 
According to positive psychologists, the words ‘thank you‘ are no longer just good manners, they are also beneficial to the self.
To take the best known examples, studies have suggested that being grateful can improve well-being, physical health, can strengthen social relationships, produce positive emotional states and help us cope with stressful times in our lives.
But we also say thank you because we want the other person to know we value what they’ve done for us and, maybe, encourage them to help us again in the future.
It’s this aspect of gratitude that Adam M. Grant and Francesco Gino examine in a series of new studies published recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Grant & Gino, 2010).
They wanted to see what effect gratitude has on the person who is being thanked. Does it motivate and, if so, is it just by making people feel good, or is it more than that?
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/09/15/why-thank-you-is-more-than-just-good-manners/
 
Even as I love the autumn season, it is full of anxiety for me.
I start to mourn the ending of summer when I hear the cicadas grow louder the last two weeks of August and when I feel the crispness in the air at that time, which brings less sunlight and longer nights. Then the back-to-school craze: buying shoes, supplies, backpacks, etc. and trying to catch up on the homework we didn’t do during June and July. By the time I make it to the parent-teacher conferences in early September, when I hear about all the things I’m supposed to be doing with the kids, I’m well into panic mode.
The other day, my therapist and I talked about a few coping exercises to keep my anxiety from disabling me this time of year.
1. Pick a sound or object to be your Xanax.
My therapist looks up to the clouds. They calm her down in traffic or whenever she feels anxious. For me it’s the water. I don’t now if it’s because I’m a Pisces (fish), but the water has always calmed me down in the same way as Xanax, and since I don’t take the latter (as a recovering alcoholic, I try to stay away from sedatives), I need to rely on the former. So I just downloaded some “ocean waves†that I can listen to on my iPod when I feel that familiar knot in my stomach.
2. Repeat: “I am good enough.â€
My therapist reminded me this morning that even if I don’t meet other people’s standards or my own, I am good enough for God. And that’s all that really matters. So whenever I feel the pinch of anxiety when I don’t have time to call back a friend or send a response to an email or write the blog post that I said I’d write, I should remind myself that I am good enough in the eyes of God.
3. Take it one minute at a time.
One cognitive adjustment that helps relieve anxiety is reminding myself that I don’t have to think about 2:45 pm when I pick up the kids from school and how I will be able to cope with the noise and chaos when I’m feeling this way, or about the boundary issue I have with a friend–whether or not I’m strong enough to continue putting myself first in that relationship. All I have to worry about is the very second before me. If I am successful at breaking my time down that way, I usually discover that everything is fine for the moment.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/09/16/5-ways-to-manage-fall-anxiety/
 
NEW YORK – Once again, Comedy Central has gone too far and lined up too many stars.
Stephen Colbert, Larry David, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais and Sarah Silverman are just a few of the names expected for this year’s “Night Of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert For Autism Education,” the network said Thursday.
The bicoastal benefit will consist of a comedy concert taped at New York’s Beacon Theatre. Steve Carell, Jimmy Fallon, Tracy Morgan, Joel McHale, John Oliver, Chris Rock and Triumph The Insult Comic Dog are among those on the bill, with soul-funk ensemble Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings serving as the house band.
Ricky Gervais
That event will be intercut with live appearances and a celebrity phone bank originating from Los Angeles. Rob Coddry, Bryan Cranston, Jimmy Kimmel, Jim Parsons, Sofia Vergara and Rainn Wilson will be some of the stars on hand taking calls from donors.
Jon Stewart will host the two-hour broadcast, which airs Oct. 21.
The biennial “Too Many Stars” special is aimed at raising money to help ease the shortage of schools and education programs for autistic children and adults. In past years, nearly $7 million was raised, Comedy Central said.
Comedy Central is owned by Viacom.
Online:
Source:Â http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/103057674.html
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SHAWN DOHERTY | The Capital Times
Posted: Tuesday, September 14, 2010
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It is 8:30 on a crisp September morning, the start of a busy day for preschoolers at the Waisman Center’s Early Childhood Program, a nationally renowned laboratory school.
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At a piano in the gym, a teacher holds a 4-year-old named Michael in her lap and helps him tap out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” She speaks to him using both sign language and a singsong voice. Several other boys driving toy cars swerve around another teacher doing duty as traffic cop. A student teacher is coloring at a table with students. In a corner of the gym, two girls are playing house. “This is your bed, Baby Kitty. Go to sleep right NOW!” one of them says. A tiny child with big brown eyes, named Caroline, curls up on a mat and pretends to sleep.
