office echoes mayjune 2012

7/31/2019 Office Echoes MayJUNE 2012

1/20

Issue 14

supporng families with invisible disabilies: e.g. AD/HD, Aspergers, ASD, ODD, CD

BP Vouchers for

Volunteers

COGS Auckland

Manukau &Waitakere

NZ POST -

SKY CITY

MSD - Community

Response

Fund

Hi everyone,

Term 3 is nearly upon us; we hope you & yours have made progress

as term two has unfolded. The school holidays can prove challenging

during the cold, wet, winter months and parents may find themselves

stretched to the limit organizing suitable indoor activities for their

children. Keeping humour uppermost can make the difference in

keeping a lighthearted atmosphere in your home - laugh lots when-

ever possible!

Were always interested in hearing about your successes or

challenges, so please feel free to contact us about them.

As always, please feel free to ring us at the office: (09) 836-1941 to

chat about how we can help you, preferably before any crises

develop. Its always easier to find solutions [to problems] before they

become seemingly insurmountable.

Sue

Thanks to our Funders 1

News from the Desk 2

Autism NZ event 3

Dyslexia 4-7

Being young for gradesresearch review 8-11

Social Skills/Stories 12-14

Importance of Visual

Strategies 15

Whanau Marama course 16

Books to Read 17

Support Group details &

Spotlight on 18

Contact Us 19

Map - How to find us 20

To our Funders:


2/20

As usual this newsletter includes a variety of topics relating to AD/HD

and/or Aspergers. We have included a section on Dyslexia this month,

as it is common to find children may be affected to some degree or

other - yet as parents how can we tell if this is the case for our child?

This article gives some good information and there is also a check list

to work through which may help give a definitive clue whether you

need to explore further. I found another article which reviews

research re whether age differences when starting school may have an

impact on children & eventual considerations for diagnosis - with some

interesting outcomes/food for thought We hope the information we

have put together in this newsletter may prove insightful!

Office hours:The office will be attended daily between 9am - 5pm.

However there may be odd times when we are away attending

meetings etc. If you experience this at any time, then please leave us a

message and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Page 2 Office Echoes 2012

(Dr. Tony Attwood)

(info for AD/HD Adults)

(Dr. Daniel Amen)

(Temple Grandin)

(Dr. Rick Lavoie)

(info & resources)

(resources and printables)

(legal advice for youth)

(information and support)

(Aspergers information)

www.calm.auckland.ac.nz

www.

yoursleep.aasmnet.org

www.

insomniaspecialist.com/

forms.php

REMEMBER...

A childs disappointmentover something

we

find trivial,is just as real as

our

disappointment

over somethingthey

find trivial.

Clinical

training

alone

doesnt

ensure

accurate

perception


3/20



4/20

Dyslexic Children use nearly five times the brain area as normal children, to perform anordinary language task

Dyslexic children use nearly five times the brain area as normal

children, while performing a simple language task, according to astudy by an interdisciplinary team of Researchers at theUniversity ofWashington.The study shows for the first time that there are chemicaldifferences in the brain function of dyslexic and non-dyslexicchildren.

The research, published in the American Journal ofNeuroradiology, also provides new evidence that dyslexia is abrain-based disorder. Dyslexia, is the most common learningdisability, affecting an estimated 5 percent to 15 percent ofchildren.

The UW researchers, headed by developmental NeuroPsychologist Virginia Berninger and neuro-physicist ToddRichards, used a non-invasive technique called protonecho-planar spectroscopic imaging (PEPSI) to explore themetabolic brain activity of six dyslexic and seven non-dyslexicboys during oral language tasks.The researchers used PEPSI which is about 32 times faster thanconventional magnetic resonance spectroscopy, to detectspecific brain chemicals, such as the levels of brain lactateactivation.Lactate is a by-product of energy metabolism produced by

neurons when the brain is activated. Most, but not all, of thisbrain activity took place in the left anterior, or frontal lobe of the brain, which is known to be oneof the centres for expressive language function. "The dyslexics were using 4.6 times as mucharea of the brain to do the same language task as the controls," said Richards, a professor ofradiology."This means their brains were working a lot harder and using more energy than the normalchildren." "People often don't see how hard it is for dyslexic children to do a task that others doso effortlessly," added Berninger, a professor of educational psychology. "There are clearlearning differences in children. We can't blame the schools or hold teachers accountable forteaching dyslexic children, unless both teachers and the schools are given specialized trainingto deal with these children."

