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Mary Colley created and ran the London based Neurodiversity and Dyspraxia charity DANDA. She died of breast cancer last Wednesday, September 22, 2010. Mary was greatly loved and admired by those who knew her and by those familiar with her work. She truly made a significant difference in the lives of many, campaigning nationally and up to the highest levels of British government. Sincere condolences to Mary’s family and to all who knew and loved her. Â
Mary Colley R.I.P
Mary passed away last week and from her many friends in Ireland we send her family and friends our deepest sympathy .
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Mary was a great supporter of the Dyspraxia Association of Ireland and the Adult Group with Mark Daly .
We will all miss a truly wonderful person .
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Mary Colley found out that she had developmental dyspraxia as well as AD(H)D and dyslexia in her mid forties. She helped set up the Dyspraxia Foundation Adult Support Group and also achieved a Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties at the Hornsby Centre in 1997.
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Mary co-ordinated the Dyspraxia foundation Adult Support Group for about 6 years, running a helpline and organising workshops and conferences on adult dyspraxia. In 2000, her book Living with Dyspraxia – A guide for adults with dyspraxia was published with much help from the rest of the group.
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Mary has worked hard to raise awareness of dyspraxia not only in print – but also via radio programmes and newspaper articles. She has spoken widely on adult dyspraxia to college and university teachers, careers officers and occupational therapists and psychologists – particularly the former. Lately, she has also spoken on neuro-diversity.
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She and others became aware how frequently the different specific learning difficulties overlapped, and as a result set up DANDA – Developmental Adult Neuro-Diversity Association – a charity working for adults with dyslexia, dyspraxia, Asperger’s Syndrome and AD(H)D and related conditions in 2003. She sits on the National Aimhigher AchieveAbility Steering Group – which aims to get more students with dyspraxia, dyslexia and dyscalculia into university; and the Best Resources for Achievement and Intervention re Neurodiversity in Higher Education (BRAINHE) chaired by Dr David Pollak of De Montfort University.
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She was also on the Neuro-Diversity/Autism Action and Advisory Group of the Disability Rights Commission.
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Read More …Â http://www.dyspraxiaireland.com/news_biog_marycolley.php
Message From DANDA …
It is with great sadness that we let you know of the death of Mary Colley, National Co-ordinator of DANDA. In due course we will pay full and proper tribute to Mary and her work but meanwhile our thoughts and sympathies are with Peter and her family.
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Article Date: 23 Sep 2010 – 1:00 PDT
Using digital evolution techniques that give scientists the ability to watch evolution in action, Michigan State University researchers have shed new light on what it is that makes species altruistic.
Defined as the ability to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others, altruism has been a bit of a genetic mystery. Understanding why altruism evolves is one of the fundamental challenges in evolutionary theory.
However, a paper published online in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society by researchers affiliated with MSU’s BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action has shed new light on the subject. This study marked the first time that scientists have been able to test such generalizations of kin selection theory.
“The ability to conduct research in digital systems enabled us to learn nuances of kin selection theory that may have been difficult to discover via evolutionary experiments in natural systems,” said team member Charles Ofria.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/202092.php
 
Electronic devices that interface directly with the brain are now being produced by labs around the world but each new device tends to work in a completely different way. An article in Technology Review argues that we need an agreed neural operating system so brain-machine interfaces can more easily work together.
Although current devices tend only to measure brain activity or stimulate cortical areas, it won’t be very long before devices typically do both – detecting and reacting to neural states – possibly forming a dynamic network of electronic devices that regulate brain activity.
Read in Full:Â http://mindhacks.com/2010/09/23/towards-an-operating-system-for-brain-hacking/
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 22, 2010Â
According to research presented at the Sociolinguistics Symposium this month, children are learning to use profanity — swearing — at an earlier age. And the researchers found children are also swearing more often than children did just a few decades ago.
Timothy Jay, a psychology professor at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, presented this data at the conference held earlier this month in the U.K.
Jay suggests the rise in profanity among children is not surprising, given the general rise of the use of swearing among adults during the same time period.
“By the time kids go to school now, they’re saying all the words that we try to protect them from on television,†says Jay. “We find their swearing really takes off between (ages) three and four.â€
Kids aren’t learning swearing at an earlier age from the television they watch. The rise in cursing mirrors the rise in cursing among adults in the past thirty years that Professor Jay has been studying the psychology of swearing.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/22/children-are-swearing-more-often-at-earlier-age/18596.html
 
By what age do children recognise that plagiarism is wrong?
Thursday, 23 September 2010
To view plagiarism as an adult does, a child must combine several pieces of a puzzle: they need to understand that not everyone has access to all ideas; that people can create their own ideas; and that stealing an idea, like stealing physical property, is wrong.
There’s been plenty of research on children’s understanding of physical property ownership, which has shown that a rudimentary understanding is already in place by age two. Now in the first ever systematic study of its kind, Kristina Olson and Alex Shaw at Yale have investigated children’s understanding of the ownership of ideas.
Across three studies, Olson and Shaw presented children aged between three and eleven with vignettes and puppet videos in which two characters either both came up with their own idea for what to draw in art class, or one character copied what the other one had drawn. By age five to six, children showed less liking for characters who copied and rated them as ‘more bad’. Crucially, they gave copying as their justification for these negative appraisals. ‘These results demonstrate a relatively sophisticated understanding of ideas as early as age five years,’ the researchers said.
 
