In case you miss any of these email over the last year, they are all
archived in the Military Family Network at
<http://www.emilitary.org/forums/index.php?showforum=664>
http://www.emilitary.org/forums/index.php?showforum=664 and also at the
POAC-NoVA website of
<http://www.poac-nova.org/base.cgim?template=news_and_events>
http://www.poac-nova.org/base.cgim?template=news_and_events.


1. Deleted.

2. Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free
electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg,
invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and
related technologies today. http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:About
<BLOCKED::http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:About>

3. EdRes.org- the largest site on the web devoted to providing free access
to full-text educational reports, papers, and journal articles. Our query
system is unique, designed to efficiently meet your needs. This is a
database of full-text resources from on-line journals, the ERIC database,
and web-pages containing research reports. As of October 6, 2006, there are
1,300 journal articles and 108,000 research reports and other documents in
the database. http://edres.org/ <http://edres.org/>

4. CEC Briefs Compare the 2004 IDEA Regulations to the 1997 IDEA
Regulations and Include CEC Comments and Analysis. CEC is pleased to present
briefs comparing selected significant issues from the IDEA 2004 final
regulations with those from the IDEA 1997 regulations. These side-by-side
briefs also contain critical CEC analysis and comments from both CEC's
recommendations to the IDEA 2004 proposed regulations and U.S. Department of
Education discussions. CEC members can access Set 1 of these briefs online
now for FREE! Sets 1 and 2 will be combined into one publication and posted
for CEC members to download free on October 18. Non-members and members will
also be able to order
<http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/IDEAResources
/adsidebysideandworkshop2.pdf> and purchase this publication as a bound
volume on October 18. For more information, click here
<http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/IDEAResources
/default.htm> or go to
http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/IDEAResources/
default.htm
<http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/IDEAResources
/default.htm> . If you are not a member of CEC, you can preview
<http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/IDEAResources
/IEPs.pdf> the issue brief on IEPs for free before you purchase. Register to
be notified when Set 1 and Set 2 are made available for ordering and
purchase as one bound volume. Click
<http://www.cec.sped.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyAdvocacy/IDEAResources
/default.htm> here for more details.

5.
<http://www.ednews.org/sendsmail/users/link.php?UserID=3917&Newsletter=14&Li
st=1&LinkType=Send&LinkID=144> NCLB and IDEA: What Parents of Students with
Disabilities Need to Know & Do at
<http://education.umn.edu/nceo/OnlinePubs/Parents.pdf> http://education.
umn.edu/nceo/ OnlinePubs/ Parents.pdf. This guide from the National Center
for Educational Outcomes informs parents of students with disabilities about
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), two of the most important federal laws relating to
public education. - Written by Candace Cortiella for the National Center
for Educational Outcomes. In collaboration with Council of State School
Officers and National Association of State Directors of Special Education.
Supported by U.S. Office of Special Education Programs.

6. The new and improved model procedural safeguards document for Virginia
is on the web at http://www.doe.
<http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Sped/proc_safe.pdf>
virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Sped/proc_safe.pdf.

7. The ATWiki, an encyclopedia on assistive technology -
<http://join.buddywalk.org/site/R?i=1MIqo3fcNvehCZWWVQSWAQ..>
http://atwiki.assistivetech.net/ATWiki_Home.

8. Homework Can Help Parents Learn About Their Children. Homework is not
usually thought of as a fun activity. But, parents can help make homework a
more pleasant experience. First, parents can give children time to unwind
after school before they start doing homework. Parents can also consider
rewarding their child for good work, for example, letting the child decide
what they want to bring for lunch the next day. Remember that if you reward
good work, there should be penalties for not doing homework. Parents can
also experiment with creative ways to find out their child's learning style.
Some children learn best though visual aids, such as flash cards or graphic
illustration of concepts. Some students respond to sound, such as singing or
rhyming, to memorize ideas or recall what they've learned. You may find that
your child learns best using "manipulatives," which are objects such as
building blocks that are held or moved. Some children learn kinetically,
which means it's easiest for them to learn if they move. Finally, there are
a couple keys to helping your child with homework. First, do not give your
child the answers or correct all their homework mistakes. The key is for the
child to find the answers and work through the problems. Parents can step in
for assistance when the child does not understand or needs someone to
practice with. The best thing a parent can do is to offer support and
encouragement. Visit the Student
<http://www.pta.org/pr_category_details_1122916501015.html> Achievement area
of the PTA website for more information about improving your child's schools
success.

9. Info on the Electronic Time Tracker that allows individuals to visually
see how much time they have left by looking at the lighted sections (red,
yellow, green.) You can use the auto programmed settings or manually
program it for the visual cues as well as auditory cues (clock ticking,
"times up" sound, buzzer, etc.). For further information, go to
<BLOCKED::http://www.learningresources.com/product/id/100121/100122/100132/1
00136/104665.do?KickerID=100259&KICKER>
http://www.learningresources.com/product/id/100121/100122/100132/100136/1046
65.do?KickerID=100259&KICKER.

10. October 3, 2006 proclamation by President George W. Bush in recognition
of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This information has
recently been updated, and is - now available. -
http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFolde
rId=10
<http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFold
erId=10> .

11. Canadian Broadcasting Corp's TV Satire on the Flu vaccine from the
Royal Canadian Air Farce show provides a dose of reality about the flu
vaccine at <BLOCKED::http://tinyurl.com/lh2ws> http://tinyurl.com/lh2ws.

12. "New vest offers wearer a portable hug- Help seen for the anxious,
autistic" dated 9 October 2006 by Joan Axelrod-Contrad from the Boston Globe
at
<http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/10/09/new_vest_offe
rs_wearer_a_portable_hug/>
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/10/09/new_vest_offer
s_wearer_a_portable_hug/.