The 13 boys in the study were between 8 and 13 years of age and the dyslexic and controlgroups were well-matched in age, IQ and head size, but not in reading skills. The controls werereading at a level above normal for their age and had a history of learning to read easily.Thedyslexics had delayed reading skills and were reading well below average for their age. Theirfamilies also had a history of multi-generational dyslexia that was confirmed in a concurrent

family genetics study.

The boys, fitted with earphones were asked to perform four tasks while their brains were beingimaged. Three of the tests involved pairs of words and the fourth used pairs of musical tones. Inthe language tests, the boys heard a series of word pairs that consisted of either two non-rhyming words such as "fly" and "church," two rhyming words such as "fly" and "eye," a non -rhyming real word and non-word such as "crow" and "treel," and a rhyming word and non -word

such as "meal" and "treel." The boys were asked if the word pairs rhymed or didn't rhyme and ifthe pairs contained two real words or one real and one non-word. They responded by raising ahand to indicate yes or no. In the music test, the boys heard pairs of notes and raised one handif they thought the notes were identical and the other if they believed them to be different.

Office Echoes 2012Page 4


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While the dyslexic boys exhibited nearly five times more brain lactate activation during a lan-guage task that asked them to interpret the sounds of words, there was no difference in the twogroups during the musical tone test. This means the difference between the dyslexics and thenormal children relates to auditory language and notto non-linguistic auditory function,according to Richards and Berninger. They also said the findings are important because theyshed new light on brain mechanisms involved with dyslexia at a developmental stage, when it isstill amenable to treatment.

In addition, the functional differences between dyslexics and control subjects add evidence thatdyslexia is a brain-based disorder. "When a child has a brain-based disorder it is treatable,although it may not be curable, just as diabetes is," said Berninger.Dyslexia is a life-long condition, but dyslexics may learn to compensate for it later in life.We know dyslexia is a genetic and neurological disorder. It is not brain damage. Dyslexics oftenhave enormous talents in other parts of their brain and shine in many fields. Einstein was adyslexic, and so were inventor Thomas Edison and financier Charles Schwab."While it is useful to show there are brain differences between dyslexic and non-dyslexic children,

considerably more research is needed to precisely define the chemical and neurological markersof dyslexia. What we found is a metabolic marker, but there could be a more fundamental cause.We need to understand the molecular and neural mechanisms underlying dyslexia," said Berninger.

Other members of the UW research team and co-authors of the study are: Stephen Dager, professor ofpsychiatry and behavioural science; David Corina, assistant professor of psychology; Cecil Hayes, profes-sor of radiology; Robert Abbott, professor of educational psychology; Susanne Craft, adjunct associate pro-fessor of psychiatry and behaviour science; Dennis Shaw, assistant professor of radiology; and Stefan Pos-se, affiliate assistant professor of radiology. In addition, UW doctoral students Sandra Serafini, AaronHeide, Keith Steury and Wayne Strauss participated in the research.The study, part of a wider UW effort to understand the basis of dyslexia and develop treatments for it, wasfunded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (USA)

Brain images show individual dyslexic children respond to spelling treatment

Joel Schwarz, Feb. 8, 2006

Brain images of children with dyslexia taken before they received spelling instruction show thatthey have different patterns of neural activity than do good spellers when doing language tasksrelated to spelling. But after specialized treatment emphasizing the letters in words, they showedsimilar patterns of brain activity. These findings are important because they show the humanbrain can change and normalize in response to spelling instruction, even in dyslexia, the mostcommon learning disability.

Photograph of a child preparing for a funconal MR spectroscopic imaging scan (with the PEPSItechnique). The child is near the bore of the General Electric Signa magnet which operates at 1.5 Tesla.

The earphone connecon is also visible (black tubing).


6/20

Subject Characterizaon

The University of Washington Human Subjects Instuonal Review Board approval was obtained for this

study, and each subject (as well as parent/guardian) gave wrien, informed consent.

All subjects were right handed (90-100% on the Edinburgh Handedness scale(30)). The control boys had

a history of learning to read easily and were reading above normal for age (average was one standard

deviaon above mean for age using the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (31)) .

The dyslexic boys had a developmental history of extreme difficulty in learning to read despite many

forms of extra assistance at school and also had a family history of mul-generaonal dyslexia, which

was confirmed in a concurrent family genecs study (W. Raskind, personal communicaon) at our cen-

ter. The dyslexic boys were reading on average 1.66 standard deviaons below the mean for age using

the Woodcock test (31). In addion, all the dyslexic boys were shown to have a triple deficit in three

skills that predict ease of learning to read and response to intervenon, phonological (phoneme seg-mentaon and/or memory for spoken nonwords), rapid automazed naming, and orthographic (speed

of coding wrien words and/or accuracy of represenng them in memory)(32) .

