AUTISM FIRST STEPS
AUTISM DAILY NEWSLETTER    
Saturday, November 24, 2001 

INDEX:
* Reminder - Autism Support Chats every Friday Morning
* Michigan-Chat
* Donations for Teresa Binstock' Research
* Guelph teacher cleared of striking autistic boy
* Honors roll in for area autistic athlete; receives skating award
* Keeping up to date on vaccines
* Task force backs school rights for autistic children

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Reminder - Autism Support Chats every Friday Mornin...

We would like to remind you of this upcoming event.

Autism Support Chats every Friday Morning

Date: Friday, November 23, 2001
Time: 8:00AM - 12:00PM CST (GMT-06:00)

A general support discussion on all areas of concern of Autism.
For parents and professionals of children with Autism Spectrum
Disorders.   A time of more in depth sharing and information
exchange for all areas of Autism - nutritional, biomedical,
emotional support.
Autism Awareness Action website: http://members.xoom.com/Jn516/
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Michigan-Chat

Michigan-Chat

Date: Friday, November 23, 2001
Time: 9:00PM - 10:00PM EST (GMT-05:00)

Dear Michigan Parents, Advocates & Attorneys:

Come and chat with other Michigan special education parents,
advocates & attorneys.

Every Friday evening from 9:00PM-10:00ishPM, Eastern Standard
Time.

The webpage to access the chat is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chat-SpecialEdLawMichigan/chat

You must be a member of that listserv to enter the chatroom. You
may join at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chat-SpecialEdLawMichigan

The topic will always be Special Education Law, however, there
may be some weeks that there will be special guests at the
chats!  Stay Tuned!

Thanks!

Your Hosts,
Kim and Bella
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Donations for Teresa Binstock' Research

We are soliciting donations to support Teresa Binstock's continuing
efforts to help our kids. We are soliciting donations that will support
Teresa in her travels and her research while she visits with, and helps,
families with Autism nationwide.  Teresa has helped a lot of us over the
past eight to ten years and now it is time for us to help her in return.

Please make a donation to:
Autism Autoimmunity Project
C/O Raymond Gallup
45 Iroquois Avenue
Lake Hiawatha, NJ 07034

Include memo "Teresa Binstock's research" on check.

Make checks payable to Autism Autoimmunity Project, Inc.

Donations are tax-deductible.
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Guelph teacher cleared of striking autistic boy

