Category: Education

Aptos psychologist: Easter Seals offers P.L.A.Y. autism therapy in Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

written by Dr. Cameron Jackson, Ph.D.. L.D. Licensed Psychologist 831 688-6002

Children with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, NOS) have major social and communication difficulties.

Families need to be given the TOOLS how to have fun and be spontaneous with their children as they teach them. It is very hard on families to be social and engaging with ASDD children who seem to be in their own world, who seem to ignore their parents, who seem unaware of brothers and sisters.

The P.L.A.Y. project’s goal is to teach parents to PLAY in a fun way in developmentally appropriate ways. Not only the child – the whole family can benefit. Currently available in Monterey County, P.L.A.Y. is also available to Santa Cruz County parents. P.L.A.Y. is a vendor of San Andreas Regional Center which covers the four counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Clara. Pl.L.A.Y. is a regional center vendor for under 3 children. It is appropriate for children before attending school.

The following information comes from the Easter Seals site. There is a link to the site at the bottom.

“Easter Seals P.L.A.Y. Project (Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters) program started in 2006. The mission of the project is to help young children (up to age 6) with autism spectrum disorders and their families obtain interventions that consist of 2-3 hours of intensive, individualized therapy per day, and are integrated with other therapies saving the parents time and money.

“The P.L.A.Y. Project is unique in that it provides training for the parents of children with autism so they can implement therapy at home. Easter Seals has home consultants, including specially trained occupational therapists and speech pathologists, to implement the P.L.A.Y. Project, enabling them to teach parents how to initiate therapy in the home setting. A child with autism needs 20-30 hours per week of therapy to learn and grow as quickly as possible. This project is highly cost effective for families and enables the child to receive a continuum of service throughout their day.

“The P.L.A.Y. Project was founded by Dr. Rick Solomon, who has diagnosed and treated children with autism for over 15 years. Dr. Solomon’s initial study of 70 children with autism demonstrated that 65% of the children in the P.L.A.Y. Project made good to excellent progress. Solomon’s study has been given tremendous credibility with its recent acceptance for publication in the Journal of Autism and receipt of a National Institute of Health grant.

Goals of the P.L.A.Y. Project include:

Improving parent/child relationships.
Improving behavior of the child reducing stress within the home.
Including siblings in coaching and training.
Creating strong families including improved spousal relationships
Improving child development so children are ready for school.
Improving systems for families so services are integrated, accessible, culturally-appropriate and of high quality.The P.L.A.Y. Project is partially funded by First 5 Monterey County, First 5 Fresno County and the Fansler Foundation.

“If you or someone you know would like information regarding the P.L.A.Y. Project, please contact Drea Martinez at 559-267-3952 in Fresno and Mark Wenzler at 831-684-2166 in Monterey.

“For more information about the P.L.A.Y. Project, you can also visit www.playproject.org.

Above comes from Easter Seals

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Psychologist in Aptos: Voters want SOME government services, NOT necessarily what politiicans offer. freedomOK.net/wordpress

Tom Honig erroneously writes: “the problem really comes down to an essential flaw in any democracy: voters want government services, but they don’t want to pay for them…” (Good Times, May 21, 2009)

No, Tom. Voters want SOME government services and they want to CHOOSE which ones they want to fund. When times are tough, voters are likely to be even more careful about their choices. We all have less money and it has to do more.

For example, grandparents with 1/3 less money for retirement because of the meltdown still care about the education and quality of life of their grand-kids. They still will spend money on their grand-kids. So how do they stretch what they have?

There are a lot of statistics that suggest that California school test scores are at the bottom of the pack. And that California teachers are paid at the top of the pack. So why should those grandparents – and other voters – throw more money to the teachers’ unions? The unions protect the worst teachers from being fired. The unions, so far as I know, do not support merit pay for the best teachers.

Maybe there has to be a “meldtown” to get our priorities straight? Perhaps the “worst of times” can become the “best of times”?

How about a way that registered voters sitting in their living room can click a button and let law makers know yea or nea. The technology already exists. Professors are using it in their classroom for instant feed back. Let’s use the technology to let voters CHOOSE.

By the way, Tom, this is going out as a TWITTER. Yes, I know per last week’s article that you think TWITTER is for the birds. I think TWITTER has interesting possibilities other than answering, “what are you doing”. Why not answer, “what are you thinking that matters?

Cameron Jackson www.freedomOK.net/wordpress 831 688-6002

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Aptos psychologist: What allows people to work and love as they grow old? Employ “mature” defenses (altruism, humor etc.), a stable marriage, education, some exercise, not smoke, healthy weight and not abuse alcohol. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

The following is from The Atlantic article on happiness. Citation at bottom.

