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AUTISM FIRST STEPS
AUTISM DAILY NEWSLETTER
Friday, November 16, 2001
INDEX:
* Press Release Cure Autism Now On ER
* Teacher brings true diversity to his classroom
* Brain's Language Wiring Is No Simple Schematic
* Repligen Discovers Site of Brain Activation by Secretin
* Get Access To Your Child's Educational Records
* Components to be included in the IEP are
*****************************
Cure Autism Now signs that are prominently displayed this season on the
television show ER. The cast and crew of ER have done much for Cure
Autism Now - and this was the idea of the shows prop masters - Rick Ladomade
and Rick Kearns. These guys organized the ER golf tournament that was
held last May and raised over $200,000. Rick Kearns is the parent of a child
with autism. We would like to thank them and CAN board member Anthony
Edwards for all they have done to promote
autism awareness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elizabeth Kilpatrick
Director of Development
Cure Autism Now
1-888-8AUTISM
**********************************
Teacher brings true diversity to his classroom The goal: Integrate
special-needs students into mainstream schools
By Marco R. della Cava
USA TODAY
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- With his uptempo attitude and unbridled creativity, Larry
Statler comes across as a teacher who was just hired yesterday.
Blame passion for this illusion. The 28 years since Statler first set foot in
Santa Teresa Elementary School have raced by in a blur of innovation, awards
and, best yet, lasting student friendships.
All of which might sound routine for a well-liked grade-school teacher. What is
exceptional is that Statler has dedicated his life to special-needs children,
with a specific challenge of integrating them into this multicultural magnet
school's general population.
By parent choice, 100 of the school's 500 students are part of his Discovery
program, which also includes 11 special-needs children whose conditions range
from autism to Down syndrome. Take a peek into the wall-less zone Statler and a
dozen other teachers, aides and occupational therapists call home and you'll
see gifted children sitting side-by-side with autistic children, and you're not
quite sure who's teaching whom.
''We have no stereotypes about a child's ability to learn. Being so young
(kindergarten through sixth grade), our kids do not yet have the ability to be
prejudiced toward each other, so they take other students at face value,'' says
Statler, 53, a casually dressed cross between Kris Kringle and Mr. Rogers.
''When they learn that lesson at this age, it stays with them their whole
lives.''
Statler admits that Discovery is ''not for all parents.'' In fact, some
emphasize that they don't want their kids exposed to an innovative system that
on the surface appears unstructured. Statler quietly counters that because of
the extra staff on hand to help special-needs students, other Discovery kids
benefit from lower teacher-student ratios (1-to7) and more flexible learning
methods.
At the heart of Statler's success is a project-based teaching method of his own
devising that is integral to his appointment to the 2001 All-USA Teacher First
Team. Hundreds of themed Discovery Centers -- often made up of ordinary items
such as used telephones, plastic dinosaurs or colored blocks -- help students
learn tasks of varying complexity.
The flexibility inherent in Discovery Center-based learning eliminates feelings
of inadequacy, Statler says. For example: A mound of small T. rex figurines in
a rainbow of colors can be used to teach math concepts to both beginners (they
sort and count the dinosaurs by color) and advanced tykes (they work on
addition by adding colors).
Sometimes the centers have provided surprising results. When used phones were
assembled to create a ''communication center,'' Statler found a special-needs
child who had not uttered a word suddenly talking, handset pressed to her ear.
Launched in 1989, Discovery and its centers have mushroomed, thanks to dozens
of grants yielding more than $50,000. Those funds came in handy after a 1994
fire gutted Statler's rooms. ''We would hit up yard sales to get new materials
for the centers,'' he says, laughing at the memory. ''Now we've got plastic
human torsos, we do dissections, we show kids insect collections, things that
even some high schools don't have or do. What's more, it isn't just Discovery
kids who benefit there. All 500 kids do.''
For Statler, the mission is simple: Make learning fun. A diplomatic man, he
refuses to disparage more traditional teaching methods. But it's clear that
test-focused teaching is not his cup of tea.
''Learning isn't all about being prepared for a specific standard exam,'' he
says. ''Whether our kids are completing a task we've set up, or simply
exploring a puzzle on their own, we just try to make sure that, regardless of a
child's intellectual level, the learning never stops.''