GUELPH - Her nervous demeanour disappeared and Ann Waddon smiled broadly Wednesday as Crown attorney Pamela Borghesan withdrew a charge against the College Avenue secondary school special education teacher.Waddon had been charged with assault in connection with an incident on Nov. 20, 2000. It was alleged she struck a 12-year-old autistic child, Daniel Philpotts, in her care.After provincial court testimony from Stuart Hood, an educational assistant who worked under Waddon in the special education class at the time, Borghesan said she did not have enough evidence for a conviction.``The only eyewitness is Mr. Hood and based on my assessment of his testimony, he can't say whether or not she made contact (with the student),'' Borghesan said.Justice J.L. Getliffe was blunt in his assessment of the case. ``It is extremely regrettable that Mrs. Waddon was charged with assault. This surely should have been reviewed more closely and this charge should never have been advanced this far.''``It's been a stressful year on me and my family, and yes I'm relieved it's over,'' Waddon said afterward.``I was really grateful to hear the judge's comments. I hope, if nothing else, this results in no other teachers facing similar situations.''Hood was visibly nervous on the stand. At one point he broke down and wiped away tears.He said on Nov. 20 of last year, Daniel Philpotts was upset. By 11 a.m., when Hood was assigned to work with the child, Daniel was given an activity he enjoyed to help calm him.Hood said Waddon came to the table where the two were working and the boy again became agitated.The situation escalated to the point where the boy started kicking, and hitting his head on the desk.The boy jerked his chair back and started striking his head against a window. Hood said he placed his hand between the boy and the window so Daniel would not break the glass. Hood said that Waddon told him, ``No, don't do that. Let him if he wants to.''Hood and Waddon decided to take Daniel to the quiet room - a small room where students are left to cool off and teachers can observe them through a window in the door. Hood said Daniel was often taken there.The boy grabbed Waddon's leg on the way and started hitting her, Hood said. Once in the room, Daniel jumped onto a floor mat and Waddon sat beside him to calm the boy.``But Dan became energized again and he started flailing. He lunged toward Mrs. Waddon. I could not see if he made contact,'' Hood said, adding that from his vantage point at the door, Waddon's body blocked his view of Daniel.Hood said he moved back beside Waddon, who told him to return to the doorway. As he turned around, he said he saw Waddon's hand in the air, saw her arm coming down and then her hand went out of view.``I saw her arm descend, I heard a loud violent slap and then I heard Mrs. Waddon say, `Oh Dan, you made your nose bleed.'When I stepped forward, Daniel's nose was quite bloody,'' Hood recalled.In cross-examination, defence attorney Frank Adeario questioned the working relationship between Hood and Waddon.Hood acknowledged he did not always agree with her instructions for dealing with students. Waddon was Hood's supervisor, though both answered to the school's principal, Paul Tribe.In November 1999, Hood had complained to Tribe that Waddon was striking children and using excessive force. Hood had also filed complaints with Guelph Police about similar incidents involving Waddon.Adeario stressed that Hood did not actually see Waddon strike the child on this occasion and Hood acknowledged that Daniel was flailing his arms, lunging at the teacher and kicking his legs at the time.``So the slapping was consistent with your negative view of Mrs. Waddon and your view that she uses excessive force with children?'' Adeario asked, to which Hood replied, ``It's not a view, it's what I saw.''In his closing remarks, Getliffe questioned whether Hood had a personal axe to grind with Waddon.Based on Hood's description of the child, who was given to violent outbursts because of his autism, and the frequent need to physically restrain him, Getliffe had nothing but praise for Waddon given the difficult job.``At the best of times, Mrs. Waddon would have all she could do to work within the guidelines for working with special needs children,'' Getliffe told the court.Outside the courtroom, Lucy Liscumb, Daniel's mother, was upset by the outcome.``That's not my son, that's not how he is. The judge has no idea what Daniel is like,'' Liscumb said.``He does have outbursts and he does flail his arms, but he's not violent. He has a higher level of understanding than the judge gave him credit for.''Liscumb appeared to leave the door open for further legal proceedings.``This wasn't my day in court. I haven't had my day in court yet, but I will,'' she said. She would not explain whether that meant she intends to file a civil suit against Waddon.When the charges were laid, Waddon initially was suspended from her duties as a teacher but was later reassigned to the programming department with the Upper Grand District School Board. Board spokesperson Maggie McFadzen, said she was very pleased to hear the charges had been dropped and that Waddon had been exonerated.It was too soon however, to say whether Waddon would return to the classroom.``She will stay in the program department until she is reassigned,'' McFadzen said.Torstar News Service
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/
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Honors roll in for area autistic athlete; receives skating award
Joni Talavera, 19, of Easton, was recognized at Special Olympics’ Fall Festival at Villanova University.

By MADELEINE MATHIAS
Of The Morning Call

November 23, 2001

Joni Talavera, 19, has been winning medals in Special Olympics since she was a young girl. But the honors she earned recently topped all the others.

Joni, who is autistic, was voted the “Roller Skater of the Year,” an award given by the Pennsylvania Special Olympics at the Fall Festival held at Villanova University.

When it was announced that Joni had been selected for the “Skater of the Year,” the excitement at the Villanova Skating Rink was overwhelming, Louise Tusak, Bethlehem Special Olympics manager, said.

“When her name was announced it was chaos,” said Tusak, recalling the outpouring of cheers and applause from those attending the Olympics.

According to Tusak, local Olympic coaches can nominate the person they best feel rates the honor, “Skater of the Year.” “I did not know that the Bethlehem coaches had submitted her name,” Tusak said.

She thanked the coaches for being so dedicated to the program and working so hard. She also lauded Joni’s parents who, she said, give her wonderful family support.