"Everyone knows that a vest can be a life preserver. But can a vest also
keep people from feeling adrift on land? Yes, say researchers in the
engineering department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst who
have designed a vest that gives the wearer a hug, offering a sense of
security to people with autism or high anxiety. Unlike some therapeutic
vests on the market that use weights, the UMass vest uses air pressure,
making it lighter and more adjustable. Weighted blankets and vests have
been used for several years, offshoots of the original ``hug machine"
designed by Temple Grandin, who wrote the book, ``Thinking in Pictures and
Other Reports from My Life with Autism." Most suppliers of weighted vests
provide only anecdotal evidence that they work. ``There hasn't been any
scientific study on `why does it work, what makes it work, is it safe and
effective,' " said professor Sundar Krishnamurty. His research team is
working to change all that. They will be testing their pressure vest on some
30 students and 30 psychiatric patients. Meanwhile, they're working to
publish the results of their research on weighted blankets. The vest is
being developed as hospitals and treatment centers move away from the use of
physical restraints. ``The use of restraint and seclusion is really a
treatment failure," said Toby Fisher, executive director of the
Massachusetts chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. ``We're
open to any kind of treatment that works and that the public receives
benefit from." Tina Champagne, an occupational therapist on the research
team, offers weighted blankets to patients on the psychiatric unit at the
Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton so they can calm themselves, making
physical restraint unnecessary. ``Some patients ask for them," said
Champagne. She sees the advantage of the air-pressure vest as being
wearable. UMass students created the vest by cutting off the sleeves of a
jacket and attaching an inner body of air bladders connected to an electric
air pump. They're currently refining the design. The UMass team has already
conducted three studies of the effectiveness of weighted blankets. Graduate
student Brian Mullen, 24, of Dedham, decided to measure anxiety by
subjecting volunteers at UMass to one of the most nerve-racking experiences
he knows: driving through a tunnel in Boston traffic. The volunteers
battled traffic via the UMass driving simulator and afterward found the
weighted blankets relaxing. In another study, 76 percent of patients at
Cooley Dickinson Hospital responded favorably to a weighted blanket.
Testing of the vest is scheduled to begin later this month. Researchers will
use two measures: a questionnaire to gauge whether the vest makes volunteers
feel more relaxed and a skin reading used in lie detector tests to quantify
the physiological response. For researchers like Mullen, the experience has
been an eye-opener. ``When I went into engineering, I thought I'd make the
next Ferrari or a plane or something," he said. ``Then I found that there's
this whole field of designing real cool stuff for people in need."

13. "Why Hawaii Public Schools are Failing- A Perspective from Inside the
Walls of a Local Public School" dated 10 October 2006 by John A. Epstein
from the Hawaii Reporter at
<http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?ed44833b-3504-4b84-953a-6d2e7238bf
05>
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?ed44833b-3504-4b84-953a-6d2e7238bf0
5.

"I have just resigned my position as a special education teacher in the
Sophomore Academy Inclusion Team at James Campbell High School (JCHS).
After a short 9-week tenure at JCHS, I am sharing many observations and
experiences as to what may be at the heart of the problem of this and other
failing Hawaii schools. As a brief background, I returned to Hawaii as a
member of the Teach For America organization. I have also resigned from
their program. My comments and opinions represent my views. As a side note,
my three young children attend public school in Kapolei, so I am a proponent
of public education when and where it is able to work effectively. Here is
a synopsis of what occurred at JCHS, not necessarily in chronological order:



* As a first year, non-certified special education teacher, I was
under the impression departmental assistance, training, and
policies/procedures would be an essential part of my transition into JCHS.
Sadly,this was not the case and there was only training on how to use the
computer program.

* ...

* The caseload of special needs students I was assigned had every one
of their IEP documentation out of compliance with the Federal Government's
requirements. When I raised my concern over this issue, I was told I was to
either just "fudge" in the missing data, or ignore it because it didn't
occur while I was the IEP care coordinator. The missing data is not only
required, but is an essential element in constructing annual IEP goals for
each special needs student. I also had concerns regarding the school's
exposure to due process with these cases. My personal and professional moral
compass would not allow me to follow such directions. ..."


14. "Special education retooled- Flint district takes new look at serving
students with needs" dated 11 October 2006 by Melissa Burden from The Flint
Journal at
<http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-39/116057649926092
0.xml&coll=5>
http://www.mlive.com/news/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-39/1160576499260920
.xml&coll=5.

"Amid crowding and cases of academic incompatibility and social clashes, the
school district is backing off from a "push-in" of many special-education
students into regular classrooms. Some of the students already have moved
back to self-contained classrooms. The reversals - which are ongoing -
follow complaints from the Flint teachers union and many parents. Max Coon
Jr., a special-education intervention teacher and union representative at
Southwestern Academy who workswith special education students in
general-education classes, said eight to 10 special-education students per
class were brought into general-education classes in the lower grades at
Southwestern. "What resulted was an overcrowding of the regular ed
classrooms along with the push-in of the special needs children," Coon said.
"We have children wandering the halls not wanting to go to class." He said
he recently found one special-ed seventh-grader crying in a restroom. He
said the boy did not want to go to class because the other students teased
him. And another student with whom Coon works has a kindergarten reading
level, but is mandated by district curriculum to work in seventh-grade
curriculum books, Coon said. "You don't want to set up a child for failure
and that's the bottom line," said Steve Burroughs, president of the United
Teachers of Flint. Part of Superintendent Walter Milton Jr.'s reform plan
called for integrating the majority of the district's special-education
students into general-education classes. But now, the district is opening
up self-contained classrooms in some kindergarten- through sixth-grade
buildings and has already moved some students, said Sonya James, the
district's executive director of elementary education. ..."

