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Date Added: November 10, 2010
For Autistic Children, Therapy on Four Legs
SHADOW, a black Labrador retriever, knows how to interact with people without overreacting to them — a necessity for a well-trained therapy dog, said her owner and handler, Ani Shaker.
Considered “bombproof,” meaning she will remain calm in nearly any situation, Shadow, and Ms. Shaker, volunteer at the Anderson Center for Autism in Staatsburg, N.Y., in the Hudson Valley north of New York City.
“As soon as I get her working vest out, she jumps up and her little tail starts wagging,” Ms. Shaker said. “She loves the work. That’s what she lives for, and I can tell she knows she is helping someone else feel good.”
Shadow and Ms. Shaker, an equestrian trainer, are one of six teams that have been volunteering at the Anderson Center for two years. They are part of the Good Dog Foundation, a nonprofit based in New York that provides therapy services throughout the East Coast.
Unlike service dogs who live 24/7 with people with disabilities, therapy dogs visit treatment centers and residential schools. The Good Dog teams go through a nine-week training course, said Susan Fireman, executive trainer and program coordinator for upstate New York, the Berkshires in Massachusetts and Litchfield County, Conn. “These dogs have to be very calm and be able to absorb a certain amount of stress without becoming stressed themselves,” she said.
One in every 110 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder, with autism disorder being the most commonly recognized subtype, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children with autism have mild to severe degrees of difficulty with social, communication and emotional skills. It is usually a lifelong disability with no definitive cause or cure. Autism, which is classified as a developmental disability, is four times more likely to occur in boys.
“We are hearing more and more from families we serve that therapy dogs have had an overall positive effect on their children,” said Marguerite Colston, vice president of constituent relations at the Autism Society, a national grassroots organization.
Because each person with autism experiences it differently, there is no certainty a therapy dog will help, she said, but for certain individuals, a dog “has eased their anxiety and has even helped some to open up to others, as individuals with autism are typically more withdrawn and less likely to socialize.”
The Anderson Center is a year-round residence and school for children and young adults ages 5 to 21 with moderate to severe symptoms, said Dr. Austin Rynne, its director of health and related services. “The children we serve here cannot be served in their own school district,” he said. “They cannot work and have difficulty being managed at home.”
Dr. Rynne said he incorporated the dogs into the curriculum two years ago, not as a playful diversion but to determine whether they could help the educational process.
“We are not trying to make these kids become dog lovers,” he said. “We want to use the dogs as a medium to achieve our pre-existing educational goals.”
Because many children with autism tend to inhabit a private inner world, constructing a bridge to that world is essential, said Dr. Rynne. He said the therapy-dog program was doing just that with some students.
One 11-year-old boy, who has been at the Anderson Center for three years, is nonverbal and makes requests by pointing to pictures (yes, no, bathroom, toys, food and so on). When he was first introduced to Shadow a year ago, he refused to enter the room with her and would run away if she looked at him.
Now, he requests the opportunity to walk, pet and feed Shadow, and the interaction helps him develop communication skills that can be transferred to relationships with peers and teachers, Dr. Rynne said.
And when this boy becomes frustrated and throws a tantrum, Shadow’s calming presence seems to help him regain his self-control, he added.
Dutchess, a golden retriever who loves people, tennis balls and treats, was “born to be a therapy dog,” said her owner and handler, Mark Condon, a biology professor at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Dutchess, who was also trained by the Good Dog Foundation, and Professor Condon have been volunteering at Anderson since August 2009.
One of their students is a 16-year-old boy who has verbal and aggression problems, said Courtney Peggs, an occupational therapist assistant who works with them. Before his therapy with Dutchess, the boy relied on caregivers or teachers to lead his social interaction, a condition called prompt-dependent. Now, she said, the boy is becoming more functionally independent.
Miss Peggs prepares for a dog-therapy session by arranging tennis balls, treats, a pet brush and a water container in the auditorium. The boy “knows he has to come to me to make the request of which object to choose,” she said.
Once the boy is given the O.K., he takes the object to Dutchess, to their mutual delight. “I have seen him carry over what he has done with Dutchess independently,” she said. “It’s been amazing.”
Professor Condon said he believed strongly in the power of the human-canine connection and that Dutchess provided the boy unique assistance.
Professor Condon observed that the boy “just evens out when Dutchess is around, adding: "Some days he seems to be somewhere else, but he likes her so much that he temporarily leaves that place to be with her. That force is stronger.”
Elizabeth Olson, an education specialist at Hope Elementary School in Carlsbad, Calif., teaches students with moderate to severe autism in grades kindergarten through third. Her yellow Labrador retriever mix, Yori, has joined her in the classroom this semester and is a big hit, she said.
