FEAT Daily Newsletter 3-2-02

FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER Sacramento, California http://www.feat.org

"Healing Autism: No Finer a Cause on the Planet"

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March 2, 2002 Autism Database Search www.feat.org/search/news.asp

AWARENESS

* Artist Goes To War Against 'Discrimination'

* Mistaken Beliefs Beset Mental Illness

* Boy's Determination Earns Him A Black Belt

* Flame Is Alight For The Paralympics

TREATMENT

* High Hopes For Alzheimer's Vaccine Test Dashed By Illnesses

* Researchers Doubt Worth Of Homeopathy

* Unlocking Autism Prayer Project

* Celebrity Moms Fight Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children

CARE

* Lawyer: Tape Clears Boy, 17, In Payne Case

* Florida Mother Thinks Both Boys Responsible

* Severly Retarded 3 Behind Bars In Slaying Of Baby,

But Did It Ever Exist?

Artist Goes To War Against 'Discrimination'

Lessons That We Must All Learn

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/shtml/NEWS/P34S3.shtml

The inconvenience, delay and worry that followed one airline's

decision to refuse to carry my autistic daughter was painful.

But, sadly, it was only one incident among many and every parent of an

autistic child faces the same desperate uphill struggle.

There are more children diagnosed with autism-related conditions than

ever before.

Whether concern surrounding the MMR vaccine is justified or not, the

government acknowledges more children have autism yet does nothing to ease

their everyday life.

Autistic people have the cards stacked against them from the moment

they are born. That is why it is important institutional discrimination -

whether it is a failure to provide suitable education or a seat on a

flight - is challenged at every opportunity.

Autistic people are lovely and kind - shining souls, but highly

sensitive.

Too few organisations are sensitive to their needs.

I have spoken to lawyers about what to do next - but it is easier to

prove racial, gender or physical discrimination generally than bias against

those who are autistic.

Lucy is the main planet in my sky. She is the inspiration behind so

much of my work. I love her to bits and I am extremely proud of her.

She suffers from Asperger's Syndrome. I also suffer from it, albeit

mildly.

But Lucy is so handicapped she attends a special school in Derbyshire.

Any parent who has an autistic child knows how hard it can be. You

also feel a terrible sense of guilt that you should be doing more - or that

you are responsible for her condition in some way.

It can haunt you. It can also have its positives. I would very

probably not have been an artist if I did not have Asperger's Syndrome.

It makes you obsessive - and I became very focused and obsessive about

painting.

Lucy says she wants to go to university and read veterinary science. I

believe she can make it. But looking after a child with Asperger's Syndrome

is tough - it is twice as difficult as a normal child.

Children with Asperger's and other forms of autism need lots of love

and understanding - and, frankly, money.

I am unveiling two new exhibitions in April - one in my home town of

Ayr and the other in London. I am going to donate a painting from the

exhibitions for auction for autism charities. I want to do much more in the

future. I feel so strongly about this.

I have also had other problems. I am a recovering alcoholic. I have

been dry for nearly 18 months now. It cost me pounds 12,000, but was worth

it. I had a choice of becoming dry. Lucy and I do not have the same choice

with the illness.

Rediscovering my Christian faith has helped me through and also come

to terms with Lucy. Today, in Glasgow, I become a member of my local Church

of Scotland, Sandyford Henderson Memorial Church.

The minister, the Rev Peter White, has been a great help to me. He and

I believe that a society should be judged on how well it treats the least

advantaged.

It is a lesson that Scot Airways and others would do well to learn.

* * *

Mistaken Beliefs Beset Mental Illness

[The Houston Chronicle via New York Times Syndicate.]

http://www.psycport.com/showArticle.cfm?xmlFile=nytsyn%5F2002%5F03%5F01%5Fme

dic%5F2852%2D0008%2Dpat%5Fnytimes%2Exml&provider=New%20York%20Times%20Syndic

ate

In a recent survey conducted by the National Mental Health

Association, the following mistaken beliefs were reported about the causes

of mental illness:

• 71 percent thought mental illness was caused by emotional weakness.

