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The challenges faced by those with A.D.H.D. -- weighing the decision to take stimulant medication, facing those who doubt your disorder and adapting to your symptoms -- are daunting and deeply personal. Here, in their own words, are the stories of adults and children coping with A.D.H.D.

Characterized by sudden jerking movements and uncontrollable tics and vocalizations, Tourette’s syndrome is a strange, often misunderstood condition. What is it like to live without full control of your body? Seven men and women talk about living with the twitches of Tourette’s.

The autism-spectrum disorders encompass a wide range of symptoms, from social awkwardness to a complete inability to interact and communicate. Here, six men and women speak about living with an autism-spectrum disorder.

Like many parents, Kinninger turned to the Internet for answers. This week, in honor of World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, the Empowered Patient has asked experts and parents their thoughts on the best Web sites for autism information.

What: Pediatricians recognize the importance of improving teen mental health and their pivotal role in identifying adolescents that may need care.  The American Academy of Pediatrics has made adolescent mental health care a priority and the US Preventive Services Task Force has identified annual adolescent depression screening as the standard of care. How can primary care providers meet the needs of their adolescent patients while navigating real-world practice challenges -- including payment? Our January 27 Webinar with three members of the AAP’s Task Force on Mental Health, will explore practical strategies that can maximize payment for screening, consulting, and treatment of adolescent mental health care. When: January 27, 2011 1 p.m. 12:00 p.m. Mountain Registration: Click here to register or copy and paste the link below: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=274493&s=1&k=D41E04BC8A8A2C114887DDD77F849E86

Click here to download the full flyer for this event (PDF) When: September 8, 2011 12:00pm - 1:00pm Where: St. Vincent Healthcare Mansfield Health Education Center - Room 7 Billings, MT Target Audience: Primary Care Providers to include but not limited to: Family Practice, Pediatrics, Emergency Department physicians, Physician assistants, Nurse practitioners, Advanced practice nurses, Registered nurses, And all other healthcare providers of pediatric/adolescent patients Series Objectives: At the end of this RSS, participants should be able to: Differentiate between types of seizures, spells and spasms in children Recognize infantile spasms and absence seizures Utilize appropriate imaging and lab work for the diagnosis, treatment and management of seizures, spells and spasms in children Manage status epilepticus emergently Initiate referral of children to a pediatric neurologist as appropriate Lecture Specific Objectives: At the end of this RSS, participants should be able to: Develop a differential diagnosis of seizure-like episodes. Identify clinical features of psychogenic non-epileptic events. Appropriately manage non-epileptic events. If you would like to attend via videoconference contact: St. Vincent Healthcare University at 406.237.3348 or email svhu@svh-mt.org.  Reservations for videoconferencing must be made at least 24 hours prior to live activity.

Click here to register for this event What: In the rush to develop collaborative care practices the use of health IT is a powerful, often overlooked, and crucial element. The University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care in northern Vermont have embarked on a project to develop Patient-Centered Medical Homes in each of our primary care practices. As part of that effort, there is a commitment that mental health substance abuse and health behavior services are central elements of the development. Dr. Kessler, a health psychologist, directs this effort. Dr. Burdick a family physician, is physician leader for outpatient implementation of the Fletcher Allen Helath Care Epic-based EHR, PRISM. Their collaboration has resulted in this project. The webinar will explore the backround and history, measure selection and process development, current status and future plans. When: Thursday, April 14th 2011, from 11:00am - 12:30pm Mountain

What: This webcast will introduce information for professionals on some of the emerging trends in biomedical research and health care environments that present new opportunities for partnership, collaboration, and support, as well as: Provide an overview of translational science, e-science and health information resources in electronic health records, including the related trends and issues affecting information professionals. Identify skills that information professionals need to work with researchers, information technology professionals, clinicians and community partners in these environments. Learn about community engagement in translational science research and roles for clinicians and information professionals in this arena. Address meaningful use of health information by patients accessing their electronic health records, as required by recent legislation to facilitate quality improvement at the point of care. The discussions at these webcasts are invaluable even if you are not in a medical library.  Please contact Tori Koch at 406-238-2226 or by email at library@billingsclinic.org if you are interested in attending. When: April 20, 2011 12:00 - 1:00pm Mountain Cost: Free

