many people. However, for graduates with certain disabilities, this process can be particularly challenging writes ‘ASD Grad’

Finding meaningful employment after graduating can be difficult for many people. However, for graduates with certain disabilities, this process can be particularly challenging. I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome as a teenager. Asperger Syndrome is a condition that can affect communication and social skills, and also lead to certain unusual behavioural patterns, such as an obsessive interest in narrow or obscure subjects. I enjoyed a fairly successful academic record, gaining several good A-levels and a degree. I fully expected that my success as a student would translate into a successful career in a meaningful, interesting and well-rewarded job. After all, everyone from my parents and my teachers through to Tony Blair had told me that the road to career success lay through hard work and good grades as a student. This proved to be far from true in my case.

Many new graduates struggle to find work immediately after university, but my experience was perhaps even more difficult than those of my peers and certainly more drawn out. Some of these problems seemed to be similar to those experienced by many other recent graduates who are not disabled, but others were closely or directly related to my condition.

The first thing that I discovered to my surprise, in common with many other recent graduates, was that most potential employers were not as impressed by my academic achievements and qualifications as I had hoped and expected. The next issue was that they also seemed to be preoccupied with the fact that my work experience was limited to having worked in bars and supermarkets. Again I was surprised by this, since I had not been successful in gaining a place on one of the extremely competitive summer internship programmes I had applied to, for the most part I considered that gaining both my academic qualifications and the kind of experience that I now apparently required were largely incompatible. It is of course very difficult to gain full time work experience when studying full time, especially if you study a very academically focused degree which does not include anything like a sandwich year.

As well as this, in hindsight it was probably also the case that the nature of the jobs that I applied for did not really help my cause. I mostly applied for prestigious graduate schemes with “blue chip” corporations, whose entry standards seemed to be commensurate with my academic achievements. In hindsight, this was a mistake and I would have been better casting my net wider.

So far, the experiences that I have described could have been those of any recent graduate. However, it became apparent that my condition was also the cause of some quite specific problems. The combined effect was that while most of the people I had graduated with eventually found employment, my increasingly desperate and dispiriting job hunt seemed to continue indefinitely. I was unemployed for nine months and I eventually drifted into very low-paid temping, often on the minimum wage. This was some time before the financial crash caused the current graduate unemployment crisis and as a result the economic climate was, at the time, far more benign than it is now.

Read in Full:  http://careers.guardian.co.uk/graduate-view-job-seeking-with-asperger-syndrome



 

Article Date: 16 Nov 2010

A new study suggests that the handwriting problems that affect children with autism are likely to continue into their teenage years. The research is published in the November 16, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study included 24 girls and boys between the age of 12 and 16. Half of the group had autism spectrum disorder and all of the teenagers scored within the normal range of perceptual reasoning on an IQ test.

The teens were given the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment Test, which uses a scrambled sentence to eliminate any speed advantage for more fluent readers. The sentence used on the test was “the brown jumped lazy fox quick dogs over.” Participants were asked to copy the words in the sentence, making the letters the same size and shape as the sample using their best handwriting.

The handwriting was scored based on five categories: legibility, form, alignment, size and spacing. The teenagers’ motor skills, including balance and timed movements, were also examined and given a rating.

The research found that the teenagers with autism earned 167 points out of 204 total possible points on the handwriting assessment, compared to the 183 points scored by teens in the group without autism. These results showed statistical significance in the study. The teenagers with autism also had motor skill impairments.

Read in Full:  http://www.medilexicon.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=207961



By Victoria Allen


A YOUNG Scot with Asperger’s syndrome has finally found love… with the first girl he’s ever been able to look in the eye.


Craig Thomson, 25, has a severe form of the condition, which means he struggles with social skills.


He has always been afraid of eye contact, even with his mum and dad, but things were different when he met partner Gemma Shaw.


Craig said: “It’s not natural for me to look someone in the eye. It’s like letting someone hear my thoughts.


