The DSM-5 Sleep Disorders workgroup has been especially busy. They are calling for a nearly complete overhaul of the sleep disorders category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (“DSMâ€).
According to a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in May, Charles Reynolds, MD, suggested that the reworking of this category will make sleep problems easier for professionals to diagnose and discriminate between different sleep disorders.
He stated that the current DSM-IV puts too much emphasis on presumed causes of symptoms, something that the rest of the DSM-IV does not do. Bringing the sleep disorder section more in line with the other sections in the DSM should make it less confusing.
Primary and commonly diagnosed sleep disorders are being organized in the DSM-5 into three major categories: insomnia, hypersomnia and arousal disorder. The new DSM will allow professionals to choose amongst sub-types in each category, as can be done with many other major disorders in the manual.
Here’s a summary of some of the proposed additions and changes in the sleep disorders category for the DSM-5, slated for publication in May 2013.
These sleep disorders criteria are summarized from the proposed changes found on the DSM 5 website.
Kleine Levin Syndrome
This syndrome is characterized by a person who experiences recurrent episodes of excessive sleep (more than 11 hours/day). These episodes occur at least once a year, and are between 2 days and 4 weeks in duration.
During one of these episodes, when awake, cognition is abnormal with feeling of unreality or confusion. Behavioral abnormalities such as megaphagia or hypersexuality may occur in some episodes.
The patient has normal alertness, cognitive functioning, and behavior between the episodes.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/06/07/dsm-5-sleep-disorders-overhaul/
Sleep-Disordered Breathing Is Common but Hard to Detect in Pediatric Patients
ScienceDaily (June 5, 2010) — According to new research presented on June 5, at the 19th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, an estimated 18 percent of pediatric patients in a University of North Carolina-based study were at risk for sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD). Importantly, pediatric risk was not associated with any demographic or craniofacial characteristics, as it is in adults, making it difficult to detect.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100605112533.htm
Sleep Apnea in Children and Teens Linked to Lower Academic Grades
ScienceDaily (June 8, 2010) — The average academic grades of children and teens with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea are worse than the grades of students who have no sleep-disordered breathing, according to a research abstract presented June 8, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.
Results indicate that moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea was linked to both lower academic grades and behavioral concerns expressed by parents and teachers. The results remained significant after adjustment for sex, race, socioeconomic status and sleep duration on school nights. Students with moderate to severe sleep apnea averaged a half-letter grade lower than those without any evidence of sleep-disordered breathing. None of the students with moderate to severe OSA had an “A” average, and 30 percent of them had a “C” average or lower. In contrast, roughly 15 percent of participants without sleep-disordered breathing had an “A” average, and only about 15 percent had a “C” average or lower.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100608091854.htm
 
Mental health charities and campaigners typically claim that one in four of us will experience a mental illness at some point in our life-times. This prompts disbelief in some quarters. The rates can’t possibly be that high, so the argument goes, there must be something wrong with the figures. A new study led by Terrie Moffitt confirms that ‘Yes’, there is something wrong with the one in four figure – it should be one in two!
Previous estimates for the prevalence of mental illness are largely based on retrospective surveys. People are typically asked whether they’ve experienced any mental illness in the last year or at any point in their lives. The problem with this approach is that people forget or prefer not to mention a bout of illness that happened a long time ago.
Moffitt’s new study avoided this problem by using a longitudinal, prospective design. Over 1000 people born in Dunedin in New Zealand between 1972 and 1973 were assessed four times between the ages of 18 and 32 by clinically trained interviewers using standard (DSM; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) psychiatric criteria.
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Mental health charities and campaigners typically claim that one in four of us will experience a mental illness at some point in our life-times. This prompts disbelief in some quarters. The rates can’t possibly be that high, so the argument goes, there must be something wrong with the figures. A new study led by Terrie Moffitt confirms that ‘Yes’, there is something wrong with the one in four figure – it should be one in two!
Previous estimates for the prevalence of mental illness are largely based on retrospective surveys. People are typically asked whether they’ve experienced any mental illness in the last year or at any point in their lives. The problem with this approach is that people forget or prefer not to mention a bout of illness that happened a long time ago.
Moffitt’s new study avoided this problem by using a longitudinal, prospective design. Over 1000 people born in Dunedin in New Zealand between 1972 and 1973 were assessed four times between the ages of 18 and 32 by clinically trained interviewers using standard (DSM; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) psychiatric criteria.
Jan
22
 
