Items 1 through 12 have been deleted, since they are primarily for families
living in Virginia and Maryland, and I did not want to send useless
information to the folks in the rest of the country. However, please let me
know if you live in Virginia, Maryland or DC; so that I can add you to my
private email distribution list for events in those states.


13. "Sibling pairs and autism" dated 6 June 2006 by Ellen-Beth Fullwood,
LPN from ADVANCE Newsmagazines at
<http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/common/editorials
earch/printerfriendly.aspx?AN=SP_05jun6_spp10.html&AD=06-06-2005>
http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/common/editorialse
arch/printerfriendly.aspx?AN=SP_05jun6_spp10.html&AD=06-06-2005.

"I have seven children, one of whom has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by impairments in social
interactions and communication skills. Both the American Psychiatric
Association and the World Health Organization consider the impairment in
social skills to be a defining aspect of autism.1,2 As a result of these
deficits, children with ASD have a hard time with relationships, familial or
otherwise. I worry about what the future holds for my son Ilon, who has
ASD. I also am concerned about the impact his special needs are having on
his siblings. They share rooms, toys, TV and time; but one has trouble with
play interactions. Six children will back away rather than fight Ilon for
the computer or PlayStation. The other children will allow him to join their
games but rarely ask to join him in his solitary games or invite him along
to a friend's house. They also rarely invite friends to our house,
preferring to play elsewhere. Typically developing siblings of children
with disabilities tend to keep thoughts and feelings private.3,4 A higher
rate of depression and other psychiatric illness also are seen.5 Greater
peer problems and increased adjustment difficulties among siblings of
children with ASD are predictable.6,7 Decreased intimacy between siblings,
when one has an ASD, and a lack of nurturance by the affected sibling are
problematic as well.8 These issues are not surprising given the social
deficits present in the disorder. I have noticed some of these effects in
my household. One of my daughters has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder
I, and two other children have received psychological treatment for
adjustment difficulties and depression. While the children seem closer to
each other than other groups of siblings in the neighborhood, there is still
a lack of emotional intimacy in the house. Siblings of children with ASD
are reluctant to invite friends to their home.9 They may feel embarrassed or
stigmatized by their sibling, although this is less true in larger
families.3,5,8,10 Frustration with the demands of having a sibling with
special needs and loss of time for individual pursuits are relatively
unavoidable sequella of having a sibling with ASD.4,5,7,9,11 When a child
with autism and a typically developing sibling who is close in age were
tracked for 60 minutes, they remained together for 42 minutes on average and
interacted for 28 percent of their available time, research has shown. While
this was considerably less than the comparison dyads where one sibling had
Down syndrome, it was still a surprising percentage of time considering the
social and communicative deficits of ASD. The autistic dyads had positive
interactions 40 percent to 50 percent of the time and chose a wide range of
activities.12 ..."

14. "Parents of special-needs kids plan for life after high school Want to
go?" dated 24 September 2006 from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star at
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/092006/09242006/222674
<http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/092006/09242006/222674> .

"Debbie Fults thought she knew what was in store for her son, Derek: a
lifetime of living with his parents, days at a program for adults with
disabilities. When Derek was about 17, she discovered he had other plans:
to live on his own and have a job. But Derek has multiple disabilities,
including cerebral palsy. He moves in a wheelchair and can use only one
hand. Was his dream even a possibility? Luckily for Derek, transition
methods were changing. Previously, teachers and administrators looked at
what was practical or feasible for a special-ed student after schooling
ended. About 10 years ago, they began to look first at what the student
wanted. The new method referred to the future as a path. Looking back,
Fults said Derek's path is an example of a successful transition. ..."

15. "Ed tech has proven effective- But more needs to be done for technology
to reach its full potential in schools" dated 28 September 2006 by Laura
Ascione from eSchool News at
http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6600
<http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6600> .