“But with Gemma, it doesn’t matter. We’re so close and I’m so comfortable that it’s not scary any more.


“I never thought I would be that close to anyone.”


Craig, of Strathaven, Lanarkshire, is often trapped in his own world because of his condition.


He is happiest when things are planned and becomes anxious around unpredictable people.


Craig can’t figure people out using facial expressions or social cues. He can’t express his feelings and he hates to be touched.


When he’s anxious, he often comforts himself by repeating actions. He has seen the film Terminator 2 more than 500 times.


But despite his problems, Craig was determined to find love.


And when he joined an online dating site, he was honest about his condition.


He wrote in his profile: “I have social problems, I don’t like eye contact and can’t recognise facial expressions.


“I have temper tantrums and obsessive compulsions, like turning lights on and off eight times before bed.”


Many women would have been put off, but Gemma, 23, liked Craig’s honesty.


She replied, they met a few weeks later and they were living together within six months.


Craig said: “I felt very comfortable with Gemma. When I gave her a kiss, it felt right.


“The biggest myth about people with my condition is that we’re not capable of love. We are – we just express it differently.”


Gemma said: “I’ve never thought of Craig as autistic – I just think of him as Craig.


“The first time he looked me in the eye, it was almost impossible for him. It means we’re meant to be together.”


Source:  http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/2010/10/28/man-with-asperger-s-syndrome-finds-love-with-first-girl-he-was-able-to-look-in-the-eye-86908-22664220/



 

Researchers say they have identified a unique ‘signature’ of autism in the brains of children with the condition

Alok Jha, science correspondent

guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 November 2010 20.00 GMT

The pattern of brain activity in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is markedly different from that of children without the condition, according to a new brain-imaging study.

The work, which shows that ASD has a “signature” in the brain, may lead to a better understanding of which parts of the brain the condition interferes with and how some people, despite having a high genetic risk of developing the condition, manage to compensate for its effects.

ASD is a genetically influenced condition that affects the development of children’s brains, with symptoms that include difficulties with social communication, interaction and imagination.

Hundreds of genes may contribute to the condition and scientists believe that individual cases of ASD could correspond to different patterns of genetic variation, which could lead to measurable differences in the way that the brains of autistic children function.

Dr Martha Kaiser and Professor Kevin Pelphrey of Yale University led a team of researchers that explored this idea by studying how children’s brains responded to videos of people moving around them.

“As intrinsically social creatures, humans typically exhibit robust visual sensitivity to other people’s movements,” they write today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“This is well illustrated by the discovery that point-light displays (ie videos created by placing lights on the major joints of a person and filming them moving in the dark), although relatively impoverished stimuli, contain sufficient information to identify the kind of motion being produced (eg walking, dancing, reaching) as well as the identity of the agent.”

Previous research found that two-year-olds with autism did not turn to face point-light displays of “biological motion”.

In their study, Kaiser and Pelphrey placed 62 children aged from 4 to 17 years old into functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanners and monitored their brain activity as they watched a point-light display of biological motion and another of scrambled dots.

In the group, 25 children had ASD, 20 were the siblings of children with ASD but did not display any symptoms themselves, and the remainder were “typically developing” children.

The researchers identified three signatures of brain activity that corresponded to the different children’s responses to the point-light displays.

Relative to the other groups, there was reduced activity in specific brain regions in children with ASD when they were watching biological motion compared with scrambled motion.

These included the right amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, areas which other research has identifed as having changed activity in adults with ASD.

The researchers found additional brain regions that showed reduced activity in both the siblings group and the ASD group, relative to the typically developing group.

They interpreted this result as a reflection of the underlying genetic vulnerability that the siblings group might have to ASD.

The scientists also found what they called “compensatory activity” in the siblings group – brain regions that were working harder than normal and might be helping the children overcome their increased genetic risk of ASD.