15. "Congressman Accused Of Delaying Autism Legislation" dated 11 October
2006 by Jack Fink from CBS11 news at
<http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_284232316.html>
http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_284232316.html.

"A powerful North Texas congressman is being accused of delaying legislation
that could help tens of thousands of families with autistic children. "It's
an outrage" says Tom Damura, an Arlington father whose 19-year-old daughter,
Christina, has autism. Damura is one of many parents nationwide who accuse
republican Congressman Joe Barton, of Ennis, the powerful chairman of the
house energy and commerce committee, of holding up a bill the senate passed
that would increase and improve autism research. "There's nothing
controversial about this bill... it's a public health bill," Damura said.
Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability that affects the
normal development of the brain. It affects a child's social interaction,
communication skills, and other functions. Government statistics show the
number of autism cases involving people between 6 and 22 years of age rose
by 805 percent... from 15,580 cases in 1992 to 163,773 cases in 2003. For
his part, Barton says he supports most of the senate bill. "There's
certainly no question there's a need for more research into autism, which
I'm very supportive of. We're not anti-autism in the house. Again, I
understand the frustration the parents and grandparents have." Barton wants
the senate autism bill to be a part of his bill the house passed to reform
the National Institutes of Health. That federal agency oversees the nation's
medical research. Barton says his bill would take the politics out of the
process and create a common fund where research grants would compete and get
money from all the institutes. According to the congressman his efforts
would likely help autism gain more research funding, but he says, "What I'm
not willing to do is create a system where autism plays by a different set
of rules than everyone else." Barton says he's concerned about a provision
in the senate bill that would create additional centers of excellence for
autism research. The congressman believes the National Institutes of Health
should do a better job with the centers they already have. "If they're not
doing a good job with the 21 they have today, why would eight more make a
difference?" Damura worries Barton's bill will end up slashing autism
funding. "The bill is to combat autism, it's not to reform NIH. If he wants
to do that he still has his bill," Damura said. Congressman Barton says the
two sides are not far apart and he's confident they'll be able to pass
legislation the autism community is happy with by the time this session of
congress ends in December."

16. "Ped Med: Autism rates hinge on definition" dated 11 October 2006 by
LIDIA WASOWICZ from United Press International at
<http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20061011-123918-268
3r>
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20061011-123918-2683
r.

"At its most basic level, part of the debate over the cause and consequence
of the climbing numbers of autism diagnoses among America's young centers on
bookkeeping. Defining, documenting and recording cases in systematic and
consistent fashion over the years, and decades, is a key step for properly
accounting for current trends -- and even more importantly for correctly
calculating the deposits to be made, in research, education, services and
funding, to cover the growing costs of these youngsters' special needs. One
of the most glaring items left blank in the ledger comes under the heading
of prevalence. While the accuracy of statistics of affected children is
steadily improving, the figures are missing a historical context. As one
challenge, it was not until 1980 that the official criteria for identifying
autism made it into the official handbook of mental disorders used to make a
diagnosis. Before that year, scientists say, estimates of autism prevalence
were based on little more than the conceptions of individual clinicians or
researchers, which fluctuated with the size of the population sampled and
manner of identification used. More recent years also have seen little
stability in the diagnostic criteria, which -- just as in the case of
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression and other mental
illnesses -- have loosened up over time. Thus, the 1980 requirement of "a
pervasive lack of responsiveness to other people" has been relaxed to a
requisite for only "a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment,
interests, or achievements with other people." Likewise, the criterion of
"gross deficits in language development" 14 years later became the more
inclusive difficulty to "sustain a conversation with others." Whereas the
1980 autism definition comprised only two diagnostic categories --
"infantile autism" and "childhood onset pervasive developmental disorder" --
the 1994 version swelled to five "pervasive developmental disorders," the
scientific jargon for autism spectrum disorders, that range in severity from
having little speech and few daily-living skills to functioning well in most
settings. Three of these connote what is commonly called autism: the severe
autistic disorder, the much milder Asperger's syndrome, and the
tongue-tripping "pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified,"
PDDNOS in doctors' shorthand, which lumps together children who show
symptoms but do not meet the criteria of either of the other two conditions.
The two remaining members of the group -- both rare but severe -- push the
reverse button on development. Unlike the other four syndromes that affect
some four times as many boys as girls, the hereditary Rett's disorder --
named after Australian doctor Andreas Rett who identified it in 1965 -- is
almost entirely restricted to females. Most boys with Rett's die before
birth. The syndrome, caused by a defective gene on the X chromosome,
emerges sometime between six months and 18 months in an estimated one in
10,000 to 15,000 girls, eating away at muscle tone and wreaking neurological
havoc. What up until then appears to be normal development halts and
retreats. The toddler begins rejecting parents and peers, ceasing to speak
if she was already talking, losing control of her feet, wringing and waving
her hands, suffering seizures and developing an awkward gait, according to
the diagnostic manual. In similar fashion, "childhood disintegrative
disorder," which makes its appearance as early as age 2 or as late as age
10, erases many of the social, language and cognitive skills the child has
acquired. These may include speaking, relating to others, engaging in
make-believe play, and controlling the bowel and bladder. Unlike ADHD,
which is most likely to be first noted by teachers, initial autism detection
usually falls to parents. ..."

17. "Small spill, big reaction" dated 11 October 2006 by Jeff Kolkey from
the ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR at
http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/NEWS03/310110001
<http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/NEWS03/310110001>
.