"An analysis of existing ed-tech research offers both good and bad news for
advocates of educational technology: Although technology has had a positive
impact on education so far, more dedication to research, implementation, and
development is needed for technology to realize its full potential as a
teaching and learning tool. That's the conclusion, anyway, of "Technology
in Schools: What the Research Says," a new meta-study--or study of
studies--on the use and effectiveness of classroom technologies. Produced by
Cisco Systems and the Metiri Group, the report summarizes general trends and
representative studies in areas such as television and video use,
calculators, engagement devices such as interactive whiteboards, portable or
handheld devices, virtual learning, in-school computing, and one-to-one
computing. The report aims to provide educators with sound data about
technological innovations that researchers say are working. Its goal is to
help school leaders make better decisions about technology investments.
"Contrary to popular belief, much is now known about the effect of
technology on learning and teaching in primary and secondary schools," the
report says, adding that technology does provide a "small, but significant,"
increase in learning across all uses and in all content areas when
implemented "with fidelity." For example, a review of research literature
published in 2004 by the British Educational and Communications Technology
Agency (BECTA) found that the use of simulations and modeling in the natural
sciences resulted in increased learning and retention by students. A
meta-analysis conducted by Boston College on writing with word processors
across the curriculum found that students using these electronic tools wrote
significantly more, received earlier interventions by teachers, and wrote
higher quality work than students in comparison groups. And a 2003 study of
California middle-school students found that, when compared with a control
group, students using laptop computers significantly outscored students in
conventional classrooms in math and language arts. But close attention to
areas such as leadership development, professional development for teachers,
and curricular design is needed to ensure the full benefits of technology
implementation, the report warns. ..."

16. "Tests to reveal ASBO babies" dated 28 September 2006 by Louise Gray
from The Scotsman (UK) at
<http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1433462006>
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1433462006.

"A TEN-minute test which identifies babies at risk of developing antisocial
behaviour has been created by Scottish scientists. The psychological test,
designed for women with children under six months of age, will enable health
workers to pick out mothers who are failing to bond properly with their
child. International studies have shown that such babies are at
significantly increased risk of having borderline personality disorder as
teenagers. Researchers said the tests would enable health workers to target
mothers who needed more support. But children's groups were cautious of
using any test that could "stigmatise" young mothers. The tests, developed
by the Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory at Heriot-Watt
University and funded by the Scottish Executive's Centre for Integrated
Healthcare Research, come amid increasing pressure on ministers to tackle
antisocial behaviour. The research is broadly in line with an announcement
by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, stating families in deprived areas who
are more likely to face problems should be identified earlier and given
support - a move quickly labelled as "baby ASBOs". The Scottish researchers
are to pilot the tests with 70 mothers in deprived areas in Fife in
November. The next step in the research is to look at the most successful
interventions for mothers with problems. Eventually it is hoped the results
will be used by health visitors, most likely in the highest 20 per cent of
deprived areas. The new test works in two stages: first, the mother is
given a ten-minute psychological questionnaire on her own personality to
assess how she will relate to her own child. If mothers are judged to be at
risk then videotaping her with her child can be the next stage.
Psychologists then "code" the tape to assess the health of the relationship.
Dr Bjarne Holmes, the psychologist who is leading the research, said a
child's mind is developing in the first 18 months of life but becomes more
fixed after the age of two, and so it is essential to ensure the mother
develops a healthy relationship. "At such an important developmental time,
a mother or caregiver can buffer the negative effects of adversity on the
infant by providing consistent, loving and nurturing care and being
responsive to the infant in times of need," he said. ..."

17. "How your baby goes from 'Da-Da' to Daddy- Innovative research sheds
light on how babies learn how to talk" dated 28 September 2006 by Robert
Bazell from MSNBC at <http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15051687/>
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15051687/.