Based on independent t-tests, the 7 controls ( M=127.3, SD=10.8) and 6 dyslexics (M=124.3, SD=11.1)

did not differ in age in months (t(11) = 0.49,p=0.637). Likewise, the controls (M=15.6, SD=3.2) and dys-

lexics (M=13.2, SD=1.6) did not differ in age-corrected WISC-III vocabulary scores (t (11)= 1.68, p=0.12),

which provide the best esmate of Full Scale IQ.

However, the controls and dyslexics did differ significantly in age-corrected standard scores for reading

real words on the Word Idenficaon (WI) subtest of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised

(WRMT-R) and for reading pseudowords on the Word Aack (WA) subtest of the WRMT

-R: t(11)=6.81,

p < 0.001 on the WI subtest and t(10) = 6.02, p


7/20


How to tell whether your child may be affected by dyslexia

SCORE

0= Never Exhibited

1= Sometimes Exhibited

2= Often Exhibited

3= Very Descriptive of Individual

1 Has difficulty reading at grade level.

2Has significant spelling challenges. Cannot spell high frequency words or

retain spelling words from one week to the next.

3Has poor handwriting. There may be changes in pressure, scrolling over,

and/or letters or words that do not stay on the lines.

4 Cannot tell time on a face clock.

5 Has or had difficulty tying shoes until later ages (3rd grade or above).

6Cannot sound out unknown words despite knowing phonics. Guesses at

words based on the appearance of the word.

7Has difficulty with word call. May have to stop and think about words often

(Its on the tip of my tongue,) or many stutter.

8 Has difficulty with directionality: left/right, below/behind, east/west.

9 Has difficulty learning multiplication tables.

10Has difficulty remembering the days of the week or months of the year in or-

der. [Sequencing]

11 Difficulty learning cursive. Typically all handwriting is in print.

12 Began to talk (as a baby) relatively late. (After 2 or 3 years old.)

13 Difficulty learning to rhyme and/or did [does] not enjoying rhyming games.

14Does not read for pleasuremay actively avoid reading although enjoys be-

ing read to.

15Has trouble with written expression. May ignore grammar such as capitals,

punctuation, etc.

16Despite being a good story teller, cant get their thoughts on paper, in writing,

in an acceptable form.

17

Mixes up sounds in multi-syllabic words (ex: aminal for animal, bisghetti for

spaghetti, hekalopter for helicopter, hangaberg for hamburger, mazageen formagazine, etc.)

18

Has difficulties in math. May have trouble showing work or remembering

the steps to completing a problem. Long division may prove a significant

challenge.

19Is messy and/or disorganized. [Room, locker, backpack, desk] But there may

be other reasons for this (see ADD symptoms).

20Has difficulty with schedules, timelines and agendas.

May misunderstand

what to do next. May seem confused and have to ask (confirm) what to do

often.
http://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Readinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Readinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Spellinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Spellinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Spellinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Spellinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Clockhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Clockhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Directionalityhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Directionalityhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Mathhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Mathhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Mathhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Mathhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Mathhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Mathhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Directionalityhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Clockhttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms--Writinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Spellinghttp://www.pridedyslexiaprogram.com/index.php?pr=Symptoms-Reading


8/20


Being Young for Grade Increases Odds of ADHD Diagnosis

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed neurobehavioral disorder in children and substanal

evidence indicates that biological factors play an important role in its development. For example,

although the exact mechanism by which genec factors convey increased risk for ADHD remains

unclear, the importance of genec transmission has been documented in a number of publishedstudies.

Even though biological factors are widely regarded as important in the development of ADHD, no

medical or biological test is recommended for roune use when diagnosing ADHD. Instead, like

virtually all psychiatric disorders, ADHD is defined by a constellaon of behavioral symptoms that are

generally reported on by a child's parents and teacher. Also, in nearly all cases, it is parents' and/or

teachers' concerns about a child's ability to focus and regular their behavior that leads to a child

being evaluated for ADHD in the first place.

While some children display sufficient inaenve and/or hyperacve-impulsive behavior to be

diagnosed with ADHD as pre-schoolers, it is generally not before children enter school that concerns

related to aenon and hyperacvity arise. This may be especially true for inaenve symptoms, asdemands for sustained aenon become much greater when children start in school. Teachers can

observe how a child's ability to regulate aenon and behavior compares to an enre classroom -

something parents typically can't do - and their judgements may thus be parcularly influenal in

whether a child is evaluated for ADHD and diagnosed with the disorder.

