First Published Friday, 3 April 2009
Gary McKinnon’s mother, six others back his effort to avoid being extradited to the U.S.
McKinnon, a 43-year-old London resident, was indicted on hacking charges in November 2002 in a U.S. District Court in Virginia, after he admittedly broke into computers belonging to the U.S. military and NASA. He was arrested by London police four years ago and has lost numerous efforts to block his extradition since then. But he is drawing increasing support from politicians and celebrities who don’t want him to be sent to the U.S. to face trial.
At today’s rally, McKinnon’s mother, Janis Sharp, and six other demonstrators performed a rewritten version of “Chicago,” a protest song recorded nearly 40 years ago by Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fame. Nash granted Sharp permission to modify the song’s lyrics to focus on her son’s legal plight as well as his autism.
Nash is one of several high-profile musicians who have gotten involved in the effort to stop the extradition of McKinnon, who could face as many as 70 years in prison if convicted on the seven counts of computer-related fraud he was charged with. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour and Sting, lead singer and bassist for the Police, have also expressed their support for McKinnon.
Although McKinnon has publicly admitted to hacking into government and military computers in the U.S. over a two-year period, he maintains that he was merely looking for evidence of UFOs and not trying to cause any damage to the systems.
However, the U.S. government alleges that while engaging in the hacking activities during 2001 and 2002, McKinnon did $900,000 worth of damage to computers in 14 states and caused the shutdown of critical military networks shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to federal prosecutors, McKinnon deleted critical files on the systems he hacked and copied usernames and passwords that he discovered.
British authorities are pouring more money and police efforts into fighting cybercrime. But McKinnon’s hacking activities appear to be widely regarded as harmless within the U.K., and his supporters say the U.S. is pushing too hard to punish him for what he did.
“It has been seven years now,” said Johnnie Smith, a friend of McKinnon’s who attended today’s rally. “It’s tormenting the family. It’s time to move on.”
McKinnon didn’t attend the rally, which also fell on World Autism Awareness Day, an event designated by the United Nations. Sharp said her son, who now is fighting extradition on the basis that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, has been deeply depressed. “When a knock comes on the door, he’s afraid they’re going to drag him off,” she said.
After using a series of legal challenges to postpone his extradition, McKinnon is awaiting a judicial review of the extradition order by the U.K.’s High Court of Justice. The review is scheduled to take place on June 9 and 10 in London.
Asperger’s is a neurological disorder related to autism that’s characterized by obsessive behavior and deficiencies in social interaction. One of McKinnon’s legal arguments is that because of his medical condition, he isn’t fit to stand trial in the U.S.
He said previously that he would plead guilty to an offense under the U.K.’s Computer Misuse Act if he could remain in that country. But British authorities announced in February that they wouldn’t prosecute McKinnon because of a 2002 agreement in which jurisdiction over the case was ceded to the U.S.
Pink Floyd frontman backs McKinnon musical protest
By John Leyden
Posted in Security, 6th April 2009 04:30Â GMT
A small group of protesters held a successful musical protest against attempts to extradite UFO enthusiast turned hacker Gary McKinnon to the US on Thursday.
Janis Sharp, McKinnon’s mum, organised the sing-in protest outside the US embassy on Thursday to coincide with President Barack Obama’s visit to London for the G20 conference and UN World Autism Awareness Day.
Janis Sharp, McKinnon’s mum, is accompanied by musician/guitarist James Litherland in her rendition of “Chicago”
Sharp rewrote the lyrics (but not the tune) of Graham Nash’s “Chicago” as a protest against long-running attempts to wrench her son over to the US to face trial and probable incarceration for hacking into US government and military systems. The protests also sought to highlight concerns with the lop-sided UK-US extradition treaty more generally.
These efforts gained a massive publicity boost when David Gilmour, legendary singer and guitarist with Pink Floyd, agreed to sing on the backing track of the song. Gilmour wasn’t able to attend the event himself, but he did post a message of support for McKinnon on his website, adding his name to those who oppose McKinnon’s extradition.
John Smith, London Rap artist, and his friend Olivia put a shout out for McKinnon.
Crank up the volume
Music has been a feature in McKinnon’s long-running campaign against extradition. Celebrity supporters of McKinnon’s include former Police frontman Sting and wife Trudie Styler.
Nash, famous as a member of Crosby, Stills, & Nash, gave permission for his song “Chicago” to be rewritten to reflect McKinnon’s plight. He, along with Gilmour, also number themselves among McKinnon’s supporters.
McKinnon’s friends and family hope to produce a music track/compilation CD – involving some famous musicians – in support of Gary McKinnon’s legal fight against extradition, the Free Gary support blog reports.
Other high-profile supporters outside the world of music include London mayor Boris Johnson, Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of anti-terror laws, and former Beirut hostage Terry Waite.
The ‘sit-in’ musical protests took place two months before a judicial review on whether Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was correct to allow extradition proceedings against McKinnon to continue in spite of his recent diagnosis with Asperger’s Syndrome. This hearing represents McKinnon’s best hopes of avoiding extradition after the failure of earlier appeal to the House of Lords and elsewhere last year, prior to McKinnon’s diagnosis with a mild form of autism. ®
Bootnote
A big Reg thank you to Janis Smith for use of the photographs. Janis and her husband Wilson are both musicians, which is why they came to live and work in London when Gary was a child. “Gary is a gentle musician but unfortunately that’s not how he’s portrayed in the media,” she said.
Source: Â http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/06/mckinnon_extradition_musical_protest/
Go-Between actress backs McKinnon extradition fight
By John Leyden
Oscar winning actress Julie Christie has joined the campaign to save UFO conspiracy theorist turned hacker Gary McKinnon from extradition to the United States.
The star of Dr Zhivago and The Go-Between has joined supporters from the music business – former Police frontman Sting and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour – as well as other luminaries including London mayor Boris Johnson and former Beirut hostage Terry Waite in backing McKinnon’s long-running campaign. Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of anti-terror laws, is another significant McKinnon supporter.
News of Christie’s support came in a Twitter post by Janis Sharp, McKinnon’s mum, which promised further celebrity endorsements will follow. McKinnon’s ranks of supporters have swelled since he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in the aftermath of a failed appeal against extradition to the House of Lords last year. McKinnon, who admits hacking but denies US damage claims, and his supporters have been fighting against his extradition since 2005.
A judicial review on whether Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was correct in allowing extradition proceedings against McKinnon to proceed, in spite of his medical condition, is due to take place in June. This represents McKinnon’s best hope of avoiding an involuntary trip to the US, a trial and the likelihood of a lengthy spell behind bars. ®
Source: Â http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/07/christie_backs_mckinnon/
Previous Updates
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/gary_mckinnon_updates__drop_hacker_case__terry_waite.htm
First Published Saturday, 4 April 2009
Hope you’re all doing well. There is much to report on the education front, this 4th day of April, 2009. Despite global struggles, economic and otherwise, let us not forget to focus on the positives of life and living. There is a lot to be said for strong, stable leadership. If you find yourself at the helm, in charge of delivering a learning programme to others, be it home education or in a more formal setting, does your programme excite and inspire those reliant on you or is it time for an inspiration boost? Some of the most inspirational teachers I knew have moved on, but their message lives on. Nine tenths of education is encouragement. Respect the student, be consistent in approach, set the tone to “calm and controlled†ensuring you present as “safe and dependableâ€. When you are tested by your students, prove to them that you will be just that. “Those who trust us, educate us.†George Eliot
Rise in Demand for Home Education
It has been widely noted that many families currently sending children to private schools are finding private education too expensive following the twin effects of rising school fees and the credit crunch. These causes have been exacerbated by pressure from the Charity Commission on private schools to provide more bursaries in order to show that they provide a public benefit. Public schools are building up resources to provide bursaries to families from more modest backgrounds, which in the case of Eton College must include some 95% of the population. St Paul’s School in London, for example, aims to raise £200 million in under thirty years for this purpose and Eton intends to raise even more. So far each school has raised some £25 million. Eton’s fees are currently £28,000 per year and the school hopes to increase bursaries so that at least 35-40% of pupils receive financial help. The net effect for fee-paying families is that fees are rising and this is contributing to families on the margin being less able to afford private education for their children.