Read in Full:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/15/children-autism-patterns-brain-activity



 

Laurie Erickson

When thinking of autism it may help to think of a rainbow. There are many points and colors (and shades of colors) in a rainbow, but they are all part of the same rainbow. This is why, in the medical field, Autism is referred to as a spectrum. The easiest way to think of Aspergers is to think of it as being somewhere on the rainbow, part of the spectrum. A lot of people call Aspergers high functioning Autism. And for most practical purposes, this is true. The misnomer is that a person with Aspergers can have a bad day or a bad week and have behaviors that look very much like a person with more severe Autism. This stress can be due to being over stimulated or overwhelmed, or even under-stimulated; boredom can also be very stressful for people with Autism. This is especially true for those people who are not able to keep themselves adequately occupied.

Something else to keep in mind for anyone on the Autism spectrum, the level of stress or anxiety a person can handle one day is not necessarily an accurate measurement of the stress they can handle on a regular basis. And often times, people with Autism, including Aspergers, have delayed reactions to stress. People with Autism have a hard time knowing how they feel, it may take weeks or even months for an Autistic person to become aware of feelings like sadness or grief. An Autistic child often needs a lot of coaching to learn how to appropriately express happiness or love. Younger children often use hitting or even biting to express happiness when seeing a favorite friend. The feeling of happiness is so overwhelming that the child simply can not help but act impulsively. Impulse control is a real difficulty for all Autistic children. It can also be very challenging to remain patient and understanding as the parent of an Autistic child.

Read in Full:  http://www.examiner.com/autism-parenting-in-portland/aspergers-and-autism-what-s-the-difference



 

Brian Field

I want to fix my child with autism, make him normal like all the others kids. There isn’t a parent out there with such a child that hasn’t – at least for a fleeting moment – had such a thought. Those adults with autism, even those who may be non-verbal, often bristle at the notion of “fixing” or “curing” autism; after all, in removing autism from their beings, they would cease to be the person who they are – different, but no less valuable or important that anyone else.

What about those people suffering from sinistralism? Throughout history, across the world, those with sinistralism were thought improper in society, wrong, even evil – thus, the term being taken from the Latin word sinestra today used as the root for “sinister.” In many cultures those with sinistralism were forced to adopt mainstream practices, or hide their so-called affliction, when all this condition really stems from is a neurological predilection. Sinistralism, by the way, just means you’re left-handed.

And not so dissimilarly, autism spectrum disorders nowadays are looked upon just as that – disorders, to be fixed and cured – when we might well reconsider them as just another shade of neurological diversity. And like those left-handed members of the population, who is to say that those with autism should be forced to adapt to the mainstream conceits of society when tools and means can be developed for such individuals to facilitate operating in the world.

To continue the parallel, it is our society that defines and dictates the qualitative worth of the minority. Just as the peoples of the Andes consider that left-handers possess special spiritual abilities, including magic and healing, so too might our society better value those individuals with autism for non-typical or non-linear thinking, intense focus on problem solving, inspiration, for example, regardless of outward behaviors that seem odd to the majority.

Read in Full:  http://www.examiner.com/autism-in-national/the-cure-for-autism-mainly-understanding



 

November 16th, 2010 12:01 am MT

Dr. Michael Williams

Albuquerque police are filing charges against a man they identified as a former staff member of Camelot of New Mexico for felony child abuse after a cell phone video documenting the abuse was received by local NBC Affiliate KOB TV 4. The video shows what appears to be a staff member of the autism center kneeing an autistic child in the head while the child was sitting and crying on the floor.

Further investigation revealed that the staff member no longer worked at the center, but by an unusual set of circumstances, the mother of the child identified the child on the video as her son. This occurred when the mother contacted KOB about an October 28th report about the center being under investigation by state officials for alleged attacks and reports of sexual behavior because of insufficient supervision.