A number of factors may contribute to differences in children's ability to focus and regulate their

behavior when they enter school. One factor certainly is ADHD, as children with the condion will be

observed by teachers to be more inaenve and/or hyperacve. Another factor - and one that may

be frequently overlooked - is their age relave to most of their classmates.

This is the issue invesgated in the studies that are summarized below.

Three recently published studies provide compelling evidence that a child's age relave to his or herclassmates is an important factor in whether they are diagnosed for ADHD. Results from these

studies are summarized below.

Public school systems have specific dates that a child must be born by to begin kindergarten.

Consider two children in a school system where the cut-off is December 31st. Jack is born on

December 31st, 2007 and would thus be eligible to enter kindergarten during fall 2012. Compared to

most of his classmates who were born as early as 1/1/2007, he will be relavely young. On average,

in fact, Jack would be about 6 months younger than his peers.

John is born on January 1st 2008 and would thus be ineligible to enrol in the fall. Instead, he would

need to wait unl fall 2013 before starng kindergarten. Thus, compared to most of his classmates

who could be born as late as 12/31/2008, he will be relavely old; on average, he would be about 6months older.

Although an age difference of 6 roughly may make lile if any difference in the ability of older

children and adolescents to focus, aend, and regulate their behavior, it may make a substanal

difference in 5 and 6 year-olds. And, differences in nearly a year - which may be present between the

oldest and youngest child in a grade - could be associated with large differences on these

dimensions. This suggests that children relavely young for grade at the start of school will, on

average, be less able to regulate their aenon and behavior than their classmates. As a result,

young-for-grade children may be more likely to be seen as struggling by teachers who would convey

their concerns to parents. In many cases, this may lead parents to have their child evaluated for

ADHD and potenally increase the rate of ADHD diagnosis and treatment in young-for

-grade

children. Is there evidence that this is the case?


9/20


Study 1

The first study of this issue [Evans, et al., (2010). Measuring inappropriate medical diagnosis and

treatment in survey data: The case of ADHD among school-age children. ,i>Journal of Health

Economics, 29, 657-693] used data from the Naonal Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an annual

survey of households in the US that collects data on the extent of illness, disease, and disability in the

civilian populaon. The informaon collected includes whether sample members had been diagnosed

with ADHD and prescribed smulant medicaon.

The authors used survey data from 1997 to 2006 and only included children from states with a

state-wide birth date cut-off for school entry in place when the child was five. Based on this cut-off,

which varied by state, they examined ADHD diagnosis and treatment rates for over 35,000 7 to 17 year

olds who were born up to 120 days before (i.e., relavely young for grade) or up to 120 days aer

(i.e., relavely old for grade) the state cut-off.

Results indicated that 9.7% of young-for-grade children had been diagnosed with ADHD compared to

7.6% of those relavely old-

for-

grade, a difference of approximately 27%. Rates of smulant usagewere also significantly different, 4.5% vs. 4%.

Study 2

A second study [Elder (2010). The importance of relave standards in ADHD diagnosis: Evidence based

on exact birth dates.Journal of Health Economics, 29, 641-656] used data from another large naonal

data set - the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - to examine this issue. The data set inially included

over 18,600 kindergarten students from over 1000 kindergarten programs in the US in the fall of 1998;

children were followed periodically through 2007 when most were in 8th grade. Available informaon

includes parent and teacher rangs of children's ADHD symptoms, diagnoses, and smulant medicaon

treatments; final results were based on over 11,750 children.

ADHD diagnosis and treatment rates were calculated for children born the month before (young-for-

grade) and the month aer (old-for-grade) the state mandated cut-off, which was September 1 for

some states and December 1 for others. For states with the September 1 cut-off, 10% of children born

in August were diagnosed with ADHD compared with 4.5% born in September. Rates of smulant medi-

caon treatment were 8.3% vs. 2.5% respecvely. For states with a December 1st cut-off, the diagno-

sis rate for children born in November was 6.8%, more than triple the 1.9% rate for those born in De-

cember; rates of smulant treatment were 5.0% and 1.5% respecvely.

The author examined the impact of relave age on whether children were diagnosed with learning

problems other than ADHD, including developmental delays, ausm, dyslexia, socio-emoonal behav-

ior disorder, or other learning disabilies. For these other learning problems, no relave-age effects

were found.