"School is in session Thursday at Kennedy Middle School, a day after an old,
leaky wall thermometer forced about 750 shoeless students to be evacuated
today. The teacher discovered the possibly antique, up to 3-foot-long and
broken thermometer behind a cabinet in a storage closet Tuesday. Schools
were closed Tuesday for a teachers institute. Tne health official was told
that about a tablespoon of mercury might have dripped out of the
thermometer. School went on as usual today until state health officials
arrived midafternoon and advised the school to dismiss students early -
without their shoes. Shoes were bagged and piled high in the school's
lobby. Principal Theresa Kallstrom said students should get their shoes
back after they are tested for traces of mercury as a safety precaution. "I
think it's been handled well, and we are taking every precaution for the
safety of staff and students," Kallstrom said. A Chicago-based firm that
specializes in testing for hazardous materials such as mercury arrived about
5 p.m. at the school. Superintendent Dennis Thompson waited for the results
of the testing before deciding that classes would be in session Thursday at
Kennedy. By 9:15 p.m., air quality in the school was within normal
parameters and a section of carpeting that had been contaminated with
mercury had been removed. Also by then, a quarter of the shoes had been
tested for traces of mercury and none had been found. "There don't seem to
be any significant concentrations of mercury on the shoes," Thompson said.
"That's good news, and it looks like the kids will be able to get their
shoes back; otherwise I would probably be paying for a lot of shoes."
Students said they had attended their final hour of class but had to hand
over their shoes before they left for the day. Most students waited in a
hallway before heading outside to board buses for home. Others milled about
the front of the school waiting for parents to pick them up. Eighth-grader
Armando Juresic said the science classroom where the mercury was spilled had
been cordoned off throughout the day with garbage cans, plastic bags and a
teacher warning kids to go around. "I think they made a big deal out of
nothing," Juresic said. "Some people were not even close by it because they
blocked off the hallway." ..."

18. "Study May Help Target Autism At Birth" dated 11 October 2006 by
WILLIAM HATHAWAY from the Hartford Courant at
http://www.courant.com/news/health/hc-hmagautism.artoct11,0,1024729.story?co
ll=hc-headlines-health
<http://www.courant.com/news/health/hc-hmagautism.artoct11,0,1024729.story?c
oll=hc-headlines-health> .

"The diagnosis of autism - characterized by a profound loss of social skills
- often is not made until age 2 or 3, even though most doctors believe the
disease's onset occurs much earlier. However, researchers at the Yale
University School of Medicine reported this summer that they may have found
a marker for autism in the mother's placenta. If the observation is
confirmed by more researchers, it may be possible to begin treatment for
autism at birth and alleviate many symptoms of the disorder, the Yale
scientists say. Dr. Harvey Kliman, a professor in the department of
obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive services at Yale, observed a
biological abnormality in the placentas of mothers who gave birth to
children with Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. In the
study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, the Yale researchers
then compared placentas from the births of 13 children with Asperger's and
61 unaffected children. They found placentas from Asperger's births were
three times more likely to have biological abnormalities called trophoblast
inclusions - or unusual folding of placental tissue - than unaffected
children. "These results are consistent with studies by others who have
shown [autism spectrum disorders have] a genetic basis," Kliman says."

19. "Study: Laws contribute to whooping cough outbreaks" dated 12 October
2006 by Lindsey Tanner from the Associated Press at
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2006/10/11/news_localstate/news_local_st
ate.4.txt
<http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2006/10/11/news_localstate/news_local_s
tate.4.txt> .

"State laws that make it easy for children to skip school-required
vaccinations may be contributing to whooping cough outbreaks around the
country, a study suggests. All states allow children to be exempted from
school immunization requirements for medical reasons - because they might
have a bad reaction, for example, or have weak immune systems - and 48
states allow exemptions for personal and/or religious beliefs. To get
non-medical exemptions, some states require documentation, notarized
paperwork and even visits to a local health department. In other states -
including Idaho - parents merely have to sign an exemption letter stating
that religious or philosophical beliefs prohibit vaccination. According to
the Idaho Code 39-4802, parents may refuse vaccination based on medical
grounds by providing the school with a physician-signed document that states
that the vaccination may endanger the life or health of the child. But
Idaho, like 17 other states, adds a provision that allows a parent to submit
a signed statement to school officials "...stating their objections on
religious or other grounds." According to the nonprofit National Vaccine
Information Center, the border states of Washington and Utah have similar
exemptions. However, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Nevada allow exemptions
only for medical and religious reasons - not philosophical. Compared with
stricter states, those with easy exemption policies had about 50 percent
more whooping cough cases, according to the study. Also, about 50 percent
more people got whooping cough in states that allowed personal-belief
exemptions, compared with those allowing only religious exemptions, the
study found. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported that in
1995 Idaho had about twice the national average of whooping cough, well in
line with the study. States increasingly are being pressured to relax their
exemption requirements, often by parents with unfounded fears about the
risks of childhood vaccines, said University of Florida researcher Daniel
Salmon, a co-author of the study. But loosening these policies would be a
public health threat, he said. The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of
the American Medical Association. It was partly funded by the federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers from Johns Hopkins
University's Bloomberg School of Public Health contributed to the study,
including two who reported financial ties to vaccine makers. Salmon said he
has no financial connection to vaccine makers. ..."

20. "T-Ball Coach Sentenced To Prison For Autistic Player's Beaning" dated
12 October 2006 from WTAE4 News at
<http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/10061725/detail.html>
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/10061725/detail.html.