This has led to a significant rise in inquiries to the www.home-education.org.uk website by families looking to home education as an alternative to sending children to state schools. If many of these families take up home education for prolonged periods this could result in a shift in the demographics of home-educating families, who have in the past been largely from lower income groups.
USA home education has been dominated by middle-class professional families, whereas in the UK this has not been the case. In the USA there has been a close relationship with the political right, partly as a result of the religious affiliations of many US home educators and also because the rightwing doctrine of personal responsibility inevitably attracts parents who want to take on the responsibility of their children’s education, particularly among those from higher income brackets. This was so pronounced during the campaign to re-elect Bush in 2004 that Senator Clinton made several veiled threats against home educators during her Democratic Party campaign in 2007-8. In contrast, in the UK home educators have not been linked to any particular party, though New Labour has not been seen as supportive over the last ten years, largely as a result of its reaction to child welfare crises.
If numbers continue to rise at the current rate in the UK, particularly if increasing percentages of home educators are higher income families, not only may there be attempts to politicise home education, but it is also possible that the Conservative Party might come to see home educators as target voters.
“People should be free to make for themselves the kinds of educational experience they want their children to have.†John Holt
Freedom for Children to Grow
The Home Education Campaign
http://www.freedomforchildrentogrow.org/
Kidscape Survey of School Bullying
Kidscape has undertaken a large-scale survey of children and families attending its anti-bullying support sessions.
Of the 1,200 families attending its ZAP assertiveness training sessions across the UK it found that:
50% of children had either attempted or contemplated suicide.
86% of families said the school had failed to act to stop the bullying.
84% of parents had been told that their child was “too sensitiveâ€.
63% of parents had been labelled as “over protectiveâ€.
48% of children had truanted.
98% of families said that bullying had affected the whole family.
During the face-to-face survey one mother revealed that, “The first time I knew that my daughter had attempted suicide was when I read the questionnaire she completed to come on the ZAP course. She had tried three times, but each time was sick and vomited the pills up. I sobbed and felt so guilty for sending her to school to endure all that torment. I had no idea it was so bad because she didn’t tell me. Thank God she let me read her answers – it was her way of telling me without having to say the words. I took her to the GP and now I home educate her – no way would I let her go back to that hellhole.â€
A father recounted, “We have been to the school six times and each time they tell us that there is no bullying in the school and no one has witnessed my daughter being bullied, so they cannot do anything. Witnesses? Of course bullies don’t pick on their victims in front of the teachers. My daughter is miserable and I feel like a failure as her dad.â€
Kidscape director Claude Knights said: “The results are disturbing, although not surprising. We have been running ZAP sessions for nearly ten years and we are hearing the same stories over and over again. This research highlights the need to improve the way bullying is handled in schools so that every child can learn in a safe environment.â€
Parents Express Outrage and Disgust at Latest Government Attack on Families
The AHED press release Wednesday 21st January 2009
Home educating parents in England are expressing outrage and disgust as the government launches a vicious attack against them with yet another consultation affecting their family choices.[1]
National home education group Action for Home Education [2] today complained to the DCSF about the consultation which includes accusations that home educators are potential child abusers. “This is not the first time we have had to defend ourselves against wild, unsubstantiated accusations made in an attempt to excuse further interventions into our family lives. We are already regularly questioned about our arrangements and it appears that the government now intend to put us all on permanent enquiry,†said Barbara Stark who is a home educating parent and chair of AHEd.
This consultation, the latest in an endless round of similar vexatious exercises, is part of a review of home education. However, “we are being asked to defend ourselves against unwarranted charges of child abuse and/or neglect and invited to partake in the construction of our own oppression by answering a question about what the government can do to ensure this abuse does not happen.â€
Parents are telling AHEd that they are extremely fed up with the repeated and sustained attacks on them while the state-as-parent continues to fail the country’s children in breath-taking fashion. Many parents are home educating precisely because the authorites failed their children in school and are offended at the attempts of government to impose their much hyped desired outcomes on their children. “Children are entitled to have their own desired outcomes. We reject the right of the state to dictate or examine our desires,†said Barbara. AHEd stands by the right of parents to enable their children to aim for their own outcomes in their own way.
Every week we hear that the many and sometimes tragic failures of authorities to educate and protect the children with whose provision they are entrusted are due to lack of resources – so why misappropriate funds to an area of research backed success in order to persecute this minority group, labelling them as potential abusers?
AHEd supporter Clare Murton said, “If government can produce proper evidence of risk factors in home education, we are more than willing to examine that evidence and respond accordingly. However, whilst all that is put forward is rumour, slander and libel aimed at distracting the focus from their own despicable failures, we refuse to give credence to their leading questions.â€
Our home educating parent blogs [3] “Your child can be bullied at school until they’re suicidal but dare to take them out and the government want to brand you a potential abuser. Your local authority can break the law, dragging their feet or flat out refusing to do anything about your child’s Special Education Needs but when you finally decide you’ve had enough and take them out of school, you’re a potential abuser. Stand up for your child when the state fails them and you need watching. Put your children before career and material possessions and there must be something wrong with you..â€
Monika Dutta, another home educator, has very personal reasons for challenging their gross interference. She said about this consultation that it leaves her feeling moved to tears; “All I can think about is how family members were investigated by the government for not sending my mother to Hitler Youth meetings.â€
Home educators do not know precisely what final solution the government has in mind for them but fear that, while expensive routine and abusing checking on the many thousands of home educators will be a red herring that will detract precious time and resources from genuine instances of need, members of our community will be required to tolerate increased state interventions aimed at controlling the choices of law abiding and loving families. Why else would government launch their third attempt at revising the law pertaining to education otherwise than at school in as many years, despite previous spectacular failures due to massive opposition and blatant legal inaccuracies?
This review is being seen as harassment and a threat by home educators who are tired of being ignored when it comes to their own views on what to do about home education, especially given the preference shown for the views of local authorities who routinely misunderstand education law and home education practice. Not only has the government ignored and tried to sideline us repeatedly, but now they try to silence and exclude us.
AHEd members are asking why only LA staff have been formally notified of this consultation? Home educators, the major stakeholders, discovered this consultation only through their own vigilance and networking while the time to respond to the consultation has been cut to only one third of the usual minimum time allowed under cover of the excuse of urgent overriding public interest requiring prompt action. AHEd has made a formal complaint demanding to know what overriding public interest justifies this action.
To add insult to injury we find that while we may all answer this 6 question consultation on what to do about home education, local authorities are being sent an additional questionnaire encouraging ultra vires practices and soliciting their detailed views about home education, containing 60 questions.
For information, contacts etc:
1 http:??www..dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfmaction=
consultationDetails&consultationId=1605&external=no&menu=1
2 http://ahed.pbwiki.com/About-AHEd
3 http://www.swsurrey-home-ed.co.uk/wordpress/
4 http://www.communitynewswire.press..net/article.jsp?id=5248914
Education Otherwise Press Release Monday 19th January 2009
Education Otherwise (EO) has today expressed its dismay at the decision by DCSF to launch yet another investigation into home education and at statements contained in the press release announcing the review.[1]
Education Otherwise and home educating families have contributed to three major consultations on the guidance to local authorities since 2005. The latest guidance was issued in autumn 2007.[2]
Annette Taberner, member of EO’s Government Policy Group said “It has become clear to us that the Department and many local authorities have a very poor understanding of home education and the law which applies to it. No other community would be expected to suffer the prejudice and discrimination which our community has to endure. Our community will be infuriated by these latest statements.