• 65 percent believed mental illness was caused by bad parenting.

• 35 percent felt mental illness was caused by sinful or immoral

behavior.

• 43 percent thought people bring on their mental illness in some way.

”The reality is that mental illnesses are linked to brain chemistry,

heredity, stress, and abuse of legal and illegal drugs,” said Betsy

Schwartz, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Greater

Houston.

”Mental illness is a brain disorder,” she said. ”It is as real as

cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and it is highly treatable with therapy

and medication.”

The facts are:

• More than 54 million Americans (or one in five) suffer from a mental

disorder in any given year.

• About 8 million (16 percent) will seek treatment, according to the

National Institute of Mental Health.

• Approximately 15 percent of all adults who have a mental disorder in

any given year also experience a concurrent substance abuse problem that

complicates treatment.

• 1 percent of the population - more than 2.5 million Americans - has

schizophrenia.

• The two most common mental illnesses are depression and anxiety

disorders, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

• The World Health Organization predicts that by the year 2020,

depression will be the second greatest cause of premature death and

disability worldwide.

• Depression ranks among the top three workplace problems, following

only family crisis and stress.

• Some 30,000 Americans commit suicide each year, and 500,000 more

attempt suicide. Ninety percent of suicide victims have a mental illness,

according to the Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network.

* * *

Boy's Determination Earns Him A Black Belt

[By Gracie Bonds Staples.]

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/wednesday/features_c3c7c6d9

e43150ef10a0.html <-- Address ends here.

At Starr's Tae kwon do Plus in Marietta, there's a lot of talk about

community, courage, courtesy and perseverance.

Students there know there are other virtues one could add to that

list, but if it's a black belt you want, perseverance, at least, is a must.

"A lot of people just don't have it in them,'' said Lowell Starr, the

32-year-old owner. Starr has had it in him for a long time, even longer than

he knew himself.

One moment he was a student of tae kwon do and the next he was working

alongside his instructor as a teacher. He liked it so much more than

engineering he traded in his books at the University of Alabama and took up

teaching full time.

That was in 1989. Since then Starr has awarded more than 280 black

belts at his east Cobb shop. All were special moments.

But every once in a while, special moments become really special. Like

the awards ceremony a month ago.

Three people had already gotten their black belts that night. When

Starr got to the fourth, he said he wanted the next recipient to get the

"full attention he deserved.''

Starr told the audience that night that Chase Carrier, 11, had started

in his cub program. When it was time to test, Chase had to bow out more

times than Starr cared to remember.

"I don't think he's ever given up,'' Starr said.

When Starr called his name, Chase bounded the stage running. It had

taken him five years --- twice as long as most people --- to complete the

journey. He hadn't let autism keep him from his goal. Perseverance had paid

off.

Starr took off the red belt and replaced it with the black. Chase

turned and gave the audience a thumb's up.

Starr's face beamed like a proud father. He hadn't just preached. He'd

practiced it.

* * *

Flame Is Alight For The Paralympics

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,375013425,00.html

...their family members and neighbors then set the caldron ablaze. One of

those holding onto a torch was 16-year-old Cody Miller, who has autism and a

seizure disorder. Miller has participated in bowling at the Special Olympics

and has been cared for over the years by his two younger...

TREATMENT

High Hopes For Alzheimer's Vaccine Test Dashed By Illnesses

[By Rick Weiss The Washington Post.]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0202220392feb22.story

Twelve volunteers inoculated with a highly touted experimental vaccine

designed to reverse the course of Alzheimer's disease have fallen seriously

ill with brain inflammation, forcing the vaccine's manufacturer to stop

giving the shots and raising doubts about the product's clinical potential,

according to sources familiar with the study.

The vaccine, made by the Irish pharmaceutical company Elan and known

by its code name AN-1792, had generated unusually intense enthusiasm among

scientists and patient advocates in the past two years, as experiments in

mice suggested it could halt the progression of Alzheimer's and perhaps even

cure the deadly disease.