"It is one of the great wonders of humanity: A baby hears parents and others
talking and learns to speak. Now, with parents volunteering their infants,
researchers at the University of Washington are learning just what happens
in the babies' brain to make that miracle unfold. A cap with electrodes on
the baby's head painlessly records signals from the brain's nerve cells. It
all happens in a sound-proof room, on mom's lap, with one of the researchers
working to keep the child happy. The scientists play sounds like "Ba" and
"Da" - key components of language. As the child recognizes them, the
machines record the brain pattern. "This is a technological tour de force,"
says Dr. Patricia Kuhl, who heads the project. "If you take a newborn - a
six-monther and a 12-monther - dramatic changes are happening in the brain."
First, trillions of new nerve connections form in the part of the brain
called Wernicke's Area, which is responsible for speech recognition. A few
months later, neurons come alive in Broca's Area, the part responsible for
speech. "It's as though Broca's Area is saying, 'Oh, I recognize that. It's
something that my mouth, and tongue, and lips can produce,'" says Kuhl. The
research has revealed that there can be enormous variation in how quickly
the young brains respond. Researchers hope that by discovering how babies
normally acquire language, they'll learn how to intervene if something is
wrong and the process is not going properly. This could lead to better
interventions to prevent autism, dyslexia and other problems. But already
it has reinforced what every parent knows - that the more you talk and read
to your child - the faster the brain develops language."

18. "Smoking in pregnancy harms infant immune system" dated 28 September
2006 from Reuters at
<http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/09/28/eline/links/20060928elin013
.html>
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/09/28/eline/links/20060928elin013.
html.

" <http://www.reutershealth.com/wellconnected/doc41.html> Smoking during
pregnancy can affect the baby's immune system which may explain why asthma
and respiratory problems are more common in children whose mothers smoke,
Australian scientists said in a study on Thursday. Babies of
<http://www.reutershealth.com/wellconnected/doc41.html> smokers are more
likely to suffer from respiratory infections than children of non-smokers
but until now it has not been clear why. The scientists said it may be due
to changes to biological receptors in the baby's immune system that are
responsible for recognising and fighting infections and bacteria. "This is
the first prospective study to examine the effect of smoking during
pregnancy in terms of these aspects of newborn innate immune function," said
Paul Noakes of the University of Western Australia in Perth. The
researchers, who reported the findings in the European Respiratory Journal,
compared 60 newborn babies whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy and 62
other infants born to non-smokers or women who had quit. They measured the
expression of several signaling compounds in the immune system linked to
specific cell receptors known as TLRs in the infants. In the babies of
mothers who smoked, they discovered impaired production of two compounds,
interleukin-6 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a). "We were focusing
on the innate, or congenital, immune system. This provides protection until
the baby develops an acquired immune system, which becomes increasingly
powerful through contact with new antigens," said Susan Prescott, who also
worked on the study. The researchers said the findings show that foetal
exposure to cigarette smoke is associated with changes that both weaken
innate immune defenses and slow the development of the acquired immune
system."

19. "MMR jab take-up increases" dated 29 September 2006 by Jane Kirby from
The Independent (UK) at
<http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1771860.ece>
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1771860.ece.

"The number of children being given the controversial MMR jab has risen
slightly in the past year. In 2005-06, 84 per cent of two-year-olds in
England had the MMR jab, up from 81 per cent in 2004-05. Figures from the
Information Centre for Health and Social Care showed a rise for the second
year running. But they are still down on the 92 per cent peak 10 years ago.
Uptake of the MMR jab fell to 80 per cent in 1998 after scientists, writing
in The Lancet medical journal, linked it to autism. Numerous studies have
failed to show correlation. Figures for the combined diphtheria, tetanus
and polio jab showed an uptake of 94 per cent, which has stayed steady for
the past five years. But that marks a fall from 96 per cent in 1995, the
Centre said. Uptake of the jabs for whooping cough (pertussis) and
Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) have changed little over the past decade,
remaining about 94 per cent. Rates for childhood immunisations are similar
across the regions, apart from London, where take-up is lower for all
vaccinations. The uptake of the flu jab among over-65s has also gone up from
71 per cent last year to 75 per cent this year. Highest uptake was in Avon,
Gloucestershire and Wiltshire where 78 per cent of seniors had the jab; the
lowest rate of 68 per cent was in south-east London."