The author also demonstrated that school starng age had a much stronger effect on teachers' per-

cepons of children's ADHD symptoms than on parents' percepons. He suggests this may be be-

cause teachers rate children's behavior relave to other children in the class and relavely young

children are less able to regulate their aenon and behavior. Parents, in contrast, may use more

absolute standards since they are less above to observe their child in relaon to a classroom full of

peers.

Being Young for Grade Increases Odds of ADHD Diagnosis


10/20


Being Young for Grade Increases Odds of ADHD Diagnosis - contd

Study 3

The final study [Morrow et al., (2012). Influence of relave age on diagnosis and treatment of

aenon-deficit/hyperacvity disorder in children. Canadian Medical Associaon Journal,

DOI:10.1503/cmaj.11619] examined the associaon between age-for-grade and ADHD diagnosis in

a study of over 935,000 youth from Brish Columbia who were 6-12 years of age at any me

between December 1997 and November 2008. Thus, the value of this study is that the sample

comes from a different country and enrely different health care system than the US.

The cut-off for school entry in Brish Columbia during this me was December 31. Similar to the

results reviewed above, boys born in December were 30% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD

than boys born in January; girls born in December were 70% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD

than girls born in January. Boys were 41% more likely and girls were 77% more likely to be treated

with medicaon if they were born in December rather than January.

Summary and Implicaons

Results from 3 independent studies that employed large and representave samples indicate that

children who are young for their grade are significantly more likely than peers to be diagnosed with

ADHD and to be treated with smulant medicaon. Based on addional analyses conducted in one

of these studies, the relave age effect is primarily related tp teachers' percepons and does not

extend to other learning disorders. These laer two issues were examined in only one of the three

studies, however, and thus require replicaon.

Why might being young for grade increase the odds of a child's being diagnosed with ADHD? Oneplausible explanaon is that focusing aenon and regulang behavior are abilies that develop

over me. At school entry, being up to 12 months younger than classmates represents a substanal

poron of a child's total age, and these capacies have had less me to develop. As a result, rela-

vely young children will generally be less capable than classmates of regulang their aenon and

behavior and more likely to be idenfied by teachers as struggling on these dimensions. They will

thus be referred for evaluaon and diagnosed with ADHD at higher rates.

It is important to note that none of the researchers suggest that their data raise quesons about

the validity of ADHD as a 'real' disorder with neurobiological underpinnings. In my view, using these

findings to queson the validity of the condion would be highly problemac.

Instead, these findings suggest that many children who are young for their grade are diagnosed notbecause they have the disorder but because they are developmentally less advanced than many of

their classmates.

By the same token, children who are relavely old for their grade may be underdiagnosed because

their inaenveness and hyperacvity do not seem excessive in relaon to their younger class-

mates. Both outcomes are potenally harmful and speak to the complexies involved in diagnosing

ADHD but not to the validity of ADHD as a legimate disorder.

Results from these studies highlight the importance of careful and accurate diagnosc evaluaons.

These studies make an important contribuon to the field by raising awareness of the role that

relave age can play in increasing or decreasing the risk of receiving an ADHD diagnosis. Although

there is no easy way to address this complicang factor, there are several steps that may be usefulto take.


11/20


Being Young for Grade Increases Odds of ADHD Diagnosis -contd

First, clinicians evaluang young children should be especially careful when that child is also young

relave to his classmates. For children born close to the cut-off for school entry, special considera-

on should be given to whether relave age may be an important factor in the child's behavior atschool.

Second, there may be value in narrowing the age ranges used in many of the widely used behavior

rang scales. Results from these studies suggest that there are significant normave differences in

inaenve and hyperacve symptoms between children born during different months in the same

year, let alone in different years. What is 'normal' for a child 6 years and 1 month old differs from

what is typical for a child 6 years 11 months old.

However, behavior rang scales generally have age categories that encompass mulple years. Thus,

rather than comparing whether the inaenve behaviors a teacher reports for a young 6 year old

are excessive relave to other young 6 year old's, the child's score will be determined in relaon toa 'normave group' that includes children who are several years older. As a result, children at the

low end of the age range may be more likely to receive elevated ADHD symptom rang scores than

children at the upper end of the age range. This is very different from how standardized IQ and

achievement tests are constructed, where scores are calculated in relaon to age groups that span

only several months.

Third, these findings highlight the value of ongoing efforts to develop a reliable objecve assess-

ment measure for ADHD that is not effected by relave age effects. As discussed in a prior issue of

Aenon Research Update, Quantave EEG (qEEG) may be a helpful tool in this regard - see

www.helpforadd.com/2008/november.htm

Finally, the associaon between relave age and risk of diagnosis highlights the importance

of systemacally re-evaluang children each year. As children develop, the importance of

relave age on the ability to regulate aenon and behavior is likely to diminish.

