www.aspie-editorial.com

‘Music is my passion/obsession/vice. I find solace in the words of Morrissey’.

Yousif Nur

guardian.co.uk Sunday 16 January 2011 12.00 GMT

Those, like me, who have Asperger’s syndrome may struggle with daily interactions – but we find solace in our passions

At a very early age I knew I was somehow different from the others. An unexplainable difference in behaviour, idiosyncrasies and just having bags more energy than other toddlers. Couple that with numerous trips to different psychiatrists asking why I had frequent tantrums and crying fits, and was very antisocial with other schoolkids. Something was mostly definitely wrong with me. My parents were unnerved by it. It was not so much that I had a problem with myself but, rather, a question mark tattooed on my forehead. I was lost in a limbo of myself. And so it went on for a number of years.

Then an epiphany. It was around 14 or 15 that I read about the symptoms of an autism-related condition called Asperger’s syndrome – and suddenly I understood. It affects about one in 300 people (mostly but not exclusively male) in the UK, according to the NHS. Some of the traits include difficulty in maintaining eye contact, unusual patterns of speech in conversation, an inability to interact with other people and often failing to read body language. There’s no “cure”, but training to cope with the outside world is required. Finally, I had some clarity on just why I felt as though I lived in a bubble throughout my adolescence. Now it made sense why I needed the extra learning support, being often taken out of lessons and into one-on-one tutoring.

But I was also at a crossroads. Should I accept my condition, though relatively untreatable and incurable? Or should I spend the rest of my teens and most of my adult life locked away in isolation listening ad nauseam to The Smiths’ Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now? Well, I did a little of both … OK, maybe most of the latter.

Then there’s the small matter of rules of engagement with the opposite sex. Confidence is a stumbling block that for many, including myself, is an obstacle that is often too difficult to jump over. Of course, most teenagers go through a stage like that, but for me it was abnormally intense. I recall an incident as a 17-year-old at a bus stop with a friend, being checked out by a couple of girls, to which they turned a corner and said audibly “I don’t like his face”. Most people would get over that pretty quickly, but I don’t think I left my room for four days straight, save for showers. My confidence had been shot.

This isn’t to say that we’re completely incapable of being intimately involved or being in relationships. Though admittedly, it’s more difficult for us than most. Our social interaction skills aren’t perhaps as strong as anyone else’s, though that’s not to say that we’re cripplingly uncaring, po-faced or even indifferent, but to put it simply, it’s the thought of intimacy and sharing that intimidates. In contrast, as far as love goes, many of those diagnosed can go on to have happy and sustainable relationships.

There has been talk among researchers that Asperger’s syndrome, in terms medical approaches, can perhaps be seen as a different cognitive style rather than as a disability – much in the same way that homosexuality was once regarded as an illness but then demedicalised. Personally I’m a little dubious. Homosexuality is widely accepted tacitly and people are much more accepting of it than Asperger’s, because they have so little experience or knowledge of the latter.

Read in Full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/16/aspergers-syndrome-living-social

Tuesday, 1st February, 2011.

A three-year-old girl who suffered from severe epilepsy is recovering at home after undergoing rare life-changing surgery which involved “switching off” the right side of her brain.

Eleanor Ashton needed the six-hour operation after suffering daily fits which left her with behavioural issues and caused her to be disruptive in school.

He parents Mark and Natalie, both GPs from Barnsley, hope the fits will stop after epilepsy surgeon Dev Bhattacharyya conducted the operation at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

After a normal birth, Eleanor developed a cyst on the right side of her brain which caused bleeding. As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, doctors felt this was the cause of the fits and recommended her for the new surgery technique after other treatments failed.

He mother Natalie said: “She was a very sleepy baby. My friend had a little girl the same age who was smiling and interacting, but Eleanor was not.

“I thought she would do it in her own time, but after four months I noticed she wasn’t looking to her left and I knew something was wrong.”

The epilepsy had left her with behavioural issues, she was disruptive in school and did not like personal contact. She also had learning difficulties as each daily seizure removed anything she had learned previously.

Although Eleanor is always likely to have some level of learning difficulty, her father said he was delighted with the operation: “The surgeon said it was a massive job and we had to accept the risk of a stroke or death, but without it, Eleanor wouldn’t have lived to a ripe old age and would have suffered seizures every day.

“In the last couple of months since the op, she hasn’t had a single fit. She’s learning to play peek-a-boo and connecting with people. Before the operation she hadn’t learned anything.”

Eleanor spent 11 days in hospital, including two on the high dependency unit before being allowed home. As the operation was carried out when she was so young, the left side of her brain will now be able take over the functions normally performed by the right side.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110201/tuk-girl-has-life-changing-epilepsy-op-6323e80.html

First Published 24th January, 2011.

A grandmother who had a long battle with depression has become the first person in the world to benefit from life-changing neurosurgical treatment.

Sheila Cook, from Torquay in Devon, suffered from depression for more than a decade and attempted to take her life on more than one occasion.

The 62-year-old is now beginning to enjoy life again after pioneering treatment, which accurately targets brains networks involved in depression, was offered to her in Bristol.