*******
Brain's Language Wiring Is No Simple Schematic
Tom Siegfried The Dallas Morning News
November 13, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. - While modern biology has done a good job of learning the
language of the genes, it has had a tougher time learning the genetics of
language.
But even in the absence of genetic evidence, many scientists have long believed
that genes play an essential role in human language skills. Noam Chomsky became
famous for insisting that human language is an innate, genetically programmed
ability.
It seemed impossible for babies to learn the mysterious world of grammar on
their own as rapidly as they do, Chomsky and his followers agreed. Somehow
genes must wire a "language module" into the brain, containing the
universal principles of grammar, so that babies need learn only the peculiarities
of the specific language spoken by their parents.
Recent research seemed to support that view. Just last month in Nature, British
scientists reported a genetic mutation in members of a family suffering from
"specific language impairment." Family members with the mutation
can't learn certain grammar rules.
While some media accounts translated that research into the discovery of a
"grammar gene," the real situation is much more complicated.
For one thing, nobody really believes that genes work in isolation. Your genes
might determine your eye color without much outside influence. But complicated
aspects of life depend both on genes and the environment. And the brain's
capacity to generate and understand language is pretty complicated.
Ask Elizabeth Bates, a psycholinguist at the University of California, San
Diego. She says language ability is part of the brain's general propensity for
complexity, which includes the human capacity for culture and technology. All
those things were not designed into the brain by evolution, but rather reflect
abilities that emerged in brains with the ability to perform many tasks.
"Language, culture, and technology are superimposed on a brain, and parts
of that brain, that evolved to do other things," Bates said in Tempe last
week at a seminar for science writers.
A giraffe's neck did not evolve to assist in eating leaves from tall trees, she
notes. The neck evolved to do the work of all necks - serving as a passageway
between the head and the rest of the body for things like food and blood. It
was the length of giraffe necks that evolved to take on a new job, giving their
species a survival advantage. But the neck retained its original day job, Bates
points out.
In a similar way, the human brain evolved to process input from the world, the
sights and sounds that the brain must make sense of in order for its owner to
survive. Language ability, Bates argues, exploits the brain's abilities that
evolved for other functions. Language itself is not "innate," but
learned.
Even linking a defective gene to a language disorder does not imply that the
gene's job is solely for language. Family members with specific language
impairment have other problems, too, such as lack of ability in finger-tapping
tasks and in perceiving pitch and rhythm. The genetic defect affects language
because it affects brain abilities that language draws on.
True, some parts of the brain's left side seem "specialized" for
language. But babies with severe damage to the left brain can still learn to
speak normally. The left side of the brain may contain the structures best
suited for language learning, but they are not the only brain regions capable
of such learning.
"Language is not a single localized area that you can take out with a
stroke," Bates said at the seminar, sponsored by the Council for the
Advancement of Science Writing. "It is broadly distributed across the
brain."
Just because damage to one brain region may impair language, it doesn't
logically follow that that region was designed for language. After all, nobody
would argue that elbows evolved for playing tennis just because an elbow injury
might prevent you from swinging a racket.
As for a baby brain's ability to learn language rapidly, that is not as
unthinkable as some experts have believed. Babies can learn language rapidly,
acquiring the basics of grammar by the age of 4 or so.
In fact, computer simulations show that even a machine can learn grammarlike
rules merely by "reading" phrases and guessing what word will come
next, one word at a time.
Early research showed that machines can learn the rules only if exposed to
nothing but simple sentences at first, with complex sentences coming much
later. Human babies, on the other hand, hear complex sentences right away and
still learn grammar. (Mom might stick to baby talk, but imagine what happens
when she takes her baby to work to visit her boss.)
Computers can elude this problem with a simple trick, though. Just program the
system to start out with a rapidly fading memory, and then gradually increase
memory ability to adult levels. Then the computer can handle only short phrases
early and longer ones later, just like babies. No rules need to be "wired
in" to the computer.
So perhaps babies' language-learning ability is not so mysterious, after all.
Babies learn language so well because brains are best at such learning when
they belong to babies.
More Neuro News...
Brains Show Signs of Two Bilingual Roads
For adults, learning a second language can be a real challenge. For young
students, it can be second nature. Recent brain research indicates that
children, unlike teenagers and adults, draw little distinction between the way
they learn a native and a second language.