“Many hours of time and public money has been expended in consultations. Ministers need to prioritise time to engage in meaningful discussions with our organisation which has thirty years of experience helping families who chose to exercise their right to educate their children at home.â€
Statements on links between home education, forced marriage and child welfare made in select committee hearings and by the London Safeguarding Board have already been challenged by Education Otherwise. The charity requested sight of the alleged evidence upon which the statements were made but no evidence has been forthcoming.[3]
Education Otherwise continues to assert that the current legislation is adequate but poorly understood. Education Otherwise finds the implication from Government and local authorities that home educated children are at risk purely because they are home educated offensive.
Ann Newstead, spokesperson for the charity said, “The assumption that a child is safe and adequately educated if in the state system is simply not borne out by an increasing number of families in the UK.â€
1 DCSF Press Release “Morgan: Action to Ensure Children’s Education & Welfareâ€
www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0013
2 DCSF Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities in England
www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities/_documents/content/7373-
DCSFElective%20Home%20Education.pdf
3 Alleged link between HE and forced marriage www.freedomforchildrentogrow.org/hascr.htm
Changes to Single Parents Income Support –
Information Pack
The Department of Work and Pensions has produced an information pack with details about the recent changes to the benefit system. Despite extensive lobbying the government decided that home educators should not be exempt, though the government says that assessors will be sympathetic to parental needs. However, those with experience of similar assessments are dubious about such claims. The changes will be phased in over the next three years.
From 24 November 2008, if your youngest child is aged 12 or over, or will be 12 in the next year, your Income Support may stop during that year if you are only claiming it because you are a lone parent.
From 26 October 2009, if your youngest child is aged 10 or over, or will be 10 in the next year, your Income Support my stop during that year if you are only claiming it because you are a loan parent.
From 25 October 2010, if your youngest child is aged 7 or over, or will be 7 in the next year, your Income Support may stop during that year if you are only claiming it because you are a lone parent.
It is planned that the Job Centre will contact claimants eight weeks before Income Support is due to stop to notify them when the last payment is due. JCP will also invite people to a “voluntary†interview with an adviser, who will explain what people need to do to make a claim for another benefit if they have not found paid work. The interview will also be an opportunity to set up the paperwork for Child Tax Credit payments while still on Income Support.
If CTC is already in place, this will minimise any delay in payments when the new claim for Jobseeker’s Allowance begins, since you will only have to claim the personal allowance component of JSA.
News from Germany
Home educators living in Germany could be forgiven for thinking that they are living in the front line of a war being waged by their government against home education.
Two German stories are currently in the news. The first is about asylum. Two families have officially applied for asylum. One family has been offered political asylum in Canada due to Germany’s persecution of home-educating parents, and another has applied for asylum in the USA. If the US application is successful it seems likely that others will follow.
The US state department, which handles requests for asylum, has said they are aware of and are monitoring the situation in Germany.
Another story is the good news that criminal charges against the Brause family, which could have led to a two-year prison sentence and the loss of their children, have been dropped.
To have brought these charges to court successfully the state had to prove intentional psychological harm to the children. The criminal charge was that of intentional child neglect. Mr, and Mrs Brause are charged with willingly and knowingly preventing their children from going to school. Preventing the child from receiving a school education is considered harmful to the wellbeing of the children in Germany.
The family’s defenders brought in US and UK experts and international human rights monitors. The state subsequently dropped the case as even the court’s own appointed experts (a youth worker and psychologist) submitted reports to the court that the children were developing well and showed no signs of neglect.
The family still have to face civil cases regarding their refusal to send their children to school and are being defended by the “International Human Rights Groupâ€, which appears from its website to work exclusively for the human rights of Christians.
Civil Disobedience in Zurich
The Zurich canton in Switzerland has introduced new legislation that outlaws parents from home-educating their children unless they possess a valid teaching qualification.
This affects some fifty families and eight families have so far stated their unwillingness to comply with the law. A number of courses of action are being considered, among them a programme of civil disobedience.
The education authority has stated that they believe that children need more than their family, which makes some suspect that this is the first move in a strategy that will eventually outlaw home education altogether, despite the fact that the Swiss Constitution makes childrearing the responsibility of parents not the state.
Zurich is a large international trading centre and home to a number of large US companies like Google and IBM as well as a number of banks. It is hoped that approaches by these companies may put pressure on the Zurich authorities to overturn the legislation, since significant numbers of workers at Google home educate their children and may refuse to continue to live in Zurich if the current climate prevails.
The issue of home education is fast becoming critical in Switzerland, where some of the other German-speaking cantons have already moved against the freedom to home-educate. An added pressure is that if ten cantons adopt a law then it becomes law in all twenty-six cantons. This will cause tension with the French-speaking cantons where home education has always been legal.
Brazilian Court Takes Hard Line on Home Education
On December 23rd a Brazilian court in Minas Gerais was offered evidence that the home-educated children of Cleber and Bernadeth Nunes had passed a series of tests imposed by the court in Mathematics, Geography, Science, History, Portuguese, English, Arts and Physical Education; tests that teachers admitted they could not themselves pass. The three-judge panel, represented by Moreira Diniz, nevertheless ruled that “We cannot even allow the examination here of the quality of education that is being given at home, because homeschooling never can be substituted for regular instruction.â€
The courts clearly hoped that the children would fail the tests, giving further justification of their denial of human rights to the family.
One of the three judges claimed in his written verdict that, “The quality of our [state] education is undeniable. If we compare ourselves, for example, average Brazilian citizens with average North American citizens, the conclusion is devastating. North Americans know little in comparison to Brazilians. Our schooling is, to the contrary, very good in comparison to other countries.â€
Joao Senna dos Reis, an opinion columnist with the Diario do Aco newspaper, mocked the statement, noting that “a simple official verification that 70% of Brazilians don’t know how to read and interpret five lines of banal text represents a shocking confession of how our education system is going.â€
A quick search of the internet suggests that Joao is right. While the current president of Brazil is following Tony Blair’s “education, education, education†theme, a number of websites suggest that Brazil’s education system is towards the bottom of the heap in their region, with only Haiti performing worse.
www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/dec/08122308.html
Sex and Our Children
Following reports about the high rates of teenage sexual activity, the National Children’s Bureau have advised the government that all secondary schools should have a sexual health clinic on site to offer advice on sexually transmitted diseases. It appears that young people will not use GPs, fearing they will tell their parents. The report also calls for compulsory sex education. In a related report NICE were asked to prepare guidance on the compulsory education of sexual health issues in schools and colleges. The committee of practitioners involved in writing the report then went ahead and broadened their remit to include home educators. NICE proceeded to refuse either to remove home educators from the list of those who would be affected by the guidance or to include home educators in the forthcoming consultation (5th March to April 3rd 2009).
Home educators could be left with guidance regarding compulsory content to their education yet with no consultation, which would mean that LAs could attempt to enquire about what sexual health education is provided and perhaps even mandate the content of provision. NICE’s remit only includes professional bodies and cannot be applied to families. Furthermore there are government rules that consultations must include all stakeholders. By including home educators NICE have put themselves in the impossible situation of only consulting organisations, but pronouncing on what families must teach. This is unacceptable not only because NICE was only ever intended to be able to mandate what organisations and not individuals do, but also because it tramples the parental right to educate according to family philosophy enshrined in the Human Rights Act.