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Michael, distracted by the noisy traffic behind him, wriggles out of Kerri Lynch’s lap and runs up to the boys in cars, making guttural sounds. The boys ignore him and continue to whiz past. Lynch waves down an especially energetic driver in a red T-shirt who has snagged the school’s popular police car. “Michael is talking to you,” she says, holding Michael, who is clearly becoming frustrated. She puts Michael’s face between her hands gently so that he makes eye contact with the other child and encourages him to try to speak again. The other boy listens carefully as the teacher translates: “Michael is wondering when he can have a turn?”
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The boy in the red T-shirt grins, holds up his hand to sign five minutes and offers a verbal promise. “In five minutes!” he says, before taking off again in the car.
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Five minutes later, with some prodding from Lynch, the driver gets out of the car and stands next to it, hollering. “It’s your turn, Michael!” he shouts several times. “It’s your turn!” Michael, now pretending to put gas in another car on the other side of the room, is oblivious. “I don’t think he can hear you,” the teacher says. “You’ll have to come over here.” Again, she facilitates the conversation. “Say thank you!” she tells Michael, who happily climbs into the vehicle.
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When it is time to clean up and Michael is asked to put away the car, he lies down on a mat, confused, and puts his hands over his ears. Before Lynch needs to intervene, a classmate rushes to the rescue. “I’ll park it for him!” she says, putting the car away.
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The kindness and patience shown by these preschoolers as their teachers help them to negotiate their way is all the more remarkable given that several of them, including Michael and Caroline, who have Down syndrome, are special-needs students, a population that is just now being truly integrated — however imperfectly — into public schools.
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“One of the reasons I love to work with this age is because of their innate empathy,” says Lynch, who has taught at Waisman for nearly two decades now. “These children know that kids are different and might need help and they don’t ostracize them for it. I just wish we could bottle that sensitivity up and keep it forever.”
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That is exactly what the Waisman Early Childhood Program (WECP) has been trying to do ever since it opened in 1979 with a mission to educate children with disabilities. Today the program’s six classrooms enroll around 85 children between the ages of 1 and 6, 20 to 30 percent of them with special needs that range from Down syndrome to autism disorders. It wins national kudos for its practice of what educators call inclusion, the belief that children with special needs can and should be integrated with typically developing children in regular classrooms, as opposed to segregated in “special education” classes.
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Over the past two decades the ideal of inclusion has gained traction thanks to federal and state legislation upholding the rights of young children with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive setting possible. But as practiced in many public school districts, even those valiantly committed to the approach, it has also provoked skepticism from critics who wonder if and how it ever can really work, particularly at a time when schools are strapped for resources.
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Joan Ershler, WECP’s director, is convinced that inclusion can succeed in public schools. But it takes tremendous commitment to the underlying philosophy and to staff, she says. Around 85 percent of WECP’s budget, the majority of which is paid for by tuition fees, is devoted to staff, Ershler says. (Families of preschoolers in Michael’s class pay $730 a month for their children to attend five mornings a week and $1,135 a month for an eight-hour-day, fairly close to what other programs would cost. Some tuition assistance is available.) Each classroom has several staff members present at all times, which allows teachers to give students the kind of intensive attention Lynch was giving Michael the other day. Student teachers are also often present. Many of her teachers are trained in special-needs education, Ershler says. Speech and occupational therapists work onsite with the children. But there is no magic to teaching these children, she insists. “It absolutely can be replicated in the public schools. It requires no special skill set that can’t be learned by any teacher. It is just really good teaching.”
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The school’s inclusive philosophy is obvious from the moment a visitor pulls up in the parking lot. Ramps allow wheelchairs to roll easily into the school’s classrooms and on paths through the lush playgrounds. Classroom computers have touch screens and children have access to lots of fun tools like paintbrushes that can be strapped onto wrists for those with poor muscle control and adaptive scissors. One bike has two seats so a friend can give a lift to another friend unable to peddle. Wiggly or anxious children are given aids to help them remain calm and focused including weighted blankets, squishy pillows, sensory toys and even gum.
