Christian’s mom told us “Winning an iPad for Christian would mean so much to  our family. He would be able to communicate his needs to his family.  Christian was diagnosed late when they really didn’t know what Autism was.  I have struggled for 22 years with Christian and his needs. The school he now attends does a great job with Christian, however, with many laws changing now and the awareness of Autism around the globe more help for individuals with Autism is available.  It was hard to get the help he needed when he was born.  I can’t afford one and he really could use one.  I hope his name gets pulled it would make him happy to be able to say I love you, Mom.  Thanks for all the hard work your Foundation is doing to assist all individuals with this Disability. ”

Here’s to many “I love yous!”

Kara’s mom Melanie told us that having twins with special needs presents special challenges. “The behavior of one affects the behavior of another adversely. For our most severely affected daughter, limited communication produces extreme frustration. She knows what she wants but becomes frustrated when we don’t “get it.” We have borrowed an Ipad from school over a break and we have seen amazing affects. Kara spent hours enthralled with the Ipad (when attention is usually fleeting), she used language to request the use of the Ipad, and when she used it, she was interested in the applications that helped her speak and increase her vocabulary. We see this as a very important vehicle to increase her language, decrease her frustration and improve her behavior. For her twin, this means more positive interactions with Kara and less of her own frustration dealing with Kara’s overstimulation.”

Written by Beth Arky.

This story is part of Speak Up for Kids, an annual public education program held during National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week (May 6-12, 2012).

It usually happens in the preschool years. You notice that your toddler seems to have an unusual aversion to noise or light. A teacher observes that, compared to other kids her age, your daughter is clumsy and has difficulty with fine motor skills like wielding a pencil. You’ve noticed that she is very, very picky about shoes, which are often deemed too tight, and clothes that are “too scratchy.”

More baffling — and alarming — to parents are their children’s meltdowns over things like their faces getting splashed or being dressed. Or a child might crash into walls (and people), touch everything or put inedible items, including rocks and paint, into his mouth.

These behaviors are all signs of problems with what’s known as sensory processing, found in children who have difficulty integrating information from their senses. In its extreme form, when it interferes seriously with a child’s functioning, it’s called Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, although it’s not recognized by the psychiatrists’ bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.

Sensory issues are associated with autism because they are common in children and adults on the autism spectrum, though most children with SPD are not on the spectrum. They can also be found in those with ADHD, OCD and other developmental delays — or with no other diagnosis at all. In fact, a 2009 study suggests that one in every six children has sensory issues that impede their daily functioning, socialization and learning.

What parents often notice first is odd behavior and wild, inexplicable mood swings. For instance, a first-grader may do fine in a quiet setting with a calm adult. But place that child in a grocery store filled with an overload of visual and auditory stimulation and you might have the makings of an extreme meltdown.

“These kids’ tantrums are so intense, so prolonged, so impossible to stop once they’ve started, you just can’t ignore it,” notes Nancy Peske, whose son Cole, now 13, was diagnosed at 3 with SPD and developmental delays. Peske is coauthor with occupational therapistLindsey Biel, who worked with Cole, of“Raising a Sensory Smart Child.”

Another response to being overwhelmed is to flee. If a child dashes out across the playground or parking lot, oblivious to the danger, Peske says that’s a big red flag that he may be heading away from something upsetting, which may not be apparent to the rest of us, or toward an environment or sensation that will calm his system. This “fight-or-flight response is why someone with SPD will shut down, escape the situation quickly, or become aggressive when in sensory overload,” she says. “They’re actually having a neurological ‘panic’ response to everyday sensations the rest of us take for granted.”

Read the full article here.

Source: Huff Post Parents

Read more articles about children’s mental health here.

POTENTIAL AUTISM CAUSES IDENTIFIED

What causes autism? Dr. Phil Landrigan, professor and chair of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York and Honorary Board member of Healthy Child Healthy World, recently released a comprehensive list of environmental triggers, published in Environmental Health Perspectives and concisely presented in a slideshow on Rodale News. This powerful research looks at environmental factors—including lead, mercury and pesticides—and connects the dots on early exposures to problems in childhood, with the goal of informing the medical community and changing chemical regulation to better protect kids.

APPROVAL SOUGHT FOR GE CORN

According to the Just Label It! campaign, of which Healthy Child is a member, the USDA may approve corn that is genetically engineered to withstand 2,4-D, a potent herbicide that may be linked to major health problems including reproductive abnormalities, birth defects, and several forms of cancer. The FDA is currently considering approval of genetically engineered salmon, which is engineered to produce growth hormones year-round to make the fish grow at twice its natural rate, and would be the first genetically engineered animal on supermarket shelves in the United States. If these “foods” are approved, we won’t know they’re on our shelves because GE foods are not required to be labeled in the U.S.—as they are in 40 other countries. 90% of Americans are against unlabeled GE foods. Healthy Child is, too!