There are many adults with ADHD who come to me for a consultation because they are having difficulty performing at work. These problems occur if the affected person works for a company or owns his own business. In fact, there are many examples of people with ADHD losing their businesses because symptoms interfered. Among their difficulties are completing job tasks, staying organized, getting bored and restless at meetings, forgetting important appointments, and alienating superiors and co workers. Too many times their difficulties end in unemployment, depression and confusion about what went wrong.
Here is a partial list of some of the work related problems of adults with ADHD:
1. Time management
2. Organization
3. Listening and paying attention
4. Following directions
5. Procrastination
6. Completing assignments
7. Attending to details
8. Getting to work on time
9. Interrupting
10. Sitting stillÂ
11. Angry confrontations with superiors and peers.
It should be clear that one result of all of this is that ADHD is accompanied by feelings of depression and low self esteem.
Read in Full:Â http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=37641&cn=3
Jan
22
Â
There are many adults with ADHD who come to me for a consultation because they are having difficulty performing at work. These problems occur if the affected person works for a company or owns his own business. In fact, there are many examples of people with ADHD losing their businesses because symptoms interfered. Among their difficulties are completing job tasks, staying organized, getting bored and restless at meetings, forgetting important appointments, and alienating superiors and co workers. Too many times their difficulties end in unemployment, depression and confusion about what went wrong.
Here is a partial list of some of the work related problems of adults with ADHD:
1. Time management
2. Organization
3. Listening and paying attention
4. Following directions
5. Procrastination
6. Completing assignments
7. Attending to details
8. Getting to work on time
9. Interrupting
10. Sitting stillÂ
11. Angry confrontations with superiors and peers.
It should be clear that one result of all of this is that ADHD is accompanied by feelings of depression and low self esteem.
Read in Full:Â http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=37641&cn=3
 
Jet Li says he hopes that his new movie about autism offers a refreshing alternative to the historical and kung fu epics that dominate the Chinese industry.
The veteran action star plays an aquarium worker who cares for his autistic son in the low-budget “Ocean Heaven” — his first Chinese-language production since the 2007 release of “The Warlords.”
“Nowadays everyone is making blockbusters. Making a 7 million Chinese yuan ($1 million) movie requires a lot of sincerity,” Li told reporters in Hong Kong. “This movie is about sincerity. It shows that in this day and age that filmmakers are willing to do something for society.”
The actor promoted the movie by visiting the dolphins at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park with a small group of mentally handicapped and autistic adults.
“I hope everyone can examine what is the most important relationship in life — the relationship between parent and child,” he said.
Read in Full:Â http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10844018
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Jet Li says he hopes that his new movie about autism offers a refreshing alternative to the historical and kung fu epics that dominate the Chinese industry.
The veteran action star plays an aquarium worker who cares for his autistic son in the low-budget “Ocean Heaven” — his first Chinese-language production since the 2007 release of “The Warlords.”
“Nowadays everyone is making blockbusters. Making a 7 million Chinese yuan ($1 million) movie requires a lot of sincerity,” Li told reporters in Hong Kong. “This movie is about sincerity. It shows that in this day and age that filmmakers are willing to do something for society.”
The actor promoted the movie by visiting the dolphins at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park with a small group of mentally handicapped and autistic adults.
“I hope everyone can examine what is the most important relationship in life — the relationship between parent and child,” he said.
Read in Full:Â http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=10844018
 