20. "Autistic boy named homecoming king" dated 29 September 2006 by Andrea
Falkenhagen from the East Valley Tribune at
<http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=75337>
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=75337.

"Spencer Allen, a 17-year old Mesa boy with autism, was crowned Mountain
View High School's 2006 homecoming king Friday night, as cheers filled the
Toros' stadium. His friend, Samir Patel, called the Tribune from his cell
phone after the football game's halftime with the news: "Spencer won!!"
Many of Allen's friends, from Mountain View and other schools, as well as
his large family, attended the homecoming game to show their support. Allen
gained popularity among the school's student body with his outgoing
personality that puts everybody at ease, said his mother, Jackie Allen.
Autism is a developmental disorder that impairs a person's communication and
social skills. Jackie Allen said her son has helped many of his classmates
better understand and accept children with autism. Spencer Allen told the
Tribune this week that his classmates view him as a witty guy. "When
there's a party," he said, "I'm usually the force behind it."

21. "Parents, advocates urge higher education goals" dated 30 September
2006 from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star at
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/092006/09302006/225843
<http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/092006/09302006/225843> .

"Artina Brown said her daughter's chronic health problems have forced her to
miss weeks of school each year and remain at home with no lessons or contact
with any of her teachers. Her daughter, now a freshman at Petersburg High
School, never got the word processor and software she needed to keep up with
schoolwork while she was homebound because the school system couldn't afford
it. In middle school, she and other special-needs students "sat in the back
of the class doing puzzles and drawing pictures" while other students were
taught by a regular teacher, Brown said. The Petersburg woman was one of
hundreds of parents, guidance counselors, advocates and others who testified
at hearings across Virginia this month or sent comments to the Department of
Education about the state's Standards of Quality, minimum educational
objectives mandated by the state constitution. Such measures include school
staffing, accreditation and testing and graduation requirements and are up
for revision every two years. The Board of Education will review the
comments before proposing changes to the standards, which drive about 85
percent of the state's funding for public K-12 education, Department of
Education spokesman Charles Pyle said. The General Assembly then will act on
the board's recommendations in its upcoming session. Brown, who says her
child lacks basic educational skills, urged the state to raise the minimum
educational standards "to ensure that all children with special needs get a
high-quality education and that school staff get much needed support to do a
better job on behalf of these children." In addition to enhanced services
for students with disabilities, speakers have asked for school specialists
to help students get up to speed on math and for more services for students
who are non-native English speakers, a growing population in Virginia.
Guidance counselors have asked the state to require schools to hire testing
coordinators to alleviate the burden of administering standardized tests,
which takes time away from advising students. In Petersburg, parents say
their children's needs are dire, as two city schools persistently have
failed to make progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law, which
seeks to have all children, regardless of race, poverty or disability,
proficient in reading and math by 2014 and requires schools to show annual
progress in test scores. Also, four schools failed to gain state
accreditation, based on their inability to pass Standards or Learning exams.
Now, parents and advocates hope the General Assembly, through the Standards
of Quality, will set the bar higher for local school divisions, including
increasing teacher pay, lowering teacher-to-student ratios and adjusting for
inequities in resources among school divisions by giving more funding to
poor schools to support programs that target at-risk students. ..."

22. "New breed of vaccines raises new ethical questions" dated 1 October
2006 by Ronald Kotulak from the Chicago Tribune at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0610010368oct01,1,3231906
.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0610010368oct01,1,323190
6.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed> .

