Developed by Valerie Paradiz, PhD, Integrated Self Advocacy is a structured program to help meet the individual educational needs of children on the autism spectrum.

It’s a good thing.

The study is titled “Assessing implementation of comprehensive treatment models for young children with ASD: Reliability and validity of two measures.” The principal investigator is Samuel Odom, director of the Frank Porter Graham Child (FPG) Development Institute and professor of the School of Education, at the University of North Carolina (UNC).

Previously, most studies looking at the economic implications of Autism have focused on the direct cost of treatment and other care, this study demonstrates the “double hit” taken by families raising children with Autism.

Original Article

For over 20 years, the federal government has publicly denied a vaccine-autism link, while at the same time its Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) has been awarding damages for vaccine injury to children with brain damage, seizures and autism. A new investigation, based on verifiable government data, breaks ground in the controversial vaccine-autism debate. The investigation found that a substantial number of children compensated for vaccine injury also have autism and that such cases have existed since 1989, the year after the VICP was formed.

SafeMinds‘ Executive Director, Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN comments, “This study dramatically shifts the debate on autism and vaccines. The question is no longer, Can vaccines cause autism? The answer is clear. Now, we have to ask, How many cases of autism have vaccines caused and how do we prevent new injuries from occurring?” The government has asserted that it “does not track” autism among the vaccine-injured. SafeMinds responds that not looking is the easiest way not to find something. SafeMinds is calling for immediate federal research into the mechanisms of injury in these children in an effort to protect other children from harm and Congressional action to reform the VICP.

The peer-reviewed study looked at cases of vaccine injury that have been monetarily compensated by the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. It was published today in the Pace Environmental Law Review. The study investigated approximately 1300 cases of childhood brain injury as a result of vaccines in which the Special Masters ruled for the plaintiffs, looking for references to autism, symptoms of autism or disorders commonly associated with autism. It reports that twenty-one cases actually stated “autism or autism-like symptoms” in the court records. The researchers then identified and contacted 150 more compensated families to find out whether the children had autism. They were able to find an additional 62 cases (greater than 40% of their sample) for a total of 83 cases of autism. In 39 cases (47%) there was confirmation of autism beyond parental report.

The federal government has called autism a “national health emergency,” conservatively affecting 1 in 110 children and costing the country billions of dollars each year. If a portion of autism cases are vaccine-induced and there is evidence that officials have been “looking the other way,” this cannot be tolerated. The VICP’s recent attempt to dismiss the over 5000 cases in the Omnibus Autism Proceedings is suspect in light of these new findings based on its own records.

The teacher’s aide assigned to him said she was in fear one day when he began acting aggressively, a behavior not uncommon in children with autism.

But the boy’s parents say the aide was the aggressive one, picking up a chair, acting like a lion tamer as the boy cowered in fear. Finally, the parents say, the aide threw the chair at the boy, striking him in the legs.

The case highlights the challenges faced by those who care for some of the most vulnerable students in public schools. An attorney for then-teacher’s aide Talia Sabo said she was acting in self-defense against the teenager, who was a student at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek at the time of the May 2008 incident.

“He was being very aggressive,” said the lawyer, Maidenly Macaluso. She said the chair fell out of Sabo’s hand and was not thrown.

More than 3,000 children diagnosed with some form of autism are enrolled in Broward’s public schools. In Palm Beach, the figure is 1,850. Those who are high-functioning display symptoms that might go unnoticed by a casual observer. Low-functioning students struggle with basic communication and socialization skills.

Helping them with small achievements, like completing a sentence, and greater achievements, like passing the FCAT, can be equally rewarding, say those who work closely with autistic children.

“Most of the time they are extremely sweet,” said Christie Black, a teacher at Allamanda Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens, which has more than 80 students in the autism spectrum. “There are a lot of behaviors that are unique to each child. You can’t really pigeonhole them.”

But sometimes the children’s behavior can be volatile, Black and other experts agreed.

“I have had students who have hurt themselves, who have lashed out at others out of frustration,” Black said. “How you handle it depends on the severity, who else is around, is it directed at the teacher or at another student. If the child has reasoning ability, you try to reason. There’s no one right answer.”

But there is more than one wrong answer, said Gary Grigull, curriculum supervisor for autism spectrum disorder for Broward County schools. Teachers and aides who resort to yelling or physical responses are more likely to intensify an outburst.

“The primary goal is to de-escalate the situation,” said Grigull. “But before that, the focus is to prevent the situation from getting volatile in the first place.”

He said teachers and aides are trained to look for cues that indicate an autistic child’s behavior is about to become problematic. The cues are different for each child.

The aides who follow some autistic students from classroom to classroom in mainstream middle and high school settings are typically not college graduates and not well-paid, Grigull said. “It’s one of the hardest jobs. The pay is not high. But in many ways they are the lifeblood of what we do for autistic children in the classroom.”

Sabo was on the job at Monarch High School from Feb. 2007 to October 2008, when she resigned amid the accusations raised by the student in her care. She was earning about $13,000 a year in the full-time job.

According to the lawsuit, Sabo complained to school administrators about her assignment, calling him “gross” and “crazy” in front of the boy and in front of teachers. Then came the incident with the chair.

The boy’s lawyers, Leonel Plasencia and Paul Sopp, said the aide was being sued for inflicting distress and the Broward school district was being sued for failing to provide adequate training to Sabo.

Grigull said teachers are trained to handle autistic and other special needs students as part of their undergraduate and graduate education. Specialized behavioral management training is also offered to teachers and to aides throughout the year. Palm Beach offers similar training for teachers and aides.

The lawsuit was settled last year, with the school district agreeing to pay $25,000. But a guardian ad-litem for the boy determined in December that the settlement, which included attorney’s fees, was not in the boy’s best interest.

“I think $25,000 is far too low” to compensate the boy for what he allegedly suffered, said the guardian, Matthew Scott, in a federal court filing.

The case was reopened and is pending in federal court. School officials declined to discuss an open case.

Source

The retreat, which features a one-acre lake, hiking trails and barnyard animals, gives autistic children a unique opportunity enjoy the outdoors in serenity, Moore said.

Children can pet and feed miniature horses, donkeys, goats, dogs and chickens at the retreat.

“There’s a bond that takes place there. It’s amazing,” Moore said. “A lot of times, instead of the kid going out and picking out a horse, a horse will actually come to the kid.”

Kids can also play on the retreat’s playground, which features a balance beam, a sand pile, a play house, and a water slide.

Full story at Jacksonville Progress.

Mimi Lundell, an educator and parent of a son, Chase, with autism, co-founded The Chase Academy with fellow-educator Amy Filson. The school, now in its second year, is at 908 Beville Road in Daytona Beach.

The Chase Academy will receive special event marketing support from the federation chapter.

Locally, their mainstreaming camp for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Camp Coast (Children on the Autism Spectrum Together), is a mission accomplished, thankfully, through donations from the community.