Joni, who lives in Easton, was presented with a plaque and two bouquets of flowers. The Olympic officials read excerpts from a July 8 Morning Call profile of Joni, which detailed how she graduated from high school in June even though she could not speak a word when she entered kindergarten.

But Joni’s “Skater of the Year” honor was not the only one she earned at the Special Olympics. She won a gold medal for her performance in artistic roller skating, Level 4.

She is the first skater in the state Special Olympics to achieve Level 4, said Tusak. “Joni earned that level herself, by her total commitment to the sport.”

To win the Level 4 gold, Joni had to do a “triple” — three jumps, one right after the other.

Her father, Joseph, said his daughter was the only skater vying for Level 4. “She went out there and did a good job,” he said.

Joni also won another medal — a silver in the solo dance category.

She also played roller hockey with the Special Olympics Bethlehem team, which captured the gold in a three-county competition.

And in an exhibition game, Joni’s team played against Villanova University’s ice hockey players (who competed on roller skates). Joseph said the Bethlehem team played very well. “They did not win, but they came close.”

“We are lucky to have Joni,” Tusak said. “Her achievements have brought a lot of honor to Bethlehem’s Special Olympics.”

Joni practices diligently two or three times a week at Skateaway in Bethlehem Township.

At 10-months-old, she was diagnosed with autism, a neurological-based disability that thwarts most communication. When Joni entered kindergarten at Tracy Elementary School in the Easton Area School District, she couldn’t speak. She didn’t know how to laugh, but threw violent temper tantrums and ripped off her clothes in the classroom.

But Joni’s parents, Maria and Joseph, never gave up. They saw that the third of their four daughters went to school, had tutors, was immersed in as much education as possible — most of it with the help of Marge DeRenzis, a Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 special education teacher who worked with the child for 14 years.

Joni graduated June 19 with the Easton Area High School Class of 2001. Today she is a student at Northampton Community College, taking four courses in her first semester — calculus, astronomy, basic English and critical reading.

Reporter Madeleine Mathias

610-559-2144

madeleine.mathias@mcall.com
Copyright © 2001, The Morning Call
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allb3_3autisticnov23.story?coll=all%2Dnewslocal%2Dhed
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Keeping up to date on vaccines
The Vaccine Page: Vaccine News and Database

www.vaccines.org
Earlier this month, several leading medical centres in the USA began testing the effectiveness of a diluted form of smallpox vaccine, which might be used if the lethal virus were to be released as part of a bioterrorism attack. Also in development, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the "next generation of anthrax vaccines" (www.bt.cdc. gov/DocumentsApp/faqanthrax. asp#topic9), although for now anthrax vaccination is recommended only for high-risk populations (eg, people who work directly with the organism in the laboratory, certain military personnel). And a special US commission on terrorism has recommended that the federal government establish a national laboratory to create vaccines to combat biological threats. In related news, the US public worries that the influenza vaccine is in short supply this season, and phase I trials of a new "prime boost" tuberculosis vaccine are underway in the UK. This information and much, much more is available from Vaccine Page, an excellent resource funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UniScience News Net (www.unisci.com). In addition to compiling vaccine news from various sources, the site offers a database of more than 2000 links that provide access to information on vaccine requirements for different populations; alerts and other timely information for clinicians and researchers (the for practitioners page is especially strong); and access to relevant journal sites, advocacy groups, and associations. A sister site called Allied Vaccine Group (www.vaccine.org), gives information on partner organisations, which include the American Academy of Pediatrics. Selected "booster" sites
Health Promotion England
www.immunisation.org.uk
Immunise Australia
www.health.gov.au/pubhlth/immunise
Immunisation Information System (Manchester University, UK)
www.immunize.org.uk
Immunisation Today (India)
members.tripod.com/~pedscapes/immunisation.htm
Immunization Action Coalition
www.immunize.org
International Vaccine Institute
www.ivi.org
National Network for Immunization Information
www.immunizationinfo.org
National Partnership for Immunization
www.partnersforimmunization.org
Population and Public Health Branch (Canada)
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/new_e.html
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
www.vaers.org
Vaccine Research Fact Sheets (US NIAID)
www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/vaccine.htm
Vaccines Pakistan
www.vacpak.org
Also of interest is the National Network for Immunization Information, a special project of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Nurses Association. The network is currently supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that prohibits the acceptance of project funds from pharmaceutical manufacturers. This site features an excellent database (search on anthrax for a solid history of the vaccine; smallpox page still in development). Also noteworthy is the health-care professionals section, which provides comprehensive information materials for patients, and a good links section. Because vaccination needs and availability often vary by country, as do relevant educational materials, the panel on the left lists some immunisation websites that are fairly up-to-date and country-specific. Marilynn Larkin E-mail:MLEditor@aol.com
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/journal.isa
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Task force backs school rights for autistic children