When KOB showed the mother the video, she not only identified her son, but told KOB that she had pictures of her son’s injuries that she would bring to the station. As a result of three missed interviews with the mother, the pictures were never delivered. When pressed for an explanation, the mother sent a strange email stating she was happy with her son’s care. Later the mom explained that someone hired by Camelot wrote the emails and made her send them through her email account.

Read in Full:  http://www.examiner.com/family-in-albuquerque/felony-child-abuse-charges-for-former-autism-center-staff-member



 Indianapolis

By KEN KUSMER, Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s budget crunch has become so severe that some state workers have suggested leaving severely disabled people at homeless shelters if they can’t be cared for at home, parents and advocates said.

They said workers at Indiana’s Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services have told parents that’s one option they have when families can no longer care for children at home and haven’t received Medicaid waivers that pay for services that support disabled people living independently.

Marcus Barlow, a spokesman for the Family and Social Services Administration, the umbrella agency that includes the bureau, said suggesting homeless shelters is not the agency’s policy and workers who did so would be disciplined.

However, Becky Holladay of Battle Ground, Ind., said that’s exactly what happened to her when she called to ask about the waiver she’s seeking for her 22-year-old son, Cameron Dunn, who has epilepsy, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Holladay, a school nurse, said she and her husband would go bankrupt trying to pay for services themselves, so Cameron spends most days sitting in his stepfather’s truck while he works as a municipal employee.

“It’s heart-wrenching as a parent to watch it. We are people and they are people,” Holladay said, referring to her son and others with disabilities. “They have lives that are worth something.”

There have been no confirmed cases of families dumping severely disabled people at homeless shelters because Indiana wouldn’t provide the care needed.

But some families have been on waiting lists for waivers for 10 years. The lists contained more than 20,000 names last month, and one advocacy group predicted they will only grow longer because Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered budget cuts that have eliminated 2,000 waiver slots since July.

Budget cuts also have resulted in the state moving foster children with disabilities to a lower cost program that doesn’t provide services for special needs and eliminating a grocery benefit for hundreds of developmentally disabled adults.

Kim Dodson, associate executive director of The Arc of Indiana, said her group has received reports of state workers in several of BDDS’s eight regional offices telling families to take disabled adults to homeless shelters. She speculated that the suggestion resulted from frustration among BDDS staff as families become more outspoken about the effects of state cuts.

“It is something we are hearing from all over the state, that families are being told this is an alternative for them,” Dodson said. “A homeless shelter would never be able to serve these people.”

State lawmakers said they also have received reports from several people who were told they could always abandon their adult children at homeless shelters.

Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville, said she found it “deplorable that people are being told to go to a homeless shelter.”

Leaders of several agencies serving homeless people across Indiana could not be reached for comment after business hours Wednesday.

Some parents said homeless shelters have also been suggested — or threatened — as an option by private care providers.

Daunna Minnich of Bloomington said Indiana Department of Education funding for residential treatment for her 18-year-old daughter, Sabrina, is due to run out Sunday. She said officials at Damar Services Inc. of Indianapolis told her during a meeting that unless she took Sabrina home with her, the agency would drop the teen off at a homeless shelter.

Sabrina, who’s bipolar and has anxiety attacks, has attempted suicide, run away during home visits and threatened her older sister, Minnich said. Bringing Sabrina home isn’t a viable option, but the two group home placements BDDS offered weren’t appropriate, she said.

“I don’t want to see the state of Indiana hasten her demise by putting her in a one-size-fits-all solution that will drive her to desperate acts,” Minnich said.

Jim Dalton, Damar’s chief operating officer, said he could not comment directly on any specific case but his nonprofit would never leave a client at a homeless shelter — even though it is caring for some for free after they got too old for school-funded services and haven’t yet been granted Medicaid waivers.

“We’re talking about youth that absolutely require services, and no one is willing to fund them anymore,” Dalton said.

