|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
AUTISM FIRST STEPS
AUTISM DAILY NEWSLETTER
Thursday December 27, 2001
INDEX:
* Despair of loving an
Asperger's husband
* When Special Education Falls Short
* Parents of autistic children need clarity on therapy
* Learning to Cope With Students' Disabilities
* STOP THE BULLYING
* Ruling on special education standards cheers parents but worries
schools
******************************
Despair of loving an Asperger's husband
BY HELEN RUMBELOW
CHRISTMAS is a notorious flashpoint for marital arguments, when women complain
that their men do not understand their feelings and men claim that they do not
know what all the fuss is about. By Boxing Day most rows are forgotten. But for
the thousands of British women married to men with autism this state of tension
is an extreme and lifelong problem leading to loneliness and despair. One in
250 people has Asperger’s syndrome, a type of autism that affects people of
normal to very high intelligence. It affects about ten times as many men as
women. Although the stereotype of autism is of isolated loners, many people
with Asperger’s get married without realising that they have the condition.
They often have so little concept of emotions that they do not realise that
their partner is sad, even if they are sobbing, and then ignore it because they
have no idea how to offer comfort. About half such marriages have no sexual
contact because the Asperger’s partner finds physical affection unnatural and
many can cope with their fears about the world only by being verbally and
sometimes physically abusive. The emotional intimacy of a relationship, for
many the reason that they married, is barely there. Some women feel as if they
are going mad. The National Autistic Society desperately needs money to offer
diagnosis and support to couples affected by Asperger’s and to transform the
lives of their children. One of the biggest problems for those new to the
condition is to understand how it differs from “typical bloke” behaviour
involving selfishness or egotism, according to Maxine Aston, the only Relate
counsellor specialising in Asperger’s. “The male chauvinist, or man behaving
badly, has a choice: he can sit down and empathise with his wife, and he
doesn’t have to go to the football match. If he has been inconsiderate he has
the capacity to recognise it and show remorse,” she said. “A person with
Asperger’s doesn’t have a choice. It’s not that they won’t empathise — they
can’t.” Ms Aston was once married to a man with Asperger’s, with whom she had
three children. “The Asperger’s caused a complete breakdown of communication
which prevented us from sorting out the problems we had,” she said. “But my
husband was not diagnosed until the divorce. Awareness is crucial.” A first
step in diagnosis is getting a Partner’s Pack from the National Autistic
Society, she said. “It is the sense of loneliness which is the worst.” Rachel
Kruft Welton, 31, had been in a relationship with her husband, Nick, 41, for
five years before they realised what was wrong. “Right from the first I knew he
was a bit eccentric. He was the stereotype of an absent-minded professor,
incredibly intelligent, but very absent-minded and lacking life skills,” she
said. When his awkwardness became difficult, a GP referred him to a specialist
who made the diagnosis. “If we hadn’t had the diagnosis our marriage would have
broken up,” she said. “Before, if I was crying he would have sat on the other
side of the room and just looked at me, and I’d think: ‘How can you pretend to
love me and be so cruel?’ “Now I’ve taught him that if I’m obviously upset he
should hug me, although if I’m looking just a bit down he may or may not
notice. “He is a very loving man, but he found it hard to show it. Now he works
incredibly hard at making me happy.”
[This writer quotes a 1 in 250 incident rate for Asperger
Syndrome.
For the rate to be this high, it would have include a grouping of those not
clinically diagnosed, such as those with the off-the-spectrum, non-disabling
latent autistic personalities (Parlor Aspergers). –LS. By Helen Rumbelow in
the Times, UK.]
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001595499,00.html
******************************
When Special Education Falls Short
By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Deborah Brunson sent her son Darius off to kindergarten two years ago. She was
nervous, but he seemed ready.
He had been in a good preschool for two years. She and her husband read to him
regularly. He could write his first and last name. He knew his address and his
telephone number. He could recite and write all the letters of the alphabet. He
could count from 1 to 50.
This, unfortunately, did not impress the teachers and administrators of the New
Hanover County school system, which serves Wilmington, N.C. Brunson said she
was told herson was hyperactive, impulsive and learning disabled. She said the
educators did not seem interested in having him remain in a regular class. He
would have to be enrolled in a special education program.