For example, one would expect less difference in the ability to sustain aenon between

younger vs. older 15 year-olds compared to younger vs. older 6 year- olds.

Thus, if a child was incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD because s/he was relavely young at

school entry, and thus less capable than peers of regulang aenon and behavior, annual

re-evaluaons should idenfy this as the child moves into later grades.

******************************

Source:Attention Research Update - this months edition is a bit different than most.Rather than present a detailed review of a single study, in this issue I provide an overview of 3 recent studiespublished on a similar topic.The question addressed in each study is whether children who enterschool young relative to their classmates because of when their birthday falls relative to the cut-offin their district are more likely than others to be diagnosed and treated for ADHD.As you will see,findings from all 3 studies that use large national data sets converge on this conclusion. In my view, this isextremely important to be aware of and highlights the care that must be taken when evaluating children forADHD.

David Rabiner, Ph.D.Associate Research Professor

Dept. of Psychology & NeuroscienceDuke UniversityDurham, NC 27708
http://educators.c.topica.com/maapLscab9gfTcg7c3GeafpLwc/http://educators.c.topica.com/maapLscab9gfTcg7c3GeafpLwc/http://educators.c.topica.com/maapLscab9gfTcg7c3GeafpLwc/


12/20


Social Skills & Social Stories...

Excerpt from: Dave Angel- parenngaspergers.com

Social stories are used to show accurate social and emoonal interacon for children.

They have been made famous (certainly in the ASD world) with Carol Gray hp://www.thegraycenter.org/ and are very effecve for people on the ausc spectrum.

Find out first how the child with Aspergers views different social situaons, in order to

direct the skills to the desired behavior. So for example they may be OK at greeng people

inially by saying hi or hello but then launch straight into telling that other person all

about their favourite subject. So a social story would concentrate on showing the child

exactly what to do in this second phase of the conversaon; once the inial hellos are

out of the way. Informaon shared has to be presented in a personal manner, so that the

child with Aspergers can relate and comprehend internally. For example I worked with a

child who had no real bedme roune at home. The school developed a social story

breaking down all of the different stages e.g.

* 5pm Dinner

* 6pm TV

* 6:30pm Bath

* 7pm Into bed for stories

* 7:30pm Lights out

Each of these points was accompanied by a picture of his favourite Pokmon character

doing that acvity. Which can be done simply by copy and pasng from images on the web

(hp://www.google.co.uk/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi) and pung them into a simple Microso

Word document with the appropriate text. Obviously there would be copyright issues if

you were to do this outside of the home, in a school, or commercially but in your own

home for your child I think youre prey safe!

Always use posive language. As with all teaching (not just social skills) accentuang the

posive through language is key to help your child stay movated and feel valued through

the experience.

Use social stories to learn relevant social cues. Social cues are compared to road signs or

direcons on a map; if not followed correctly the outcome means you are lost. So for

example if you are beginning to bore someone in conversaon there will be subtle clues

such as if they are looking away, their body language (e.g. fidgeng or looking like they

want to walk away) and their non-engagement in the subject. They are less likely (although

with younger kids its more possible!) to come out and say I am bored.

So by ignoring the more subtle social cues the child with Aspergers may put themselves in

the situaon of being walked away from, ignored, talked about behind their back (as being

boring), and struggling to make or maintain friendships.


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Social Skills & Social Stories... contd

Give examples of appropriate quesons to ask for idenfying a persons emoon.

For example the child could ask do you like talking about dinosaurs with me or is there

something you would like to talk about? And then the child needs to be coached to listen ifthe other child says no Id rather talk about baseball. Because the child may not know

anything about baseball so s/he would then need to go into invesgave mode and ask

quesons to keep the conversaon rolling like:

* Do you like to play baseball or watch it?

* What team is your favourite?

* What posion do you like to play?

* Have you ever been to a real baseball game and what was it like?

* Who is your favourite baseball player and why do you like them so much?

Similar Interests and Humour

From roughly ages 7-10, parents can begin to introduce children who like the same things.

They might enjoy wildlife, basketball, computers, photography, a parcular TV show, or

parcular games (including video games) for example.

Having a topic of common interest will promote a natural flow of conversaons and behavior.

This is much more likely to provide posive social experiences as the child with Aspergers will

have more confidence in this situaon because of the prior knowledge that they have on the

topic (even if they lack confidence in social skills).