"Calling the man's actions "extremely outrageous," a judge on Thursday
handed down a prison sentence to a former T-ball coach convicted of paying a
player to bean an autistic teammate. Mark Downs Jr., 29, of Dunbar, Fayette
County, was ordered to serve one to six years.
<http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/4781547/detail.html> He was found
guilty in September of corruption of minors and conspiracy to commit simple
assault. As Downs was being led to jail in handcuffs, he said "Yes" when
asked if the sentence was too harsh. "I didn't do nothing," said Downs, who
plans to appeal. Before a June 2005 playoff game in North Union Township,
Downs offered 9-year-old Keith Reese Jr. money to whip a ball at 8-year-old
teammate Harry Bowers, authorities said. At the trial, Reese testified that
he threw balls that hit Bowers in the groin and in the ear. Prosecutors
said Downs did not want Bowers in the game because he didn't play as well as
the other boys. "I was just hoping the judge would do the right thing.
Anger management is what he needs," said Bowers' mother, Jennifer. Downs
was found not guilty of a more serious charge of criminal solicitation to
commit aggravated assault, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a
charge of reckless endangerment. In a letter to WTAE Channel 4 Action News,
Downs' attorney maintained his client's innocence and said others are not
telling the truth about the incident."

21. "Severely troubled boys 'soothed by fish oils'- School findings warrant
more research, say experts, Big improvement seen in behaviour after 20
weeks" dated 12 October 2006 by Felicity Lawrence from The Guardian (UK) at
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1920038,00.html>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1920038,00.html.

"Experts on omega-3 fatty acids said yesterday there was an urgent need for
properly conducted scientific research on the impact of diet on the brain,
amid claims that fish oils have dramatically improved the behaviour of boys
with some of the UK's most severe emotional and social problems. The
Cotswold community school in Wiltshire, a residential school for boys who
cannot be handled in mainstream care homes and schools, has treated its
children with fish oil supplements for 20 weeks and measured changes in
their behaviour. A nutritionist, Jackie Stordy, analysed records of the
boys' behaviour, using school logs of the number of times the children had
to be restrained. The children's scores for hyperactivity, impulsiveness
and oppositional behaviour were also compared before and after. After 20
weeks the number of times staff had to restrain the boys had dropped by 46%.
The length of time they had to be restrained dropped by 42% and their scores
for impulsiveness and hyperactivity improved by 20%, said Dr Stordy. For
nearly all the boys there was a small but significant improvement, except
two who did not take the fish oil and showed no improvement. Three showed
dramatic improvements. "Their scores moved into the normal range for the
population, which is remarkable," Dr Stordy said. The claims being made for
fish oil's effect on children's learning and behaviour have become
controversial, with experts criticising supplement manufacturers for
overstating the evidence from unscientific research. But it was the
Cotswold community school that approached manufacturers Efamol for supplies
of its fish oil-based essential fatty acid supplement Efalex. Dr Stordy said
the work made no claim to be a proper trial - only 19 boys were involved.
There was no placebo. ..."

22. "Foolish Vaccine Exemptions" dated 12 October 2006 in an editorial in
The New York Times at
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/opinion/12thu4.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref
=slogin>
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/opinion/12thu4.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=
slogin and
<http://www.amhersttimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3080&
Itemid=27>
http://www.amhersttimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3080&I
temid=27.

"States that make it easy for parents to opt out of vaccinating their
children are suffering increased disease rates as a consequence, according
to an <http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/296/14/1757> article
published yesterday in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The
findings should be a warning to all parents and state officials who think
they can let their guards down on immunizations that are needed to protect
both the children and the communities in which they live. We saw what
happened in Indiana last year when measles broke out among children who had
been schooled at home and thus avoided the compulsory shots required of
those who attend public schools. At least 34 people became ill, of whom
three were hospitalized, one with life-threatening complications. Their
families had succumbed to fears that the vaccine was dangerous, forgetting
that the disease itself was the real danger. Now the new article by
researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Florida and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken a broad look at the
rates of whooping cough in the 48 states that allow people to be exempted
from required shots for various nonmedical reasons. All 48 of the states
allow exemptions based on religious objections, but 19 of them also allow
exemptions based on philosophical or other personal beliefs. Some states
make it easy for parents to claim an exemption by simply signing a
prewritten statement on the school immunization form. Others make it harder
by requiring a signature from a local health official, a personally written
letter, notarization or annual renewal. Sadly, states that readily grant
exemptions or allow personal belief exemptions have about 50 percent higher
rates of whooping cough, or pertussis, compared with stricter states, after
adjusting for demographics. This is disturbing given that pertussis, which
can cause severe illness and death in young children, has been on the rise
in recent decades. The pendulum has swung too far toward letting parents
opt out. States need to work harder at educating parents about the value of
vaccination and should get tougher in granting exemptions. ..."

23. "School board adopts master plan- Document is designed to serve as a
guide to academic reform in Baltimore system" dated 12 October 2006 by Sara
Neufeld from The Baltimore Sun at
<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.schools12oct12,0,3025231.
story?coll=bal-local-headlines>
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.schools12oct12,0,3025231.s
tory?coll=bal-local-headlines.

"The Baltimore school board approved a new master plan this week to guide
academic reform over the next two years, addressing issues including
curriculum choices and strategies for recruiting and retaining qualified
teachers. But school system officials have not made the entire plan public,
saying it is not complete. Highlights were presented at a school board
meeting Tuesday night, including an outline of steps the system is taking to
comply with several state-ordered reforms and changes under way at 11
schools targeted by the state this year for outside takeovers. Officials
say they will post the plan on the system's Web site by the end of the day
Monday, their deadline for submitting the document to the Maryland State
Department of Education. School board members had drafts of the plan,
several hundred pages long, in front of them as they voted to approve it
Tuesday. All 24 school systems in Maryland are required under the state's
so-called Bridge to Excellence legislation to develop master plans and
update them annually. The legislation provides for an additional $1.3
billion a year in public education spending by 2008 in exchange for
documentation of how that money is being spent.
Last year, Baltimore's master plan update was the only one that the state
education department rejected. The school system resubmitted the plan in
March, only for the state to reject it again, calling it unrealistic. At
that point, state officials directed the system to start from scratch. So
while Maryland's other 23 school systems will be submitting updates to their
master plans Monday, Baltimore is submitting a new plan entirely. The city
school system also must hire an independent monitor to evaluate whether it
does what it says it will in the plan. Much of Tuesday's presentation about
the plan focused on curriculum changes. The state ordered the system to
adopt curricula in middle and high schools that have proved successful in
other Maryland school systems. ..."