HOUSE HEARING ON CANCER

Information from the House assessment of the “Report on Carcinogens” continues to trickle down. The report, which recently classified formaldehyde as a “known carcinogen” and styrene as a “reasonably anticipated” human carcinogen, was under attack, most notably by Dow Chemical, for being “bad for business,” according to Andy Igrejas of the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition in the Huffington Post.

HONORARY BOARD KUDOS

Last week, we told you about the study published in Pedriatrics about Dr. Harvey Karp’s “Happiest Baby” methods to soothe infants experiencing pain. This week, Scholastic [http://www.scholastic.com/parents/index.php?cID=3499] named the doctor the second most important person in American family life —after moms and before Steve Jobs.

Also this week, fellow Healthy Child Healthy World Honorary Board member Olivia Newton-John’s new “Livwise” book shot to the top of the bestseller list.

Congratulations to these amazing visionaries; we are so grateful for their support and thankful as they continue to expand the healthy parenting movement!

MAY IS PREGNANCY AWARENESS MONTH

Pregnancy Awareness Month (P.A.M.) is an organization dedicated to inspiring women during pregnancy with educational initiatives spotlighting nutrition, wellness, and all around nurturing. If you’re in Los Angeles on Sunday May 6, be sure to join P.A.M.’s annual flagship free event at the Skirball Center that features features a variety of brands, specialists and experts in the field of pregnancy, motherhood and kids. Click here for more information.

P.A.M. was established in 2008 by Healthy Child Healthy World Board Member, author & holistic lifestyle expert Anna Getty and producer & mompreneur Alisa Donner.

Source: Healthy Child Healthy World

Jada’s mom writes:
If Jada would win the I Pad it will benefit her in learning. The I pad has many application that help children with Autism. I am a single mother of 2 children one that is diagnoise with Autism. I struggle to take care of my children and assure that my children have what they need. I have tried to save up money to purchse a I pad for jada because i know it will enhance her speech and sensory skills, but i am unable to save due to living check by check. Winning this I pad for Jada will be a wonderful prize for my baby.

Congratulations, Jada! We can’t wait to see you “talking!”

Rickey’s mom Josie noted, “For my son, Ricky, winning an iPad for him would fulfill his dream and mine..My son is non verbal, and he uses an iPad at his therapy facility and his therapist have told me that he benefits from it very well, he uses it to do better on his part and as a reward for him after doing his sessions he is allowed to watch Sesame Street or Bear in the Big Blue House video…iPads are so expensive and new ones have come out too and when my son sees one at the local stores on display he signs to me (sign language)  that he wants to watch elmo or bear…he makes me happy but breaks my heart because i can’t afford one for him, local stores don’t even offer layaway plans either…as a one income family the cost of an iPad is a car payment or our electricity bill for us..Again winning an iPad for him you all would have a very happy 12 year boy in Texas and parents that would forever thank you and appreciate your time reading this message…Thank you for having this website and God Bless you always!!!”

What’s really nice about this story is the community being built around it on Facebook. After Josie commented, another friend of the foundation, Judy Trevino Saenz offered to help Josie in setting the iPad up. This is what community is all about! Check out some of the Facebook comments below. To view them all, visit our Facebook page.

• Dale Taylor YUP

  4 hours ago · Like · 1
• 

  Josie Hinojosa Balboa Oh my God….is this true?…is my son Ricky really the winner of the iPad…I I can’t believe it, I am so thrilled, so excited my son will be the happiest person you have made him, Thank you Thank you so much!

  4 hours ago · Like · 2
• 

  Wake Up For Autism Yes JOSIE, it’s true. Congrats… Check your messages from Ms. Jodi Gomes!

  4 hours ago · Like · 1
• 

  Josie Hinojosa Balboa Oh my God…i am in tears lots of tears…Thank you so much Ms. Jodi Gomes, God bless you always, i am speechless, huge lump in my throat, i can’t thank you enough, i send you huge Texas size hugs lots of kisses….Thank you!! ♥ ♥

  4 hours ago · Like · 2
• 

  Wake Up For Autism Congrats & enjoy! Ms. Gomes is trying to reach you now. Be sure to check us out on Twitter where many of our 65,000 followers are congratulating Ricky! God Bless!

  4 hours ago · Like · 1
• 

  Judy Trevino Saenz Yeahhh Ricckkyyy!!!! Congratz Guys!!! Welcome to the I-Pad Club!! Josie if u need help on how to navigate for Appsfor Ricky let me know!!