"Though people who want to lose weight or break their addiction to
cigarettes or drugs may welcome the new breed of vaccines, the breakthrough
also raises ethical questions. What if parents want their children to be
inoculated in order to prevent them from getting fat or starting to smoke?
Should vaccination be forced on pregnant addicts to protect the developing
fetus? Should judges make use of a cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine
vaccine a condition for more lenient sentences for convicted drug addicts?
Would the obesity vaccine become the latest diet drug, used over and over by
people wanting to lose a few pounds? "I can envision a well-meaning parent
who drives her 13-year-old to the pediatrician's office and says inoculate
him against nicotine and cocaine," said Christine Hartel, director of the
National Academy of Sciences' Center for Studies of Behavior and
Development. "And since we don't know the long-term effects of repeated
injections of a vaccine, that would be a big problem. I don't think the FDA
would approve these vaccines for that kind of use." In a 2004 report, the
academy lauded the development of anti-addiction vaccines but cautioned that
"enthusiasm for the new medications should not obscure the fact that fully
informed and voluntary consent is necessary under any and all
circumstances." The pressure to vaccinate children against addictions, just
as they are now vaccinated against measles and other infections, is expected
to increase if the vaccines prove to be safe and get better at providing
protection, said Laurie Zoloft, director of the center for bioethics,
science and society at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine. But addiction, she added, is coming to be understood more as a
disease than a vice, and those vaccines could be an appropriate way to fight
it. "The reality is we have these addiction problems and they're not going
away," said neuroscientist Margaret Haney of Columbia University Medical
School. In a preliminary study, Haney found that an experimental cocaine
vaccine developed by the United Kingdom's Celtic Pharma reduced the euphoric
effect of crack cocaine by 70 percent in heavy users. ..."

23. "Need to quit a bad habit? There could soon be a vaccine to help" dated
1 October 2006 by Ronald Kotulak from the Chicago Tribune at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003283451_vaccine01.html
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003283451_vaccine01.html
> .

"Vaccines, the most potent medical weapon devised to vanquish deadly germs,
are being called on to do something different and culturally revolutionary:
inoculate people against bad habits such as overeating, cigarette smoking
and drug use. Whether this new era of vaccine research can subdue many of
the poor lifestyle choices that are today's biggest threats to health -
causing obesity, cancer, heart disease and other problems - has yet to be
proved. But the evidence is promising enough to persuade the federal
government to put millions of dollars toward finding out if two of the
vaccines can end nicotine and cocaine addiction. The National Institute on
Drug Abuse, which has spent $15 million on clinical trials for the vaccines
and plans to spend more, predicts that one of the nicotine vaccines may be
available for marketing in three years. "The American Cancer Society has
projected that we will have 1 billion people die from smoking in the world
in this century," said Frank Vocci, director of medications development for
the institute. "If you had a vaccine that helped people quit and stay quit,
or prevent them from smoking, that's where you'd get the greatest
public-health benefit." Meanwhile, results from a major obesity-vaccine
trial in Switzerland are expected this year. The vaccine could be ready for
use in a few years. To tamp out deleterious behavior, the new vaccines
employ the body's immune system in an innovative way. Instead of building
antibodies to destroy germs as traditional vaccines do, they construct
antibodies that lock onto nicotine and cocaine molecules, preventing them
from reaching the brain. "What we're seeing is a renaissance in vaccine
technology," said Dr. Gary Nabel, director of the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Vaccine Research Center. "It's only natural
that when you have a technology that's this powerful it can be applied to
other medical problems." Normally, nicotine and cocaine molecules are too
small to be seen by the immune system. So to make the vaccines, scientists
attach these molecules to big target proteins, such as harmless viruses or
bacteria, which the immune system can recognize and attack with specialized
antibodies. When the person later smokes a cigarette or takes cocaine, the
antibodies wrap up and neutralize the molecules before they can trigger
feelings of euphoria and pleasure in the brain. Smokers and cocaine users
given the vaccines say their pleasure is diminished or they no longer get as
high, which decreases the desire for the drug. ..."


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