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And the curriculum is open-ended. While many more traditional preschools move from one pre-selected theme to the next every week, with the same activities every year, teachers at Waisman develop a curriculum based on the interests of the particular groups of kids they are working with. Such an open-ended and play-based curriculum also allows children with different abilities to participate at their own speed.
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Activities are adopted to students. During what’s called “circle time,” when everyone talks about the day’s events, Lynch sits with the children on a rug, Michael in her lap. A large class calendar, with pictures and words identifying the day’s activities, is propped on an easel. To help Michael, a newcomer to the class, focus, Lynch gives him a smaller version of the class calendar to hold. “Why does Michael need to use the board?” a curious boy asks. “Because he’s just learning what we do,” Lynch explains in a very matter-of-fact way. The questioner, who is chewing gum to remain calm — turns back to the bigger calendar. No big deal. Lynch keeps her eyes on the other kids, too. “I have to tell you something,” she whispers at one point to a fidgety young boy. “It’s kind of rude to suck your knee.”
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Teachers constantly mull over what they do, how they do it, and why. After circle time, children are allowed to choose a friend as they line up in pairs to go out to recess. Michael is among the last to be picked. He doesn’t seem to notice. But later, staff discuss whether or not allowing one child to select another could lead to exclusion and hurt feelings, and the next day children are sent out to recess based on what colors they are wearing. Such reflection spreads to events outside the school as well. Parents, too, get constant support and education from the center. When staff realized several years ago that students with special needs were not being invited to birthday parties, they called parents to a big meeting and tackled the problem head on. “It turned out that parents of typically developing students wanted to include everyone, but they didn’t know how,” Ershler recalls. The upshot? Parents of children with special needs said they would simply come to the parties with their kids and help out.
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The children also learn to be more inclusive.
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Madison parent Sarah Edgerton has watched two daughters thrive at Waisman, one with special needs and one without. “The school taught all of us that we all have our own special quirks and that we can be who we are in life and that is okay,” she says. Her youngest daughter Isabel, 5, is a typically developing child. “She has been introduced to a whole other world of children that she would not get in any other preschool,” Edgerton says. “She is a more patient, gentler child, more reflective.” Just the other day, when children were choosing friends to go outside with, Isabel chose Caroline. “When we first met, we had to get used to each other,” Isabel says. “But now Caroline and I have been friends for so long that we are used to each other.” The two pals headed out to the playground together hand-in-hand, beaming.
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Source:Â
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/article_971bacbc-bf84-11df-9650-001cc4c03286.html
 
By JAIME CONE / Reformer Staff
Thursday September 16, 2010
BRATTLEBORO — As the number of children with autism continues to grow, so does the number of deaf young people diagnosed with the developmental brain disorder, according to Robert Carter, president of the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The center has responded by launching the nation’s first deaf-autism program, which started classes Aug. 30.
“We use a lot of the same approaches in our regular curriculum,” Carter said of the new program. “We adapted them so they are more suited for deaf autistic children.”
VCDHH is a Vermont-based, statewide non-profit organization currently serving 625 deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Vermont and southern New Hampshire.
There are currently eight students from all over the country, ages 11 to 17, enrolled in the new deaf-autism program.
“It’s very exciting,” said Carter. “It’s a great group of kids we have now, and we’ve already seen progress just because they are in an environment where they have access to communication.”
The $2 million program was funded in part by several grants, the most recent of which was a $4,000 grant from the Turrell Fund.
“We are grateful to the Turrell Fund,” said Carter. “Generous contributions like this one will enable this initiative to expand and allow us to measure outcomes, document best practices and share the results across the United States.”
In the next few years, VCDHH expects the program to grow to accommodate as many as 20 students.
“We’re going to take it incrementally so we don’t grow too fast,” Carter said. “It’s difficult to staff (the deaf-autism program), so we want to take students as we are sure we have the appropriate staffing.”
Carter said there are two teachers for the program, and both were already members of the VCDHH staff.
“They had interest in this area, and we provided them with additional training,” he explained.
The new curriculum gives the students the ability to communicate. In the past, Carter said, deaf autistic students would be put in a deaf program that’s not equipped to deal with autistic children, or visa versa.
Read in Full:Â http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_16087231?source=rss
 
15 September 2010 by Andy Coghlan
THE first trial of a drug intended to rebalance the brain chemistry of people with autism has helped symptoms in most of the 25 volunteers who tested it – with reductions in irritability and tantrums, and improvements in social skills.