Mrs Cook – whose illness had stopped responding to conventional treatments – was offered deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the first trial in the world that stimulates two different brain networks that are involved in depression.

Although DBS provided some temporary response, she relapsed and went on to be the first to have further advanced stereotactic neurosurgery, which was carried out in early 2010.

Mrs Cook said: “The effects were remarkable. Within a few weeks my life changed. I read books, did the housework, went for walks and, perhaps most importantly, got to know my family again.”

Leading the research is Dr Andrea Malizia, consultant senior lecturer in the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol and Mr Nikunj Patel, senior clinical lecturer in the Department of Neurosurgery at North Bristol NHS Trust.

In February 2010, Mrs Cook was asked if she would trial a new form of treatment – Anterior Cingulotomy using implantable guide tubes (GTAC), which was developed in Frenchay Hospital, Bristol.

Mrs Cook is the first patient to have received DBS and GTAC treatments.

Dr Malizia said: “Mrs Cook has been the first patient in the world to have these two treatments. I’m very pleased to see the second treatment has worked well for her and has been maintained.”

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110124/thl-new-treatment-helps-beat-depression-d831572.html

Christian Fleischhaker , Renate Bohme , Barbara Sixt , Christiane Bruck , Csilla Schneider and Eberhard Schulz

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2011, 5:3doi:10.1186/1753-2000-5-3

Abstract (provisional)

Background

To date, there are no empirically validated treatments of good quality for adolescents showing suicidality and non-suicidal self-injurious behavior. Risk factors for suicide are impulsive and non-suicidal self-injurious behavior, depression, conduct disorders and child abuse. Behind this background, we tested the main hypothesis of our study; that Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents is an effective treatment for these patients.

Methods

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) has been developed by Marsha Linehan – especially for the outpatient treatment of chronically non-suicidal patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The modified version of DBT for Adolescents (DBT-A) from Rathus & Miller has been adapted for a 16-24 week outpatient treatment in the German-speaking area by our group. The efficacy of treatment was measured by a pre-/ post- comparison and a one-year follow-up with the aid of standardized instruments (SCL-90-R, CBCL, YSR, ILC, CGI).

Results

In the pilot study, 12 adolescents were treated. At the beginning of therapy, 83 % of patients fulfilled five or more DSM-IV criteria for borderline personality disorder. From the beginning of therapy to one year after its end, the mean value of these diagnostic criteria decreased significantly from 5.8 to 2.75. 75 % of patients were kept in therapy. For the behavioral domains according to the SCL-90-R and YSR, we have found effect sizes between 0.54 and 2.14. During treatment, non-suicidal self-injurious behavior reduced significantly. Before the start of therapy, 8 of 12 patients had attempted suicide at least once. There were neither suicidal attempts during treatment with DBT-A nor at the one-year follow-up.

Conclusions

The promising results suggest that the interventions were well accepted by the patients and their families, and were associated with improvement in multiple domains including suicidality, non-suicidal self-injurious behavior, emotion dysregulation and depression from the beginning of therapy to the one-year follow-up.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

Source: http://www.capmh.com/content/5/1/3

Dear Parent Advocates,

At it’s meeting on January 13, APRAIS members http://aprais.tash.org/MemberOrganizations.htm (Alliance for the Prevention of Restraint, Aversive Interventions and Seclusion) reviewed the opportunity to further our advocacy efforts for effective federal legislation in all 50 states to reduce and prevent restraint and seclusion use in public schools, or in schools that serve students who are receiving educational services through the use of federal funds.

Through APRAIS, we have an opportunity to continue an effort to pass effective federal legislation to reduce and prevent restraint and seclusion use in schools. The practice of restraint and seclusion presents a very serious health and safety risk to all students, and is most often used to control behavior of young students with disabilities and non compliance issues. Restraint should only be used as a very last resort and when behavior poses an imminent danger and substantial risk of physical injury to the student or others. Protections for students are long overdue. Each day we delay, school children are traumatized, injured and killed.

Seclusion/Solitary Confinement should NEVER be used on children with disabilities. If School Districts have the money to build seclusion rooms, they should have the money to build comfort or sensory rooms to help our children when they become overwhelmed. Our children are not criminals and do not deserve to be locked up in seclusion/solitary confinement rooms.

APRAIS plans to hire experienced federal education legislation to help educate Congressional members and work toward passage of a strong bill. Each organization is going to try and raise $1,000 by January 31st. Please help “Families Against Restraint and Seclusion” by supporting our cause to stop restraint, seclusion and aversive treatments used on our children by making a contribution of $10 (or more if you can). TASH will act as the fiscal agent, and donations can be made out to “TASH” for “Restraint and Seclusion Advocacy” at http://www.tash.org/index.html (Go to the top right side of the screen for information). Please identify yourself as a parent advocate (next to your name) when making your donation.

PLEASE help stop the unnecessary use of restraint and seclusion used on our children with disabilities in the public school system by supporting our cause. Our children are counting on us to keep them safe.

Please email us back if you have any questions or concerns and please pass this on to other parent advocates and others who would like to support this cause.

