freedoms, healing & stories in the news
CA law 4629.5 requires that 85% of money spent by the regional centers be spent on direct services –and only 15% on administrative services. Some regional centers are “top heavy” with administrators called District Managers. Will the excess District Managers be sacked or moved into direct service jobs?
So how can the public see the books for the 20+ non-profit California regional centers? What changes will the 4629.5 law have?
Some CA regional centers have lots of administrators — called district managers — who do not provide direct services. So will regional center district managers become service coordinators in order to keep their jobs? That would be one way to reduce the huge case loads!
The cost for regional centers which care for disabled children and adults doubled in last 10 years in California. What are ways to contain costs and still provide appropriate services?
Standardization throughout the regional centers of Purchase of Services (POI) is a major way to contain costs.
Why not have an Internet method for regional center employees to suggest ways to reduce costs? The social workers who set up the POI’s probably have some excellent ideas how to reduce costs. So, ask the regional center social workers!
Once a regional center client — always a regional center client?
Some regional centers make little or no effort to exit persons who never belonged or who no longer are substantially disabled. Bad publicity and administrators think it a waste of time and resources because the Fair Hearing process is skewed in favor of the claimants.
Hence, the legislature needs to set a clear policy how all regional centers can exit clients who no longer are substantially disabled.
How? Every school age child who receives regional center services has a school Individual Education Plan. The legislature could require schools to automatically supply copies of 3 year re-assessments to the regional centers for review. And set up a standard method to exit children from the regional center based on progress made in school and regional center provided services.
LAO’s Office Releases Report for Options to Achieve Budget Savings in the Regional Center System
The Legislative Analyst’s Office, a non-partisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor for the California Legislature, has issued a report providing recommendations regarding funding for the regional center service system.
Following is the introduction of the report:
“Total expenditures for the regional center system that provides services for persons with developmental disabilities more than doubled between 1999–00 and 2009–10, leading to a series of actions by the Legislature to slow down the growth in the program.
In this report, we describe and assess proposals in the Governor’s 2011–12 budget plan to achieve further cost containment in programs administered by the Department of Developmental Services (DDS), including community services. We also provide the Legislature with additional options to achieve savings in community services through expansion of the existing Family Cost Participation Program (FCPP) or through implementation of “means testing†to determine program eligibility. Either of the approaches that we recommend would help ensure the long–term sustainability of the program for those consumers with the greatest financial need for its services.â€
Read the entire report online at the LAO Web site
Updated on February 03rd, 2011
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) combined with symptoms of ADHD (inattentive, hyperactive or combined) is related to greater impairment in adaptive behavior, working memory and executive functioning per Acta Neurpsychiatrica, August 2008.
DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
About half of all children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) also have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or some symptoms of ADHD either inattentive, hyperactive or combined.
Common symptoms of the inattention form of ADHD are: the person often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities; is often forgetful in daily activities; dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort such as homework; often loses thing necessary for tasks or activities; easily distracted by extraneous stimuli; does not seem to listen when spoken to directly; has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks; and makes careless mistakes.
Children and adults who have some ADHD symptoms and Autistic Spectrum Disorder tend to have exacerbated impairment in adaptive behavior, working memory and general executive functioning . How do we know this?
The above findings are from research published in Acta Neurpsychiatrica, August 2008, vol. 20, issue 4, pgs 207-215.
“Recent estimates suggest that 31% of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) meet diagnostic criteria for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and another 24% of children with ASD exhibit sub threshold clinical ADHD symptoms.
“Presence of ADHD symptoms in the context of ASD could have a variety of effects on cognition, autistic traits, and adaptive/maladaptive behaviors including: exacerbating core ASD impairments; adding unique impairments specific to ADHD; producing new problems unreported in ASD or ADHD; having no clear impact; or producing some combination of these scenarios. Children with ASD and co-morbid ADHD symptoms (ASD+ADHD; n=21), children with ASD without ADHD (ASD; n=28), and a typically developing control group (n=21) were included in the study; all groups were matched on age, gender-ratio, IQ, and socioeconomic status. Data were collected on verbal and spatial working memory, response inhibition, global executive control (EC), autistic traits, adaptive functioning, and maladaptive behavior problems.
In this sample, the presence of ADHD symptoms in ASD exacerbated impairments in EC and adaptive behavior and resulted in higher autistic trait, and externalizing behavior ratings. ADHD symptoms were also associated with greater impairments on a lab measure of verbal working memory.