“What allows people to work, and love, as they grow old? By the time the Grant Study men had entered retirement, Vaillant, who had then been following them for a quarter century, had identified seven major factors that predict healthy aging, both physically and psychologically.

“Employing mature adaptations was one. The others were education, stable marriage, not smoking, not abusing alcohol, some exercise, and healthy weight. Of the 106 Harvard men who had five or six of these factors in their favor at age 50, half ended up at 80 as what Vaillant called “happy-well” and only 7.5 percent as “sad-sick.” Meanwhile, of the men who had three or fewer of the health factors at age 50, none ended up “happy-well” at 80. Even if they had been in adequate physical shape at 50, the men who had three or fewer protective factors were three times as likely to be dead at 80 as those with four or more factors.

What factors don’t matter? Vaillant identified some surprises. Cholesterol levels at age 50 have nothing to do with health in old age. While social ease correlates highly with good psychosocial adjustment in college and early adulthood, its significance diminishes over time. The predictive importance of childhood temperament also diminishes over time: shy, anxious kids tend to do poorly in young adulthood, but by age 70, are just as likely as the outgoing kids to be “happy-well.” Vaillant sums up: “If you follow lives long enough, the risk factors for healthy life adjustment change. There is an age to watch your cholesterol and an age to ignore it.”

The study has yielded some additional subtle surprises. Regular exercise in college predicted late-life mental health better than it did physical health. And depression turned out to be a major drain on physical health: of the men who were diagnosed with depression by age 50, more than 70 percent had died or were chronically ill by 63. More broadly, pessimists seemed to suffer physically in comparison with optimists, perhaps because they’re less likely to connect with others or care for themselves.

For more information about “mature defenses” and what allows people to work and love when old, go to

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Aptos psychologist: The value of Head Start may not be measured by hard numbers which apparently show no gain. How do you measure self worth, confidence and happiness in a 4 year old? When 3 families share a garage in Watsonville and the children are enrolled in Head Start the children ARE in a beter space. www.FreedomOK.net/wordpress

1766997985_83cf0bfd5bHere is a different view than mine. Apparently small kids are not learning more letters than those not enrolled. But what did they learn through the experience? What do the Head Start teachers say and report that cannot be quantified?

More Head Start? Not Smart says INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

“President Obama says his budget “cuts” include ending the Even Start program. But what he doesn’t say is that he’s spending more money on Head Start, which is just as ineffective.

In fact, the president’s proposed $66 million in savings from killing Even Start is easily wiped out by his pledge to pump $10 billion a year into similar early education programs like Head Start, which provides preschool for poor children.

He and his education chief deserve cautious praise for pushing charter schools and merit pay for teachers. But their bloated education budget reveals the true nature of their education-reform plan. It’s really just more of the same shopworn, pro-union Democrat approach to education: more spending and less accountability.

Take Obama’s plan to ramp up spending on Head Start programs while quadrupling the number of kids eligible for Early Head Start.

Study after study shows Head Start doesn’t work. Tykes enrolled in the program, at an average cost of $7,700, were able to name only about two more letters than disadvantaged kids who were not in Head Start, according to the Hoover Institution’s “Education Next” reform project. They also didn’t show any significant gains in early math, pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary or oral comprehension.

“The unavoidable conclusion,” says Douglas Besharov, an American Enterprise Institute scholar, “is that the measured impacts of Head Start, Early Head Start and Even Start have been tragically ‘disappointing’ — the word used by most objective observers.”

He added, “These three programs do not make a meaningful difference in the lives of disadvantaged children.”

Even Start was authorized in 1988 as a family literacy program covering low-income kids from birth through age 7. Head Start was established in 1965 for 4- and 5-year-olds. Early Head Start was formed in 1995 for children from birth to 3, plus pregnant women.

In the Recovery Act budget just passed, the Democrat Congress added an additional $2.3 billion to the $7 billion-a-year Head Start program.

As well-intentioned as it may be, Head Start plainly has an unacceptably small impact on learning to justify its cost. Yet Obama wants to expand not only Head Start funding, but also its reach by offering the program beyond the inner cities and poor rural areas. His goal — one shared and championed by the first lady — is “universal pre-K,” or mandatory preschool modeled after Head Start.

It’s hard to see why the president thinks it’s a good idea to entrust all pre-K programs — nationwide — to a public system that he admits is fraught with serious shortcomings, especially in inner-city areas most in need of reform.

To reform the nation’s education system, he says he’ll do whatever works and is “backed up by evidence and facts and proof that (it) can work.” Education Secretary Arne Duncan adds that “we must stop doing what doesn’t work.”

