Jan
22
 
July 25, 8:58 PM
Shreveport Autism & Parenting ExaminerMary Toso
History of the Word
No discussion of autism is complete without looking back historically at how it has been viewed and diagnosed. This is because autism and related conditions have fought a lingering effect of psychological and psychiatric diagnoses associated with the earliest observations of patients being called autistic. People need to be informed with so many more now dealing with this in their families, personally, or with someone they know.
Before Leo Kanner’s work in 1943, autism was viewed through the perspective first used by Swiss psychiatrist Eugene Bleuler in1912. Autism-Psychology Wiki informs that he used autism in an issue of The American Journal of Insanity, and that the word comes from the Greek word for ‘self’, autos. It was in the work of dealing with schizophenia, which he first named, that he went on to introduce the term autism. Kanner, however, saw a definable difference in a condition that he chose the word autism to describe. In doing so he separated it from schizophrenia, but the impact of the term already had greatly confused people about the condition of autism- schizophrenia being a major psychiatric illness. Associated with schizophrenia are symptoms such as losing touch with reality, hearing voices and even hallucinating. However, the onset is unusual in very young children. Still, autism originally was a severe to moderately severe condition compared with the possibly high functioning PDD (NOS) described in The mystery child of PDD (NOS), or high functioning others in the spectrum. It was of an extremely rare type which had traits that were more easily defined, and many feel the term needed to remain applicable only to this small minority of people. So what might the autistic child look like that autism first described?
The Severely Autistic Child
This child from early on appears out of touch. He does not connect with even his mother in ways expressing bonded relationship, to her disillusionment. For example, eye contact is rare if at all, and speech also. There is a chronically habitual fine motor motion that the child will do. He shows fixation in response to it. For example, he might flap his hand up and down while never even noticing anyone else in a room. Larger, rapid motor behaviors might also take place like repeated waving of arms, spinning and rocking.
Potential Implications:
Therefore, though great strides have been made to understand the condition, a stigma is still associated with the extreme of the original terms and their definitions. Both the mental illness associated with schizophrenia, and the images of one having more severe autism are lingering with the term autism. Many children today called autistic are so vastly different that the condition doesn’t even appear to be the same, and actually really in the obvious ways isn’t. Even more so it could impact this child to realize someone would associate him with the schizophrenic when he is of vastly healthier condition. Given this it seems wise to consider the opinions of those concerned, and see what they are suggesting when defining autism spectrum, and the range of conditions the term now refers to. Hopefully, each individual will be more appreciated this way.
Application:
Children here in the Shreveport, LA area need to be seen as the individuals they are. When they are diagnosed or appear to be in the autism spectrum please remember how diverse this group has become and be sensitive to the uniqueness they have. We need to be thoughtful not to box them into a preconception we may have of this term.
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Jan
22
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 26, 2010Â
New research in psychological science supports what many of us have known for a long time — that being outdoors, enjoying nature, is beneficial for mental health and psychological development.
“Many people,†says Dr. Eeva Karjalainen, of the Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, “feel relaxed and good when they are out in nature. But not many of us know that there is also scientific evidence about the healing effects of nature.â€
Forests — and other natural, green settings — can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness.
Forest visits may also strengthen our immune system by increasing the activity and number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells.
Many studies show that after stressful or concentration-demanding situations, people recover faster and better in natural environments than in urban settings.
Blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and the level of “stress hormones†all decrease faster in natural settings.
Depression, anger and aggressiveness are reduced in green environments and ADHD symptoms in children reduce when they play in green settings.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/26/stressed-out-visit-a-forest/16011.html
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Jan
22
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 26, 2010Â
New research in psychological science supports what many of us have known for a long time — that being outdoors, enjoying nature, is beneficial for mental health and psychological development.
“Many people,†says Dr. Eeva Karjalainen, of the Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, “feel relaxed and good when they are out in nature. But not many of us know that there is also scientific evidence about the healing effects of nature.â€
Forests — and other natural, green settings — can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness.
Forest visits may also strengthen our immune system by increasing the activity and number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells.
Many studies show that after stressful or concentration-demanding situations, people recover faster and better in natural environments than in urban settings.
Blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and the level of “stress hormones†all decrease faster in natural settings.
Depression, anger and aggressiveness are reduced in green environments and ADHD symptoms in children reduce when they play in green settings.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/26/stressed-out-visit-a-forest/16011.html
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ELECTION 2010 – ANNOUNCEMENT
Minister For FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR DISABILITIES
INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY IN COMMUNITY LIFE
The Gillard Labor Government today announced three new initiatives to support people with disability and their carers participate in community life.