The kindergarten teacher told Brunson that she did not think the child could
learn what she was trying to teach him. A staffer who had seen Darius only
twice said she thought the child would probably need the behavior-modifying
drug Ritalin.
That was enough for the Brunsons. Three months into Darius's kindergarten year,
they switched him to a private school. A psychologist they consulted found he
had severe speech delays which affected his ability to receive, process and
express messages. It was a subtle problem, not obvious to either his parents or
his teacher. By the following spring, he knew all his vowels and consonants,
read sentences and stories with one- or two-vowel words and consonant blends
and could count by twos, fives or tens to 100. He is now in second grade, doing
just fine, his parents convinced that they saved him from disabling labels and
dumbed-down teaching that would have ruined his life.
Some might say the Brunsons did not give their public school and its special
education system a chance. The staffer who had recommended Ritalin later said
that was not what she meant. A county speech therapist got Darius into a weekly
class even after he switched to a private school.
Brunson is an associate professor of communication studies at the University of
North Carolina--Wilmington. Like many middle class Americans, she and her
husband fear that public schools may not always be up to the job of educating
their kids. Perhaps they were just over-protective parents who refused to
believe anything bad about their little darling.
Except for one thing--Darius Brunson is a young African American male. There is
a great deal of research, of which the Brunsons are well aware, that our
special education system is poisoning such kids with bad diagnoses and low
expectations. African-American students accounted for 16 percent of the U.S.
student population in 1992, but represented 32 percent of students in programs
for mild mental retardation, 29 percent in programs for moderate mental
retardation and 24 percent in programs for serious emotional disturbance. Much
of the difference, but not all, seems tied to the fact that African American
children are more likely to be poor. Most elementary school special education
students are male.
Journalists, particularly me, have done a terrible job telling this story.
Special education systems are often too confusing, too bureaucratic and too
bound by privacy rules to yield much useful information. So I am hoping that
people with firsthand experience like Deborah Brunson, including Washington area
residents, will tell me more. The available research suggests that the special
education system has led to widespread, if well-intended, misuse of tax dollars
and has failed to help kids, and not just minorities like Darius.
You have to feel badly for the educators involved. They have limited time and
money. They have to decide where to place children even when none of the
options are good. Three special education critics who come from very different
political backgrounds--Chester E. Finn Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham and Charles R.
Hokanson Jr.--say in a new report, "Rethinking Special Education for a New
Century" that "many teachers and principals find that special
education is their only source of help for individual children who need extra
attention and the only remedy for classrooms plagued by disruptive
youngsters."
But the system such children are sent to, the three authors conclude, is
"vague about its standards and surprisingly relaxed about results. So long
as the forms are properly filled in and all the boxes checked, nobody seems too
concerned about how much and how well disabled children learn or how
effectively their schools operate." [The report is available on two
sponsoring organization websites, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and the
Progressive Policy Institute.]
Here are some of the troubling things we know about special education:
* In the Washington metropolitan area, about two thirds of all the elementary
school children with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs, the badge of special
ed) are boys. Experts say boys who don't need special education are more likely
to be misidentified because they misbehave in class and girls who need special
education are less likely to be identified because they don't misbehave.
* The racial factor appears to affect girls as well as boys. Karen Bullock,
another University of North Carolina-Wilmington faculty member who withdrew her
child from a New Hanover County School, said her daughter was not allowed to
bring chapter books home or join in an accelerated math group, even though her
work was as good as the white students moving ahead of her. Bullock said she is
convinced that the teacher, whom the superintendent praised as one of the best
in the system, judged her daughter based on previous experience with low-income
minority families. Like the Brunsons, Bullock and her husband found that most
of the educators dealing with them and their child were white. (New Hanover
school officials did not respond to a request for comment.)
* Studies show that white teachers are more likely than African American
teachers to recommend African American students for special education. Matthew
Ladner and Christopher Hammons, in a detailed analysis of the data for
"Rethinking Special Education in a New Century," say "the
results demonstrate conclusively that school districts do not make special
education placements in a color-blind fashion."
