Monterey Bay Forum

One rating scale based on parent report is the Ages and Stages Questonaire.

The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder screening test. Pervasive Developmental Disorders are a group of disorders including autism, asperger’s disorder and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specififed (PDD-NOS).

The ASQ has nineteen variations. The variation selected is based on the child’s age. (more…)

BlogBabel Tags: Ages and Stages, Autism, pervasive developmental disorders, screening instruments for autism

“Be sure to screen children for delays” said the first lecture at the Disability conference held in San Francisco March 11 & 12, 2010. One in five (1/5th) of all children have some kind of delay when they enter school – hence it is very important that physicians and other health professionals screen for delays.

One screening tool for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) is the CHAT. The CHAT is just one of various tools available to screen for ASD.

Do you have concerns about your child? There are certain signs to watch for in children age six months to one year old. Many of these are non-verbal signs: not turning head when child’s name is called, lack of smiling and eye contact, not engaging in “joint attention” .

I will provide free screenings for autistic spectrum disorder. Contact Dr. Jackson at 831 688-6002 (Aptos, California phone) or email to DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

Identify autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) early. Treat it appropriately. And many children will substantially improve.

written by Dr. Cameron Jackson DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

BlogBabel Tags: ASD, Autism, CHAT, joint attention, screening instruments

According to Dr. Bryna Seigel, for treating autism Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) IS the best method and it needs to be done from a developmental perspective.

That’s the problem. The ABA folks far too frequently do not use a developmental framework. Too often the ABA trainers do not use anything other than the one tool they know: stimulus – response. And far too often, ABA trainers do NOT know what is appropriate developmentally or culturally for that child.

The bottom line is that the ABA folks are narrowly trained and practise a narrow technique. It is good that they stay within the boundaries of their knowledge. Thank god for that! It is not good that they think that their method is the only way to go.

For example, too often ABA trainers will train the child during a time of day that typically the child naps. Does that make sense? Not from a developmental perspective. (more…)

BlogBabel Tags: ABA, applied behavioral analysis, Autism, developmental persepctive, Dr. Siegel, Early Start Denver Model, Education, sleeping autistic child, treatment of autism, UCSF

 

There is a saying, “the devil is in the details…” 

Assessment of autism with the ADOS is fraught with difficulties.  The ADOS per the Manual does not assess for Category 3 behaviors — repetitive, stereotypic behaviors. 

 There must be substantial Category 3 behaviors for a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis.  It sounds like, per Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorders (2009) that a new algorithm published in 2007 takes care of the problem. But does it?  (more…)

BlogBabel Tags: ADOS, algorrithm for autism, assessment, Autism, Lord, PDD-NOS

Yes! Parenting styles matter! Sensitive parenting — using language to help teach your child about his/her enviornment — helps ease dificulties that later become defined as autism.

When little Mary is playing with a ring, a sensitive mother says, this is a green ring … and this, over here, is a red ring…. the mother is teaching her daughter about the environment. (more…)

BlogBabel Tags: Autism, healing autism, Parenting

This is a true story with some information changed to protect privacy.

The boy, I will call him Mark, is nearly seven years old. He was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder a year ago.

The diagnosis was given after a thorough assessment by a licensed California psychologist up in the Bay Area. Mark and his parents live in the Monterey Bay area. Mark goes to a public school kindergarten.

In the course of just one year, Mark’s functional abilities have improved considerably. He no longer meets criteria for a diagnosis of Autistic Disorder. (more…)

BlogBabel Tags: Autism, autistic spectrum disorder, PDD-NOS, pervasive developmental disorder, social learning therapy, speech therapy

Medical Diagnosis: You go to a doctor. He/She says that you have a diagnosis of cancer. You say, what do I do …? The doctor suggests various treatments. Here, diagnosis is the flip side of treatment. Nobody BUYS or WANTS a diagnosis of cancer. If a person has cancer then treatment may involve radiation, surgery or chemotherapy or a combination of all three. All these treatments have significant medical side effects. None of these should be undertaken lightly.

Psychiatric/psychology diagnosis: Parents are concerned about mental and emotional development of their child. They take their child to a doctor — this one is a psychologist and / or psychiatrist. The parents want maximum services to address the concerns they see in the development of their child. So long as the services don’t hurt the child why not maximize them? That is the parents point of view.

Does the doctor conservatively diagnose or? Most of the treatments offerred for children with a diagnosis of autism do not have substantial side effects as in cancer. No lose of hair or feeling lousy because of radiation. So why not maximize treatment to assist the child? Why not “err” and offer maximum kinds of treatment?

Ethics: I say that it is best to do as accurate a diagnosis as possible and not “err” in order to maximize services. Better to incrementally come back and add necessary services rather than overload at the beginning.

This is an ethical dilemma. Does the MD give out drugs that are not necessary but the patient came all that way, waited an hour and expects to get “something”? Does the psychologist diagnose Autistic Disorder 299.0 and not PDD-NOS knowing that one will probably maximize all possible services and the other may not?

Another issue is who pays. If the patient pays for it akin to buying groceries then he may decide that some services are crucial and others can wait. If the “government” is paying the tab — how does that affect decisions?

BlogBabel Tags: accurate diagnosis, Autism, cancer, diagnosis, ehtics, Health

The regional centers in California assist persons who are substantially disabled in several areas and have a diagnosis of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy or seizure disorders. Licensed psychologists employed by the regional centers assess and make the diagnosis and the regional center clinical team determines substantial handicap and eligibility.

Is the applicant substantially handicapped in several areas? To determine substantial handicap there are various rating scales that can assist. Gathering rating information from both the family and also another source (such as a teacher or social worker) is typically done. The Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS) is one quite good rating scale that may be used.

BlogBabel Tags: Autism, eligibility for regional center services, mental retardation, regional center

Children later diagnosed with autism look normal until about 6 months of age. Decreased social abilities appear in the 6 month to 12 month period. So, let’s screen earlier and provide earlier intervention. (more…)

BlogBabel Tags: Autism, autistic signs, testing for autism

Dance Marathon is a student run blog, a great web site where anyone can publish articles on autism and many other subjects using Word Press. (more…)

BlogBabel Tags: Autism, Dance Marathon, student blog, University of Michigan