Help can be obtained from local parent support groups. There are generally support groups in

your local vicinity for parents of children with ASD, which you can find locally on the internet.

They are excellent places for you to network on behalf of your child to find like-minded

individuals that they could interact with. Failing this there are also online support groups

where you could try to find other children with similar interests to yours.

Teachers can introduce children who share a common academic interest; So for example kids

that are really interested in geography or math can be paired together to work on projects

and will likely be able to bond and build a team work approach to tasks with a shared

interest.


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Acvies involving social skills should be limited once the school day is over.

This is because children with Aspergers use so much energy at school that aer school

should be a me for relaxaon. Whether this is a social skills group, or just a regular aer

school sports club or hobby club. With other like-minded children, the chance of cricism is greatly reduced. If your child is

in a group of children who share a common interest, and has a supporve teacher running

the group, this is an excellent environment for some really posive social learning just

through simply parcipang.

Groups can promote growth of true friendships. Because of the nature of shared interest

there is a much beer chance of true friendships forming, which will hopefully extend

beyond the group seng to other mes in school, play dates and social acvies together.

These groups can develop into a different type of self-help group as they get older.

With more specific social skills groups they will evolve over me to meet the needs of the

age of the children. So for younger children it will be more basic learning and developing ofskills. But over me the young people will be able to dictate more what they want to

discuss e.g. geng a girlfriend/boyfriend, going on acvies with friends (without parents

and/or teachers). And also they will have more experiences to draw on and share with

each other. So there can be more peer learning as well as just from the facilitator/teacher.


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Linda is a Speech-Language Pathologist from Troy, Michigan with over 35 years experience in

working with children who have Aspergers and ASD. Linda is very enthusiasc about the use of visual

strategies to help aid communicaon for children with Aspergers. Visual strategies very simply areanything that involves communicaon to a child that they can see whether thats wring on a page,

pictures, schedule boards, videos, I pads, computers etc.

1. Children learn beer through visual strategies. They can remember and respond beer when

communicaon is in this form. This is true for most people in the neuro-typical community too.

Linda gave me an example at one of her seminars where she asked the audience (of parents) whether

they had referred and re-referred numerous mes to the wrien pamphlet to get more informaon

about the seminar.

Most, if not all, of the parents had done this. So underlining how we all benefit greatly from visual

strategies.

2. Speech is very fleeng. When someone speaks to a child with Aspergers the speech is

only there in the moment. Aer that it is gone forever. So if the child at the me was not paying

aenon. Maybe they had something in their hands they were concentrang on, or some visual sm-

uli on the wall.

Then the child will not have taken in all, or even part of the communicaon.

Whereas if the communicaon is visual; it is more permanent and you can go over it several mes if

you need to understand it.

3. Visual strategies are oen easier to use to get the focus and concentraon of an individual.

A computer, I pad or good old piece of paper is very much there in front of the child (in a way that

speech can never be).

So the child has a beer chance of geng involved and understanding this way. Now this does not

need to be on any grand scale or necessarily need expensive equipment like computers or I Pads.

Like I say good old pen and paper can work great.

4. With speech there can oen be misunderstanding as to what the child has understood.

The child may well nod or look as if they have taken in what they have just been told.

But in reality they have not done so at all and without anything wrien to refer back to; this can

quickly cause problems.

5. How clear was the original communicaon from the parent?

Oen parents (and teachers) feel that they have been very clear in their verbal communicaon to a

child with Aspergers. But in actual fact the communicaon may have been as clear as mud to the

child with Aspergers! For example it may have contained abstract concepts, dual meaning words,

idioms, slang and such like that the child could not fully process or understand. It may have also been

delivered at too quick a pace or in too noisy or loud an environment. Linda gave a great example

when she was consulted by the mom of a teen boy with Aspergers. Every night there became a huge

baleground when it came to the simple communicaon of mom asking him to put on his pyjamas

prior to bed. Aer hearing Linda speak at a conference the mom went home and changed things that

very nightInstead of talking to her son she simply handed him a note that said its me to put your

pyjamas on. And guess what He went off and did this with no issue whatsoever!

Whilst a relavely small issue in some ways; this lile story illustrates the power of using visual

strategies. Well I hope this has been a helpful introducon as to what visual strategies are, and why

they can be so important.

If you want to find out more about Linda and her work you can do so at her website Ausm Family Online

excerpt from Dave Angel- parenngaspergers.com


16/20


Parenting Courses starting next term.