A number of home education groups and individuals have issued complaints about NICE and its inclusion of home educators in its guidelines alongside further complaints at their exclusion from the consultation process. Many home educators already include sexual health education as part of their children’s education, but half-baked attempts to make this compulsory by bodies with no remit to interfere will only cause a storm of protest from families.
http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/StakeholdersPSHE.pdf
Gun-Toting Texan Teachers
Harold Independent school district has approved a plan for teachers in their schools to carry guns in class. The school district, the Texas equivalent to an LA, has unanimously voted to allow teachers who want them to carry guns. The district superintendant is quoted as saying, “We have a lock-down situation [in our schools], we have cameras, but the question we had to answer is, ‘What if somebody gets in? What are we going to do?’ It’s just common sense.â€
US Education District Tries to Entice Home Educators to Return to School
In what must go down as one of the most naive attempts ever to entice home educators back into school, Wayne Alexander, Superintendent of Hernando School Board (Florida), invited the parents of all seven hundred and sixty home-educated children living in their area to a meeting to which only thirty parents turned up.
The principle motivation for the meeting was money. If all seven hundred and sixty children re-registered at a school, the county would receive $3.34 million in extra funding.
One teacher, Mike Maynard, stood at the podium and made the monumental error of telling parents that their children would receive a better education in school, a statement that was received with open laughter around the hall. Parents then queued up at the podium to explain why they took their children out of school in the first place. The reasons included bullying, inflexibility of the State’s curriculum, inadequate educational standards and a lack of moral standards.
Several parents pointed out that there are a further two thousand children lost by the public school system to private schools and asked if the board intended to chase these children also. No reply is recorded. No parents signed up to re-register their children for a return to school.
It has been known for some time now that Florida’s education system has been in a downward spiral of falling achievement and rising behaviour problems in many of its schools. As parents of more able pupils, or perhaps those parents more engaged with their child’s education, opt for private education (using federal grants), home education or virtual schooling, or indeed any option other than state schools, the State is left to educate the most challenging young people, leading to teacher shortages and further falling standards. It is therefore not surprising that the management teams of county education boards have begun to work proactively to bring back some of the pupils they have lost. This latest attempt was crudely thought out and badly managed.
Ivy League Universities Target British Students
American universities are using recruitment agencies to identify and attract top UK students to their institutions.
These tactics are backed up by massive endowments available to offer grants to British students. Harvard, Yale and Princeton between them have £42 billion in endowments.
Yale has a “needs-blind†application process that ensures that if an admissions tutor wants a particular student the lack of funds will not stand in the way; those who need help will get it. Students with an income of less than £34,000 will not have to pay anything and support continues to around £70,000 joint income.
At Harvard help is available for students whose parents earn up to £90,000. This makes top universities in the US a very good prospect indeed for more able students.
Director of Institute of Science – “Give Children Performance-Enhancing Drugsâ€
John Harris, Director of the institute of Science, Ethics and Innovation at Manchester University, says Doctors and Ministers should consider making performance-enhancing drugs, such as Ritalin (methylphenidate), used frequently as a treatment for ADHD, available without a prescription for non-medical use.
His idea is that drugs such as these improve children’s attention span and exam scores. He adds that although they carry the risk of side effects, these effects are proportional to the benefits they offer.
US scientists have similarly suggested that the use of “smart drugs†in exams should be seen as a benefit to society. Mr Harris adds that there is nothing wrong in principle with trying to improve one’s cognitive functions.
The outlook for young people, should this policy be adopted, is appalling. In a world of competitive examinations many young people seeking to follow a conventional career path may be forced to take such drugs to retain any hope of success.
The corollary to this of course is stunted growth, high blood pressure, toxic psychosis, psychotic episodes, drug dependence syndrome, weight loss and severe depression upon withdrawal, not to mention a world where drug enhancement is simply part of accepted life.
The Telegraph January 1st 2009.
Rise in Teacher Suspensions
The number of teachers suspended over claims of pupil mistreatment has nearly doubled, though overall figures are relatively low. (Of the 537 thousand teachers in the UK, only 0.01% are suspended each year.)
BBC Radio 5 obtained figures from 40% of local authorities throughout the UK. If one extrapolates from these figures for all authorities in the UK then close to 800 teachers could be suspended this year for pupil mistreatment, that’s four or five suspensions in each LA. Suspension periods vary from around a week to as long as four years in one case.
The most common reason given for suspension was child protection issues, including allegations of verbal abuse, unreasonable force against a pupil, indecent assault and downloading child pornography. Other reasons were misuse of drugs or alcohol, and gross misconduct. There also appears to be a wide variation in suspension rates around the UK. For example, Essex has suspended eighty teachers in the last five years whereas Camden had no suspensions over the same period.
Teaching unions are concerned about false allegations made against teachers by pupils or their parents, but weaken their case by suggesting that all unproven cases are false allegations.
Stardom for Home-Educated Singer-Songwriter
Tiger Rox, real name Sophy Wilcox, an eleven-year-old self-taught guitarist from Brighton, has signed a multimillion dollar recording and TV contract in the US.
Sophy started playing about four years ago when she was aged 7 and living in the Scottish highlands. Sophy was spotted at a charity gig in a local pub last September.
Her first album, Wild Bliss, is now due for release and she will perform on the Jay Leno show in the US. She is also to have her own show, called Tiger Rox.
A local fan and professional coach commented, “I saw this girl busking outside Brighton station. She is awesome! I stood with all the others watching for about an hour, could not believe my eyes, her songs are so deep and her voice gives you goose bumps and she’s always smiling, bless her. She deserves this, she is special, I’ve worked in the industry for years as a vocal coach and her pitch is perfect. A joy to watch. I was late for work because I could not stop watching her wondering what she would sing next. An amazing talent. Great to see her get recognition.â€
In her blog she says that she has what is called “Endemic Memoryâ€, which apparently means she remembers sequences of letters and numbers she sees forever. This helps with her guitar playing.
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=412417924
Family Fun & Education with the FSC
Looking for a holiday that will inspire and educate your whole family? Then look no further than Field Studies Council (FSC), an independent, environmental educational charity that offers family holiday courses to help families spend time together and learn more about the environment.
FSC Family courses are based at FSC centres throughout the UK which are set in stunning locations, ranging from the majestic Scottish Highlands to the beautiful South Devon Coast. Each centre not only helps people learn more about the environment but is also run in an environmentally sensitive manner, and many have Eco-Centre status.
There are four different types of FSC family holiday course: wildlife and discovery, active family (adventure activities), creative family (art and crafts) and courses for unaccompanied young people. All courses are filled with activities for all the family to enjoy, but they also draw upon our 65-year history of providing environmental eduction, so are carefully structured to stimulate enquiring minds of all ages in a fun and memorable way.
This summer, splash about in rock pools, search the skies for bats, go pond dipping, hunt for creepy crawlies whilst at the same time enjoying the spectacular Pembrokeshire coast on FSC Dale Fort’s Seashore Adventure (09-13 April, 21-25 August). FSC Rhyd-y-creuau in Snowdonia invites you to discover more about the fantastic variety of wild inhabitants that thrive in the Welsh Countryside, on Family Wildlife Discovery (11-17 April, 16-21 August).
Alternatively, get creative on FSC Juniper Hall’s Wild Arts and Crafts (22-24 May) weekend. Forays into the field provide the materials to make mobiles and sculptures. Families can have a go at painting, paper and kite making and poetry writing on this inspirational family course in the North Downs.