Some stories are heart-breaking. Tina Stratton said her 17-year-old son
Brandon, of both European and African ancestry, has been in special education
in Santa Cruz, Calif., since he was 5. In that time, she said, little progress
has been made. (The Santa Cruz superintendent said he did not have enough
information to comment.) Recently Stratton moved to Santa Rosa and found a school
she liked, but time is running short. One administrator suggested that Brandon
accept a certificate of graduation in living skills, like balancing a checkbook
and riding the bus, and move on.
Special education is not just a racial problem. Parents of every hue are
flummoxed by the complexity of the rules and the mystery of the jargon.
Brunson, for instance, had the common parental feeling of being out-numbered.
When she requested her first meeting about Darius's classroom troubles, the
teacher brought along the school counselor, the speech therapist and the
physical education instructor. "This is typically called the team and the
parents are to be equal partners in the group," Brunson said.
"However, I felt as if I was being double-teamed by the participants."
Jay R. Shotel, chair of the department of teacher preparation and special
education at the George Washington University, said if he were a parent at such
a meeting "I would fight to get what I would believe to be appropriate for
this child based on facts" before he ever agreed to a special education
designation. But most parents lack his self-confidence and his expertise.
Special education at this point in its history resembles 18th century medicine.
Its practitioners are smart, good-hearted people, who have studied hard and are
doing their best. But their results are not impressive and many potential
clients thus avoid them. They say they need more money, and that is certainly
true, but they leave much doubt that they would know how best to use it if they
got it.
So help me understand. Tell me your stories. If you know of a family or a
special education professional who has had a success, I want the details. I
haven't given up on public schools finding a way to help children who are not
making progress, and neither has Deborah Brunson.
"We plan to place Darius in public school again," she said. 'But this
time he will walk in with confidence. He will have a solid academic foundation
that will shield him from those who would make assumptions about his abilities
to participate successfully in the program. At least, that is what I
hope."
******************************
Commentary
Parents
of autistic children need clarity on therapy
12/24/01SUSAN
M. STEWART
My 10-year-old son, Eric, has autism, a neurological disorder that impairs
communication and socialization. 
From Our Advertiser
Because of
Eric, I have been involved in the autism community for the past eight years.
During that time, I have been encouraged to try: Vaccine-reduction, wheat-free
diets, high-fat diets, acidophilis, milk-free diets, applied behavioral
analysis, facilitated communication, large amounts of vitamins especially B6,
flax-seed oil, Omega-3 oils, sugar-free diets, dye-free diets,
immune-regulating drugs, SSRIs, Ritalin, secretin therapy, music therapy,
rhythmic enhancement, auditory training, horseback riding therapy, sensory
integration therapy, chelation therapy and swimming with the dolphins. Only a
couple of these therapies, most notably applied behavioral analysis and
immune-regulating drugs, helped my son. None of them provided a cure. The
National Institute of Health is the federal research organization that should
help confused parents like me make informed decisions about treatments that
have been proven to help children like ours. Unfortunately, the NIH and its
branch that includes autism research, the National Institute on Deafness and
Other Communication Disorders, have lately been focused on basic research
projects that are not directly related to people with disorders. Much of the
recent research has focused on animal models and genetics. The mission
statement of the NIDCH states that its grants to outside researchers should be
balanced equally between basic research and clinical research. The American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, an organization of speech-language
pathologists and audiologists, has found that the institute no longer maintains
this balance between basic and clinical research. I am worried that too much
money is being spent on genetics and animal models studies. I am worried that
other clinical research projects, which might have a more immediate and
forceful impact on individuals with disabilities, are being ignored. We need to
contact our congressional leaders so they can encourage the institute to return
to its original mission statement and balance its research dollars between
basic research and clinical trials. I need to know which treatments have been
scientifically proven to be effective, and my son needs help now. He is already
10. He cannot afford to wait. Susan M. Stewart of Lebanon is a graduate student
in speech-language pathology at the University of Oregon. She can be reached
via e-mail at sstewie@proaxis.com.
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/editorial/1009198507376727.xml
******************************
Learning to Cope With Students' Disabilities
Teacher's new book aims to help other educators and
parents identify student
problems
The educational trend of placing children with disabilities and
behaviour problems in regular classrooms creates challenges for teachers,
and puts the children at risk of falling behind, says the author of a new
book that aims to help teachers cope.