The ailment gradually robs people of their minds. It affects 2 million to 4

million elderly Americans and is expected to affect 15 million by 2030.

Taking an unprecedented immunologic approach to treating a brain

disease, the vaccine aims to elicit an immune system attack against beta

amyloid, the brain protein believed to be at the root of Alzheimer's.

Although animal studies and early human safety studies suggested the

vaccine was reasonably safe, the strategy was controversial. Immune

reactions typically cause inflammation, and inflammation in the brain can

cause serious problems or death.

A spokesman for the pharmaceutical company said an independent

committee is reviewing data from the study, which has enrolled about 360

people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's in four European countries and 11

U.S. sites.

But sources familiar with the study, including some who have been in

contact with Elan officials, said there is little question the vaccine

triggered the brain reactions, which some sources called encephalitis, an

inflammation of the brain, and another called "meningoencephalitis," an

inflammation of the brain and surrounding membranes.

Both syndromes can cause symptoms ranging from fever, headache and

vomiting to altered consciousness, muscle weakness and seizures.

Some scientists had warned that the vaccine might trigger such

complications or even exacerbate Alzheimer's, a disease some believe is

caused by natural inflammatory processes.

Elan, which is developing the vaccine with Wyeth, a pharmaceutical

division of American Home Products Corp. of Madison, N.J., would not say

Thursday how quickly it had halted inoculations after the first few patients

were diagnosed. The company also would not say what, if any, information was

being shared with other volunteers who might be at ongoing risk of

encephalitis.

The company first mentioned the emerging problem Jan. 18, in a

low-profile "update" posted on its Web site. In the second paragraph of the

update, the company noted that four patients in the high-profile study had

"clinical signs consistent with inflammation in the central nervous system,"

and that further dosing of patients in the multicenter international trial

had been "temporarily suspended." It did not say when the diagnoses were

first made.

Since then, the number has climbed to 12, at several test sites,

according to sources in contact with Elan officials. One of those, William

Thies, vice president of medical and scientific affairs at the Alzheimer's

Association, said he still believes the general approach of immunotherapy

for Alzheimer's has a promising future, though details of the vaccine might

* * *

Researchers Doubt Worth Of Homeopathy

[By Sarah Boseley, The Guardian.]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,659805,00.html

Homeopathy, a form of complementary medicine that is available on the

NHS, is dealt a double blow today with the publication of two studies that

conclude it has very little proven effect on patients.

Homeopathy has co-existed with conventional medicine in the NHS since

the health service began. There are five homeopathic hospitals and the two

largest, in Glasgow and London, have in-patient units.

Many GPs either practise homeopathy themselves or will refer patients

to a homeopath on request. Around 470,000 people take homeopathic remedies

every year.

Yet the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, based at York

University, has produced a comprehensive review of the clinical trials that

have been carried out to assess what benefit patients receive from

homeopathy.

It concludes: "There is currently insufficient evidence of

effectiveness to recommend homeopathy as a treatment for any condition, or

warrant significant changes in current provision of homeopathy."

The principle of homeopathy is that "like should be cured with like".

But sceptics argue, says the York paper, "that homeopathy cannot work

because of the use of remedies that are diluted to such a degree that not

even a single molecule of the starting substance remains".

A further salvo appears in the British Medical Journal, which reports

on a study to assess the impact of homeopathic treatment on people with

asthma.

Scientists from Southampton and Plymouth enrolled 242 people and

randomly assigned them to homeopathic treatment or placebo.

They found that patients given homeopathic remedies did no better than

those on dummy medicines.

* * *

Unlocking Autism Prayer Project

[From Unlocking Autism.]

Dear Family and Friends of Those with Autism,

We recognize that not everyone on this list is of the Christian faith.

However, in our own lives we have found incredible strength in the power of

prayer and we want to provide others with that same opportunity!

