 
Prosecutor Says ‘Inaction’ Not Criminal
POSTED: 5:33 pm EDT July 7, 2010
UPDATED: 9:15 am EDT July 8, 2010
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A St. Lucie County school bus aide who was arrested in March on a child neglect charge won’t be criminally charged in the incident that left an autistic child bloody and a school bus window broken.
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Published: Wednesday, July 07, 2010, 8:16 PM Â Â Updated: Thursday, July 08, 2010, 5:45 AM
Susan K. Livio/Statehouse Bureau
TRENTON – Parents raising children with autism need help. This much, the family advocacy group Autism New Jersey understood.
But when the group launched an unprecedented survey interviewing hundreds of families about what kind of help they needed, Autism New Jersey got a surprising response.
The survey, to be released Thursday, showed more than 60 percent of the families said the group should become a force at the Statehouse to fight their cause.
“In order to make meaningful change, they told us to change Trenton,’’ said executive director Linda Meyer.
Parents in New Jersey — where the autism rate is highest in the nation — are often too consumed with looking for therapy or educational or vocational programs for their child to solve the red tape of government-funded services, Meyer said. “So often, families are very negative and frustrated and challenged by the system,” she said.
Starting today, Autism New Jersey will distribute the report to the Legislature, to members of Gov. Chris Christie’s cabinet, and to local elected leaders. It’s a parents’ wish list, minus angry finger-pointing to keep the message positive, Meyer said.
“We are looking to improve the future. We wanted to hear what part of the system works,’’ Meyer said. “You can’t throw away an entire system.”
The group conducted in-depth interviews with 537 people, nearly 70 percent parents or grandparents and the rest teachers, doctors or other professionals. Every county was represented; nearly half the participants live in Bergen, Mercer and Middlesex.
Kim Cristo of North Haledon, whose daughter has autism, said the report “outlines every worry a parent has about a child on the autism spectrum. It’s such a puzzle, so enigmatic. If you know there are services for your child, it’s comforting.’’
Read in Full: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/autism_support_group_to_releas.html
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Published: Wednesday, July 07, 2010, 8:16 PM Â Â Updated: Thursday, July 08, 2010, 5:45 AM
Susan K. Livio/Statehouse Bureau
TRENTON – Parents raising children with autism need help. This much, the family advocacy group Autism New Jersey understood.
But when the group launched an unprecedented survey interviewing hundreds of families about what kind of help they needed, Autism New Jersey got a surprising response.
The survey, to be released Thursday, showed more than 60 percent of the families said the group should become a force at the Statehouse to fight their cause.
“In order to make meaningful change, they told us to change Trenton,’’ said executive director Linda Meyer.
Parents in New Jersey — where the autism rate is highest in the nation — are often too consumed with looking for therapy or educational or vocational programs for their child to solve the red tape of government-funded services, Meyer said. “So often, families are very negative and frustrated and challenged by the system,” she said.
Starting today, Autism New Jersey will distribute the report to the Legislature, to members of Gov. Chris Christie’s cabinet, and to local elected leaders. It’s a parents’ wish list, minus angry finger-pointing to keep the message positive, Meyer said.
“We are looking to improve the future. We wanted to hear what part of the system works,’’ Meyer said. “You can’t throw away an entire system.”
The group conducted in-depth interviews with 537 people, nearly 70 percent parents or grandparents and the rest teachers, doctors or other professionals. Every county was represented; nearly half the participants live in Bergen, Mercer and Middlesex.
Kim Cristo of North Haledon, whose daughter has autism, said the report “outlines every worry a parent has about a child on the autism spectrum. It’s such a puzzle, so enigmatic. If you know there are services for your child, it’s comforting.’’
Read in Full: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/autism_support_group_to_releas.html
 
July 7th, 2010
I came home from China to some good news: on June 20th, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Ari Ne’eman to serve on the National Council on Disability (NCD) alongside President Obama’s seven other nominees.
Founder and President of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), Ne’eman is the first person with autism to serve on the NCD. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement in the world of autism, and Ne’eman is a good fit for the council.
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July 7th, 2010
I came home from China to some good news: on June 20th, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Ari Ne’eman to serve on the National Council on Disability (NCD) alongside President Obama’s seven other nominees.
Founder and President of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN), Ne’eman is the first person with autism to serve on the NCD. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement in the world of autism, and Ne’eman is a good fit for the council.
 