She said Yori, who was trained by the Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit that provides assistance dogs for people with a range of disabilities, helped bridge the communication barrier in her classroom.
“My students are all functionally nonverbal,” she said. “They are very content as a whole not to speak, but they want to speak to Yori. There is one student who I spent years trying to teach to say hello and goodbye. Then one day he started saying hello and goodbye to Yori. Soon he said it to me, and now he does it with his fellow students.”
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/giving/11DOGS.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Brain Scans Recommended for Diagnosing Developmental Disorders
- Searching for Roots of Learning Disorders
- Babies’ Brain Development Shows Evolution’s Imprint
- Scanning Babies for Autism
Children with developmental, communication, and learning disorders display altered use of varying brain regions as compared to typically developing children. This knowledge may help clinicians more accurately understand the root problems of these disorders allowing for the development of more effective treatment protocols. Several technological advances now allow us to look at the brain and how it functions, such as: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); surface reconstruction; and Brain Electrical Activity Mapping (BEAM).
Date Added: August 2, 2010
Diet May Benefit Optimal Brain Function & Mental Health
Research findings published in the Journal of Attention Disorders suggest that dietary patterns of adolescents may be associated with ADHD. Adolescents whose diets trended towards fast-food, processed, and refined foods were twice as likely to have a diagnosis of ADHD as compared to their peers whose diets trended toward fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and fish. Further research is needed to determine the causal relationship – Is ADHD a result of poor dietary habits or are poor dietary choices the result of ADHD?
Date Added: August 2, 2010
Early Babble Patterns May Offer Earlier Signs of Autism
New technology allows for improved recording and analysis of infant and toddler vocal patterns in natural environments. Researchers have found distinctively different pre-verbal vocal patterns between children with autism and typically developing children.
Date Added: August 2, 2010
Pesticides Linked to ADHD
A study published in the May 2010 online version of Pediatrics reported that children with high levels of organophosphates in their urine were twice as likely to have a diagnosis of ADHD. Organophosphates have long been associated with impairment in neurodevelopment (e.g., cognitive functioning levels and behavioral challenges). They were initially developed as nerve gases and are now commonly used in pesticides. These chemicals are absorbed through the skin, lungs, and digestive tract and the biggest culprit of organophosphate is the pesticide residue in food. In this study of 1139 children between 8 and 15 years of age, elevated concentration of DMAP metabolite in urine samples were used as a measurement of organophosphate exposure. Further research is needed to evaluate chronic organophosphate exposure to fetuses, infants, and children.
Date Added: May 10, 2010
U.S. Labor Department Releases New Online Tool to Help Employers Understand Responsibilities under Disability Nondiscrimination Laws
The new online Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor helps employers quickly and easily determine which federal disability nondiscrimination laws apply to their business or organization and their responsibilities under them. The law advisor asks users to answer a few questions to take into account variables such as the nature of an organization, staff size and whether the business or organization receives federal financial assistance. Based on responses provided, the law advisor generates a customized list of federal disability nondiscrimination laws that likely apply, along with easy-to-understand information about employers' responsibilities under each of them.
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SOURCE Brainclinics Treatment B.V. http://www.brainclinics.com |
Date Added: June 19, 2009
Standard IQ Test May Undervalue People With Autism
Study shows they could solve problems faster than non-autistics on a different test
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/autism/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100240706
By Jennifer Thomas, HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) — The most commonly used test to measure intelligence is underestimating the intellectual potential of autistic people, new research suggests.
People with autism often struggle with the verbal portions of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, the test most often used to measure IQ, researchers said.
But when given another test of abstract reasoning abilities, the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, autistic people not only had scores equal to those of their non-autistic counterparts, but they answered the questions, on average, as much as 42 percent more quickly.
On the Raven's test, autistic participants scored, on average, 30 percentage points higher than would have been predicted by their scores on the Wechsler scale, according to the study, in the June issue of Human Brain Mapping.
Also, MRIs done during the testing showed that autistic people had more activity in different areas of their brains than those without autism.
"While both groups performed Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) test with equal accuracy, the autistic group responded more quickly and appeared to use perceptual regions of the brain to accelerate problem solving," said Isabelle Soulieres, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University and the study's lead author. "Some critics argued that autistics would be unable to complete the RSPM because of its complexity, yet our study shows autistics complete it as efficiently and have a more highly developed perception than non-autistics."
The researchers said the findings have implications for the way in which autistic children are educated.
"When we do the Wechsler test, which is the one that is done in clinical settings, there is a big chance that we underestimate the education potential of autistics," Soulieres said. "If you underestimate someone's potential, you will have less hope and you will lower your goals for this person. … We should make the bet they are more intelligent than they show us on the Wechsler test."