Both preach accountability and pragmatism, but their proposals don’t match their rhetoric. They intend to waste more money on early education programs that get failing marks.

Speaking of results: Duncan spent eight years running Chicago’s school system, yet it remains one of the nation’s worst. Scores and graduation rates for the most part stagnated on his watch. Among his reforms: increasing by several thousand the number of kids from 3 to 5 enrolled in early ed programs.

Coupled with spending more on federal pre-K programs, Obama wants the government to “provide affordable and high-quality child care that will promote child development and ease the burden on working families.”

This goal seems to lend credence to the charge that Head Start is really just welfare and day care masquerading as educational instruction.Those billions can be better spent elsewhere, or not at all.

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Aptos psychologist: Consolidate Santa Cruz County school districts to reduce overhead

Special Education is enormously expensive. The overhead expenses of administration are enormous. School districts must pick up the cost for special education from the age of 3 onward. With the huge increase in students categorized as “autistic-like” by the schools, special educaiton costs are sky rocketing.

Santa Cruz County has 10+ different school districts and two SELPAs. Every school district has a different Special Education Director. The two SELPAs must divide up money in some equitable manner between these 10+ school districts.

Imagine the money that could be saved if there was ONE SELPA and far fewer school districts? Parents need to unionize on behalf of their children and work with the schools for sensible change. Parents & the public must work to reduce overhead administrative costs. We must work so the special educaton “goodies” are spread more equitably.
www.freedmOK.net/wordpress

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Aptos Psychologist: While observing a child, learned that Cabrillo College Children’s Center cut 2 tenured teacher positions.

Cabrillo College Children’s Center just cut 2 tenured teacher positions. One teacher had been there for 10 years and loves working with children – particularly those with special needs. To help her & others out, we are starting a Job Board. Coming soon! www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

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Aptos psychologist: Unions only represent teachers & employees. Students need to organize and sit across the table from the teacher unions. Work together not go after higher pay for teachers. Go www.freedomOK.net/word press

Unions sue state for more school funds
By Sharon Noguchi, Mercury News

“To secure billions of dollars in additional funding for education, two school employee unions filed a lawsuit against the state of California on Thursday.

“The lawsuit argues that the state must repay schools the amount it’s taking away — and sooner than other funding schemes would allow.

“Faced with a state budget crisis, Sacramento has taken $8.6 billion from K-12 and higher education over two years. The lawsuit argues that the state must repay much of that, and cites a 1988 voter initiative that guaranteed minimum funding for education.

This week, the state Department of Finance suggested that schools may lose an additional $3.6 billion.

That threatened reduction “made it imperative to file” the suit, said Marty Hittelman, president of the California Federation of Teachers, which filed the suit in San Francisco Superior Court. It was joined by the Service Employees International Union Local 99, in Southern California, which represents janitors, secretaries and other support staff. The CFT represents about 100,000 teachers, librarians and other credentialed school employees, and is the smaller of two unions representing public school teachers in California.

Hittelman denied that the CFT filed the suit after polls showed most of the six propositions on the May 19 ballot badly trailing. Two of those, Propositions 1A and 1B, are key to funding education. Prop. 1B sets how much the state owes education and outlines a repayment schedule.

Even if 1B passes, the teachers union argues that schools would be shortchanged by freezing the repayment amount at $7.9 billion and deferring repayments until 2011-12.

The lawsuit argues that the state uses the wrong formula to determine whether schools will be reimbursed in the future for reduced funding.

H.D. Palmer, deputy director of the state Department of Finance, said the state owes school districts money for 2007-08, but not the current school year. “The Constitution is straightforward in this regard.”

Contact Sharon Noguchi at snoguchi@mercurynews.com or 408-271-

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Aptos psychologist: Students suffer when foreign math teachers speak poor English

Why don’t public schools require that math teachers from abroad demonstrate proficiency in speaking English? Schools should not hire foreigh teachers who cannot clearly communicate in English. It is hard enough to learn advanced math and science skills. Adding the burdern of listening to a teacher who cannot speak clear English can be overwhelming.

As a result, students suffer in multiple ways: They don’t learn the advanced math skills. Their self esteem suffers. They drop out of other math and science classes they might have pursued.