Effective Discipline of Our Tamariki/ Children (10 weeks)

Begins Tuesday 17 July 2012

Based on the S.K.I.P. (Strategies with Kids Information for Parents)

6 Characteristics of Effective Discipline.

Suitable for parents of children 4 to 14 years.

The First 3 Years (9 weeks)

Begins Wednesday 18 July 2012

Based on the book Dance with Me in the Heart by Pennie Brownlee, Brainwave Trust

Material and the S.K.I.P. (Strategies with Kids Information for parents) 6 Char-

acteristics of Effective Discipline.

Suitable for parents of children Birth to 3 years.

Connecting with Our Children by using the 5 Languages of

Aroha (4 weeks)

Begins Thursday November 2012

Based on The first S.K.I.P. (Strategies with Kids Information for Parents) Principle

or Characteristic of Effective Discipline and the book The Five Love Languages of Chil-

dren by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell.

Most suitable for parents of children 4 to 14 years.

Also helpful for adult relationships

Parenting Adolescents (10 weeks)

Begins 19 July 2012

Course cost: $35.00

You can enrol on line @ www.whanaumarama-parenting.co.nz

Venue: Whnau Marama 212 Archers Road, Glenfield.

(Under Glenfield Tax Accountants)

For further information call Tamati Ihaka Ph: 4410208 or

Elizabeth Cameron on Ph: 4410209 or TXT 0274 932273


17/20

:

1001 Great Ideas for Teaching & Raising Children with Autism or AspergersEllen Notbohm & Veronica Zysk

Congratulations its Aspergers Jen Birch

Aspergers and Girls Tony Attwood & Temple Grandin

The Complete Guide to Aspergers Syndrome Tony Attwood

Driven to Distraction - Edward M Hallowell & John J Ratey

How to Teach Life Skills to Kids with Autism or AspergersJennifer McILwee Myers

The Explosive Child - Ross W Greene Ph.D.

The BLT Hypothesis - Peter M DiMezza & James E Kaplar

Its So Much Work to Be Your Friend Richard Lavoie

Good News for the Alphabet KidsMichael & Greta Sichel

No more MeltdownsJed Baker, PhD

Exploring Feelings: Anxiety & AngerTony Attwood

The Gift of LearningRonald D. Davis

Tips for ToiletingJo Adkins & Sue Larkey

Thinking in Pictures / My life with AutismTemple Grandin

Your Defiant TeenRussell A Barkley

A Beginners Guide to AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS - Paul G Taylor

Kids in the Syndrome MixMartin L Kutscher



18/20


Waitakere Community Resource Centre : 8 Ratanui St, Henderson. 10am - 12pm[Last Friday each month]

Ignite Waitakere: 184 Lincoln Rd, Henderson. 7:30 pm - 9:30pm[1st Wednesday & 3rd Monday each month]

1st & 20th24th (D/T)

7th & 19th

30th (D/T)

4th & 16th

27th (D/T)

3rd & 21st25th

6th & 18th

29th (D/T)

4th & 16th

1st & 20th

5th & 17th

3rd & 15th

26th (D/T)

7th & 19th30th (D/T)

5th & 17th

21st (D/T)

We understand that autism can be an extremely challenging condition for your child and foryour family. Our unique services are specifically designed to help you manage the intenseemotional and practical impact of autism.

We are here to help you. If your child is affected by autism (Asperger Syndrome, ASD,PDD), we offer to guide, support and provide practical, family-centred solutions for the

journey ahead. The goal of Childrens Autism Foundation is to help you create a rewarding andmeaningful life for your child within your family dynamic.

Our vision is to see society fully accept and include people with disabilities; and the framework startswithin the family.

Our mission is to provide the support needed in order for families and their child with Autism

Spectrum Disorder to have a great life.

Contact Ph: 09 555 0966

Mark them on your calendar or in your diary to keep track...
http://autism.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0aa99bf287541a08a99594891&id=d6549f37f1&e=4288424518


19/20

P.O.Box 45-104

Te Atatu Peninsula, AUCKLAND, 0651

Office Ph: 09 836 1941 Mobile: 021 101 5864

E-mail: [email protected]

We are a not-for-profit, community based organisation.

We have charitable status CC41424

to (large or small) are

gratefully accepted... OR you can support us via an annual subscription of $35

Please consider making your donaon via electronic banking or A/P to:

Westpac A/C: 03-0155-0739555-00

Please include your name & telephone number as a reference & receipts

are issued for tax purposes.

THANK YOU!

The time is right to make a difference...Wont YOU join us ?



20/20


office echoes mayjune 2012

Documents