We want to introduce you to one of our Colorado State Reps, Jack

Sytsema, and his wife, Rebecca. They are both ordained Christian ministers

who have spent the past ten years working for a prayer ministry. They also

have a 3.5 year old son with autism and a typical one-year old son.

Because of their involvement in the ministry, many parents and others

who know children with autism have come to them and asked how to best pray

for these special and wonderful children. As a result they have begun a new

endeavor of which we wanted to make you aware.

Beginning March 1, 2002, Jack and Rebecca will be emailing a daily

prayer based on Scripture to those who have asked to be on the list. These

prayers will be short and specifically targeted to various areas of need for

those on the autism spectrum and their families. It is a great opportunity

to remind and help parents, family, and friends to pray. If you would like

to join the list to receive this daily email, please email your request to

prayer@ChildrenofDestiny.org. Once you are signed up, you will receive an

email each morning. You can drop off the list at any time.

They also plan to launch a website in March which will be dedicated to

prayer and Christian intervention for those afflicted by autism and their

families. The web address will be www.ChildrenofDestiny.org.

Sincerely,

Shelley, Nancy and Jeana

* * *

Celebrity Moms Fight Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020225/180/15myb.html

U.S. Newswire

... and inform them about the necessary reform of Congress's next major

educational project, Special Education ....

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* * *

CARE

Lawyer: Tape Clears Boy, 17, In Payne Case

[By Paula McMahon, Ardy Friedberg and Shannon O'Boye ini the

Sun-Sentinel.]

www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-juveniles0301.story

The case against a 17-year-old charged with drowning a 5-year-old was

thrown into confusion Thursday when the defense played an audio tape of

another boy saying he was the one who pushed the child into a Pompano Beach

canal.

Playing only excerpts of a conversation that a private investigator

had with the 10-„fyear-old boy on Wednesday night, defense attorney Ellis

Rubin said this new information exonerates his client, who he says has an IQ

of 67.

Legal experts say the confusion in this case is symptomatic of the problems

that can arise when investigators are dealing with young or mentally

challenged suspects.

On the tape, the defense investigator told the 10-year-old: "Tell me

how it accidentally happened, don't cry darling."

"Me and [a 9-year-old] were playing around, and we accidentally pushed

the kid in a lake," the boy replied.

Contradicting his earlier statement to Broward County sheriff's

detectives, the boy said the 17-year-old didn't push Jordan Payne, an

autistic 5-year-old, into the water on Feb. 10.

"Me and [the 9-year-old] by mistake pushed him in, then the little boy

just slipped," he said, bursting into sobs. The boy's mother was present

during the interview.

The Broward Sheriff's Office stands by the arrest of the 17-year-old.

"Our homicide detectives are confident that they have the right person

in custody, and they would not purposely go out and arrest the wrong

person," said agency spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright.

Prosecutor Maria Schneider said she could not discuss details of the

case.

"It's very difficult to comment on a tape I haven't heard¡KCases

aren't usually tried by playing tapes in front of the media," she said. "We

did not make the decision [to charge the teen] lightly."

Prosecutors have until late next week to decide whether to charge the

17-year-old as an adult or file juvenile charges against him. He is being

held at the juvenile detention center.

Based on the new information, a judge will conduct an emergency

hearing today about whether the teen should be released.

The victim's great-grandmother Willia Richardson said she doesn't know

how detectives will ever know for sure who is responsible for Jordan's

death.

"I don't know how to figure out who did it, who didn't do it. They

should do something to all three of them, because they all know right from

wrong," Richardson said.

"I don't know the punishment they should have, but they need to know

they shouldn't hurt [anyone]," she said.

Wrongly convicted

The issues in this case are similar to concerns raised by attorneys

representing Broward men who were wrongly convicted and later exonerated.

Last June, Jerry Frank Townsend was released from prison after serving

22 years for a series of murders he did not commit. Townsend, who has an IQ

of about 50, was given details of the crimes by detectives who got him to

confess to murders that DNA tests later showed were committed by another

man.

