Everyone knows, or should know that Tobacco, Alcohol, and other Drugs simply don’t mix with pregnancy. There can be adverse affects on the fetus as well as the mothers when any of these substances are consumed while pregnant. The actual affect varies not only with the amount consumed; but by the timing as well. For example: a small amount of alcohol can have a larger, more negative effect on the unborn child at one stage of the pregnancy than a little more alcohol would at another.
What many people do not know, is the negative effect these substances have both on parenting and the health and wellbeing of the child.
Generally people understand that these substances are not healthy for children; however, there are a number of reasons they are especially (“especially” because they are toxic for adults as well) toxic for children and teens. Young people’s bodies and BRAINS are still forming into young adulthood. Toxic substances have a lifelong negative effect on the bodies and brains of children, adolescents, and young adults.
Some substances (such as Meth) and substance abuse in general is absolutely and completely incompatible with even adequate parenting. Not only does it have an impact on the eventual use of the substance by the child; but seriously and negatively effects employment, school work, socialization, citizenship, morality…and the list goes on and on.
Supplemental Research Material
Parenting and Alcohol
Parenting and Drugs
Parenting and Tobacco
Pregnancy and Tobacco
Pregnancy and Alcohol
Pregnancy and Drugs
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and the Brain
Visualizing Addiction - Neuroscientists Show Kids Effects of Drugs on Brain
Mums who drink in pregnancy have unruly kids
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Low Cost Treatment for Autism
It should never be a matter of just LOW COST treatment for autism; but what is evidence based and what is effective.
There are three elements of effective low cost intervention for autism. You’ll find information about these throughout this site.
It will include:
Parental/caregiver involvement
Consultant/Coach
Evidence based interventions according to the individualized needs of the child
There are three elements of effective low cost intervention for autism. You’ll find information about these throughout this site.
It will include:
Parental/caregiver involvement
Consultant/Coach
Evidence based interventions according to the individualized needs of the child
A brain protein 'linked to autism'
A brain protein 'linked to autism': "“A single protein may trigger autistic spectrum disorders,”, BBC News has reported. According to the news, when mice were bred to lack a protein called Shank3, which normally aids the transfer of signals between brain cells, they showed classic autism-like behaviours, including social problems and repetitive behaviours."
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Behaviorism: What it is and what it isn’t.
A few years ago a relative of mine made what s/he believed to be an authoritative statement. ‘Behaviorism doesn’t work. (So and so) didn’t respond as predicted.’ That thought may be common for many; however, it is a representation of a lack of understanding of what behaviorism is and is not.
When I was young, there was a magazine which I read regularly and which contained true, short, humorous, stories.
The one story I remember best was about a young boy sitting next to his father in church listening to a lengthy and, at least for the boy, incredibly boring sermon. After what seemed to the boy like an interminable amount of time, the boy turned to his father, rather loudly and pleaded, “Dad, please take me out and spank me!”
That one story, for me, encapsulates what is most misunderstood about behaviorism by both professionals and the general public.
The basic concepts of reward (reinforcement) and punishment, antecedents (to include setting events) are absolutely individual. You simply cannot treat everyone the same and expect to get the same results. If someone was to make a meal for you, you may prefer steak to monkey brain, and may respond differently to the one offering than the other. You may also react differently to steak, even if it’s the best steak in the world and you absolutely LOVE steak, if you’ve been eating it every night for a month and have already had it twice today. There are technical terms for these concepts; but that’s not what’s important here. I often talk about how objectives must be individualized, it is the same for the plan as a whole and it is absolutely the same for altering antecedents, rewards and punishments.
Simply: think about it this way:
Behavior is anything a person does. If you are alive, you are always behaving in some way or another.
An Antecedent is anything which occurs before a behavior, it can be internal (within the individual like hunger, fatigue, or a renal infection, etc.) or external (cold, heat, bright lights, yelling, etc.)
A reward is anything which increases the chances that a particular behavior will reoccur. (By now, you should understand that this is individualized and changes)
A punishment is anything which decreases the chances that a particular behavior will reoccur. (This also changes over time and is individually different). In the case of the little boy, the spanking was not a punishment for speaking loudly in church. It was a relief. One of the techniques used by the US government for enhanced interrogations was repeated and loud “Barney” music. I can almost imagine someone pleading, please, water-board me, just no more of that stinkin purple dinosaur! On the other hand, my grandson would be just fine with repeated loud Barney music… for I have no idea how long…because I can’t stand it for long at all and have to put an end to it if I’m in the room (the Sponge Bob laugh fits into the same category). My intention is not to make light of enhanced interrogations; but to demonstrate how individual punishment can be.
The next essential concept to understand is natural reinforcement (reward). This is simply receiving what you would normally receive for doing the behavior. For example, if a child asks their parent for a hug, my hope is that they would typically receive a hug. If someone pops popcorn, unless they are doing it for someone else, they would typically get to eat it. Unfortunately this simple concept is lost on many so called professionals.
So where does Behaviorism come from?
Behaviorism as we know it today gets its beginning from people like BF Skinner < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.F._Skinner >, John Watson < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Watson >, and even Ivan Pavlov < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov > (classical conditioning) who was famous for his experiments with salivating dogs. The basic concepts of behaviorism though are many thousands of years old and can be found in our earliest writings from Greek philosophers to early government and religious writings. In a nutshell it includes any change (based upon scientific observation and repeated experimentation) to environment, antecedents, rewards, punishments, and activities, for the purpose of changing behaviors or skills.