24. "Weldon and Maloney Push Vaccine-Autism Scare, Fight CDC" dated 12
October 2006 by Molly Lee from the American Council on Science and Health at
http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.859/news_detail.asp
<http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.859/news_detail.asp> .

"Despite scores of studies supporting the safety of childhood vaccines,
including a 2004 report by the Institute of
<http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3793/4705/20155.aspx> Medicine (IOM), many skeptics
continue to raise the alarm, claiming that thimerosal-containing vaccines
are causing an epidemic of autism in American children. Autism is a complex
developmental disorder that generally appears in the first three years of
life and is estimated to occur in 2/1,000 children. It is broadly
characterized by impaired communication skills and social interactions,
inappropriate attachments to objects or routines, repetitive actions, and
inappropriate or aberrant responses to verbal cues, pain, danger, and
change. The condition is poorly understood and its causes largely unknown,
one reason why some may jump to conclusions about thimerosal-containing
vaccines. Two members of congress, Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Rep. Carolyn
Maloney (D-NY), have decided to ignore the scientific evidence -- including
the conclusions of the IOM and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) -- when
they reintroduce their bill, the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence
Assurance Act of 2006, to Congress next year. This legislation would create
a separate organization outside the CDC that will be responsible for vaccine
safety and research. Weldon and Maloney feel the CDC has a conflict of
interest involving vaccine safety, since it is the chief promoter of
vaccines. "There's an enormous inherent conflict of interest within the CDC,
and if we fail to move vaccine safety to a separate independent office,
safety issues will remain a low priority and public confidence in vaccines
will continue to erode," said Weldon. Yes, there is an erosion of public
confidence in vaccines, but it is due to politicians and organizations that
raise unfounded fears about lifesaving vaccines. Motivated by fear, some
parents opt out of having their children immunized. This puts them -- and
their families and schoolmates -- at an increased risk of contracting a
number of vaccine-preventable diseases. In fact, we have recently seen a
number of outbreaks of diseases that are preventable by vaccines. Iowa
experienced an outbreak of the mumps this year, which quickly
<http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5513a3.htm> spread throughout
the Midwest. It was the largest outbreak of the mumps in the United States
since 1988. ..."

25. "Youth coach sentenced in beaning case" dated 13 October 2006 from THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS at
<http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/othersports/288590_beaning13.html>
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/othersports/288590_beaning13.html.

"A youth baseball coach accused of offering an 8-year-old money to bean an
autistic teammate so he couldn't play was sentenced Thursday to one to six
years in prison. Fayette County Judge Ralph Warman sentenced Mark R. Downs
Jr., 29, of Dunbar, Pa., to consecutive six-to-36-month sentences for
corruption of minors and criminal solicitation to commit simple assault. A
jury convicted Downs in September. Warman revoked Downs' bond and sent him
to prison. Downs didn't speak at the sentencing but told reporters "I
didn't do nothing" as he was led out of the courtroom. His attorney, Thomas
Shaffer, said Downs was upset and looked forward to appealing the verdict.
Downs was ordered Thursday to undergo a mental health evaluation and barred
from coaching any youth league sport while on parole. Authorities said
Downs offered to pay one of his players $25 to hit Harry Bowers, a mildly
autistic teammate, with a ball while warming up before a June 2005 playoff
game. Prosecutors said Downs wanted the 9-year-old out of the game,
because the boy didn't play as well as his teammates."

26. "Government 'will consider' disability report" dated 13 October 2006
from Perth Now (Australia) at
<http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20574918-5005361,00.html>
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20574918-5005361,00.html.

"The New South Wales government department responsible for disability
services will carefully consider a coroner's recommendations about improving
care for severely disabled children and their parents. A NSW coroner has
recommended the Government consider funding for early intervention services
for severely disabled children and their parents, after a struggling mother
killed her autistic son. The director-general of the Department of Ageing,
Disability and Home Care (DADHC), Brendan O'Reilly, said the findings and
recommendations would be examined, but a number of government initiatives in
recent years would go some way to addressing the matters raised. Daniela
Dawes suffocated her ten-year-old son, Jason, at their western Sydney home
in August 2003, before attempting suicide. An inquest into Jason's death
told the family had difficulty accessing early intervention services after
Jason was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. The coroner also recommended
that DADHC, the Department of Community Services and the Department of
Education and Training should consider setting up a working party to examine
how relevant information could be more effectively shared between the
agencies to help disabled children and their families. Mr O'Reilly said the
Government's $1.3 billion 10-year plan for disability services would
increase early intervention and support for families with a child with a
disability. The plan includes extra respite and therapy places, parenting
programs, training projects, and extra caseworkers. Mr O'Reilly said a
system to share information across human services agencies established more
than 12 months ago would ensure there was no breach of privacy for families.
The NSW Opposition said the coroner's comments should serve as a wake-up
call to the Government, which had neglected disability services for 12
years. "Looking after a child with autism is a phenomenally challenging
task, it's a 24-hour a day task and sadly families looking after children
with autism have been completely ignored by the state government,''
Opposition disability services spokesman John Ryan said. Mr Ryan said many
of the coroner's recommendations had been brought up before, and he was
"horrified'' the Government still hadn't taken them on board."