Source:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_disabled_homeless_shelters



 

Article Date: 11 Nov 2010 – 4:00 PST

Mary Muscari, associate professor in the Decker School of Nursing at Binghamton University, is author of Let Kids Be Kids: Rescuing Childhood; and a person who has avoided stress-out Thanksgivings for over 20 years.

Ways to keep stress from turning your Thanksgiving into a real turkey:

— Shop ahead of time for non-perishables and have your list ready for what you need to purchase right before the holiday.

— If you’re going to breakout the good serving ware, getting it ready ahead of time. Don’t wait until Thursday morning.

— Have the entertainment ready TV for the football fans; Wii, board games or DVDs for everyone else.

— Share the chores so that everyone gets to enjoy the day. If you can’t share them with family and friends, share them with Betty Crocker, Jimmy Dean or whoever makes something you can heat and eat.

— Yes, healthy is better, but this is Thanksgiving we’re talking about. If you can’t make it healthy, tasty AND easy to cook, worry about being healthy some other day. Lighten up what and where you can for ‘T-Day’ and pre-plan to cut back during the rest of the week. You can enjoy a serving of stuffing on the big day; just don’t stuff yourself with it all weekend.

— Minimize the driving. You don’t have to visit every family member in one day honest! Alternate years, or celebrate another day. Have mini family Thanksgivings one day a week during November and stay home and relax on Thanksgiving.

— Remember the meaning of the holiday. It’s about giving thanks. In these difficult times, we need to be thankful for what we have. Make sure the kids know that. And when you have a moment, drop some food off at the nearest food bank for those who are not so lucky this year.

— Happy Bird Day!

Source: Binghamton University  

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207442.php




Article Date: 13 Nov 2010 – 1:00 PST

While many associate the holidays with Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and its theme of gaining and sharing the holiday spirit, E. Christine Moll, PhD, says the opening lines from “A Tale of Two Cities” may have even more relevance: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the season of light, it was the season of darkness… It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.


Moll, associate professor of counseling and human services at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY and a mental health counselor, says that for many the holidays are a time of stress, loneliness, anxiety and dysfunction. “Suicide rates rise 10 percent during the season,” says Moll.

She notes that the following are three areas that can trigger holiday stress or depression:

 

— Relationships. “Relationships can cause turmoil, conflict or stress at any time. But tensions are often heightened during the holidays. Family misunderstandings and conflict can intensify especially if you’re all thrust together for several days. Conflicts are bound to arise with so many needs and interests to accommodate. On the other hand, if you’re facing the holidays without a loved one, you may find yourself especially lonely or sad.”

 

— Finances. “Like your relationships, your financial situation can cause stress at any time of the year. Overspending during the holidays on gifts, travel, food and entertainment can increase stress as you try to make ends meet while ensuring that everyone on your gift list is happy.”

 

— Physical demands. “The strain of shopping, attending social gatherings and preparing holiday meals can wipe you out. Feeling exhausted increases your stress, creating a vicious cycle. Exercise and sleep good antidotes for stress and fatigue may take a back seat to chores and errands. High demands, stress, lack of exercise, and overindulgence in food and drink these are all ingredients for holiday illness.”

 

So what does one due when it’s the season to be jolly, but you’re feeling anything but jolly?

 


“When stress is at its peak, it’s hard to stop and regroup,” says Moll. “Take steps to help prevent normal holiday depression from progressing into chronic depression.” Moll suggests the following tips:

 

— Acknowledge your feelings. “If a loved one has recently died or you aren’t near your loved ones, realize that it’s normal to feel sadness or grief. It’s OK now and then to take time just to cry or express your feelings. You can’t force yourself to be happy just because it’s the holiday season.”

 

— Seek support. “If you feel isolated or down, seek out family members and friends, or community, religious or social services. They can offer support and companionship. Consider volunteering at a community or religious function. Getting involved and helping others can lift your spirits and broaden your social circle. Also, enlist support for organizing holiday gatherings, as well as meal preparation and cleanup. You don’t have to go it alone. Don’t be a martyr.”

