Discovering the Possibilities with Visual Strategies - Linda Hodgdon

Great Falls - October 15

Bozeman - October 16

Billings - October 17

Meeting the Communication, Behavior & Social Skill Challenges in Autism Spectrum Disorders & Related Learning Challenges

Most students with Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and related communication challenges are visual learners! Capitalizing on their strengths, the use of visual strategies alters many social, communication, and educational challenges. This program will demonstrate effective ideas for using a range of low tech to high tech visual tools, including video and tablets like iPads and Apps, to help students organize their lives, significantly reduce behavior problems, and improve student successful participation. This program will define the need, discuss training, and demonstrate many practical ideas for both special and regular education settings.

Participants will learn to:

• Identify significant factors in student learning and functioning style that affect communication.

• Informally assess the student’s communication strengths and challenges.

• Recognize situations where communication breakdowns can affect the student’s understanding, behavior and participation in social opportunities.

• Use the Guide for Assessing Behavior Situations to identify causes of behavior problems.

• Develop visual tools to support communication, behavior & social skills

• Identify uses for a range of low tech to high tech tools such as iPads, Apps and video for meeting communication & learning needs.

Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist who is internationally known as a pioneer in developing the use of visual strategies to support communication for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related learning challenges. Linda is the author of Visual Strategies for Improving Communication and Solving Behavior Problems in Autism.

Register Here.

Link Between Prenatal Antidepressant Exposure And Autism Risk Questioned

Some epidemiological papers have linked an increased risk of autism in children with women who took antidepressants during pregnancy. Suggestions have been that antidepressants or severe maternal depression cause autism.

In a Molecular Psychiatry paper, investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital report that while a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was more common in the children of mothers prescribed antidepressants during pregnancy than in those with no prenatal exposure, when the severity of the mother's depression was accounted for, that increased risk was no longer statistically significant. 

"We know that untreated depression can pose serious health risks to both a mother and child, so it's important that women being treated with antidepressants who become pregnant, or who are thinking about becoming pregnant, know that these medications will not increase their child's risk of autism," says Roy Perlis, MD, MSc, MGH Department of Psychiatry, and senior author of the report. 

Read more here. 

Archived webinar - Teaching Independence: Preparing Your Secondary Students with Autism for Life Beyond School

Watch the webinar here. 

An Unexpected Discovery in the Brains of Autistic Children

Nobody knows what causes autism, a condition that varies so widely in severity that some people on the spectrum achieve enviable fame and success while others require lifelong assistance due to severe problems with communication, cognition, and behavior. Scientists have found countless clues, but so far they don’t quite add up. The genetics is complicated. The neuroscience is conflicted.

Now, a new study adds an intriguing, unexpected, and sure-to-be controversial finding to the mix: It suggests the brains of children with autism contain small patches where the normally ordered arrangement of neurons in the cerebral cortex is disrupted. “We’ve found locations where there appears to be a failure of normal development,” said Eric Courchesne, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego and an author of the study, which appears today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Read more here.

Billings Autism Conference August 5 & 6, 2014 with Michelle Garcia Winner

Social Thinking

Social thinking is what we do when we interact with people: we think about them. And how we think about people affects how we behave, which in turn affects how others respond to us, which in turn affects our own emotions. Whether we are with friends, sending an email, in a classroom or at the grocery store, we take in the thoughts, emotions and intentions of the people we are interacting with. Most of us have developed our communications sense from birth onwards, steadily observing and acquiring social information and learning how to respond to people. Because social thinking is an intuitive process, we usually take it for granted. But for many individuals, this process is anything but natural. And this often has nothing to do with conventional measures of intelligence. In fact, many people score high on IQ and standardized tests, yet do not intuitively learn the nuances of social communication and interaction. While these challenges are commonly experienced by individuals with autism spectrum disorders (high-functioning), social communication disorder, Asperger's, ADHD, nonverbal learning disability (NLD) and similar diagnoses, children and adults experiencing social learning difficulties often have received no diagnosis. A treatment framework and curriculum developed by Michelle Garcia Winner targets improving individual social thinking abilities, regardless of diagnostic label. Professionals and parents alike are using these methods to build social thinking and related skills in students and adults. Social Thinking books, workshops and trainings, created by Winner or based on Winner's work, now offer a range of strategies that address individual strengths and weaknesses in processing social information.