  4 hours ago · Like · 2
• 

  Josie Hinojosa Balboa Thank you Judy, i am so excited for Ricky, i know now he will benefit from it, he can now use his own at therapy, and yes i will contact you

  4 hours ago · Like
• 

  Wake Up For Autism ‎Josie Hinojosa Balboa we got your number, and will email you now!

  4 hours ago · Like · 1
• 

  Kaity Olivarez Congrats Ricky

  3 hours ago · Like · 1
• 

  Amy Stringham Congratulations Ricky!!! Our family is so excited for you.

  2 hours ago · Like · 1
• 

  Marisol Balboa-Peña Congrats to my nephew Ricky!! You deserve this and so much more ♥ ♥ Thank you Wake up for Autism for such a wonderful gift.

  about an hour ago · Like · 1

A research study just published in the scientific journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback reported that treating ADHD patients with neurofeedback based on “the patient’s individual brain activity measured by quantitative EEG” or QEEG brainmap produced much more improvement than seen in previous treatment studies that did not use brain mapping.

This further confirms what we have experienced for the last 6 years at the Drake Institute. That neurofeedback treatment protocols need to be “tailored” to help normalize the specific abnormal brainwave patterns linked to the symptoms in each individual patient. One patient may have attentional weaknesses due to the left frontal part of the brain producing too many slow brainwaves. Whereas another ADHD patient may have difficulty focusing for task completion because the right frontal part of the brain is generating too many fast brainwaves. In either case the brain is out of balance.

These 2 patients could have the same symptoms but require different neurofeedback protocols to normalize brain functioning. One has an underactive frontal brain and the other patient has an overstimulated frontal brain, both disrupting normal brain functioning. Think of the analogy of a muscle that is flacid and will not contract for usage versus a muscle that is in spasm. Both conditions make the muscle dysfunctional.

Similarly, an Autistic or Asperger’s syndrome patient may have too many slow brainwaves in the right posterior region of the brain that would interfere with being able to pick up on social cues. Another patient on the Autism Spectrum could have the same difficulty with processing social cues but it could be a result of too much fast brainwave activity. Obviously, these 2 patients would require completely different treatment protocols to improve or resolve their similar symptoms.

In the practice of medicine, this is no different than doing a bacterial culture first to both identify the cause of the infection and the most specific,effective antibiotic to treat the infection.

David F. Velkoff, M.D.

Medical Director

Drake Institute

This list can’t come soon enough, as last month, the CDC reported that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) now affects 1 of every 88 American children – a 23% increase from 2006 and a 78% increase from 2002.

And while there is controversy over how those numbers are reached, it still is worth repeating.  There has been a 78% increase in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in the last ten years.  At the same time, the CDC also reported that ADHD now affects 14% of American children.

As these disorders continue to affect more children across the U.S., researchers are asking what is causing these dramatic increases.  Some of the explanation is greater awareness and more accurate diagnosis. But clearly, there is more to the story than simply genetics, as the increases are far too rapid to be of purely genetic origin.

The National Academy of Sciences reports that 25% of neurobehavioral disorders are caused by interactions between environmental factors and genetics. But the precise environmental causes are not yet known.

So while industry can claim that there is little evidence that these chemicals in isolation or in combination (which doctors now refer to as “synergistic toxicity”) cause autism, the truth is that there is still very little evidence or the toxicological safety studies.  In other words, there is a gap in the science.

There is a huge gap.  According to CNN, the EPA has tested only about 200 of the 80,000 chemicals in use.

But thankfully, that is changing with the work of the team at Mt. Sinai and the extraordinary leadership, courage and intellect of Dr. Phil Landrigan and the urgent call by experts to reform chemical laws.

To guide a research strategy to discover potentially preventable environmental causes and to arm parents and those hoping to be parents with knowledge, the Children’s Environmental Health Center (CEHC) has developed a list of ten chemicals found in consumer products that are suspected to contribute to autism and learning disabilities.

This list was published today in Environmental Health Perspectives in an editorial written by Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, director of the CEHC, Dr. Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and Dr. Luca Lambertini, also of the CEHC.

The top ten chemicals are:

1. Lead
2. Methylmercury
3. PCBs
4. Organophosphate pesticides
5. Organochlorine pesticides
6. Endocrine disruptors
7. Automotive exhaust
8. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
9. Brominated flame retardants
10. Perfluorinated compounds

As the Children’s Environmental Health Center shares, the editorial was published alongside four other papers — each suggesting a link between toxic chemicals and autism.  Both the editorial and the papers originated at a conference hosted by CEHC in December 2010.

The first paper, written by a team at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, found preliminary evidence linking smoking during pregnancy to Asperger’s disorder and other forms of high-functioning autism.  The next two papers, written by researchers at the University of California – Davis, show that PCBs disrupt early brain development. The final paper, also by a team at UC – Davis, suggests further exploring the link between pesticide exposure and autism.