Purple melts into a deep green while flashes of orange and yellow rush up the sides.
This painting, “Don’t Stop Believin’†by Anthony Rivera, 39, will be auctioned tonight along with other items – jewelry, pottery, and other works of art – in a fundraiser at Mama Mia’s Pizzeria at 100 E. Highway 83. The fundraiser is being held to raise money for the Alamo teacher who suffered an attack of sulfuric acid April 13. Rivera, a prolific painter, has autism, but upon learning of the fundraiser he said he wanted to donate one of his paintings. He paints to music and names the pieces according to the song he was listening to. This particular work was created while listening to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’â€
The teacher, Lorena de la Cruz, must travel frequently to San Antonio for treatment of her injuries, said Lana De Leon, who is organizing the fundraiser. She set up a website, www.alamoteacher.com to raise reward money for the capture of the perpetrators who attached de la Cruz.
De Leon, a friend of the principal at the school were de la Cruz teaches, said the school was also raising reward money to capture the perpetrators. However, once arrests were made, the school decided to use the money to pay for the woman’s medical expenses and De Leon decided to use the money she’d raised to help with the teacher’s expenses. De Leon spoke to another friend who owns Mama Mia’s Pizzeria who agreed to tonight’s fundraiser with live music, appetizers, and a silent auction. One of those items to be auctioned will be Rivera’s painting.
Read in Full:Â http://www.themonitor.com/articles/class-39557-bodytext-rush.html
 
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Purple melts into a deep green while flashes of orange and yellow rush up the sides.
This painting, “Don’t Stop Believin’†by Anthony Rivera, 39, will be auctioned tonight along with other items – jewelry, pottery, and other works of art – in a fundraiser at Mama Mia’s Pizzeria at 100 E. Highway 83. The fundraiser is being held to raise money for the Alamo teacher who suffered an attack of sulfuric acid April 13. Rivera, a prolific painter, has autism, but upon learning of the fundraiser he said he wanted to donate one of his paintings. He paints to music and names the pieces according to the song he was listening to. This particular work was created while listening to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’â€
The teacher, Lorena de la Cruz, must travel frequently to San Antonio for treatment of her injuries, said Lana De Leon, who is organizing the fundraiser. She set up a website, www.alamoteacher.com to raise reward money for the capture of the perpetrators who attached de la Cruz.
De Leon, a friend of the principal at the school were de la Cruz teaches, said the school was also raising reward money to capture the perpetrators. However, once arrests were made, the school decided to use the money to pay for the woman’s medical expenses and De Leon decided to use the money she’d raised to help with the teacher’s expenses. De Leon spoke to another friend who owns Mama Mia’s Pizzeria who agreed to tonight’s fundraiser with live music, appetizers, and a silent auction. One of those items to be auctioned will be Rivera’s painting.
Read in Full:Â http://www.themonitor.com/articles/class-39557-bodytext-rush.html
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by Toby Design UnLeashed!
InventorSpot.com
What do Easter Seals and Google SketchUp have in common? They are co-launching the first-of-its-kind online competition to design the perfect space for an autistic person. It’s called the Sketch-A-Space contest, and autistic persons, their family, friends, professionals, and even architects are welcome to compete!
The Sketch-A-Space goal is to make space more accessible to people with disabilities. And if you can do that, you stand to win $2,000 and to give birth to ideas that will accomplish the contest’s goals.Â
The contest invites anyone with autism as well as other designers – amateur and professional – to submit a 3-D design that meets the needs of individuals with autism
. Entrants share their ideas utilizing a unique Google Sites Entry Page, which shall include a Google
SketchUp model, YouTube video(s), photograph(s) and a narrative. The room shall be no larger than 200 square feet.
You must be at least 13 years old to enter. Read the other rules and find references to learn more about the needs of autistic persons, as well as design references here.
The competition closes on July 16, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. EDT.