**********
Repligen Discovers Site of Brain Activation by Secretin in
Animal Studies
Repligen and McLean Hospital to Extend Discovery Through Clinical Trial
NEEDHAM, MA - November 12, 2001 - Repligen Corporation (Nasdaq: RGEN)
reported today that studies in animals demonstrate that secretin
specifically
activates neurons in the amygdala, a part of the brain known to be important
in social interactions. Several studies in other laboratories have
previously
established that people with autism do not show normal activation of the
amygdala when engaged in social interactions such as recognizing emotions
from facial expressions. Secretin is currently being evaluated by the
Company
for the improvement of reciprocal social interaction in children with
autism;
however, to date there has been no biological model for how secretin, a
gastrointestinal hormone, may affect the brain. Results from two animal
studies provide, for the first time, evidence of a biological mechanism for
the action of secretin in autism. The findings were presented at the annual
meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the International Meeting for
Autism Research on November 9-11. Separately, Repligen announced that it
would collaborate with McLean Hospital, a teaching facility for Harvard
Medical School, to conduct a clinical trial using functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to extend this research to humans.
The first study establishing the activation of the amygdala by secretin was
performed in collaboration with researchers at the VA Medical Center in
Boston and Harvard Medical School. In this study, neuronal activation in
rats
was evaluated 1-2 hours following administration of a single intravenous
injection of secretin or a placebo. The brain tissue was fixed and stained
for Fos, a readily measured and well-established marker of the activation
of
neurons. Prominent activation of the amygdala was observed only in
secretin-treated animals. Additional analysis revealed a significant
decrease
in the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the amygdala of
secretin-treated rats which was not observed in rats treated with a control
injection.
A second study, performed in collaboration with the VA Medical Center in
Saint Louis and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, established
the
ability of a biologically active, radioactive secretin analog to transfer
out
of the blood and enter the brain. The rate of entry of secretin into the
brain was similar to other peptides with known neurological activity.
Repligen also presented data from its Phase 2 clinical trial which
demonstrated that a subset of the autistic patients showed a clinical
response to secretin. Symptom improvements were most evident in reciprocal
social interaction as measured with the Autism Diagnostic Observation
Schedule (ADOS), a standardized method for quantifying the severity of the
symptoms of autism.
"Taken together, these studies show that secretin can activate a part of
the
brain involved in social interaction and known to have reduced activity
in
autism," stated Walter C. Herlihy, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive
Officer of Repligen Corporation. "We look forward to extending these
results
through our collaboration with the Brain Imaging Center at McLean
Hospital."
The Amygdala and Autism The amygdala is part of a complex neural system
that
is critical for ascribing emotional value to stimuli and influencing
affective responsiveness and emotional learning. One of the core deficits
of
autism is impaired reciprocal social interaction including eye contact,
joint attention and an inability to deduce the mental states of others from
facial expressions. Although neuropathological and imaging studies have
revealed abnormalities in several regions of the brain in autism, a lack of
activation of the amygdala is recognized as an important correlate of the
social deficits of autism.
The role of the amygdala in social interaction has been studied in both
normal and autistic patients using various neuroimaging tools. Studies
using
fMRI, have established an activation of the amygdala when processing and
responding to social stimuli. Reduced activation of the amygdala in
patients
with autism has been documented using fMRI with particular impairment noted
in their ability to respond to facial expressions of fear, to perceive
eye-gaze direction and to establish recall memory for faces. Other studies
indicate that patients with either surgical or congenital amygdala damage
show similar symptoms. These data suggest that reduced activity of the
amygdala is important in autism.
About McLean Hospital McLean Hospital maintains the largest research
program
of any private, U.S. psychiatric hospital. It is the largest psychiatric
teaching facility of Harvard Medical School, an affiliate of
Massachusetts
General Hospital and a member of Partners HealthCare System. The Brain
Imaging Center at McLean employs one of the largest MRI instruments in the
country in studies of brain function. Researchers at McLean were part of
the
team that first identified regional abnormalities in brain activation in
patients with schizophrenia and in normal aging, as well as regional
changes
in blood flow and metabolism in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
About Repligen Corporation Repligen Corporation develops new drugs for
debilitating pediatric disorders including autism, cancer, and immune and
metabolic disorders. Repligen also manufactures and markets a set of
patented products based on Protein A, which are used by the
pharmaceutical
industry to produce therapeutic antibodies. Its corporate headquarters are
located at 117 Fourth Avenue, Needham MA, 02494. Additional information
may
be requested from www.repligen.com.