 

— Be realistic. “As families change and grow, traditions often change as well. Hold on to those you can and want to. But understand in some cases that may no longer be possible. Perhaps your entire extended family can’t gather together at your house. Instead, find new ways to celebrate together from afar, such as sharing pictures, e-mails or videotapes.”

 

— Set differences aside. “Try to accept family members and friends as they are, even if they don’t live up to all your expectations. Set aside grievances until a more appropriate time for discussion. With stress and activity levels high, the holidays might not be conducive to making quality time for relationships. And be understanding if others get upset or distressed when something goes awry. Chances are, they’re feeling the effects of holiday stress, too.”

 

— Stick to a budget. “Before you go shopping, decide how much money you can afford to spend on gifts and other items. Then be sure to stick to your budget. If you don’t, you could feel anxious and tense for months afterward as you struggle to pay the bills. Don’t try to buy happiness with an avalanche of gifts. Donate to a charity in someone’s name, give homemade gifts or start a family gift exchange.”

 

— Plan ahead. “Set aside specific days for shopping, baking, visiting friends and other activities. Plan your menus and then make one big food-shopping trip. That’ll help prevent a last-minute scramble to buy forgotten ingredients and you’ll have time to make another pie, if the first one’s a flop. Allow extra time for travel so that delays won’t worsen your stress.”

 

— Learn to say no. “Believe it or not, people will understand if you can’t do certain projects or activities. If you say yes only to what you really want to do, you’ll avoid feeling resentful and overwhelmed. If it’s really not possible to say no when your boss asks you to work overtime, try to remove something else from your agenda to make up for the lost time.”

 

— Don’t abandon healthy habits. “Don’t let the holidays become a dietary free-for-all. Some indulgence is OK, but overindulgence only adds to your stress and guilt. Have a healthy snack before holiday parties so that you don’t go overboard on sweets, cheese or drinks. Continue to get plenty of sleep and schedule time for physical activity.”

 

— Take a breather. “Make some time for yourself. Spending just 15 minutes alone, without distractions, may refresh you enough to handle everything you need to do. Steal away to a quiet place, even if it’s the bathroom, for a few moments of solitude. Take a walk at night and stargaze. Listen to soothing music. Find something that clears your mind, slows your breathing and restores your calm.”

 

— Rethink resolutions. “Resolutions can set you up for failure if they’re unrealistic. Don’t resolve to change your whole life to make up for past excess. Instead, try to return to basic, healthy lifestyle routines. Set smaller, more specific goals with a reasonable time frame. Choose only those resolutions that help you feel valuable and provide more than only fleeting moments of happiness.”

 

— Forget about perfection. “Holiday TV specials are filled with happy endings. But in real life, people don’t usually resolve problems within an hour or two. Something always comes up. You may get stuck late at the office and miss your daughter’s school play, your sister may dredge up an old argument, you may forget to put nuts in the cake, and your mother may criticize how you and your partner are raising the kids. All in the same day. Expect and accept imperfections.”

 

— Seek professional help if you need it. “Despite your best efforts, you may find yourself feeling persistently sad or anxious, plagued by physical complaints, unable to sleep, irritable and hopeless, and unable to face routine chores. If these feelings last for several weeks, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional. You may have depression.”

 

Moll says to remember that one key to minimizing holiday stress and depression is knowing that the holidays can trigger stress and depression. “Accept that things aren’t always going to go as planned,” says Moll. “Then take active steps to manage stress and depression during the holidays. You may actually enjoy the holidays this year more than you thought you could. Just remember, for the holidays and beyond…Practice Safe Stress!


Canisius College is one of 28 Jesuit colleges in the nation and the premier private college in Western New York. Canisius prepares leaders intelligent, caring, faithful individuals able to pursue and promote excellence in their professions, their communities and their service to humanity.

 

Source: Canisius College  

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/207793.php