"Kids who may previously have been in
special education classes now
have to be taught by the regular teacher in the regular classroom," says
Cheryll Duquette, a professor at the University of Ottawa faculty of
education.
"It's not unusual for 30 per cent of the
class to have
exceptionalities."
Ms. Duquette's book, Students at Risk: Solutions
to Classroom
Challenges, Pembroke Publishers Ltd., 128 pages, $18.95, is a how-to guide
for teachers whose classrooms now include a wide range of students -- from
the highly gifted to those with developmental delay, attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, physical disabilities, impaired hearing or sight and
disruptive behaviours.
"It's not easy being a teacher these
days," says Ms. Duquette, a
special education expert who has taught at Merivale and J. S. Woodsworth
high schools and at Greenbank, Manordale and Kars primary schools.
"They've had a new curriculum and
insufficient training in the new
curriculum. They've had more and needier children in their classroom. There
are some teachers who could use some support."
She was recently speaking with a Grade 1 teacher
in the
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board who has 29 students. They include a
child with autism, a number of children on ritalin, youngsters who are
exceptionally bright and need an enriched program, as well as children who
are lagging behind and require extra attention.
"For the most part, kids with learning
disabilities are placed in the
regular classroom, regardless of the severity, and without much
assistance,"
she says.
Over the last 20 years, there has been a movement
to integrate most
children into regular classrooms.
This is driven by budget cuts, ministry policy,
lobbying by parents,
and a philosophy that all children have a right to have their academic and
social needs met in a regular classroom, and that exposure to diversity
breeds tolerance among children.
Due to funding cuts, there are fewer special
education classes,
educational assistants, opportunities for teacher training, and special
education consultants.
"Not every child's needs can be met in a
regular classroom," says Ms.
Duquette. "I think each board has to ensure that there are a range of
placements for children."
While some teachers have upgraded their skills,
many others have not
had training in working with special-needs children, she says. Five years
ago, the University of Ottawa became the first education faculty in the
province to introduce a mandatory special education course for student
teachers.
At the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board,
more than 9,000 children
out of 80,000 have been identified as having an exceptionality.
In her book, Ms. Duquette describes strategies
for working with
children whom teachers suspect are at risk of developing an academic or
behavioural problem, as well as those who have been identified by the school
system as having special needs.
Ms. Duquette suggests that a caring and alert
teacher can make a
difference by observing students, keeping notes on strengths and weaknesses,
and developing an informal plan for addressing them.
"Instead of saying 'Gosh, there's something
going on with this kid,
but I don't know exactly what it is,' I have presented a plan for teachers
to observe the child and start planning some strategies."
She gives the following case study:
Andrew was a Grade 9 student who was considered a
"behaviour problem"
for arriving late for English class or skipping it altogether. He handed
assignments in late and refused to complete some assignments.
The teacher took notes of his strengths over two
weeks, (expresses
ideas well orally) and weaknesses (written assignments too short and
handwriting very messy.) He told her he disliked writing because he found it
hard to organize his thoughts.
The teacher decided to work privately with Andrew
on formulating his
points, allow some assignments to be done orally, encourage him to type
assignments, and to keep a log-book recording his late arrivals and
absences.
By the end of the semester, Andrew's mark in
English had risen to 64
per cent from 52 per cent, and attendance was no longer a problem. The
teacher suspected a mild learning disability, and referred him for testing;
however that would not take place until April.
Andrew's attempt to hide his weakness had been
turning into a
behaviour problem.
Ms. Duquette argues in favour of really seeing
the child and figuring
out the underlying issues.
"Sometimes we are so 'stuck' in our ways
that we automatically blame
the student when we could act to improve the child's behaviours," she
writes.
Other methods that work include breaking work
down into smaller
components, and a multi-sensory approach: For example in counting, the child
sees a number line, hears numbers counted orally, and points to the numbers
as they are being said to establish a link.
Ms. Duquette says that parents can also use the
book to learn more
about problems their children may be having, and to make sure that teaching
techniques that could help them are being used.
"Parents have to be vigilant and advocate
for their children," she
says.