By Sean Flynn and Emmet Oliver The Government should urgently reform the Constitution so that thousands of special needs children gain rights to a proper education, the Task Force on Autism has proposed.In its report, seen by The Irish Times, the task force - established in the wake of the Jamie Sinnott case - is scathing about the level of provision for autistic children and adults. It says parents, who have been marginalised to date, should have a primary role in the decision-making process as soon as their child has been diagnosed. The task force also wants new laws dealing with the educational rights of people with disabilities. Its says a new "civil rights statute" should be enacted. The report says provision should be made for a situation in which one in 500 people in the State could suffer autism, with one in 277 suffering ing from the milder form, known as Asperger's syndrome. The report is now being considered by the Minister for Education, Dr Woods. The task force was established shortly after the original High Court case involving Corkman Mr Jamie Sinnott and his mother Kathryn.She told The Irish Times last night that while there appeared to be many positive elements in the report, only a constitutional amendment would ultimately guarantee the rights of her son Jamie and others.The report appears to be implicitly critical of the Supreme Court ruling in the Sinnott case. This caused a furore by limiting the rights to education of those under 18 years of age.The report says the fundamental right at stake should be "basic learning for all', including adults.The task force, chaired by Ms Sheelagh Drudy, professor of education at UCD, does not specifically recommend a constitutional referendum of the kind advocated by Ms Sinnott and others. It also offers no potential wording for such an amendment.However, it does say that constitutional reform is needed to provide "a more solid legal base for legislation in this area" and the main emphasis of reform should be to ensure the right "to an equally effective education for all, regardless of difference".The report highlights the sometimes shabby treatment of parents of children with special needs. This includes parents being excluded from meetings between health and education professionals about their child. Another parent said they had virtually no input regarding the appropriate options for their child.One parent is recorded as saying she had to shuttle between Departments of Health and Education, with neither taking responsibility.It was agreed at the outset the report would be entirely independent of the Department of Education. The report says the task force has been "autonomous in its deliberations".In its introduction it says: "While the task force sincerely hopes that its analysis and recommendations will be adopted by the Departments of State, it acknowledges that the recommendations are independent of any Department".The report has yet to be officially released, but Dr Woods is likely to come under pressure to implement most of its recommendations. The report does not give details on the cost of the changes and the Department of Finance has previously been reluctant to sanction widespread changes in the area.The Minister has already promised to set up a new council for special education which would intervene with special needs providers if parents felt they were not getting the services they needed.A Disabilities Bill is also being prepared by the Government and this is likely to contain several measures relating to education and special needs.The members of the task force were: chairperson: Ms Sheelagh Drudy, professor of education, UCD; secretary, Mr Micheál Ó Flanagáin; Mr Pat Matthews, Irish Society for Autism; Dr Rita Honan, psychology department, Trinity College; Mr Pat Walsh, parent of an autistic child; Dr Rita Jordan, school of education, the University of Birmingham; Mr C.B. Ó Murchú, Department of Education; Mr Michael Sheehan, of the National Education Psychological Service; Ms Rita Duffy, a teacher; Prof Michael Fitzgerald of the Ballyfermot Child and Family Centre and Ms Maisie Dooley, honorary secretary of the Western Society for Autism.
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2001/1122/fro1.htm

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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.


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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.