About the Presenter

Michelle Garcia Winner is the founder of Social Thinking® which specializes in developing treatment models and specific strategies for helping persons with social cognitive learning challenges. She runs and works in her small clinic, has authored numerous books, and speaks internationally. Michelle’s goal is to help educators, mental health providers, and parents appreciate how social thinking and social skills is an integral part of students’ academic, vocational and community success. She was honored with a "Congressional Special Recognition Award" in 2008.

Why I Got Electroconvulsive Therapy for My Autistic Son

When I tell people about the electroconvulsive therapy my autistic 15-year-old son Jonah has been getting for the past four years, the response has been ... surprise, certainly. Curiosity. Interest. No horror, no judgment. But that’s to be expected from those close to my family: They know we spent the better part of a decade struggling to manage Jonah’s aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. Countless therapies, behavior plans, medication trials, and even an almost yearlong hospitalization at one of the nation’s premier facilities failed to stop his frequent, intense, and unpredictable rages.

Read more here.

IACC Statement Regarding Scientific, Practice and Policy Implications of Changes in the Diagnostic Criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder

The DSM-5 criteria were published in May 2013.1, 2 Although the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria are intended primarily for use by clinicians and researchers in their diagnostic assessments, the IACC is aware that it is important to also remember that these the criteria also have a direct impact on people who have the disorders and their families, and their ability to assess symptoms and obtain services that can help them optimize their health, well-being and quality of life. Any revision of the diagnostic criteria must be made with great care so as to not have the unintended consequence of reducing critical services aimed at improving the ability of persons with autism. In this statement, the IACC describes a range of research, practice, and policy implications that arise as a result of the changes in theDSM criteria which deserve consideration as the DSM-5 is implemented in research, clinical, and educational settings.

Changes in the DSM Criteria

Starting with the DSM-III in 1980, autism was categorized as a Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). In an effort to reflect what has been learned through research and practice since that time, the DSM-5 released in 2013 removed the PDD category and the accompanying subtypes (Autistic Disorder, Asperger Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified) with a single disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The DSM-5 criteria place greater emphasis on the two core symptom domains of ASD (social communication and restrictive, repetitive behaviors), and no longer consider verbal abilities as a diagnostic feature. Other changes included adding ratings of the severity of the two symptom domains and several clinical specifiers. These specifiers provide information about etiology, co-morbidities (e.g., intellectual disability, language delay, and medical conditions such as seizures), and pattern of onset.

Since ASD continues to be defined by a pattern of developmental and behavioral symptoms, changes to the diagnostic criteria come with potential trade-offs. One goal of the recent revisions was to improve specificity of the ASD diagnosis, reducing the number of false positive cases. However, concerns exist that this increased specificity may have gone too far in reducing the sensitivity of the ASD diagnosis, increasing the number of false negative cases. For example, removing a specific age cut-off for diagnosis was intended to improve the sensitivity of theDSM-IV criteria (which had required symptom onset by 3 years of age). By DSM-5's more inclusive criterion, "Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life" may reduce diagnostic specificity by expanding the list of differential diagnoses that must be considered. The inclusion of historical information also may have unintended consequences on sensitivity and specificity.

Another major change in DSM-5 was the addition of a new diagnosis category, Social Communication Disorder (SCD)which applies to individuals who exhibit persistent difficulty with the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication that cannot be explained by low cognitive ability. The symptoms of SCD have significant overlap with those of the ASD social communication domain, but the two disorders are considered to be unique and separate from each other. The distinction is clarified in the DSM-5 criteria, which note that ASD must be ruled out before a diagnosis of SCD can be considered. However, there is limited published information on SCD with a research basis primarily in the condition previously studied as Pragmatic Language Disorder (PLD). While SCD includes PLD, there is much to learn about the definition, measurement, scope, reliability, and validity of SCD as a diagnosed condition.

Read more here.

Federal Autism Panel Raises Concerns Over DSM Changes

A federal advisory panel is urging clinicians to be careful when applying new diagnostic criteria for autism in order to ensure that no one is denied needed services.