People with disability and their carers deserve the same opportunities as other Australians to play a part in their local community and access local facilities and public spaces.
The new initiatives are:
-
Accessible communities – infrastructure grants of up to $100,000 to local councils to make buildings and public spaces, such as playgrounds, swimming pools, public toilets, and town halls, more accessible for people with disability. These grants will be offered competitively and be based on a matched contribution from local governments, with the Gillard Labor Government providing total funding of $5 million.
-
An additional $1 million will be provided for digital playback devices and improved access to digital content in public libraries around the country to increase the accessibility of print material, such as books and newspapers, for people with vision and physical impairments and learning disabilities that have difficulty reading traditional printed materials.
- Leaders for Tomorrow – a new national program to help people with disability to become leaders in business, the community and government through mentoring and leadership development. The new $3 million program will provide 12-month intensive leadership support for up to 200 people with disability, including matching them to  a mentor in their field of interest.
- ‘Attitudes’ website – a new disability website will be created in partnership with the ABC to raise awareness of people with disability and disability issues. It will be developed and edited by people with a disability and provide them with a national voice. The Gillard Labor Government will provide $500,000 to establish the website.
These initiatives are part of an $11 million accessibility package to support the Gillard Labor Government’s National Disability Strategy which is currently being finalised with the states and territories.
The National Disability Strategy will commit all governments to a nationwide approach to improving the lives of people with disability and create a more equal society. The strategy will set out a 10-year national plan for reform, focusing on better inclusion for people with disabilities.
These new initiatives are in addition to two recently announced Gillard Labor Government plans to improve access for people with disability:
-
The Livable Housing Design initiative, developed with the residential building and construction industry, to promote new voluntary guidelines for housing built to meet the needs of older Australians and people with disability. The Gillard Labor Government is investing $1 million working with industry to promote liveable housing.
-
A new plan agreed with Australia’s four major cinema groups to fast-track new audio description and captioning technology to improve cinema access for people who are deaf, blind, visually or hearing impaired. This will be funded in partnership between the Gillard Labor Government, through a $500,000 commitment, and cinema operators.
The Gillard Labor Government’s accessibility package to support the National Disability Strategy is fully provided for in the Budget. Costs have been met from within the Departments of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
MELBOURNE
24 JULY 2010
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COMMUNICATIONS UNIT: Phone: (02) 9384 2220 | Fax: (02) 9264 2213
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Read Bill Shorten’s speech at the announcement 
Â
ELECTION 2010 – ANNOUNCEMENT
Minister For FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR DISABILITIES
INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY IN COMMUNITY LIFE
The Gillard Labor Government today announced three new initiatives to support people with disability and their carers participate in community life.
People with disability and their carers deserve the same opportunities as other Australians to play a part in their local community and access local facilities and public spaces.
The new initiatives are:
-
Accessible communities – infrastructure grants of up to $100,000 to local councils to make buildings and public spaces, such as playgrounds, swimming pools, public toilets, and town halls, more accessible for people with disability. These grants will be offered competitively and be based on a matched contribution from local governments, with the Gillard Labor Government providing total funding of $5 million.
-
An additional $1 million will be provided for digital playback devices and improved access to digital content in public libraries around the country to increase the accessibility of print material, such as books and newspapers, for people with vision and physical impairments and learning disabilities that have difficulty reading traditional printed materials.
- Leaders for Tomorrow – a new national program to help people with disability to become leaders in business, the community and government through mentoring and leadership development. The new $3 million program will provide 12-month intensive leadership support for up to 200 people with disability, including matching them to  a mentor in their field of interest.
- ‘Attitudes’ website – a new disability website will be created in partnership with the ABC to raise awareness of people with disability and disability issues. It will be developed and edited by people with a disability and provide them with a national voice. The Gillard Labor Government will provide $500,000 to establish the website.
These initiatives are part of an $11 million accessibility package to support the Gillard Labor Government’s National Disability Strategy which is currently being finalised with the states and territories.
The National Disability Strategy will commit all governments to a nationwide approach to improving the lives of people with disability and create a more equal society. The strategy will set out a 10-year national plan for reform, focusing on better inclusion for people with disabilities.
These new initiatives are in addition to two recently announced Gillard Labor Government plans to improve access for people with disability:
-
The Livable Housing Design initiative, developed with the residential building and construction industry, to promote new voluntary guidelines for housing built to meet the needs of older Australians and people with disability. The Gillard Labor Government is investing $1 million working with industry to promote liveable housing.