The announcement coincides with news that the US federal government has finalised its financial package for Hannah Poling. In 2008 the government concluded that vaccinations may have resulted in her autism-like symptoms. The family will receive $1.5 million, plus $500,000 annually to cover the costs of caring for her.
Her case, however, is likely to be unique – she has a rare underlying genetic condition affecting her mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell. This was judged to account for the symptoms she developed after vaccination.
As the debate over vaccination and autism rumbles on in the US, the results from the drug trial of arbaclofen are encouraging. Although doctors sometimes prescribe drugs for autism, they are usually antidepressants and anti-psychotics and aimed at specific symptoms.
Read in Full:Â http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727783.900-autism-drug-aims-to-balance-brain-signals.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
 
Autism breakthrough as drug that eases distressing symptoms is successfully tested on patients for first time
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 7:47 AM on 16th September 2010
A drug for autism has been hailed as the first treatment that could aid the condition.
In a clinical trial, researchers found that it eased many of the distressing symptoms, helping sufferers improve their social skills and reduce tantrums. They were also able to make eye contact more frequently and became less irritable.
It is the first time the drug has been successfully tested on patients. And although it is many years away from being available here, the scientist believe their work could pave the way for treatments.
Researcher Dr Craig Erickson, from the Indiana University School of Medicine, who helped run the trial, explained: ‘We observed marked improvement in the majority of patients treated in the study, including reductions in agitation and tantrums.
‘This work will potentially open up a door to treating disorders that has, until recently, been firmly shut.’
About one in 100 in the UK are diagnosed with an autism disorder. The severity ranges dramatically, but all sufferers experience problems with communication, imagination and their social relationships.
Although doctors prescribe anti-depressants and anti-psychotics for particular symptoms, there are no specialist autism drugs.
The new drug, Arbaclofen, is intended to rebalance the brain chemistry of those with autism.
It was tested on 25 children with the condition aged between six and 17, over eight weeks. They suffered few side effects and by the end of the trial were calmer and more sociable.
They made eye contact more easily and were less anxious than at the start.
One teenager who took part in the trial was agitated at the start and was unable to stay in the room with the researchers for more than a few minutes. However, by the end, the patient was writing notes to the scientists and seemed less anxious and less aggressive.
Previous studies have shown that people living with the condition produce too much of the brain chemical glutamate which excites brain cells. Some may also make too little of another neurotransmitter called gamme amino butyric acid, New Scientist magazine reports today.
Dr Randall Carpenter, of Seaside Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has developed the drug, said: ‘We are trying to normalise signalling functions within the brain.
‘Too much activation with glutamate makes people with autism very sensitive to loud noises and other sudden changes in the environment, increasing anxiety and fear.’
Arbaclofen ‘may stop them being oversensitive’, Dr Carpenter added. The results of the trial were so promising, that a larger-scale test is planned. The results have not been published in a medical journal.
Autism charities welcomed the trial, but stressed that the number of people taking part was small.
The results could also be biased because the drug was not compared to a placebo, a harmless ‘dummy’ drug. And the assessment of the children was subjective, meaning that they could be misinterpreted.
Amanda Batten, of the National Autistic Society, said: ‘As the nature of autism is so complex, many interventions have been tried and tested over the years, but what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another.
‘Further rigorous research is required into potential interventions, such as Arbaclofen, to properly understand and assess the impact that they could have on people’s lives.’
The Learning Disability Coalition (LDC) has launched its campaign to Protect the Frontline, on the steps outside HM Treasury in London.
The Protect the Frontline campaign, which is supported by The National Autistic Society as a member of the LDC, calls on Central Government and local authorities to recognise that despite the tough financial climate, funding for learning disability services must be protected against any cuts.
You can show your support for the campaign by emailing your MP.
The LDC published the findings from their Learning Disability Coalition Local Authorities Survey ‘Social Care in Crisis’ to support the need for the campaign. The survey showed that:
- 74% of local authorities were already making efficiency savings
- 10% had already been forced to make cuts to support services
- 84% rated the funding situation for learning disability services as difficult.Â
At the launch, a determined group of campaigners, many of whom use social care support, held “Cuts Incident†boards displaying the vital frontline services which they fear will be heavily affected by the Government’s Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review.Â
Without social care support, they and many more people with a learning disability would not be able to meet their most basic needs, such as eating, personal hygiene, dressing, keeping safe and having somewhere to live.