For the study, 15 autistic people ages 14 to 36 were matched with 18 people without autism. Based on their preliminary results on the Wechsler test, all participants had an IQ between 81 and 131, or generally between the low and high end of the normal range.
Each participant was then given the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, a 60-item test of abstract reasoning ability. The questions, which are highly visual in nature, ask participants to identify the next sequence of a larger pattern or the missing segment of complex geometric shapes.
During the test, MRIs indicated that people with autism showed more activity in the left cuneus, a region of the brain's occipital cortex thought to be involved with updating working memory and making comparisons among visual images, according to the study.
Compared with people without autism, autistic people showed less activity in areas of the prefrontal cortex of the brain that are thought to be involved in manipulation and integration of information in working memory, managing difficult tasks and evaluating the correctness of responses.
When it came to their answers, those with and without autism who scored the same on the Wechsler test also had similar scores on the Raven's test. But those with autism answered figural questions 23 percent more quickly and analytic questions 42 percent more quickly.
"This study bolsters our previous findings and should help educators capitalize on the intellectual abilities of autistics," said senior researcher Dr. Laurent Mottron, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal. "The limits of autistics should constantly be pushed, and their educational materials should never be simplified."
Autism is marked by repetitive behaviors, problems with verbal or non-verbal communication and social difficulties. Because the condition has a wide range of symptoms and degrees of severity, autism is now often referred to as autism spectrum disorders, said Brenda Smith Myles, chief of programs for the Autism Society of America.
Previously, many experts believed that as many as 70 percent of people with autism also had cognitive and other learning disabilities. But recently, researchers have been finding that perhaps only half do, Myles said.
Studies such as this one show that people with autism are able to problem solve and that visual learning might be more helpful than auditory or language-based learning.
Still, she said, there's a need for more studies to assess how best to put such knowledge into practice in the real world to help autistic people succeed in school and employment.
"What we need are more studies that take this information and apply it in a classroom or community setting," Myles said. "This does not tell us what a child will do in a third-grade classroom or what an adult will do in a workplace."
SOURCES: Isabelle Soulieres, Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow, Harvard University, Boston; Laurent Mottron, M.D., Ph.D., professor, psychiatry, University of Montreal; Brenda Smith Myles, Ph.D., chief of programs, Autism Society of America; June 2009, Human Brain Mapping
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Date Added: June 19, 2009
Autistic people better at problem solving than non-autistics: Research
By Amy Minsky, Canwest News Service
New research suggests that autistic people are 40 per cent faster at problem solving than non-autistics.
Researchers from Universite de Montreal and Harvard University said the results will offer more effective ways to teach people with autism.
"I hope the finding will convince people that autistics have a higher intellectual potential," said lead author Isabelle Soulieres, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard who completed this experiment in Montreal. "That way, people will expect more and give them more opportunities to learn."
The research involved two groups of people between the ages of 14 and 36 — a test group of autistics and a control group of non-autistics. Both groups were asked to complete patterns while a monitor measured brain activity and time. The pattern test, called Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, assesses subjects' hypothesis-testing, problem solving and learning skills.
Soulieres, who is also a psychologist, said the test provides a more accurate measurement of reasoning and intelligence than others, because results are less affected by a subject's cultural and linguistic background.
In deciding how to complete the pattern, the subject has to retain information regarding shapes and colours.
Though both groups were found to complete the test with a similar level of accuracy, the autistic subjects responded faster.
"It was such a big difference, we thought we made a mistake," said Soulieres. "The next step is to find out exactly what gave them this edge, find out what made the autistics so much faster."
Brain activity monitors found that different parts of the brain were activated in the test group and the control group when they were working on solving the problems.
"We think the test subjects pay closer attention to visual details," said Soulieres.
It was a 13-year-old autistic patient of Soulieres' who motivated her to start this experiment. "When he walked in, you would immediately think he had moderate mental retardation," she said.
The patient did poorly on all intelligence tests that were administered. "Except when we gave him the RSPM," she said. "He completes it very rapidly, and without any instruction. He scored above average and demonstrated superior intelligence."
Laurent Mottron, a senior researcher and research chair in autism at Universite de Montreal, said this study builds on previous findings. "This should help educators capitalize on the intellectual abilities of autistics," he said.
Soulieres said autistic patients have taught themselves to read using patterns. "They're very good at finding patterns."
The researchers suggest adapting teaching methods to conform with an autistic person's strengths, instead of avoiding their weaknesses.
"We showed that people with autism can achieve much more than they're given the chance to," she said. "We have to work with them instead of simplifying everything for them."
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