I overhead this at lunch yesterday. Hearing this, I turned and said that this happens in college as well as in high school.
I overheard a woman say:

“My daughter, a Junior at Mission High, is getting a A in Advanced Physics and an F in Intermediate Algebra. Because of the F, she cannot participate for the next grading perion on the softball team. There is no way she can raise the F to a decent grade. She cannot understand her math teacher. Her math teacher’s English is so poor that we got a tutor for her. She can learn the math from the tutor and get an A in Advanced Physics. But she cannot understand what her Algebra teacher says…. The school requires that she continue in the Math class …. We have enrolled her at Cabrillo College for the summer to learn the Algebra …

The young woman obviously is bright and capable of learning. To get an A in Advanced Physics she has to know the math. By having a tutor she has picked up the necessary math skills. But to be required to sit in a class she is failing because the teacher cannot communicate — the public school system is failing this young person. He self esteem may suffer. Her abilities to do sports will suffer.

All teachers in California — including substitutes — must pass a basic proficiency test in Math and English. It is a written test. Obviously, there should also be a test in speaking understandable English. Let the public speak up!

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Aptos psychologist: sensory integration helps children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD)

Article Date: 15 Apr 2009

“Occupational therapy helps people develop the life skills needed for living independent and satisfying lives, and it’s also helpful for children diagnosed with ASD,” said Dr. Skip Freedman, Executive Medical Director at AllMed Healthcare Management, a leading independent review organization (IRO). “Occupational therapists who treat children with ASD seek to help them develop suitable responses to stimuli in their environment.”

“Four clusters of behavior characterize autism: disturbances in social interaction, deficits in communication, behavioral abnormalities, and disturbances of sensory and perceptual processing.

Of these, the inability to communicate is key. Children with ASD learn to talk later, don’t learn to talk at all or sometimes lose the ability to talk. Others may learn to talk, but find using language effectively in social interactions difficult.

“Children with ASD can be both under- and over-responsive to sensory stimuli. Disturbances in the children’s perception of auditory stimulation are common.

“Based on analysis of the interactions of an ASD child’s skills, challenges and occupations, occupational therapists can intervene to help the child select alternative behaviors and tailor the intervention for the child’s specific needs and personality. This increases the child’s gaining new skills.

Sensory-based Integration

“Traditionally, occupational therapists focused on the child’s fine and gross motor skills, motor planning, and acquiring self-help skills. For example, they would work with ASD children to develop skills for buttoning their shirts, tying their shoes or work on their handwriting.

” Now, occupational therapists who specialize in ASD work with children on integrating the information coming in through their senses. Sensory integration and sensory-based interventions help children improve their self-regulation and develop acceptable behavioral responses. This integration effort improves the child’s sensory information processing and helps the child sort out acceptable from unacceptable behaviors. Additionally, the occupational therapist also may work with the child on his social and play skills.

Other Interventions

“Occupational therapists find relationship-based intervention treatments help a child with ASD grow both socially and emotionally. Often they use adult imitation involving many positive responses, prompts and cues to facilitate interaction between the children and their peers. This helps to show the positive effects of social engagement. Also, they engage the children in structured-play activities that include cueing, promoting and positive reinforcement to improve social interactions and taking turns.

Occupational therapists find that modeling and practice can have positive effects on activities such as turn-taking, joint attention, eye contact, nonverbal communication and language. Often they use social stories during therapy sessions to involve ASD children actively and to improve their targeted behaviors.

The philosophy and goals of occupational therapists align well with intervention for children with ASD, making them an integral part of the treatment team.

“Pediatricians can help parents identify early intervention programs available through a state’s department of social services or department of health,” said Freedman. “Often, parent’s health-insurance plan can fund occupational therapy.”

To cover occupational therapy for ASD, most health insurers may request documentation that includes integration and praxis tests (SIPT) results, short- and long-term treatment goals and require a therapist to have sensory integration credentials.

Source: AllMed Healthcare Management

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Aptos psychologist: Do parents BUY a diagnosis of autism? Some do.

Would anyone buy a diagnosis of CANCER? I don’t think so. Will parents BUY a diagnosis of AUTISM? Yes – some parents will try. And some families are quite successful.

Why “buy” a diagnosis of autism? Because there are lots of expensive “goodies” that attach with a diagnosis of autism. Expensive school services such as Occupatonal Therapy (OT) and Speech therapy and Social Skills therapy.

In contrast to Mental Retardation — not a diagnosis that parents seek — more and more parents do try to buy a diagnosis of autism.

Is there a real explosion of autism? Appears to be. Are the numbers way up in part because of the push by many parents to BUY a diagnosis. Yes, I think so.

To date, I have seen no research that addresses this issue: many parents WANT a diagnosis of autism and DESIRE affects t how they retrospectively describe their child’s behavior.

written by Cameron Jackson, Ph.D., J.D. Licensed Psychologist PSY 14762
831 688-6002

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