Article Date: 07 Jul 2010 – 3:00 PDT
While studies have shown that cognitive therapy is an effective treatment for depression, it has still not been clear the role therapists’ training and expertise plays in making treatment successful.
A new study finds that depressed patients show more symptom improvement when their therapists more competently follow the guidelines for delivering cognitive therapy.
The study also suggests therapist competence may be a particularly important determinant of outcome for some patients. Researchers found that therapist competence was more strongly related to symptom improvement in patients who suffered from anxiety as well as depression, and for those who first experienced depression at an early age.
“People with depression who don’t have complicating issues like anxiety are fairly likely to show benefit even if they don’t see the most highly rated therapists,” said Daniel Strunk, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
“But people who have substantial anxiety or a history of depression that began at an early age really do best if they have the most highly rated treatment.”
While the need for competent therapists might seem obvious, Strunk said there have been very few studies looking at whether the competence with which the therapy is delivered predicts subsequent outcomes. Studies that have examined the issue have tended to examine the relation of ratings of therapists and the overall outcomes of their patients. But that ignores the possibility that the competence of the therapists may not have been responsible for their patients’ improvement.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/194001.php
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Article Date: 07 Jul 2010 – 3:00 PDT
While studies have shown that cognitive therapy is an effective treatment for depression, it has still not been clear the role therapists’ training and expertise plays in making treatment successful.
A new study finds that depressed patients show more symptom improvement when their therapists more competently follow the guidelines for delivering cognitive therapy.
The study also suggests therapist competence may be a particularly important determinant of outcome for some patients. Researchers found that therapist competence was more strongly related to symptom improvement in patients who suffered from anxiety as well as depression, and for those who first experienced depression at an early age.
“People with depression who don’t have complicating issues like anxiety are fairly likely to show benefit even if they don’t see the most highly rated therapists,” said Daniel Strunk, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University.
“But people who have substantial anxiety or a history of depression that began at an early age really do best if they have the most highly rated treatment.”
While the need for competent therapists might seem obvious, Strunk said there have been very few studies looking at whether the competence with which the therapy is delivered predicts subsequent outcomes. Studies that have examined the issue have tended to examine the relation of ratings of therapists and the overall outcomes of their patients. But that ignores the possibility that the competence of the therapists may not have been responsible for their patients’ improvement.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/194001.php
 
Article Date: 07 Jul 2010 – 3:00 PDT
Many people who harm themselves are failing to receive the help they need because of a ‘patchy’ provision of services across the UK and a lack of supervision and training of NHS staff, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) says.
In a new report, Self-harm, suicide and risk: helping people who self-harm, the RCPsych examines the current provision of care for people at risk from self-harm and suicide, and makes a series of recommendations to improve standards of care.
Self-harm is defined as an intentional act of self-poisoning or self-injury, and includes suicide attempts. While there has been a downward trend in the number of completed suicides in recent decades, the incidence of self-harm in the UK has continued to rise over the past 20 years. An estimated 4 in 1,000 people have self-harmed, and the rate of self-harm in the UK’s young people is among the highest in Europe.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/193986.php
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Article Date: 07 Jul 2010 – 3:00 PDT
Many people who harm themselves are failing to receive the help they need because of a ‘patchy’ provision of services across the UK and a lack of supervision and training of NHS staff, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) says.
In a new report, Self-harm, suicide and risk: helping people who self-harm, the RCPsych examines the current provision of care for people at risk from self-harm and suicide, and makes a series of recommendations to improve standards of care.
Self-harm is defined as an intentional act of self-poisoning or self-injury, and includes suicide attempts. While there has been a downward trend in the number of completed suicides in recent decades, the incidence of self-harm in the UK has continued to rise over the past 20 years. An estimated 4 in 1,000 people have self-harmed, and the rate of self-harm in the UK’s young people is among the highest in Europe.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/193986.php
 
by Martin Young, MBChB, FCS(SA)
As a young medical student I remember the arrival of the first video arcade games very clearly: Asteroids, Space Invaders and Pacman.
I spent whatever spare cash I had on them, never playing long enough to be any good, or rich enough to get any better. When I bought my first computer in my late-twenties, I relived my excitement with the newest computer games, spending a disproportionate amount of time long into many a night. I was hooked.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was doing myself a major favor. Now, twenty five years later, I spend several hours a week still staring at a video screen, manipulating instruments, but this time with a living, feeling, bleeding human being under my hands, with stakes far higher than virtual self destruction.
Research shows that surgeons of the modern era derive much benefit from video games in enhancing hand-eye coordination and spatial orientation. How much more difficult learning my speciality as an ENT surgeon would have been if not for those early days spent gaming! My work involves video camera telescopic surgery in complicated, three dimensional (3D) regions – the sinuses – represented on two dimensional (2D) screens.
Read More …Â http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/07/tomorrows-surgeons-todays-video-gamers.html