Get active on FSC Malham Tarn’s Wild Days in the Dales (21-28 August) where you will visit mountains, lakes, and caves in search of wildlife and thrills. Or spend a week in rural Perthshire Exploring the Highlands (30 Jul -07 Aug). Rafting, orienteering and climbing are just some of the adventurous activities you can have a go at whilst on this course at FSC Kindrogan.
Weekend family courses start at £100 per adult and £79 per child. This includes all meals, accomodation and transport during the course and above all the interesting and fun programme of activities making them excellent value for money. To find out more about or to order a Family Holiday Courses brochure visit the FSC website www.field-studies-council.org/family or contact FSC Head Office on 01743 852100.
The Field Study Council is an environmental education charity committed to helping people discover, explore, understand and be inspired by the natural world. Its network of centres provides day and residential courses for all ages from young children to retired adults from schools and communities throughout the UK. It also reaches many others through its publications and community-based programmes.
Do It 4 Real Summer Camps – For 10 to 19 Year-Olds
Education Journal – Questia Online Library
The Questia library now contains over 67,000 books and 1,500,000 journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.
http://www.questia.com/library/jp-education.jsp?CRID=jp_education&OFFID=se1jp&KEY=education_articles
VIDEO Michelle Obama “Smart is coolâ€:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/business/2009/g20/7980476..stm
“Cyberbullying affects 1 in 10 teachersâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/apr/04/cyber-bullying-schools-teachers-survey
“Science GCSE standards loweredâ€:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7966688.stm
“Pupils should study Twitterâ€:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7962912.stm
“Graduates need work experienceâ€:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7964144.stm
“Longer schooling cuts dementiaâ€:
http://news.bbc..co.uk/2/hi/health/7968131.stm
Autism & Education “Other education programmesâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/besttreatments/autism-treatments-other-education-programmes
“Why can’t I go too? Louise Tickle on how disabled children are excluded from school tripsâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/24/school-trips-disability
“Autistic student turns to comics to express herselfâ€:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/02192009/collnew172506_32478.shtml
“12-Year-Old autistic Director debuts film at Beloit Film Festivalâ€:
http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/39889412.html
“Creaking special needs system faces overhaulâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6006483&navcode=94
“School action urged on behaviour: Many SEN children failed by school systemâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/school_action_urged_on_behaviour__many_sen_children_failed_.htm
“UK backbenchers threaten revolt over proposed fee hikeâ€:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25236970-12332,00.html
“Global battle for foreign studentsâ€:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25236631-12332,00.html
“Razor gang hits $7bn university fundingâ€:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25248991-12332,00.html
“Students up as the economy shrivelsâ€:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25236967-12332,00.html
“Technology sets school miles apartâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/technology_sets_school_miles_apart.htm
“Our children must have the opportunity to learn an instrumentâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/apr/04/musical-instrument-teaching-schools
The impact on students of budget cuts at universities “It’s an erosion of educationâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/14/university-budget-cuts
“Alarm over security of children’s databaseâ€:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article5594645.ece
USA “Obama urges US education reformâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/10/obama-administration-education
China “High-tech exam cheats jailedâ€:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7980607.stm
South Africa “Laying the foundations of an inclusive societyâ€:
Italy “Students give up wheels for their own two feetâ€:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/europe/27bus.html?_r=1&ref=education
“Strip-search case tests how far schools can goâ€:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/us/24savana.html?ref=education
“Kitchen chemistry for middle schoolersâ€:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/ideas-kitchenscience-t.html?ref=edlife
“Brother and sister act – Summer campsâ€:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/ideas-KIDSINCAMP-2-t.html?ref=edlife
“Primary schools fighting to support children with diabetesâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/17/diabetes-children
Video(19:24) “Sir Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativityâ€:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
South Koreans Spend Record Sum On Education
South Koreans spent nearly 30 billion dollars on education in 2008, more than in any previous year, despite the deepening economic downturn, official figures showed Sunday.
The increase, due largely to a rise in spending on private teaching including English-language learning, indicated South Koreans were reluctant to cut back on education despite a dramatic economic slowdown.
Household spending on education reached an all-time high of 39.8 trillion won (29.5 billion dollars) in 2008, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier, the Yonhap news agency said, citing Bank of Korea figures.
The global financial crisis has dampened consumer spending in South Korea and fuelled a rise in unemployment.
The country’s per-capita gross national income fell to 19,231 dollars last year from 21,695 dollars in 2007.
Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090329/tod-skoreans-spend-record-sum-on-educati-7f81b96.html
Resources
NAS Home Education Guidelines:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=240&a=14166
The Autism Software Database
http://www.mousetrial.com/autism_software_database.php
TESconnect – Teaching Jobs, Resources & Community
Maths-U-See
Murderous Maths: Guide for Homeschoolers
http://www.murderousmaths.co.uk/homeed.htm
Synthetic Phonics Software from SUMS Online
http://www.syntheticphonics.co.uk/index2.htm
Internet Safety Resources
Childnet International, “work in partnership with others around the world to help make the Internet a great and safe place for children”. Widget have recently partnered with Childnet to recreate the “SMART” rules with symbol support.
They can be downloaded from their website:
http://www.childnet.com/kia/sen/widgetsmart.aspx
Ideas for using the flashcards:
http://www.childnet.com/kia/sen/widgetflash.aspx
Incentive Plus
Listed below is a great range of our best-selling resources, which are ideal if your learners are on the Autism spectrum:
http://www.incentiveplus.co.uk/
Wacky Web Tales
Stories geared for grades 3 and above (Updated monthly):
http://www.eduplace.com/tales/
R-E-M the educational software and teaching resources specialist:
Education City – educational games, fun learning, whiteboard resources, SATs:
Life Support Productions – Offering three Sex Education/PSHE DVDs for people with learning disabilities/special needs:
http://www.lifesupportproductions.co.uk/ys..php
Yellow Moon – Arts & Crafts, Educational Toys
Home Ed groups who sign up for this catalogue are entitled to discounts:
Baker Ross – 1000s of art & craft products, games & toys etc:
London Science Museum
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
British Science Association: Online resources:
http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/nsew/GetInvolved/NSEWResources/
Art Tutorial:
http://hippie.nu/~unicorn/tut/xhtml/
Ever Wonder How To? :
Discover Primary science –
Download activity sheets in Irish and English for primary science projects:
http://www.primaryscience.ie/site/activities_activity_pdfs.php
Educational Resources – Brain Awareness Week:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/brain_awareness_week__march_16__22_2009.htm
Primary Times – Events, Theatre, Places to Go, Things to Do with Families, Children and School:
http://www.primarytimes.net/home.php
Subscriptions to Home Education – The Journal of Home Education in the UK & Beyond
The Journal is published 3 times a year. We intend the journal to become the highest quality source of news and information available on the subject. A publication that can be kept and referred back to for years to come. It is possible to subscribe either by post or online at:
www.home-education.org.uk/journal.htm
Cost – including postage:
UK £11.99 for 3 issues
£4.50 for 1 issue
The rest of the world £14.99 for 3 issues
£6.00 each
Support Listings
For a comprehensive listing of online support see:
www.home-education.org.uk/support.htm
Home Education UK
England and Wales support and legal info mailing lists
www.home-education..org.uk
AHEd
England, Wales & N. Ireland
www.ahed.org.uk
Education Otherwise
Support charity covering all of the UK
www.education-otherwise.org
PO Box 325, Kings Lynn, PE343XW
ph. 0845 478 6345
www.eoemailhelpline@education-otherwise.org
Schoolhouse
Support charity for Scotland
www.schoolhouse.org.uk
Schoolhouse association,
PO Box 18044 Glenrothes, Fife, KY 9AD
ph 01307 463120 (24/7 support line)
enquiries@schoolhouse.org.uk
Learning Unlimited
A support network for continental Europe
www.learning-unlimited.org
Free Range Education
www.free-range-education.co.uk
Choice in Education
Alternative education newsletter
www.choiceineducation.org.uk
PO Box 20284, London, NW1 3AA
ph. 0208 969 8935
info@choiceineducation.org.uk
IHSAN
Islamic Home Schooling Advisory Network
PO Box 30671, London, E1 OTG
Personalised Education Now
Promotes learner-managed learning
www.c.person.ed.gn.apc.org
113 Arundel Drive, Bramcote,
Nottingham, NG9 3FQ
ph/Fax: 0115 925 7261
BLOGS with content relevant to home educators:
www.wheretruthgrows.blogspot.com
www.daretoknowblog.blogspot.com
www.hsblog.org
www.henireland.org/blog
www.gfoh.blogspot.com
www.aspiehomeeducation.blogspot.com
www.sometimesitspeaceful.blogspot.com
www.anunschoolinglife.blogspot.com
www.cypruslife.blogspot.com
www.byothermeans.co.uk
www.eclecticlearnings.blogspot.com/
www.tworedboots.co.uk/blog/
www.ellesfuntimes.blogspot.com
Independent Panel for Special Education Advice (IPSEA)
www.ipsea.org.uk
Enquire (SEN Helpline)
www.enquire.org.uk
Disability Rights Commission
Promoting the rights of disabled persons
www.drc-gb.org/
Disability Law Service
ph. 020 77919800
Family Law Association
help finding lawyers
0207 797 7837
Arch Ed
Action on the Rights of the child
www.arch-ed.org
Bullying Online
Kids Health Foundation
The Brook Charity (sexual health advice)
ph. 0800 0185 023 (9-5)
ph. 020 7950 7700 (24hr)
Drugscope Info & help on drug abuse
32-36 Loman Street
London SE1 0EE
ph. 0207928 1211
Childline
ph 0800 1111
Parentline
ph 0808 800 2222
First Published on AE Monday, 6 April 2009
Parents of children with autism face a postcode lottery which amounts to a “national scandal”, author Nick Hornby has said.