****************
Get Access To Your Child's Educational Records
THE FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA)
(Taken From: Is Your Child Getting Everything They Are Entitled To Under the
'99 IDEA Regulations, '97 IDEA Amendments, Appendix A, Section 504 and the
ADA Manual)
The second Congressional Response to all these federal special education
cases, and some other issues, was the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act in 1974. Congress recognized that parents could not get access to their
child's records, the evaluations the school was using, the notes teachers
were making, what was being "said" about the student in those files,
and so
forth. An incredible mistake could be made about a student with a disability
and the parent would have no way of finding out about it, or correcting it.
FERPA establishes the rights of parents, and students over a certain age, to
have access to "all personally identifiable information collected,
maintained or used" by a school district in regard to that student. The
school must provide written notice to parents (and students over a certain
age) of all of their rights under FERPA. Write and ask your school where you
can get the notice of your rights under FERPA.
Some of the requirements of the FERPA Act are included in the IDEA but the
full statute at 20 U.S.C. 1232g, and the regulations at 34 C.F.R. 99, are
much more detailed and apply to all students, as well as students with
disabilities.
FERPA does not include any funding, but like Section 504, any recipient of
federal financial assistance (which certainly includes your state education
agency and your local school district) must follow FERPA or risk losing the
right to receive any other federal financial assistance.
There is clearly a private right of action for parents to take FERPA
violations into court (usually under 42 U.S.C. 1983) and cases have often
asked for money damages. Almost always the parent will have to first
"exhaust" their FERPA complaint through an IDEA "due
process" hearing but
FERPA complaints can clearly be taken on into federal court.
********************
Components to be included in the IEP are:
"(i) a statement of the child's present levels of educational performance,
including --
"(I) how the child's disability affects the child's involvement and
progress
in the general curriculum; or
"(II) for preschool children, as appropriate, how the disability affects
the
child's participation in appropriate activities;
"(ii) a statement of measurable annuals goals, including benchmarks or
short-term objectives, related to --
"(I) meeting the child's needs that result from the child's disability to
enable the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum;
and
"(II) meeting each of the child's other educational needs that result from
the child's disability;
"(iii) a statement of the special education and related services and
supplementary aids and services to be provided to the child, or on behalf of
the child, and a statement of program modifications or supports for school
personnel that will be provided for the child --
"(I) to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals;
"(II) to be involved and progress in the general curriculum in accordance
with clause (i) and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic
activities; and
"(III) to be educated and participate with other children with
disabilities
and nondisabled children in the activities described in this paragraph;
"(iv) an explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not
participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in the
activities described in clause (iii);
"(v)(I) a statement of any individual modifications in the administration
of
State or districtwide assessments of student achievement that are needed in
order for the child to participate in such assessment; and
"(II) if the IEP Team determines that the child will not participate in a
particular State or districtwide assessment of student achievement (or part
of such an assessment), a statement of --
"(aa) why that assessment is not appropriate for the child; and
"(bb) how the child will be assessed;
"(vi) the projected date for the beginning of the services and
modifications
described in clause (iii), and the anticipated frequency, location, and
duration of those services and modifications;
"(vii)(I) beginning at age 14, and updated annually, a statement of the
transition service needs of the child under the applicable components of the
child's IEP that focuses on the child's courses of study (such as
participation in advanced-placement courses or a vocational education
program);
"(II) beginning at age 16 (or younger, if determined appropriate by the
IEP
team), a statement of needed transition services for the child, including,
when appropriate, a statement of the interagency responsibilities or any
needed linkages; and
"(III) beginning at least one year before the child reaches the age of
majority under State law, a statement that the child has been informed of
his or her rights under this title, if any, that will transfer to the child
on reaching the age of majority under section 615(m); and
"(viii) a statement of --
"(I) how the child's progress toward the annual goals described in clause
(ii) will be measured; and
"(II) how the child's parents will be regularly informed (by such means as
periodic report cards), at least as often as parents are informed of their
nondisabled children's progress, of --
"(aa) their child's progress toward the annual goals described in clause
(ii); and
"(bb) the extent to which that progress is sufficient to enable the child
to
achieve the goals by the end of the year." [Section 614(d)(1)(A)(i)
through
(viii)]
**************************************
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