-
A new plan agreed with Australia’s four major cinema groups to fast-track new audio description and captioning technology to improve cinema access for people who are deaf, blind, visually or hearing impaired. This will be funded in partnership between the Gillard Labor Government, through a $500,000 commitment, and cinema operators.
The Gillard Labor Government’s accessibility package to support the National Disability Strategy is fully provided for in the Budget. Costs have been met from within the Departments of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
MELBOURNE
24 JULY 2010
Â
COMMUNICATIONS UNIT: Phone: (02) 9384 2220 | Fax: (02) 9264 2213
Â
Read Bill Shorten’s speech at the announcement
 
July 27, 2010 – 4:22PM
A package of free online games for children with autism has received an accolade in the Victorian Government’s 2010 Premier’s Design Awards.
Whiz Kid Games was created by a group of final year multimedia design students from Swinburne’s Faculty of Design in collaboration with Swinburne’s National eTherapy Centre (NeTC) and Bulleen Heights Autism School.
It received the Premier’s Recognition Award as the stand-out design achievement for 2010.
Whiz Kid Games aims to help autistic children learn life skills. Focusing on areas such as coping with change, recognising emotions and non-verbal communication, the 16 therapeutic games are themed around everyday activities such as getting dressed, going to school and following a schedule.
NeTC co-director David Austin says the games provide a real benefit for children with moderate to severe autism. He says kids with autism learn intuitively and by detecting patterns through repetition. He worked with about 80 students at Swinburne to invent online games that used these learning techniques.
“Autistic children can be difficult to engage in traditional educational settings, but most of them are very happy to work with a computer,†associate professor Austin says. “The idea is to capitalise on that and have autism-specific computer-based activities that work for them in building their skills.â€
The Premier’s Design Awards recognise Victorian initiatives where design has been used effectively, sustainably and strategically to innovate, increase productivity and/or boost competitiveness and exports.Â
The games portal can be accessed at the Whiz Kid Games website.
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July 27, 2010 – 4:22PM
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A package of free online games for children with autism has received an accolade in the Victorian Government’s 2010 Premier’s Design Awards.
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Whiz Kid Games was created by a group of final year multimedia design students from Swinburne’s Faculty of Design in collaboration with Swinburne’s National eTherapy Centre (NeTC) and Bulleen Heights Autism School.
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It received the Premier’s Recognition Award as the stand-out design achievement for 2010.
Â
Whiz Kid Games aims to help autistic children learn life skills. Focusing on areas such as coping with change, recognising emotions and non-verbal communication, the 16 therapeutic games are themed around everyday activities such as getting dressed, going to school and following a schedule.
Â
NeTC co-director David Austin says the games provide a real benefit for children with moderate to severe autism. He says kids with autism learn intuitively and by detecting patterns through repetition. He worked with about 80 students at Swinburne to invent online games that used these learning techniques.
Â
“Autistic children can be difficult to engage in traditional educational settings, but most of them are very happy to work with a computer,†associate professor Austin says. “The idea is to capitalise on that and have autism-specific computer-based activities that work for them in building their skills.â€
Â
The Premier’s Design Awards recognise Victorian initiatives where design has been used effectively, sustainably and strategically to innovate, increase productivity and/or boost competitiveness and exports.Â
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The games portal can be accessed at the Whiz Kid Games website.
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Source:Â
The consistently amusing NCBI ROFL blog has found a fantastic case study, originally published in Sleep Medicine, of a woman who started sending emails during sleeping-walking episodes when her dose of sleeping pill zolpidem was increased.
As we’ve discussed previously, zolpidem has an association with unusual sleepwalking behaviours, but sending email invitations to dream parties is apparently a first.
Brilliantly, the case report contains copies of the emails (a bit strangely, both are printed out and scanned in). The party invite is just wonderful.
The case description is as follows:
We describe a case of a 44-year-old woman with idiopathic insomnia almost all her life. She tried various medications, psychotherapy and behavioral techniques for the treatment of her insomnia without any significant effects. She was started on Zolpidem 10 mg 4 years ago. She was able to sleep 4–5 h each night, but then the effects started wearing off. She increased the dose of Zolpidem by herself to 15 mg every night; she would take 10 mg tablet around 10 p.m. and 5 mg around 3 a.m.
Read in Full:Â http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2010/07/theres_a_party_in_m.html
The consistently amusing NCBI ROFL blog has found a fantastic case study, originally published in Sleep Medicine, of a woman who started sending emails during sleeping-walking episodes when her dose of sleeping pill zolpidem was increased.