Ultimately, all five papers call for increased research to identify the possible environmental causes of autism in America’s children.

This importance of this call to action can not be emphasized enough, because while our children may only represent 30% of our population, they are 100% of our future and we need to protect them like our country depends on it.  Because it does.

So what can you do to protect the health of your children?  Thankfully, a lot.  And while none of us can do everything, all of us can do something, so choose one, some or all from the list below:

• Eat organic food whenever possible to reduce exposure to synthetic pesticides which by law are not allowed for use in its production
• Open your windows to clear the air in your home from the toxins that can accumulate there
• Take your shoes off as you come inside to keep pesticides on the soles of your shoes from entering your home
• Looked for cans and plastic bottles that are “BPA-free”

Source: Prevention.com

By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

A father discovered staff at a school in New Jersey were “bullying” and using offensive language toward his 10-year-old autistic son after he fitted his child with a wire.

Stuart Chaifetz posted extracts of the recording on YouTube on April 20. He said the audio revealed staff members at Horace Mann Elementary School in Cherry Hill calling his son Akian a “bastard” and talking about vomiting that morning due to a hangover.
In response on Tuesday, the Cherry Hill School District released a statement saying a swift investigation had been conducted and the people involved no longer worked there. In the YouTube video, Chaifetz said that shortly after his “wonderful, happy son” went to the school, notes were sent home saying his son was “hitting the teacher, hitting the aide and throwing chairs over.”

A behaviorist was called in to see what was wrong, months passed, and Chaifetz still could not understand what was happening. Akian’s autism meant he was not able to tell his father.

Eventually, Chaifetz decided to fit Akian with a hidden recording device. In the YouTube video, he said his “life changed forever” when he listened to the tape on the night of Friday, Feb. 17, and found that staff at the school were “literally making my son’s life a living hell.”

“Okay, Akian, you are a bastard,” was one comment on the tape from a woman who Chaifetz said was a teacher. ”Go ahead and scream, because guess what? You are going to get nothing until your mouth is shut,” was another. ’The wine won”

 
He also recorded a conversation between two people in the class talking about the consequences of a night out drinking wine with a friend. ”You know what I was doing this morning?” says one woman. “Heaving?” asks the other. “Oh my God, so bad. The wine won.”

 
Chaifetz, a single parent, said his son regularly went to stay with his mother, but the boy would sometimes feel anxious about these moves and ask for reassurance that he would see his father again. In the tape, Akian is heard asking “May I see?” — which Chaifetz said the staff member would know referred to him, based on prior experience — and the staff member replied, “You cannot see,” followed by the sound of laughter. The staff member’s response — which Chaifetz said was designed to make fun of Akian — caused his son to have a “half-hour meltdown.” “I know how much that hurt Akian,” he added.

Watch Stuart Chaifetz’s YouTube video about the recordings he made of teaching staff “bullying” his son. ”He threw over chairs because he was in pain, because this woman had just stabbed him with words,” he added. “My son didn’t go to school, he went to prison and he learned to fight to survive.” Chaifetz said he wanted a public apology from the teacher, who he said was called Kelly, and an aide, whom he named as Jodi. He also called for legislative action “so that no teacher who bullies a child, especially one with special needs” is allowed to carry on teaching.
Petition to change law Chaifetz set up a petition calling on New Jersey lawmakers to pass legislation “so that teachers who bully children are immediately fired.” As of Wednesday at 11:25 a.m. ET, it had 61,989 signatures. ”I’m not looking to sue anybody. I’m not going to file a lawsuit. It’s not about money. It’s about dignity,” Chaifetz said in the video. Addressing his son in the video, Chaifetz said he was “so sorry you went through all this.” ”You didn’t deserve it. You are a wonderful human being, and I love you with all my heart. Please don’t let the cruelty of these vicious and miserable people change your beautiful nature,” he said.

Maureen Reusche, superintendent of Cherry Hill School District, said in a statement to a Board of Education meeting Tuesday that the people heard on the recording “raising their voices and inappropriately addressing children no longer work in the district.” She said the district had carried out a “thorough and rigorous investigation and, as we have previously noted, responded swiftly and appropriately,” according to the statement, which was posted online. Reusche said the situation was a “personnel matter and there are specifics that I cannot legally address publicly.” Board of Education President Seth Klukoff added that board members “certainly understand and share the concerns expressed by many members of the community.”

“We strongly believe that the district acted swiftly, appropriately and judiciously with regard to the staff in the classroom. What’s more, we are confident that these decisions were informed first and foremost by compassion for the students,” he added. “We are proud of the many caring teachers and staff of our district who provide tireless dedication to our children and work ceaselessly to ensure that our classrooms are conducive to learning and growth.”

See full video here

Source: MSNBC