On behalf of the Autism Subcommittee of the Council on Children with Disabilities, please note the current AAP autism resources for health care professionals and parents. Find more information about these items as well as additional resources at: http://medicalhomeinfo.org/about/cocwd/autism.aspx. Be sure to check out the sneak preview of the autism toolkit contents - only for AAP members (see below). Sound Advice on Autism - The AAP has developed a series of audio interviews with medical experts and parents of children with autism who answer parents' frequently asked questions. Conversations include: screening, diagnosis, treatment, alternative therapies, prevalence and causes of autism. AUTISM: Caring for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Toolkit for Clinicians - A clinical resource (on CD-ROM) to assist in the recognition, evaluation, and ongoing management of ASDs. SNEAK PREVIEW for AAP Members - including samples and additional content information!! Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) - This booklet provides critical information about ASDs and answers parents' most common questions. This booklet will help to identify ASD symptoms so that an intervention program can be started as soon as possible.   Is Your One-Year Old Communicating with You? - This brochure encourages parents to share any concerns about their baby's language development with their pediatrician as early as possible. It also provides early language and social milestones checklists. 

Every week an average of 10 children with serious mental illnesses are admitted to Billings Clinic Psychiatric Center and about the same number are discharged. Most young psychiatric patients stay less than a week. “We try to stabilize them in two or three days,” said Terry Smith, a clinical social worker who cares for kids at Billings Clinic. The kids come from the Billings area, the Hi-Line, Eastern Montana and beyond. Billing Clinic is the only psychiatric hospital in the eastern half of the state that cares for children. It serves all children who need its services, but two-thirds of them depend on Medicaid — the state-federal health program — to pay their medical bills.

Despite recommendations that doctors routinely screen young children for developmental delays, less than half of pediatricians do so. Just 47.7 percent of pediatricians say they conduct regular developmental screenings of their patients who are under age 3, according to findings from a national survey published online in the journal Pediatrics on Monday.

A technology originally developed to locate stolen vehicles will now help Flathead County law enforcement agencies locate missing Alzheimer’s and dementia patients as well as children with autism and Down syndrome. In a press conference Friday at the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Search and Rescue Coordinator Brian Heino unveiled the local introduction of Project Lifesaver. The project, established in 1999 by the 43rd Search and Rescue Company of the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office, uses radio transmitter bracelets manufactured by LoJack to locate those at-risk individuals who have wandered off from families or caregivers.

Nearly 20 percent of Americans have physical or mental disabilities, yet only a small fraction of medical schools teach students how to talk with disabled patients about their needs.

Get organized. Create an organized medical file and save every piece of paper pertaining to a child’s disabilities, services, needs and more. Make copies monthly and scan new documents into the computer. Get educated. Research your rights, therapies, and more. Be willing to learn, ask questions, and keep asking questions until you understand. Educate others. Respond patiently with the appropriate information when people say hurtful things or respond in ignorance. Be persistent. Don’t give up when you can’t get an appointment. Instead of getting angry, keep restating your need in a nice way. Look for solutions. Instead of talking poorly about a doctor or the insurance company, focus on finding solutions. Take care of yourself. Take some time to care for yourself; otherwise you’ll quickly burn out and be unable to care for your child. Find time each day, even if it’s only 5 minutes, to focus on your own needs.

Some novel programs are addressing a growing gap in health care: helping the millions of survivors of serious childhood diseases find treatment when they grow up. Thanks to medical advances, there are a growing number of survivors of childhood cancers as well as patients living longer with diseases like cystic fibrosis and spina bifida. More children have diseases like diabetes and asthma that will follow them into adulthood. Nearly 25% of children have at least one of a list of 18 chronic conditions, according to federal survey data.

The toolkit offers best-practice tools and information regarding specific medical and behavioral concerns of adults with IDD, including resources for patients and families. The website is divided into four categories: General Issues; Physical Issues; Health Watch Tables; and Behavioral and Mental Health Issues.