The author of About a Boy said he faced a “total lack of information and advice” when his son Danny was first diagnosed with autism, and little had changed.
One in 10 parents of children with autism have moved house to access better services and many others are left feeling isolated, confused and judged, a survey by TreeHouse, the autism education charity, found.
Mr Hornby, whose son attends a TreeHouse school in north London, said: “When my son was diagnosed with autism there was a total lack of information and advice on what we should do next.
“It seems that little has changed – and that is a national scandal.”
The average age of diagnosis varies from under three years to as old as seven years depending on the local authority, information released under a Freedom of Information request by the charity found.
Ian Wylie, chief executive of TreeHouse, said: “These findings reveal a shocking lack of consistency in how local authorities support children with autism and their families, most clearly borne out in the dramatically different ages at which a diagnosis is made.”
First Published on AE Monday, 6 April 2009
By Laura Collins
Last updated at 1:02 AM on 05th April 2009
An NHS trust has been told to apologise to Channel 4 newsreader Alex Thomson and his family after admitting that it changed his son’s diagnosis under pressure from council officials.
An official inquiry has already found that the trust overturned its expert assessment that the boy was autistic – at the behest of the council, which was reluctant to meet the full cost of caring for him.
Victory: Alex Thomson with partner Sarah Spiller and twins Henry, right, and George in 2007
Now, following a three-year battle, Mr Thomson and his partner Sarah Spiller are complaining to Education Secretary Ed Balls about the way eight-year-old Henry was treated. They are also considering legal action against the trust.
The case will strike a chord with thousands of parents who fear that councils are saving money at the expense of disabled children.
Mr Thomson, 48, and Ms Spiller secured the backing of the Healthcare Commission – the official ‘watchdog’ for the health system – which criticised the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex and said that it should apologise. Ms Spiller told The Mail on Sunday that she is yet to receive the full apology.
Henry and twin George were born in 2000 and Henry’s problems became apparent shortly before his third birthday. Ms Spiller, also 48, said: ‘He was diagnosed with an aggressive epilepsy. We were told then that Henry might have severe learning difficulties and would need a great deal of help at school.
‘When he was diagnosed as being on “the autistic spectrumâ€, we were not surprised, even though the news was shattering.’
After an assessment by an educational psychologist at Essex Local Education Authority, the LEA offered limited one-to-one help for Henry, so the couple started paying for a special programme at school.
But they returned to Essex LEA hoping that, in light of the ‘autistic spectrum’ diagnosis, they would reassess his needs. Ms Spiller said: ‘Instead of them re-examining Henry, we were told that our paediatrician had decided that he did not have autism after all.’
It took a bruising 14-month legal fight to have their son’s disabilities fully recognised. Eventually, the LEA settled at a special needs tribunal in March 2007, agreeing to fund a full autism programme for Henry.
But six months later, his consultant paediatrician discharged him from her care, claiming the parents had made it impossible for her to continue.
The couple took their case to the Healthcare Commission – now part of the new Care Quality Commission.
In its finding, the commission said the trust should apologise to the couple, adding that they did not consider the explanation the trust had given was ‘accurate or adequate’.
Ms Spiller said: ‘It seems that the LEA rings the doctor and the doctor says he’s not autistic at all. A miracle cure! In a letter the chief executive of the trust stated that the paediatrician “admits that she was under some degree of pressure from the education officer to withdraw her diagnosisâ€.’
A trust spokesman said it has apologised to the couple and that it has reviewed its procedures.
A spokesman for the education authority said: ‘We have not been given access to the report and are therefore unable to comment.’
NHS trust apologises to newsreader after changing son’s autism diagnosis
An NHS trust has admitted it changed the diagnosis of a Channel 4 newsreader’s autistic son under pressure from council officials.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex has been told to apologise to Alex Thomson and his family after it wrongly overturned its assessment that the boy was autistic.
An official inquiry found that it had done so at the request of the council, which was reluctant to meet the full cost of caring for him.
After a three-year battle Mr Thomson and his partner Sarah Spiller are complaining to Education Secretary Ed Balls about eight-year-old Henry’s treatment. They are also considering legal action against the trust.
The Healthcare Commission, the official NHS watchdog, has criticised the trust and demanded an apology.
Henry and his twin brother George were born in 2000. Henry was diagnosed with an aggressive epilepsy by the trust after his family noticed behavioural problems shortly before his third birthday.
Henry was also given an assessment by an educational psychologist at Essex Local Education Authority. The LEA then offered only limited one-to-one help for Henry, so the couple started paying for a special programme at school.
But after receiving the “aggressive epilepsy” diagnosis they returned to Essex LEA hoping that Henry’s care would be reassessed.
Ms Spiller told the Mail on Sunday: “Instead of them re-examining Henry, we were told that our paediatrician had decided that he did not have autism after all.”
It took a 14-month legal battle to have their son’s disabilities fully recognised after the LEA agreed, at a special needs tribunal in March 2007, to fund a full autism programme for Henry.
But six months later, his consultant paediatrician discharged him from her care, claiming the parents had made it impossible for her to continue.
The couple took their case to the Healthcare Commission, now part of the new Care Quality Commission, which found that the explanation the trust had given was not “accurate or adequate”.
Ms Spiller said: “In a letter the chief executive of the trust stated that the paediatrician “admits that she was under some degree of pressure from the education officer to withdraw her diagnosis”.”
Mr Thomson said: “The whole process has been extremely stressful for our family. Looking after a child with special needs is difficult enough as it is without having to fight a legal battle with the NHS and the local authority to get the care he deserves.
“We are certainly not the only family to have gone through this. It is happening up and down the country and it has got to be stopped.”