Dramatic changes to the definition of autism took effect last year with publication of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Under the new definition, autistic disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified were folded under an umbrella classification of “autism spectrum disorder” with clinicians specifying a level of severity.

Now the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee — a federal advisory panel comprised of government officials and members of the autism community — is highlighting a number of implications that may result from the shift.

In practical terms, the IACC is cautioning clinicians, noting that the new diagnostic criteria have not yet been rigorously tested in young kids, adults and individuals from various ethnic populations.

The group is also citing concerns about the reliability of severity ratings used to denote where an individual falls on the autism spectrum and the applicability of the new criteria for children under age 3 who may not yet fully display symptoms despite a need for early intervention.

“Services should be based on need rather than diagnosis; it would not be appropriate for a child to be denied ASD-specific services because he or she does not meet full DSM-5 criteria if a qualified clinician or educator determines that the child could benefit from those services,” the panel said in its report, adding that the updated DSM requires that all those who previously had an autism diagnosis under the old diagnostic criteria retain that label going forward.

The IACC said further research is needed to determine how reliable and valid the DSM-5 definition is and to weigh the impact of the changes on diagnosis, prevalence and access to services.

Read more here.

1 in 68 Children Now Has a Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Why?

The staggering increase in cases of ASD should raise more suspicion in the medical community about its misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis than it does. Promoting early screening for autism is imperative. But, is it possible that the younger in age a child is when professionals screen for ASD—especially its milder cases—the greater the risk that a slow-to-mature child will be misperceived as autistic, thus driving the numbers up?

Read more here.

Study on 'extreme male brain' theory of autism draws critics

The controversial theory that characterizes autism as the result of an ‘extreme male brain’ gets fresh support from a large new survey, published 16 July in PLoS One¹. But critics question basic assumptions of the theory and the methods used in the new study.

The theory holds that men are better ‘systemizers’ — more interested in patterns and quicker to spot them in natural, mathematical or mechanical systems. And women are better ‘empathizers,’ more keenly tuned to the emotional state of others.

Men and women with autism are both keen systemizers, but less able empathizers, Baron-Cohen has proposed. He suggests that autism is related to overexposure to testosterone while in the womb.

Read more here. 

Webinar - Autism Awareness: Diagnostic Criteria

Chances are you or someone you know has been touched by autism in a very personal way.  As part of our continuing effort to promote global awareness for autism, we are making our Training Video "An Introduction to Autism" available for family members, friends, educators and anyone who is interested in learning more about autism and the things they can do to screen young children for autism. 

In the first of this 3 part installment, we look at the Diagnostic Criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

See the video here.

Could dads' obesity raise autism risk for kids?

Children born to obese fathers, but not obese mothers, may have a slightly higher risk of autism than kids with thinner dads, a large new study suggests.

Researchers found that of nearly 93,000 Norwegian children they followed, those born to obese dads had double the risk of developing autism. But the odds were still small: just under 0.3 percent were diagnosed with autism, versus 0.14 percent of kids with normal-weight fathers.

Read more here.

Autism Speaks Announces New Tools for Successful Vision Exams

Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network (AS-ATN) is pleased to announce the release of its latest resource for families from the ATN/AIR-P: a video and accompanying social narrative to help prepare individuals with autism for visits to the eye doctor, which can often be very difficult and uncomfortable experiences.

The video Vision Exams for Individuals with Autism and accompanying social narrative lead families and caregivers through a visit to the optometrist’s office and a full, step-by-step vision exam. These tools can also provide insight into preparing ahead of time to make the visit as smooth, anxiety-free and productive as possible. This video is also appropriate for optometrists who are not familiar with autism.

Read more here.

What is PANDAS? How Is It Different from Autism?

PANDAS may be quite rare. But some evidence suggests it could account for as many as 1 in 10 new cases of OCD in children each year. We simply don’t know for certain, as the majority of cases may go undiagnosed.

Typically, children affected by PANDAS have a dramatic – even overnight – onset of symptoms. This can include one or more new movement or vocal tics, as well as obsessions or compulsions or both. Some affected children become noticeably moody and irritable, have more difficulty separating from loved ones, experience a change in eating patterns or begin having trouble sleeping or controlling the bladder.

