For the first time in 15 years, a major psychiatric organization is updating its practice guidelines for treating kids and adolescents with autism. A series of seven recommendations from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outline the responsibilities clinicians have in diagnosing and treating those on the spectrum. The guidance published this month in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is an update to recommendations first presented by the group in 1999. It offers clinicians a roadmap for the best assessment and treatment practices for autism, though doctors must also take into account each patient’s unique circumstances in developing a plan, the organization said.

Morris is a dance professor at the University of South Florida, and more recently, an inventor. She was introducing kids with spina bifida and cerebral palsy to a chair she dreamed up. On this weekend in their class, the chair would let them dance. Not pretend to dance, not be pulled by a dancer, but actually dance.

An experimental device is letting paralysed people drive wheelchairs simply by flicking their tongue in the right direction. Key to this wireless system: Users get their tongue pierced with a magnetic stud that resembles jewellery and acts like a joystick, in hopes of offering them more mobility and independence. Researchers reported Wednesday that 11 people paralysed from the neck down rapidly learned to use the tongue device to pilot their wheelchairs through an obstacle course full of twists and turns, and to operate a computer, too.

In November 2012, AGATE trained new facilitators of "SENG-model parent groups".  We now have trained facilitators in Great Falls, Hamilton, Columbia Falls, and Bozeman.   If you'll like to join or request a SENG-model parent group in your area, contact one of the trained facilitators.  

SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) emphasizes the importance of parent support groups.

Most of the children who would lose their autism diagnosis under the diagnostic criteria released last year will fall under the new category of social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SCD), reports a large study of Korean children. The study was published last week in the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry1.

10 Tips for Special Education Advocates

Remember, your goal is to assist parents in achieving an appropriate education for their child.

1. Good advocates facilitate the IEP process.

Not long ago, most blind and visually impaired people grew up without ever playing sports; they sat on the sidelines, and kept score during gym-protected rather than included. In the 1980s, few people had ever heard of the Paralympic Games or accessible recreation. Today, promising blind athletes can receive residency at the US Olympic Training Center; runners compete for prize money and national championships, and most ski resorts offer adaptive programs throughout the year where blind people can ski, cycle, and kayak-often for free. The Paralympic movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and ever-increasing expectation for inclusion among the disabled have inspired an explosion of accessible sports, fitness, and recreation programs that accommodate the blind. The Encyclopedia of Sports & Recreation for People with Visual Impairments is the first consumer- focused, action-oriented guide to this new world of accessible activity, profiling the people, programs, and products that are helping move blind and visually impaired people from the sidelines into the game. This groundbreaking guide profiles every accessible blind sport and recreation activity with entries that outline how athletes (both novice and elite) got involved in the sport and how participation has shaped their life. The book also profiles major blind sports organizations and includes chapter and resource listings on camps and accessible recreation providers. Through this book, blind people will be inspired to embrace sports as the rest of society does-as a vital component of personal expression and human interaction that opens paths to adventure, confidence, and lifelong health and fitness

New! February 3, 2014 - The 2014 Autism Speaks Baker Summer Camp Grant application is now open! The Autism Speaks Baker Summer Camp Program selects eligible camps in the United States to identify qualified campers and offer scholarship funds for financially disadvantaged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to attend a summer camp. Note: Individuals may not apply for the program. If you are an individual interested in obtaining a scholarship for your child, please encourage your local camp to apply for a scholarship fund.

Alongside the famed Caldecott and Newbery awards for children’s literature, three books are being honored for focusing on the disability experience.

If you’re like me, your child has so many medical appointments it may be hard to keep up with routine or preventive care.  But family caregivers need to know how essential dental care is for their children.  Parents may think, oh it’s just teeth, and have so many more urgent things to do.  But oral health is just as important as other physical health.

The Justice Department will make funding available immediately to provide free electronic tracking devices for kids with autism who are at risk of wandering. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that his department has existing grant money that can be used for the technology.

At first glance, Quiet Time - a stress reduction strategy used in several San Francisco middle and high schools, as well as in scattered schools around the Bay Area - looks like something out of the om-chanting 1960s. Twice daily, a gong sounds in the classroom and rowdy adolescents, who normally can't sit still for 10 seconds, shut their eyes and try to clear their minds. I've spent lots of time in urban schools and have never seen anything like it.

Some researchers estimate that over half of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have some sort of issue with food. These feeding issues can be of significant concern to parents because they might impact their child’s health and wellbeing.  The Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network (ATN) created Exploring Feeding Behavior in Autism: A Guide for Parents to help parents and professionals better understand the “nuts and bolts” of feeding issues.

A new software at the University of Montana now allows students and employees to highlight text with their cursors and have it read out loud. Read&Write Gold became available for students, faculty and staff Jan. 8th.

About one in five children who appeared to have autism in 2006 and 2008 would lose that classification with the diagnostic criteria for autism released last year, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Psychiatry1.

In New Hampshire, Medicaid pays for in-home care for nearly all of its residents with developmental disabilities. For frail elders, the opposite is true. Most wind up in nursing homes. To remedy this imbalance, New Hampshire is taking advantage of Affordable Care Act funding for a program aimed at removing existing barriers to providing long-term care in people’s homes and communities. Known as the Balancing Incentive Payments Program, it is one of several ACA provisions designed to keep as many people as possible out of costly institutions. Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas are also participating in the $3 billion incentive program.

With a grant from the state, the Center for Mental Health has hired two case managers whose specific goal is to intervene when a crisis occurs with a child and make sure that the child and their family are referred to the many services available in the community for support, Zimmer said.

Evidence-Based Practices for Children, Youth, and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder View 2014 EBP Report [ DOWNLOAD PDF ] Evidence-based intervention practices (EBPs) for children with ASD are the basis on which effective programs are built. In 2010, the NPDC conducted a review of the literature (from 1997-2007) and identified 24 EBPs. The center has just completed an expanded and updated review, which yielded a total of 27 practices. The report of the 2014 review is now available in PDF format from the link above.

My children and I just finished reading a new book titled, “My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” by Martin Luther King III.  It’s a warm, intimate biography that explains a turning point in American history from the perspective of a child.  At the heart of the book are the lessons that Dr. King modeled for us in his lifetime regarding nonviolence, personal excellence, interdependence and justice.

We’re pleased to share this video blog from Friends of Quinn, an online community that offers resources and support for young adults with LD and the people who love them. This video features Connor, a young web development manager in Colorado who was diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school. Connor, along with his parents, share how dyslexia affected his ability to read and write as a young child. Despite his challenges, Connor has always worked hard and learned how to cope with his learning disability eventually finding success as a young adult. Watch his inspiring story below.