A spokesman for the trust said: “The trust has been in recent communication with the family and we have apologised. We can confirm that we have reviewed our procedures in the light of national guidelines and the need to continue to develop the best possible local practices.”
A spokesman for the education authority said: “We have not been given access to the report and are therefore unable to comment.”
First Published Monday, 6 April 2009
When my husband and I were told that our son Jonah’s autism was “untreatable,†we made up our minds to prove the experts wrong.
That was 22 years ago.
With no other children to care for at the time, we made helping Jonah the focus of our lives. Every exchange would become a lesson, every experience a tutorial.
Jonah cared most about food (and still does), so I’d go to the grocery store with a list and an agenda, hoping to use that passion to teach him essential concepts. I would follow his gaze and point out colors (red apple) and shapes (round cookie).
When he turned away from such lessons, despite our most animated efforts, we tried everything else we could think of. Nothing was too difficult or too expensive. We gave him vitamins and restricted his diet. We introduced communication boards and arranged sensory integration therapy. We had him wear headphones to normalize his hearing and tried other snake-oil treatments no thinking person would consider.
But each hope was followed by disappointment. We might as well have been chasing butterflies with a torn net.
By the time Jonah reached his teens, we were worn out and frustrated, not very far from where we’d started. We faced the specter of hopelessness and a plethora of unanswerable questions.
How different was Jonah from other children with autism? Would he have been better off had we not tried all that we did? Or would getting off the interventional roller coaster mean that we had given up?
Though we had been desperately trying to teach him, we had to concede that Jonah was no student. What we wanted him to do had little to do with what he did. If he didn’t want to do something, he would drop to the ground and refuse to budge.
So we decided to back off and began taking cues from him.
We did the same activities as in the past, but without a checklist of goals. Until then, he had never been able to enjoy the sensory pleasures of his beloved food magazines without our subjecting him to a monologue about what he was looking at. Now he was finally free to enjoy things for their own sake.
Not long ago, I came across a basement copy of “Cinderella.†It reminded me of a time when he was 5, when I last tried to read it to him. Well, not read, exactly; Jonah has always had a low tolerance for traditional reading, and stories must be sung or recited rhythmically.
As I sang “Cinderella,†he rolled on the floor, seemingly oblivious to the story. Still, I clung to the idea that I might be able to engage him, so I left a sentence for him to complete.
“The clock struck 12,†I sang off key, “and Cinderella ran down the palace steps, leaving behind a glass … .”
He continued rolling while I waited to hear him say “slipper.”
At last he finished the sentence for me. “Of milk,†he said.
I smiled, and I’m smiling still. For Jonah had made a student of his teacher. I would never again be able to read or think of “Cinderella†without seeing a tumbler of milk on the palace steps.
Jonah turned 25 last fall, and when I look at him I can’t help wondering if the past years weren’t some heaven-directed scheme meant to humble us and teach us the value of acceptance. Understanding that we couldn’t change him had changed us.
His future, for the most part, is set — in a nearby home with a caring staff — and I am grateful that he has some of the same things I want for my other two children: love, safety, physical comfort and access to favorite activities.
He remains a man of very few words. But though it took us years, we have finally learned that there was something to hear in his silence.
Annie Lubliner Lehmann, a writer in Michigan, is the author of “The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons From My Silent Son.”
Source: Â http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/health/07case.html?_r=1&ref=health
First Published Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Tuesday 07 April 2009
University of Otago researchers have discovered a new mechanism which contributes to subtle differences between male and female brains and behaviours.
Neurobiologists Associate Professor Ian McLennan and Dr Kyoko Koishi’s findings are published today in the prestigious US-based scientific journal, the Proceeding of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
They found that male mice lacking a hormone called Müllerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) show subtle changes in their brain anatomy, and their behaviour is more akin to female mouse behaviour.
In both appearance and sexual behaviour these mice are typically male, but their non-reproductive behaviours are more feminine. For example, male mice are known to explore a new environment more extensively than female mice. Yet, male mice with no MIS showed significantly less inclination to explore.
Associate Professor McLennan says people tend to think of the obvious differences in sexual anatomy when thinking of “males” and “females”.
“However, sex differences occur throughout the entire body. Outside of the primary reproductive organs, the range of male and female characteristics overlap, creating what we call ‘sex biases’ that actually only exist as a generalisation, at the level of the population, such as men being taller than women. This is not always the case, but is an accepted difference between men and women.
“The sex-biases in the body do not define a person’s sex or sexuality. The brain is one of the organs with the greatest sex biases, giving rise to many subtle differences in the behaviour of the sexes. Empathy, for example, has a female bias, but some of the greatest men are empathetic. Likewise, girls engage in less rough and tumble play than boys, but a boy who shuns rough and tumble play is still a boy.”
“While our research is still very new and has only involved mice to date, it indicates that MIS plays a much broader role in shaping the non-reproductive behaviours of males – such as, the male tendency to explore and spatial processing. But further work is needed to determine which human traits are regulated by MIS.”
Associate Professor McLennan says the discovery of the mechanisms underlying gender-linked characteristics edges science towards a greater understanding of human diversity.
“The challenge is not just to understand how we develop as women or men, but to also comprehend why the male population encompasses the warrior, the poet, the scientist and wonderful blends of these extremes.”
The findings also have implications for research into brain disorders, many of which are more common or more severe in one or other of the sexes.
“Females are more prone to developing anorexia and Alzheimer’s disease, whereas ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder], anti-social personality and motor neurone disease have a male bias.”
Associate Professor McLennan says the presence of sex-biases in brain disorders suggests that the subtle differences between the brains of males and females alter the course and/or presentation of brain diseases.
“This provides a route to explore the mechanisms that underlie brain disorders and options for the development of new therapies, some of which may be male- or female-specific.”
Scientists have been aware of MIS, which only occurs in men, for about 100 years. But it was always thought to have a single function in male development – to prevent the formation of a uterus. However, the Otago research indicates that MIS has a wider influence than previous thought.
“The role of MIS does not however diminish the importance of societal influences. While MIS may determine some male characteristics, the totality of a given man is a result of complex interplay between MIS, other biological factors and the social world in which he lives,” Associate Professor McLennan says.
The research was supported through a $750,000 Marsden Fund grant and an Otago Research Grant.
Postdoctoral fellow Dr Andrew Clarkson (Neurological Foundation), doctoral students Pei-Yu Wang and Floriane Imhoff, undergraduate student Anna Protheroe and technician Nicola Batchelor were key contributors to the research.
For more information, contact
Associate Professor Ian McLennan
Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology
University of Otago
Tel 64 3 479 7346
Email ian.mclennan@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Background notes:
Many behavioral traits, while not the exclusive providence of females or males, are more strongly associated with one sex. The Otago researchers’ new work in mice reveals that the cause of these sex-linked behavioral traits goes beyond testosterone, bringing to light a new role for the hormone Müllerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS).
Testosterone imparts the dimorphic nature of the neurons that control sexual function differently in males and females, but testosterone is not present during the most extensive period of foetal brain development.
To determine what else might be contributing to sex-linked behavioral traits, the researchers investigated the potential role of MIS. MIS is responsible for regression of the Müllerian ducts, or uterine precursors, in male fetuses. While its level in males remains high until puberty, its further function is unknown. The researchers found that most neurons in mice have an MIS receptor.
They then charted the behaviors of male and female mice missing the gene for MIS or its receptor. Male mice missing either of these, while still undoubtedly male, showed a feminisation of some behavioral traits implicating a role for MIS well beyond gestation.
A list of Otago experts available for media comment is available elsewhere on this website.
Source: Â http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/2009/07-04-09_press_release.html
First Published Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Links to the latest A4 Update are on the webpage http://a4.org.au/a4/updates/2009.