27. "Clue to flaws in autistic brain- Regions of the brain may not
communicate with each other as efficiently as they should in people with
autism, research suggests" dated 14 October 2006 from BBC News (UK) at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6037836.stm
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6037836.stm> .

"US scientists used sophisticated scans to examine connections in the
cerebral cortex - the part of the brain that deals with complex thought.
They found evidence of abnormal patterns of brain cell connection in people
with autism. The research was presented at a meeting of the Society for
Neuroscience. In some parts of the cortex brain cells made too many
connections, and in other parts not enough. Lead researcher Dr Michael
Murias, from the University of Washington, said: "Our findings indicate
adults with autism show differences in coordinated neural activity, which
implies poor internal communication between the parts of the brain." The
researchers analyzed electroencephalography (EEG) scans from 36 adults, half
of whom had autism. The EEGs, which measure the activity of hundreds of
millions of brain cells, were collected while the people were seated and
relaxed with their eyes closed for two minutes. The researchers found
people with autism particularly showed abnormal patterns of brain cell
connection in the temporal lobe, which deals with language. They argue that
the abnormal patterns suggest inefficient and inconsistent communication
inside the brains of people with autism. Dr Marius said their work might
lead to a way to spot autism at an earlier stage. Autism, a developmental
disorder, is estimated to affect one in every 166 children. It is
characterized by difficulties in communicating and interacting with other
people. Richard Mills, honorary secretary of Research Autism and director
of research for the National Autistic Society, said: "We now know much more
about differences in brain structure and function in autism although it is
not always possible to link such understanding to effective treatment.
"This research supports a number of other studies confirming the nature of
brain differences and could have important implications for diagnosis and by
implication, intervention. "The evidence base for the majority of treatment
approaches is poor. Given the high cost of autism both in human and economic
terms, we welcome all advances in understanding and urge increased
investment in all areas of autism research."

28. "N.J. plans to shift more early autism expenses to parents" dated 15
October 2006 by LINDY WASHBURN from North Jersey.com at
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NSZmZ2J
lbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzAwNTg3NiZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTQ
<http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NSZmZ2
JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzAwNTg3NiZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTQ> =.

"For children with developmental delays, early recognition and quick help
can make a lifetime of difference. But the state is proposing that some
families pay thousands more for that help because the rising number of
children in need have overwhelmed the budget. Some parents worry the plan
could force them to cut back on early intervention services for their
children. "We would not be able to afford to pay it," said Tara Banuls, a
North Arlington resident who has two children with autism. "No one's
thinking about the future," Banuls said. "It's going to cost more to educate
the children if they don't get this jump-start because they're going to be
further behind." State officials say the government has been very generous,
even as federal funding has failed to keep pace with the need. Parents, they
say, must help out more. No one disagrees that early intervention by
experts in behavior, speech and occupational therapy can dramatically
improve a child's potential. Early in life, the brain can create new
con-nections, in some cases almost rewiring itself to compensate for a
disorder. Intervention can help a child communicate and learn -- not only
improving the child's life, but reducing the need for special education and
other services in the future. "I couldn't even fathom what my daughter
would have been like without it," said Steven Weiss, of his daughter, Tai.
She has a disorder on the autism spectrum and entered preschool in
September. "She's a different child," he said. She even greets him when he
comes home now, where before she was oblivious. The federal government
mandates that states offer early intervention services for infants and
toddlers -- from birth to age 3 -- with disabilities. The services are
provided not only to children with autism, but to those with hearing
impairments, mental retardation, cerebral palsy and a variety of other
disorders that cause their development to fall behind. The federal
government provides some funds, with states and families making up the rest.
The problem is the need and cost have escalated dramatically. Double the
number of children -- 13,788 -- were referred to the New Jersey program in
fiscal 2006, which ended June 30, compared with six years earlier. Each
child referred is evaluated. As of July, 8,815 children -- including 932 in
Bergen and 493 in Passaic -- were receiving services. At the same time, the
cost of services has increased to an average of $100 an hour. This year, the
Legislature allocated $78 million, up from $22 million in 2000. But even
with the budget increase, officials are anticipating a $13 million
shortfall. "The governor and the Legislature have been very generous in
providing resources over the years for this program, far beyond what the
federal government has," said Dr. Eddy Bresnitz, deputy state health
commissioner. To help close the budget gap, lawmakers have directed that
the share paid by families be doubled to $6 million a year. "The state is
not the only funding resource for families," Bresnitz said. "The families
have to participate, as well. Those who can, should contribute." The
proposal has provoked fear in the hearts of parents who consider the
services essential to their child's future. Because the amount a family must
pay will be on a sliding scale pegged to their income, the middle class will
be affected the most. ..."

29. "Needed U.S. autism study stalled due to politics" dated 15 October
2006 by Marc M. Harrold from The Clarion-Ledger at
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/OPINION/610
150319
<http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/OPINION/61
0150319> .