In 1983, John Purvis, a mentally impaired man, was told he could go

home if he confessed to murdering his neighbor and her baby daughter. So he

made up a story and admitted to the crime. He was sentenced to life plus 20

years. After 10 years in prison, he was released when two other men

confessed that they committed the murder-for-hire.

And attorneys representing Tim Brown, who is serving life in prison

for the 1990 murder of Sheriff's Deputy Patrick Behan, say he was beaten and

coerced into confessing. Brown was 15 at the time and had a reported IQ of

56. The Sheriff's Office recently reopened the case after another man

reportedly told an undercover federal agent that he had killed the deputy.

"The people most likely to falsely confess are the mentally

incompetent and juveniles," said Steve Drizin, a law professor at

Northwestern University in Chicago.

"Teenagers, especially those with mental limitations, are especially

vulnerable," he said. "Police should be required to find corroboration to

those kinds of confessions."

What may turn out to be a problem in this case is that the defense now

has what appears to be a confession from one of the children who first

implicated the 17-year-old.

Interviewing children

Sheriff's officials disputed the defense's contention that the

17-year-old is mentally challenged.

"Detectives have never said they were dealing with a developmentally

disabled suspect," Coleman-Wright said.

"They've never said that he's mentally challenged. He is a 17-year-old

high school senior. It's not like he's 26 years old and in high school," the

Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said.

The teen's family said he attends special education classes.

They also said that no family members or attorneys were present when

detectives questioned the teen. Rubin said prosecutors have not provided him

with a copy of a videotape detectives made of the 17-year-old's statement.

Broward Assistant Public Defender Melinda Blostein, who briefly

represented the 17-year-old, said local detectives frequently interrogate

children without notifying family.

"We have a case where a detective brought a kid to McDonald's and

drove him around in a police car questioning him for hours," Blostein said.

Florida law does not require police to notify parents before

questioning a child, she said. And children don't have any special rights to

protect them during interrogation, she said.

Broward Sheriff's Office policy says that deputies taking a juvenile

into custody "will make a reasonable effort to notify the juvenile's parent

or legal custodian" before any interview.

Deputies should also read the child his Miranda rights, "preferably

with a parent or guardian present."

There are similar procedures regarding how deputies should handle

cases dealing with the mentally impaired.

The policy also states that consent of the juvenile's parent or

caretaker is "desired, but not essential provided the juvenile is capable of

understanding" his or her rights. Factors considered include the person's

age, education and intellectual level, Coleman-Wright said.

Understanding rights

Studies show that many juveniles and mentally retarded people do not

understand their legal rights.

Blostein said that studies of juveniles show that they most commonly

misunderstand their right to have an attorney present when police are

questioning them.

"They think they have the right to an attorney in court, but they

don't really get the idea that they have the right to an attorney right now

[during questioning]," she said.

"They're eager to please whoever they're with," Blostein said.

"Children in general are more easily influenced."

The same applies to the mentally retarded, according to a study by Dr.

George Shepherd and Dr. Morgan Cloud of the Emory University School of Law

in Atlanta, which will be published this month in the University of Chicago

Law Review.

Shepherd said Thursday that law enforcement agencies must consider

whether mentally challenged people understand their rights and whether their

confessions are true.

"Our study found that the short answer is, if you're retarded you

don't understand the Miranda warning, period. The courts are wrong in

thinking otherwise," Shepherd said.

"[Retarded people] have been trained to comply with authority figures

and to please them," he said. "This plays into police techniques such as

officers indicating to the suspect that it would be easier if they confess

or that the suspect is wasting everyone's time, therefore why not confess?"

Even people who have an IQ substantially higher than 70, the standard

usually used to define retardation, often do not understand Miranda, he

said.

Experts recommend that police have an independent person in the room

during questioning to advocate for the child or retarded person. Other

recommendations include videotaping the whole interview, not using leading

questions and not suggesting the person will be rewarded for confessing.