Regards,

Phyllis Musumeci

cvm514@bellsouth.net

Anna Moore

jamoore1@bellsouth.net

Families Against Restraint and Seclusion

http://familiesagainstrestraintandseclusion.blogspot.com/

Research carried out by the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Federico II University Medical School in Naples, Italy, has found that people who sleep for less than six hours each night were 12% more likely to die prematurely than those who get the recommended 6-8 hours.

More information: Cappuccio FP, D’Elia L, Strazzullo P & Miller MA. Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep 2010; 33 (5) online.

Provided by University of Warwick (news : web)

Source:  http://www.physorg.com/news192188436.html

Related Articles

Lack of sleep could be more dangerous for women than men

Less than six hours sleep a night more dangerous for premenopausal women

Too much or too little sleep increases risk of diabetes

Too much, too little sleep increases ischemic risk in postmenopausal women

Insomnia: Changing your bedtime habits could help relieve insomnia

First Published Thursday 13th January, 2011.

My heart goes out to all who have been affected by the Queensland floods.  Many are in shock over the sheer scale of the devastation.  Having been born and raised in Brisbane, and with family and friends who are currently directly affected, I am all too familiar with flash floods.  Sending my best wishes for the safety of all and of your homes. For those who’ve lost loved ones, my deepest sympathy.

The Queensland Government has set up a Relief Appeal:

http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

For those living in Australia who wish to assist, please phone 1800219028.

Be Safe,

Julie

xx

Related Articles

Brisbane Floods – Before & After

(Move mouse over pics to view before and after):

http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/qld-floods/beforeafter.htm

Queensland Floods:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/queensland-floods

Australia: Thousands leave homes as floods hit Victoria:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12201918

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 25, 2010

First we learn about sex addiction, now researchers are studying work addiction and how better to measure the disorder.

In a new study, Spanish researchers have developed a new scale for measuring addiction to work.

According to background information, around 12 percent of all working people in Spain suffer from the disorder. The experts say that 8 percent of the working population in Spain devotes more than 12 hours per day to their job.

“Addiction to work is a kind of psychosocial problem that is characterized by two primary features – working excessively and working compulsively,” Mario Del Líbano, lead author of the paper, said.

The results, published in the Spanish journal Psicothema, not only confirm the two dimensions of workaholism, but also relate the results with psychosocial wellbeing (perceived health and happiness), in order to highlight the negative features of addiction to work in Spain.

“People are only workaholics if, on top of working excessively, they work compulsively in order to reduce anxiety and the feelings of guilt that they get when they’re not working,” Del Líbano explains.

“This study helps to evaluate addiction along with other phenomena that affect the psychosocial health of workers, without the time taken to fill in the questionnaire having any impact on their motivation,, he adds.

The new scale, called DUWAS (Dutch Work Addiction Scale), has been validated as a result of the criticisms about its validity and reliability made by two evaluation tools that have been most used to date – the WorkBAT (Workaholism Battery) and the WART (Work Addiction Risk Test).

Data on the worldwide prevalence of addiction to work vary from one study to another. It is placed at around 20 percent in countries such as Japan, while in Spain the figures are between 11.3 percent and 12 percent, according to research carried out in 2004 by Sánchez Pardo, Navarro Botella and Valderrama Zurián, and Del Líbano’s group in 2006, respectively.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says that 8 percent of the working population devotes more than 12 hours per day to their profession in order to escape from personal problems. According to the experts, spending more than 50 hours per week working could be a determining factor in addiction.

Addiction to work is characterized by extreme activity in and devotion to work (with people even working outside working hours, at weekends and on holidays), compulsion to work (inability to delegate), disproportionate involvement with work (people relating their self-esteem to their work), and focusing on work to the detriment of their daily lives (poor interpersonal communication).

Some risk factors that can lead to such addiction include financial, family and social pressures; fear of losing one’s job; competition in the labor market; the need to achieve a desired level of success; fear of overbearing, demanding or threatening bosses; high levels of personal work efficiency; and lack of personal affection, with the person trying to make up for this with their work.

In addition, workaholic people can also end up taking illegal substances to help them work harder, enabling them to increase their workplace performance and overcome tiredness and the need for sleep.

Source: Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/03/25/work-addiction-defined/12379.html

Monday, 10 May 2010

A project providing training for schools and businesses to raise awareness of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is to begin in parts of Wales.

Deis Cyfle, which means “opportunity” in Irish and Welsh, aims to provide greater opportunities for autistic school-leavers and job seekers.

The three-year project is a collaboration between Autism Cymru and the Irish Society for Autism.

The scheme will be officially launched at the Senedd on Monday.

Autism Cymru said levels of understanding and awareness about ASD among typical post-school providers such as companies, higher or further education and leisure services were often minimal, and in some cases were misinformed.

The charities have developed a three-day training package and self-evaluation tool, with material tailored for secondary school teachers, further education and leisure providers, and employers.

The project will be run in Gwynedd, Anglesey, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Wrexham and Flintshire, and through parts of the Irish Republic.

Read in Full:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/8670853.stm