"Autism is a complex developmental disability that is estimated to affect
1.5 million children in the United States. A recent estimate is that 1 in
166 children will have some form of autism. It is estimated that autism is
growing at an epidemic rate of 10-17 percent per year. Recently, a glimmer
of hope emerged from the hallowed Senate chambers when the U.S. Senate
passed the Combating Autism Act by unanimous vote. It is hard to imagine the
Senate acting in a unanimous, bi-partisan manner to pass a bill sponsored by
Pennsylvania's controversial Sen. Rick Santorum. In general, the act would
double the National Institutes of Health spending on autism research,
empower the director of the NIH to act as an "autism czar," create a
national screening process for early detection of autism, fund the efforts
of the Autism Treatment Network, continue funding of the epidemiological and
public education programs on autism at the Centers for Disease Control, and
authorize, overall, nearly $1 billion of federal spending on autism in the
next five years. COMMITTEE DELAYS ACTION. In the House of Representatives,
the act had 228 co-sponsors ( <http://www.combatautism.org/>
www.combatautism.org). It appeared this important piece of legislation would
offer some level of assistance to the families that courageously and
tirelessly care for autistic children. Not so fast. Enter Joe Barton and our
not-so-democratic system of "business as usual" governance. U.S. Rep. Joe
Barton, a Texas Republican who chairs the powerful House Energy and Commerce
Committee, had his own agenda. He openly stated on CNN that he would not
even consider the Combating Autism Act of 2006 until passage of his own NIH
reform bill. So, he bottled it up in committee and now the legislators have
adjourned five weeks early to do what they really do: campaign and raise
money. There is actually something that can be done to keep a chairperson
from holding legislation "hostage" like this. It is called a discharge
petition, and this is why the blame goes beyond Joe Barton. A discharge
petition is a mechanism that allows the House at-large to vote to
"discharge" a bill from a committee and bring it to a floor vote before the
entire House of Representatives. In this instance, there were 228
co-sponsors to the act. It takes 218 votes to discharge the bill from
committee. It seems that the House would have used this mechanism to avert
Barton's pettiness and selfish maneuvering. Unfortunately, the politics in
the nation's capital kept a discharge petition from being utilized though it
appears clear that the requisite number of votes existed to discharge the
bill from committee and bring it to the floor where it seemed certain to
pass. Now, nothing will happen until the next term as our representatives
have adjourned several weeks early to campaign for the crucial mid-term
elections. ..."

30. "A tireless advocate for her 3 sons- Huguenot mom Jacqueline Marks is
devoted to getting the best care for her 5-year-old autistic triplets" dated
15 October 2006 by JUDY L. RANDALL from the STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE at
<http://www.silive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/116091822736500.xml&co
ll=1>
http://www.silive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/opinion/116091822736500.xml&col
l=1.

"Jacqueline Marks is boundless in her energy, enthusiasm and efficiency when
it comes to her 5-year-old triplet boys, Dylan, Jacob and Tyler -- whom she
affectionately calls "the Marks Brothers." It would seem any parent of
triplets would need a mega-dose of all three just to get through the day.
That Mrs. Marks possesses those traits in abundance is both a blessing and a
testament to her love and devotion to her family, for all three of her sons
are autistic. In addition, Tyler has cerebral palsy and Dylan has been
diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Last year, after Mrs. Marks came
to believe that the public school her boys were attending was not able to
establish a teaching protocol to meet their individual needs, she set about
establishing a multi-faceted, multi-leveled school in her Huguenot
townhouse, personally overseeing her sons' education with the aid of a
rotating complement of 13 specialized instructors she assembled -- including
physical, occupational, feeding and speech therapists -- after researching
the boys' needs and interviewing teachers. With the family's formal living
room furniture in storage, Mrs. Marks has turned the room into a cozy
classroom, with three kid-sized desks and chairs, a computer center and a
speech and language center just perfect for circle time every weekday
morning. Later in the course of the school day, each of the boys -- all at
different levels of development -- will move to a separate area of the
townhouse with his own instructor. "I had to have the boys home-schooled,"
said Mrs. Marks, 35, who has become an articulate advocate for special needs
children and an expert in navigating her way around the alphabet soup of
programs that are available. She's also proven adept at securing and
scheduling experts to teach her boys and, so far, successful in going to
court to get the Department of Education to pay for the in-home services.
"I'm a mother, I'm an advocate and I'm a pretend attorney," quipped Mrs.
Marks. ..."

31. "Broken Mirrors: A Theory of Autism" by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and
Lindsay M. Oberman in the November edition of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND at
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa017
<http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa017&articleID=000B7F38-893D-152E-
88E283414B7F0000> &articleID=000B7F38-893D-152E-88E283414B7F0000.

"At first glance you might not notice anything odd on meeting a young boy
with autism. But if you try to talk to him, it will quickly become obvious
that something is seriously wrong. He may not make eye contact with you;
instead he may avoid your gaze and fidget, rock his body to and fro, or bang
his head against the wall. More disconcerting, he may not be able to conduct
anything remotely resembling a normal conversation. Even though he can
experience emotions such as fear, rage and pleasure, he may lack genuine
empathy for other people and be oblivious to subtle social cues that most
children would pick up effortlessly. In the 1940s two physicians--American
psychiatrist Leo Kanner and Austrian pediatrician Hans
Asperger--independently discovered this developmental disorder, which
afflicts about 0.5 percent of American children. Neither researcher had any
knowledge of the other's work, and yet by an uncanny coincidence each gave
the syndrome the same name: autism, which derives from the Greek word autos,
meaning "self." The name is apt, because the most conspicuous feature of the
disorder is a withdrawal from social interaction. More recently, doctors
have adopted the term "autism spectrum disorder" to make it clear that the
illness has many related variants that range widely in severity but share
some characteristic symptoms. Ever since autism was identified, researchers
have struggled to determine what causes it. Scientists know that
susceptibility to autism is inherited, although environmental risk factors
also seem to play a role [see "The Early Origins of Autism," by Patricia M.
Rodier; Scientific American, February 2000]. Starting in the late 1990s,
investigators in our laboratory at the University of California, San Diego,
set out to explore whether there was a connection between autism and a newly
discovered class of nerve cells in the brain called mirror neurons. Because
these neurons appeared to be involved in abilities such as empathy and the
perception of another individual's intentions, it seemed logical to
hypothesize that a dysfunction of the mirror neuron system could result in
some of the symptoms of autism. Over the past decade, several studies have
provided evidence for this theory. Further investigations of mirror neurons
may explain how autism arises, and in the process physicians may develop
better ways to diagnose and successfully treat the -disorder. ..."


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