As we’ve discussed previously, zolpidem has an association with unusual sleepwalking behaviours, but sending email invitations to dream parties is apparently a first.
Brilliantly, the case report contains copies of the emails (a bit strangely, both are printed out and scanned in). The party invite is just wonderful.
The case description is as follows:
We describe a case of a 44-year-old woman with idiopathic insomnia almost all her life. She tried various medications, psychotherapy and behavioral techniques for the treatment of her insomnia without any significant effects. She was started on Zolpidem 10 mg 4 years ago. She was able to sleep 4–5 h each night, but then the effects started wearing off. She increased the dose of Zolpidem by herself to 15 mg every night; she would take 10 mg tablet around 10 p.m. and 5 mg around 3 a.m.
Read in Full:Â http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2010/07/theres_a_party_in_m.html
 
Speaking Male, Speaking Female — Communicating Into Another’s Listening
Communicating “to” or “at” someone is a far different experience than communicating “with” someone. Master communicators speak into another’s listening, “with” them. What is another’s listening, particularly across the genders of male and female? Misattunements-missing each other by not accurately understanding each other on the levels of feelings, cognitions or intentions-happen all the time, to our collective dissatisfaction and unworkability.
To create a context, consider gift-giving. People, usually below the level of conscious awareness, quite regularly give another what they want and figure the person receiving the gift would like it too. Thinking and acting in accord with this agenda usually does not work. How many guys want pretty clothes and cologne, while how many gals want a sport equipment and video games? Not large numbers. The real trick is to give a gift the other person will treasure.
A classic example is giving your partner a little massage. Males tend to be stronger and firmer in their massages given this is their preference. Physiologically males’ skin is thicker and needs a stronger, firmer touch for him to really feel the touch in the massage. The female typically does not appreciate this and quickly lets the male know this with irritably saying, “Ouch! Can’t you be any gentler? Tender does it!” Physiologically females’ skin is thinner and thus needs a much lighter and tender touch. So long as he doesn’t get defensive or take anything personally, and further begins to understand what females need in massages is a lighter, gentler touch and offers this, all gets back in attunement. Similarly, the woman starts to gently massage the male and he lets her know in no uncertain terms that, “I don’t feel much of anything; can’t you press any harder and stronger?” Again, so long as she takes influence without resistance, defensiveness or personalizing, all comes back into pleasant attunement with mutual satisfaction.
Read in Full:Â http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=39002&cn=289
 
Broken hearts hurt men more than women
June 11, 2010
Women may shed more tears over a busted romantic relationship, but men suffer the greater emotional toll, researchers say.
In a study of more than 1,000 men and women, ages 18 to 23, researchers found that unhappy romances cause men more emotional grief, including threatening their identity and feelings of self-worth. Young men and women express their distress at a breakup differently. Women are more likely to feel depressed after a breakup, while men are more likely to have substance-abuse problems.
Men may be more affected by a breakup because their romantic partners are their primary source of intimacy. Women, however, are more likely to have other close relationships with friends or family members to turn to for support, said the study’s author, Robin Simon of Wake Forest University.
Nonmarital relationships are important to a young adult’s well-being, Simon said. “However, the advantages of partner support and disadvantages of partner strain are more closely associated with men’s than women’s mental health,” she wrote.
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The study is published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
— Shari Roan
Source:Â http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/06/romance-men-relationships-breakup.html
 
Relationship Insecurity Ups Health Risks
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 21, 2010
A new study shows that people who have self-doubts about relationships may be at higher risk for future health conditions than those who feel secure in relationships.
In the study, researchers found people who feel insecure about their attachments to others might be at higher risk for cardiovascular problems.
“This is the first study to examine adult attachment and a range of specific health conditions,†said lead author Lachlan A. McWilliams, PhD, of Acadia University. He and a colleague examined data on 5,645 adults age 18 to 60 from the National Cormorbidity Survey Replication and found that people who felt insecure in relationships or avoided getting close to others might be at a higher risk of developing several chronic diseases.
Ratings of attachment insecurity were positively associated with a wide range of health problems, they found.
“Much of the health research regarding attachment has focused on pain conditions, so we were initially surprised that some of our strongest findings involved conditions related to the cardiovascular system,†said McWilliams.
Participants rated themselves on three attachment styles – secure, avoidant, and anxious.
Secure attachment refers to feeling able to get close to others and being willing to have others depend on you. Avoidant attachment refers to difficulty getting close to others and trusting others. Anxious attachment refers to the tendency to worry about rejection, feel needy and find others are reluctant to get close to you.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/21/relationship-insecurity-ups-health-risks/15837.html