ABA
From behaviorism and the initial research of Ivar Lovaas < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Ivar_Lovaas > (and many others) we get Applied Behavioral Analysis < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_behavior_analysis > ABA has application, in work with children, adults, and animals. It is not only used with children and adults with disabilities or behavioral problems; but also: in the family, school, organizations, and even the corporate world through negotiations, competition, employee programs, and advertising. Government uses it to adjust/manipulate the behavior of its citizens and military. ABA is NOT just working with young children with autism.
As is implied in its name, ABA requires a scientific analysis of behavior. When working with individuals with disabilities or behavioral problems, it requires an ongoing individualized analysis of behavior.
What is EIBI or Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders?
EIBI is the application of ABA for young children with autism. It is a very specific, though individualized intervention.
When I was young, there was a magazine which I read regularly and which contained true, short, humorous, stories.
The one story I remember best was about a young boy sitting next to his father in church listening to a lengthy and, at least for the boy, incredibly boring sermon. After what seemed to the boy like an interminable amount of time, the boy turned to his father, rather loudly and pleaded, “Dad, please take me out and spank me!”
That one story, for me, encapsulates what is most misunderstood about behaviorism by both professionals and the general public.
The basic concepts of reward (reinforcement) and punishment, antecedents (to include setting events) are absolutely individual. You simply cannot treat everyone the same and expect to get the same results. If someone was to make a meal for you, you may prefer steak to monkey brain, and may respond differently to the one offering than the other. You may also react differently to steak, even if it’s the best steak in the world and you absolutely LOVE steak, if you’ve been eating it every night for a month and have already had it twice today. There are technical terms for these concepts; but that’s not what’s important here. I often talk about how objectives must be individualized, it is the same for the plan as a whole and it is absolutely the same for altering antecedents, rewards and punishments.
Simply: think about it this way:
Behavior is anything a person does. If you are alive, you are always behaving in some way or another.
An Antecedent is anything which occurs before a behavior, it can be internal (within the individual like hunger, fatigue, or a renal infection, etc.) or external (cold, heat, bright lights, yelling, etc.)
A reward is anything which increases the chances that a particular behavior will reoccur. (By now, you should understand that this is individualized and changes)
A punishment is anything which decreases the chances that a particular behavior will reoccur. (This also changes over time and is individually different). In the case of the little boy, the spanking was not a punishment for speaking loudly in church. It was a relief. One of the techniques used by the US government for enhanced interrogations was repeated and loud “Barney” music. I can almost imagine someone pleading, please, water-board me, just no more of that stinkin purple dinosaur! On the other hand, my grandson would be just fine with repeated loud Barney music… for I have no idea how long…because I can’t stand it for long at all and have to put an end to it if I’m in the room (the Sponge Bob laugh fits into the same category). My intention is not to make light of enhanced interrogations; but to demonstrate how individual punishment can be.
The next essential concept to understand is natural reinforcement (reward). This is simply receiving what you would normally receive for doing the behavior. For example, if a child asks their parent for a hug, my hope is that they would typically receive a hug. If someone pops popcorn, unless they are doing it for someone else, they would typically get to eat it. Unfortunately this simple concept is lost on many so called professionals.
So where does Behaviorism come from?
Behaviorism as we know it today gets its beginning from people like BF Skinner < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.F._Skinner >, John Watson < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_B._Watson >, and even Ivan Pavlov < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov > (classical conditioning) who was famous for his experiments with salivating dogs. The basic concepts of behaviorism though are many thousands of years old and can be found in our earliest writings from Greek philosophers to early government and religious writings. In a nutshell it includes any change (based upon scientific observation and repeated experimentation) to environment, antecedents, rewards, punishments, and activities, for the purpose of changing behaviors or skills.
ABA
From behaviorism and the initial research of Ivar Lovaas < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Ivar_Lovaas > (and many others) we get Applied Behavioral Analysis < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_behavior_analysis > ABA has application, in work with children, adults, and animals. It is not only used with children and adults with disabilities or behavioral problems; but also: in the family, school, organizations, and even the corporate world through negotiations, competition, employee programs, and advertising. Government uses it to adjust/manipulate the behavior of its citizens and military. ABA is NOT just working with young children with autism.
As is implied in its name, ABA requires a scientific analysis of behavior. When working with individuals with disabilities or behavioral problems, it requires an ongoing individualized analysis of behavior.
What is EIBI or Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders?
EIBI is the application of ABA for young children with autism. It is a very specific, though individualized intervention.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Additional Resources
• The Gray Center
• http://www.thegraycenter.org/
• Special Minds
• http://www.specialminds.org/about.html
• Social Stories Therapy for Children with Autism
• http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/social-stories
• http://www.thegraycenter.org/
• Special Minds
• http://www.specialminds.org/about.html
• Social Stories Therapy for Children with Autism
• http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/social-stories
“Story-based Intervention Package” (For children with autism)
• “Story based interventions are similar to written scripts and Self-management in that they involve written materials that are designed to increase independence. The most well-known story-based intervention is Social Stories™”
• Evidence-Based Practice and Autism in the Schools
• http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/pdf/NAC%20Ed%20Manual_FINAL.pdf
• Please watch the video at: Introduction to Teaching Through Social Stories ™
• http://www.talkautism.com/Components/Video/Video.aspx?v=56
To continue with this information click here
• Evidence-Based Practice and Autism in the Schools
• http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/pdf/NAC%20Ed%20Manual_FINAL.pdf
• Please watch the video at: Introduction to Teaching Through Social Stories ™
• http://www.talkautism.com/Components/Video/Video.aspx?v=56
To continue with this information click here
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