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1 in 6 adults and almost 1 in 10 children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Yet, for many, the stigma associated with the illness, can be as great a challenge as the disease itself. This is where the misconceptions stop. This is where bias comes to an end. This is where we change lives. Because this is where we Bring Change 2 Mind.

There seem to be two major fears that parents of special education students have: That a child will fall behind in school because they didn’t receive the appropriate interventions – and be ridiculed for an academic delay; or that a child will be ridiculed for being in special ed – so they don’t place them in sped and let the child fall further behind.

As we observe ADHD Awareness Week, please join us this Thursday, September 16th, at 12:00 pm (Mountain time) for our monthly Ask the Expert online chat. To join the chat, please click here at 1:45 pm (Eastern time) the day of the chat and follow the instructions on that page. This is an online chat only and no pre-registration is required!

The terrible toll of suicide is a symptom of systematic problems in our state. Lack of access to timely, effective mental-health care, shortages of mental-health professionals, lack of insurance and overwhelming stigma that makes people reluctant to seek needed care all contribute to suffering that all too often ends with suicide.Knowing that we have a problem is the beginning of understanding how to solve it. But action is needed on the state level to ease Montana's suicide problem.

Helena will play host to documentary dealing with mental illness. The film about the stigma of bi-polar disorder will debut free of charge on Wednesday night in Helena. The film, sponsored by NAMI-Helena and Carroll College is called "Of Two Minds."

Introduction by Steve Silberman: Six years ago, the United Nations declared April 2 to be World Autism Awareness Day. For most of the 20th Century, autism was rarely talked about in public, because the psychiatric establishment — led by a psychologist and popular author named Bruno Bettelheim, considered the preeminent authority on the subject in the 1960s — blamed the condition on the emotional trauma of being raised by a cold, unloving mother. The “refrigerator mother” theory was utterly discredited long ago as an elaborate fraud, and autism is now understood to be a life-long disability caused by complex interactions between genes and the environment. Autistic people and their families are still subject to stigma, however, in part because many of the organizations that view Autism Awareness Day as a fundraising opportunity use fear-mongering language like Autism Speaks’ oft-repeated refrain that “more children are diagnosed with autism each year than with juvenile diabetes, AIDS or cancer, combined.”

Montana’s mental health safety net is full of holes.Stigma, lack of insurance, Medicaid restrictions and a shortage of mental health professionals all contribute to the “state of despair” that reporter Cindy Uken has been detailing in a Billings Gazette series on suicide. The state’s suicide rate — the highest among the 50 states and double the national average — is cause for alarm. Yet it isn’t the only terrible symptom of Montanan’s mental health care gap.

The results of a survey of middle-school students in four states indicate a need for better education about mental illness and ways to reduce stigma.

The TSA Education program provides accurate, current information in many areas. Our materials are designed to help students, parents, families, educators, clinicians, and others understand, address, and manage symptoms of Tourette Syndrome in the school and other settings. By offering essential TS information, we want to promote optimal teaching and learning, end stigma, and promote acceptance regarding TS in school settings.

Arne observed the faculty there is “absolutely committed to making sure that every student fulfills their academic and social potential.” When Alexa asked the students on the panel what makes special education students so successful at Wilde Lake, one student shared that the cultural stigma of being a special ed student had been eliminated and declared that it had been taken over by the notion that, “I am a student!” We know that Wilde Lake takes this belief very seriously, as more than 90 percent of their students spend more than 80 percent of the school day in a general education setting.

“Stigma, underachievement and misunderstanding of LD continue to be stubborn barriers for parents and children to overcome. The data in this 2014 report reveal that, left unaddressed, as many as 60 million individuals risk being left behind, burdened by low self-esteem, subjected to low expectations, and diminished in their ability to pursue their dreams.”