Some time ago, I sent a text message to someone I know. I casually asked where they’d been because I hadn’t heard from them in a while.
In response, I got a string of messages. Each new paragraph starts a new text message. They are posted below. The only changes that I made were to correct the spelling and to remove a few words that could identify aspects of the person and their drug of choice.
While I have this person’s verbal permission to post the messages, I think the theme is universal to drug addiction. Therefore, the message is best left gender neutral and anonymous.
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Me: Hey, where you been? Haven’t heard from you in forever.
Them: Cuz I dont feel like talking. Cuz I’m going no where in life and if I feel like shutting my phone off and locking myself in my house and even hiding my car cuz I don’t wanna talk, then I will.
It’s sad what drugs do. Because they’re so bad for you. And yet when you’re high, all your problems go away and you feel the weight of the world gone. Ok? When you’re not on drugs, all you ever can feel is the nasty, cold reality of the world…at your fingertips…on your shoulders. It’s sad because I will always want to get high.
Read in Full:Â http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=39649&cn=14
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 23, 2010Â
Despite widespread efforts to educate the public of the neurobiological basis for mental illness, researchers have found no improvement in discrimination toward people suffering with serious mental health or substance abuse problems.
This is according to a new study by Indiana University and Columbia University.
The findings raise concerns regarding the effectiveness of mental health awareness campaigns. Recently, advocates have embraced the message of “this disease is like any other,†and hoped this point would be driven home to finally reduce stigma toward mental illness in the United States.
“Prejudice and discrimination in the U.S. aren’t moving,†said IU sociologist Bernice Pescosolido.Â
“In fact, in some cases, it may be increasing. It’s time to stand back and rethink our approach.â€
For many Americans suffering with mental illness, a fear of stigma often keeps them from seeking the medical help they need. When others find out, the sufferer can experience discrimination in employment, housing, medical care and social relationships, and this negatively affects the quality of life for these individuals and their loved ones.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/23/stigma-for-mental-illness-high-possibly-worsening/18524.html
 
 
The sun was shining, the weather was sweet, and John and Meredith felt like moving their dancing feet. As they were letting loose, Meredith slipped and fell. A thought shot through her mind that it was strange that she lost balance, but quickly got back up and after assuring John she was fine, they kept dancing. Luckily John was a neurologist and knew something didn’t seem right and so he took a step back and asked Meredith to do 3 things that saved her life.
 He asked her to perform as simple acronym S.O.S:
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- Smile – If the person has not just suffered a stroke this should be no problem to do. However, if there is any brain injury, there may be a crooked smile.
- Open/Reach – Usually opening both arms wide and raising them to the sky shouldn’t be a problem. If someone has suffered a stroke, one arm may start coming down or be disabled. Â
- Speech – We speak simple sentences all the time, but a stroke victim may have slurred speech or confuse the wording. A sentence like, “What beautiful weather we have today†may not be as coherent.
Read in Full: http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=39656&cn=72
 
 
Snoezelen Room at the Nanaimo Association for Community Living helps many clients
It’s a world like no other, where mesmerizing bubbles dance through the air, a waterfall of fibreoptic strands cascade from the ceiling, and a sound-sensitive light strand magically reacts to noise.
With the controls at his fingertips, Stephen Vaughan changes the dancing blue bubbles in one of the floor to ceiling cylinders to red. It’s his favourite colour.
Once a week, Vaughan, 24, escapes into the multi-sensory studio to unwind and enjoy some freedom from his powered wheelchair as he is mechanically lifted into a bath of balls.
Hidden beneath the spheres, he waits for Susan James, the Snoezelen Room attendant, to break up the darkness with the glow from the fibreoptic strands.
Then he melts into his surroundings as he listens to background music of his favourite High School Musical soundtrack.
Vaughan, who has cerebral palsy, is just one in a growing number of adults and children who use the Snoezelen Room at the Nanaimo Association for Community Living for an hour of relaxation and escape every week. The room has an instant calming effect on clients who have a range of different disabilities and disorders or for those who just need to unwind.
Research reveals multi-sensory environments offer visual, auditory and kinesthetic benefits and the non-goal orientated space allows participants to interact freely as they see fit without any expectations.
The soothing benefits has led the NACL to develop an early intervention program for children with autism, which will begin in January.
Read in Full:Â http://www.canada.com/Multi+sensory+room+offers+escape/3553915/story.html