© Copyright 2001 The Ottawa Citizen
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/news/story.asp?id={7626F68B-0E70-4469-A3FE-E33394ABC47D}
******************************
STOP THE BULLYING
Written by: Ken Rigby
This practical and researched-based book helps teachers appreciate the actions
they can take to stop bullying. Stop the Bulling will help teachers — find out
what is really happening in their school — develop sound and well-supported
anti-bullying policies — work effectively with children in classrooms to gain
their support in dealing with bullying — deal appropriately and constructively
with children who bully — support and help children who are victimized by peers
at school Teachers will find reproducible activities that help students
recognize and effectively deal with a variety of issues related to bullying.
This timely book will help teachers work with colleagues and parents to make
schools safer places for all.ISBN: 1-55138-137-0
http://www.pembrokepublishers.com/homeresult.html?1-55138-137-0
******************************
Ruling on special education standards cheers
parents but worries schools
by Aisha Sultan, St. Louis
Post Dispatch, December 25, 2001
Advocates for special education students say a recent Missouri Court of Appeals
decision handed them a landmark victory. But some educators are concerned the
decision could be costly for districts across the state.
A ruling in the Western District Court of Appeals last week said school
districts can be held to the more stringent standards for special education set
by Missouri law, rather than to federal standards.
Missouri requires schools to "maximize the capabilities" of disabled
children. That's at least a notch above the federal requirement to provide an
education with "some benefit" to the disabled student.
"This is the case that parents have been waiting for for 10 years,"
said St. Louis lawyer Craig Smith. He has represented several families here
fighting school districts to win more special education benefits for their children.
With this case, parents now have a stronger argument against districts that
balk at costly special education services, he said.
Tom Mickes, a local lawyer who defends many districts in the area, said schools
should be concerned about the decision because it could double the expense of
special education for some students. Missouri has an estimated 125,000 special
education students, about 25,000 of which are in the St. Louis area.
Although the Western District decision is not binding in the St. Louis area,
Mickes expects similar cases to be submitted to the Eastern and Southern
districts. The recent ruling will be appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, he
said.
Both lawyers agree, however, that the biggest battle will take place in the
Legislature next year. Districts and school boards will lobby to change the
wording of the 1975 statute, while parents and advocates will try to keep the
state standards higher than the federal mandate.
Mickes said the recent decision could be interpreted as favoring the rights of
students who need special education over the rights of other students, because
no law guarantees that nondisabled students' abilities will be maximized.
But Smith said the decision finally ensures that special education students
have a right to a real education. Districts have been able to get away with
providing minimal education to students, he said. The cost of putting disabled
adults in institutions for years is far greater than the cost to educate people
when they are young, he said.
Federal courts typically have sided with school districts in previous cases,
ruling that the federal law trumps state statutes. Parents in this case decided
to try a different legal avenue by going through state courts.
Writer's E-mail: asultan@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-209-1248
******************************
Autism Awakening, Autism FIrst Steps Newsletter, or any staff do
not endorse any individuals, groups or programs. References regarding
programs, meetings, resources, research, opinions, treatment, etc., should not
be interpreted as an indication of endorsement. They are provided for
informational purposes only. This is an attempt to keep the nation advised to
all diagnostic, treatment, therapy, educational,
options available as well as legislative autism updates and more.
To View Newsletter Policies they are located at the Newsletter Website:
Direct Link:: Autism
First Steps Newsletter
http://autismawakeninginia.bizland.com/autismfirststepsnewsletter/
To have
friends, Family, or professionals join:
1. they can go to the above link
2. They can go to the Newsletter Group page located at:
Direct Link::
Yahoo!
Groups : AutismFirstStepsAutismNewsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AutismFirstStepsAutismNewsletter
3 Send a e-mail to AutismAwakening@aol.com and ask to be subscribed to
the free online daily newsletter
Visit one of the largest
websites Commited to bringing you the latest in news, options, and techniques,
and more on Autism located at:
Direct Link:: Autism Awakening 4 Kids
www.AutismAwakening.com
To Submit a
story, alert, readers post, or advertisement please e-mail AutismAwakening@aol.com
To be removed reply to this e-mail and requested to be removed from the list.
To
unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
AutismFirstStepsAutismNewsletter-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Your use of
Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo!
Terms of Service.
ALL
INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.