Read more here.

Speakmod iPad Communication App

Try the free version of the app. 

New Screening Method Could Detect Autism In 9 Month Old Infants

The identification of two new biomarkers could help medical researchers identify autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children as young as nine months old – one year earlier than the average screening age.

According to lead author Carole A. Samango-Sprouse, an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at George Washington University, head circumference and head tilting reflex are reliable ways to determine whether or not children between the ages of 9 and 12 months could be autistic.

Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113122246/autism-biomarkers-for-infants-041614/#rreltW2Zxduj6Wp1.99

Home videos could be powerful tool for diagnosing autism

Short home videos, such as those posted on YouTube, may become a powerful tool for diagnosing autism, according to a study whose senior author is a scientist at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

With only brief training, research assistants were able to accurately score autistic-type behaviors in home videos of children in natural settings, the study found. "Our new paper supports the hypothesis that we can detect autism quickly in very short home videos with high accuracy," said Dennis Wall, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics in systems medicine and the senior author of the paper, published April 16 in PLOS ONE. The finding has the potential to improve the speed and availability of autism diagnosis.

Read more here.

Autism Tied to Increased Connectivity in Brain Networks

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show atypically increased functional connectivity involving the mentalizing and mirror neuron brain networks, according to a study published online April 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.

The researchers found that participants with ASD showed a mixed pattern of both over- and underconnectivity in the theory of mind (ToM) network, which is associated with greater social impairment, compared to the controls. This increased connectivity was seen primarily between the regions of the mirror neuron system (MNS) and ToM. The connectivity increase was correlated with sociocommunicative measures, suggesting that excessive ToM-MNS cross talk might be associated with social impairment. A subset of the 15 participants with ASD with the most severe symptomology showed exclusive overconnectivity effects in both ToM and MNS networks, which were also associated with greater social dysfunction compared to a tightly matched subset of 15 typically developing controls.

Read more here.

Simple questionnaire may improve early detection of autism

To detect signs of autism in toddlers, pediatricians routinely rely on parent-completed questionnaires about the child’s behavior. But parents’ answers may be influenced as much by their own bias about their child’s possible diagnosis as by their child’s actions.

A set of six questions about child development can identify parents who tend to overreport or underreport their child’s symptoms.

The researchers then shortened their general development questionnaire to include these six questions and 14 others. They gave it along with the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT), a standard screen for the disorder, to 145 parents with a child who had been referred for psychological evaluation at an autism center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

In the study, the M-CHAT alone accurately classified 107 of the 145 children, and missed 12 children with the disorder. The general development questions flagged six of those 12 children’s parents as underreporters. In addition, the M-CHAT wrongly classified 26 children as having autism, and the questions identified nine of their parents as overreporters.

Read more here.

Study Finds That Brains With Autism Fail to Trim Synapses as They Develop

As a baby’s brain develops, there is an explosion of synapses, the connections that allow neurons to send and receive signals. But during childhood and adolescence, the brain needs to start pruning those synapses, limiting their number so different brain areas can develop specific functions and are not overloaded with stimuli.

Now a new study suggests that in children with autism, something in the process goes awry, leaving an oversupply of synapses in at least some parts of the brain.

The finding provides clues to how autism develops from childhood on, and may help explain some symptoms like oversensitivity to noise or social experiences, as well as why many people with autism also have epileptic seizures.

It could also help scientists in the search for treatments, if they can develop safe therapies to fix the system the brain uses to clear extra synapses.

Continue reading the main story

RELATED COVERAGE

• 

  The Kids Who Beat AutismJULY 31, 2014

• Parental Study Shows Rise in Autism Spectrum CasesMARCH 20, 2013

• Autism’s Unexpected Link to Cancer GenesAUG. 11, 2013

• Oxytocin Found to Stimulate Social Brain Regions in Children With AutismDEC. 2, 2013

The study, published Thursday in the journal Neuron, involved tissue from the brains of children and adolescents who had died from ages 2 to 20. About half had autism; the others did not.

Read more here.