The links to download the files are:
| MS Word |
http://a4.org.au/a4/webfm_send/107 |
| PDF |
http://a4.org.au/a4/webfm_send/108 |
First Published Wednesday, 8 April 2009
By Kyung Lah
CNN
ASHIKAGA, Japan (CNN) — When Bruce Gutlove holds up his vineyard’s finest bottle of chardonnay, he sees the clarity, senses the anticipated crisp taste, and savors the hard summer of tending to his grapes.
“Delicious,” he said proudly, as the managing director of Coco Farm & Winery. “Hopefully people will buy it and think it is a good bottle of wine, but there is a lot going on behind the bottle itself that we think about when we measure what we have done.”
Critics in Japan call Coco’s wines some of the finest made in Japan, a country known for overly-sweet, unremarkable vintages.
It is a compliment that means more to Gutlove than the obvious, for the staff of this unique winery is made up of developmentally disabled and autistic people. More than 100 developmentally disabled people work to create Coco Farm and Vineyard’s wines.
Most of them live full-time at the vineyard, which is also a school for the developmentally disabled. The philosophy is that hard work and diligence will help improve their lives. 
Watch a tour of the winery »
Gutlove expects nothing less. A winemaker from California, he arrived at Coco Winery as a consultant, planning on a stay of three months. He had no experience with the autistic or developmentally disabled. At the end of the three months, he decided to stay and keep working on the wine.
That was 20 years ago.
What made him stay, he said, were the students. “Seeing the passion and their desire to create something of worth for other people is very, very impressive.”
As far as the pairing of autism with winemaking, it is a natural fit.
“Autistic people are very detail-oriented. They like the repetitive work and so some of this works very, very well with their personalities.”
There are no government statistics on the number of people who are autistic in Japan, but the Japan Autism Society believes that number may be more than 1 million.
About 67 million people worldwide are affected by autism, according to the World Autism Awareness Day Web site. April 2 of each year has been declared World Autism Awareness Day by the United Nations General Assembly.
There are many schools and work programs for autistic persons in Japan, in addition to non-profit organizations that help.
Coco Farm & Winery is different not only in the products it produces for commercial sale in Japan, but also in that it operates with a mix of income from sales of the wine, grants from the government, donations, and tuition from the families of its students.
The students are paid a “wage” which is then returned to the vineyard as “rent” for their lodging.
Machiko Ochi, the daughter of the creator of Coco Farm & Winery, said the success of the vineyard and the students has been in part Gutlove’s lack of formal training with the disabled.
“Bruce considers all of the residents colleagues,” she said. “This is a big distinction. Treated as equals, the residents meet his expectations on the job.”
Creating the chardonnay Gutlove is so proud of was not easy, especially in Japan’s harsh climates.
Too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, the grapes used to rot on the vine. The terrain of the vineyard itself is too steep for machinery, so the students have to tend to the vines by hand.
But Gutlove said the students did not let the setbacks stop them from meeting his expectations. Even when Gutlove would get discouraged, the students kept pushing forward.
Hiromitsu Watanabe, 28, is one of those students. When he first arrived at Coco Farms & Winery several years ago, his counselors said he could not communicate with anyone. Today, he is thriving in his new environment and talking non-stop. He told CNN his favorite job was putting on the labels and that he makes red wine.
Seeing Watanabe’s turnaround, in addition to the success of his wine, has been what has kept Gutlove firmly rooted in his adopted land.
“I think everyone is being helped here,” said Gutlove, “including myself.”
Source: Â http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/04/01/japan.autism/index.html?eref=rss_latest
First Published Wednesday, 8 April 2009
A MOTHER from Millom has accused the education system of not giving her autistic son the support he needs.
The five-year-old son of Mikaila Munroe, a prison officer at Haverigg, is currently a pupil at Millom Infants School.
Dearon Crawford has autism and suspected ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and Mrs Munroe claimed the resources in Millom are insufficient to support him. Mrs Munroe, 28, said: “It’s not the school itself I have a problem with, it’s the system. The school said they don’t have the resources to support him.”
She said the education system had failed to help her and her son, adding: “Where is the help for him? All they do is ring me up at work, when there’s a problem, and I’ve got to come out of work is pick him up. The government are trying to encourage single parents to go back to work, but how can they when they’re being phoned up all the time?
“They keep ringing me up when I’m at work to come and get him, because they can’t control him. They should have the resources they need. I try to work while looking after him and they are always ringing me saying come and pick him up.”
Mrs Munroe, of Market Street, said she was lucky her employer was so understanding. She said: “I’m sure other people wouldn’t be as lucky as me. Some employers just wouldn’t put up with it. I’ve just had enough, and he’s never going to live a normal life unless something is done.”
Cumbria County Council says it will be reviewing the situation.
A spokesman for the council said: “We recognise it is challenging for very young children with additional needs to adjust in school settings. The school, like all other schools, has the active support of psychology, specialist teachers and behaviour specialists. This school also has additional funding to the maximum degree possible to provide on-site support to compliment the approaches the school are developing.
“The family have continuing support of a ‘team around the child’ type approach that is made available to many families and children so that there is support for home and school at times of difficulty.
“The local authority recognises the difficulties in this situation and is working closely with school and the family to address a developing changing position.”
First Published Wednesday, 8 April 2009
April 8, 2009
Huh?? That’s probably what you thought when you clicked on this blog post. Depression….. The X Files….. Right. I’ll admit, I’m a scifi fan, and the X Files is one of my all-time favorite shows. I’m old enough to have enjoyed it the first time around in the ’90s, and now I’m watching the entire series again on DVD. Yes, I’m a big nerd, but I digress.
A couple of nights ago, I watched one of the many alien conspiracy episodes involving Agents Scully and Mulder, Assistant Director Skinner, Alex Krycek, and a host of other folks mixed up in a thick plot. This is somewhere in the last of nine seasons, so alien conspiracy and high drama are not new to the regular viewer by this time.
I had a few thought collisions today, leading me to compare depression with the X Files. I was briefly distracted from my normal writing tasks when I recalled what I was thinking during the episode I watched recently: “Geeze, it always seems like nobody believes these people, even when there’s clearly a huge problem.”
They can’t tell anybody, they don’t know who to trust, and whoever they do tell surely will think they are crazy. Really, who would ever believe that the informant who is trying to feed the agents helpful information really has the scar from a metal chip in his neck because he’s an alien hybrid? Even though all the viewers and the key cast members know all about this threat, the agents never seem to know who they can trust. They live in a world of worry, peril, secrecy, and confusion.
Ta-da. There’s my connection. I have often said to myself that my depression felt like an alien had taken over my brain, though the takeover wasn’t complete because I still knew that I was me. I was just disabled enough to have little control but aware enough to realize I wasn’t able to get the alien out by myself.
I needed help. This wasn’t normal; I knew something was different. But what? And how do I describe this? Would anyone believe me? And would I wish I would have kept my mouth shut once I said something? How will this affect my job, my kids, my marriage? I can’t keep going on like this, but I don’t know if I can tell anyone either. Which is more dangerous?
And all Mulder, Scully, and Skinner have is each other. They’ve witnessed and been through difficult things that would be hard to believe unless you’d been there. Depression often is that unbelievable, too. Unless you have felt the takeover of your mind, seen the lost look on your own face in the mirror, and begun to doubt everything you’ve known, it can be hard to understand from the outside.
Fortunately, there is much more support and help available for people with depression than there ever seemed to be for Scully, Mulder, and Skinner. Those aliens just kept coming at them and they kept fighting them tooth and nail. Suddenly, I’m feeling a fond kinship with these X Files heroes – alien fighters to the end.