Gary Mihelish, the former president of the Montana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has spent a couple of decades advocating for people with mental illness, fighting against the stigma, ignorance and isolation that often comes with those diseases.In late June at the alliance’s annual conference in San Antonio, he received one of its top honors, the Distinguished Service Award, recognizing his work before the Montana Legislature and, along with his wife, Sandra, in implementing the group’s family-to-family program for more than a decade. He also was elected to NAMI’s national board.

The nonprofit behind Big Bird, Elmo and Abby Cadabby is launching a new effort to reduce stigma surrounding kids with autism and help those with the developmental disorder learn life skills.

I was recently asked why NAMI is important to me. I and myriad others with mental disorders are grateful to an organization which offers enlightenment about the structures and functions of brain physiology. NAMI (the national voice on mental illness) gives empowering strength by providing its members a bulwark of defense to combat the irrational slings and arrows of prejudicial stigma aimed toward persons with mental disorders.

Families with mentally ill children face many extra hurdles. Costs and access to care are just part of the challenges. Despite significant scientific progress in understanding and treating mental illnesses over the past 20 years, many people still blame parents for children’s illnesses. Stigma is a heavy burden for a family with a child who is ill with a brain disorder. Treatment systems still tend to leave parents out of the process.

More than 3 million people in the U.S. have some form of epilepsy. While seizures come in various forms, those with epilepsy cope with similar issues: social stigma, complex treatment options and a feeling of powerlessness. Eight men, women and children discuss what it's like to live with epilepsy.

Because of stigma, lack of awareness about mental health and poor medical infrastructure, few autism prevalence studies exist outside of the U.S., Canada and the U.K. "Even though it seems like anybody and everybody has heard of autism, in many places in the world it's still sort of a new topic," says Charles Zaroff, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Macau in China. Zaroff and Grinker are part of a small but growing group of researchers charting autism in new territories. Rigorous autism screening studies are underway not only in South Korea, but in Mexico, India and South Africa. In the past year, prevalence estimates from Brazil1, Oman2 and Western Australia3 have been published in mainstream journals for the first time.

New York, NY — Eleigha Love, who describes her brain as a computer, and Jared Schmidt, a teenage sky diver, are the recipients of this year's $10,000 Anne Ford and Allegra Ford Scholarships given to two graduating high school seniors with documented learning disabilities (LD) who are pursuing undergraduate degrees. Anne Ford, Chairman Emerita of the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), is a well-known philanthropist and author, who has been a long-time parent advocate for children with learning disabilities, starting with her own daughter, Allegra. The scholarship was created in 2001 by the NCLD board when Ms. Ford stepped down as chairman in honor of her service. In 2008, Allegra agreed to match the existing award, creating a second scholarship. Anne Ford and Today Show Host Al Roker presented the scholarships at this year's NCLD 34th Annual Benefit Dinner, emceed by Paula Zahn in New York City. Jared and Eleigha are two of more than 2.5 million students who are wrestling with learning disabilities. They are among the mere 64 percent of students with LD who graduate high school, and only 10 percent with LD that go on to a four-year college. "We received over 300 applications, and let me tell you everyone of them came from students deserving a scholarship," said Anne, handing out the awards to this year’s winners. “We hear so much about the challenges and struggles of students with LD, and it is so inspiring to see that so many are able to meet and surpass those challenges." "Our goal is to see every child with LD graduate from high school," said James Wendorf, Executive Director of NCLD. "We are still failing about 1 million children. We've seen graduation rates and classroom inclusion rise more than 15 percent over the past 10 years. But we need to continue to empower parents and teachers, reduce stigma among kids, and keep education funding on the top of the education agenda if we are going to see those numbers increase, not decrease." One of the biggest problems with learning disabilities is diagnosing them in time, before children get frustrated with the system. "To a child with learning disabilities, school can be a very isolating place, it can be a very frustrating place and frankly overwhelming," relayed CNN's Anderson Cooper at a recent NCLD lunch. "Too many kids with LD struggle to try and keep up with their peers and suffer from low confidence and self-esteem and lose their love of learning at a young age. It's hard to rekindle that once it's gone, which is why the work of this organization is so important."