The new Government has made a commitment to “fairness†in society, and “dignity and respect†for people with a disability. Social care support is just as vital to thousands of vulnerable people as doctors and nurses are to those who are unwell.
Anthea Cox, Director for the Learning Disability Coalition, said:
Our survey clearly shows that the social care support system cannot withstand further cuts as it is already in crisis. Any more reductions in social care spending will be a direct cut to the lives of people with a learning disability and a betrayal of the promises made by the Government to some of the most at-risk people in our society.
The Learning Disability Coalition is sending a copy of its survey to all MPs and local authorities, along with a supporting report called “Stories from the Frontline†which features the diaries of seven families, clearly displaying the breadth of need for social care services in England.
Source:Â http://www.autism.org.uk/news-and-events/news-from-the-nas/ldc-launches-protect-the-frontline-campaign.aspx
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 16, 2010
Being a teenager is tough enough as it is. Worries about being part of the ‘in crowd,’ whether you’re wearing the right clothes or talking and acting the right way are common worries at this age. However, ethnic minorities must deal with these concerns as well as the burden of discrimination, says a UCLA study.
According to the researchers, teens from Latin American and Asian backgrounds experienced more discrimination than teens from European backgrounds, and this discrimination came not only from their peers but from adults as well. The level of discrimination also affected these teens’ grade-point averages and their health, in the forms of depression, distress and lower levels of self-esteem.
Lead author of the study, Virginia W. Huynh, a graduate student in the laboratory of Andrew J. Fuligni, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, observed 601 high school seniors, equally divided between males and females. The students were asked to keep a daily diary for two weeks to record any discriminatory events or comments they experienced. They were also asked to separately rate on a four-point scale any physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches or general pain.
Almost 60 percent reported discrimination from other teens; 63 percent reported discrimination from adults; 12 percent reported discrimination on a daily basis. Teens from Latin American backgrounds reported more adult discrimination than Asian Americans. However, Asian Americans reported more adult discrimination than teens from European backgrounds. Both Latin American and Asian American teens reported higher levels of peer discrimination.
The researchers found that teens who suffered higher levels of discrimination also reported more aches, pains and other symptoms, as well as having a lower overall grade-point average. This leads to the idea that discrimination not only negatively affects adolescents’ physical and psychological health but may also inhibit their ability to achieve in school, the researchers said.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/16/discrimination-lowers-teens-physical-health/18146.html
 
Article Date: 16 Sep 2010 – 7:00 PDT
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has launched a new, interactive, online resource center to support children and adults living with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
ADHD is a condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. It affects 9 percent of children ages 3-17 and is the most commonly diagnosed behavior disorder in young people.
But ADHD is not a disorder limited to children ADHD often persists into adolescence and adulthood and is frequently not diagnosed until later years. Treatment requires a “multimodal” approach involving medical, educational, behavioral and psychological methods.
“ADHD is a condition that can impact every aspect of a person’s life, including relationships, school and work,” said Mike Fitzpatrick, NAMI executive director. “The earlier an individual receives treatment for ADHD, the better the outcome.”
“NAMI’s ADHD Resource Center tools can both help individuals manage their own illness and educate parents, caregivers, school professionals and others about the needs of children living with the condition.”
Website visitors can:
— Learn about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options
— Get tips on managing ADHD at home, school and work
— Watch a “Fireside Chat” video series of leading psychiatrists discussing the condition
— Read personal stories about living with and managing ADHD
— Keep up with current ADHD research
 
Article Date: 16 Sep 2010 – 6:00 PDT
Joseph C. Blader, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and colleagues, found that almost half of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) whose aggressive behaviors had not been effectively controlled during routine outpatient care could achieve near absence of aggressive, explosive behavior when implementing “first-line” stimulant treatments for ADHD tailored to individual needs, along with behavioral therapy. The study findings are to be published in the October issue of Pediatrics, and an early online edition the week of September 13.
“The results of our research strongly suggest that more intensive and methodical approaches to prescribing stimulants may reduce the need to resort to antipsychotic medications to control severe aggression among children with ADHD,” says Dr. Blader. “And our findings are especially significant in light of recent concerns about the proliferation in the use of other medications with greater side effects, such as antipsychotic medication, than standard stimulant medication when treating children with ADHD who display aggressive behavior.”
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/201333.php