These findings suggest that children with ASD+ADHD symptoms present with exacerbated impairments in some but not all domains of functioning relative to children with ASD, most notably in
Therefore, ADHD may moderate the expression of components of the ASD cognitive and behavioral phenotype, but ASD+ADHD may not represent an etiologically distinct phenotype from ASD alone.”
The ADOS Manual recommends users to regular video tape ADOS assessments to prevent “drift” in scoring. The ADOS cut off score does not include coding of category 3 behaviors which is a necessary component for a diagnosis of Autistic Disorder. Post is a hypothetical exam of how President Obama might perform.
Let’s imagine what might happen were President Obama given an ADOS assessment. An ADOS is administered one-to-one — not done here.
What the ADOS is: The ADOS assesses for autistic spectrum disorders. Adolescents or adults assessed with an ADOS are asked to do various tasks including: 1) play interactively with the person who is assessing; 2) demonstrate how to do an activity; and 3) tell a story based on a picture book which has no words.
One ADOS task is engaging in interactive play that involves joint attention and ability to change based on what the other person does. President Obama seems to engage in a lot of “my way or no way†behavior which is not interactive. When President Obama got the stimulus bill signed he immediately turned it over to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to figure out how to distribute the “porkâ€. President Obama did not wield his mighty pen and interactively “cut†out pork. Overall global assessment: As Obama’s abilities to interactively “play†appear low, he gets a score of 2 for the joint interactive task.
A second task on the ADOS: The person must demonstrate both verbally and non-verbally how to do something in daily life. Getting bills such as ObamaCare passed has been part of President Obama’s daily life. Can you imagine President Obama — without a teleprompter — explaining with use of gesture and words how he got ObamaCare passed? On the demonstrate a Daily Activity task Obama scores another 2. The total score is now 4 points.
A third task on the ADOS: The person assessed must tell a story based on a picture book that has no words. So, imagine a picture book showing the Tea Party movement at various rallies. How might Obama tell that story? Can Obama see a series of pictures and make a coherent story about a major political event, i.e. the Tea Party movement? Doubtful. Hence, on the Tell a Story task President Obama gets another score of 2.
On just three ADOS tasks Obama is already up to a total score of 6. There are about 12 or so tasks on the ADOS.
Let’s hypothetically assume that President Obama can meet the ADOS cutoff score for a possible diagnosis of an autistic spectrum disorder. More information is necessary to assign a diagnosis of autism or some variation.
The foregoing gives you an idea of the kind of tasks persons must perform during an ADOS assessment.
For each ADOS task a rater gives one global overall rating. O = no impairment. Various numbers can be assigned.
How subjective is ADOS? Relatively, the ADOS test is substantially more subjective compared to a Wechsler IQ test. Assigning one overall value to how well a task has been performed is a subjective act. How accurate are subjective ratings? In California the Board of Psychology finally stopped requiring Oral Exams for licensure because the subjective ratings over time varied so much.
What does the ADOS Manual say? The ADOS manual (i.e., the manual that comes with tapes) states that persons using the ADOS should regularly videotape. That way the videotape can be examined by others.
When litigation arises are videotapes of the ADOS routinely provided as evidence? Per what I hear and in my experience, taping is not typically done. .Should videotapes be routinely done of the ADOS when litigation may be involved? Yes.
The ADOS manual states that it is important to routinely get supervision. Videotaping, comparing to test tapes and regular outside supervision are important to prevent “drift†as to how global ratings are assigned.
Of importance, in contrast to the ADOS, Manuals for I.Q tests do not suggest or recommend that videotaping and on-going supervision are necessary for accuracy in scoring an intelligence test.
To get a diagnosis of 299.0 Autistic Disorder an adult — such as President Obama — must be substantially impaired in a number of areas.
How might President Obama do given the above hypothetical performance on the ADOS combined with additional background information and interview data?
Diagnostic criteria for 299.00 Autistic Disorder: A total of six with at least two from Category 1 and at least one from Categories 2 and 3.
Category 1: Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following.
a. Marked impairment in multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye to eye gaze, facial expression, body postures and gestures.
Might the teleprompter which Obama routinely uses show marked impairment in eye to eye gaze with the general public? Notice that Obama typically has his chin tilted to the left or right when speaking? Notice that on television Obama rarely makes direct eye contact? Of importance, Obama does not readily “read†non-verbal clues directed to him from the American public. Thus, Obama gets an X in this category.
b. Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to age.
Obama has peer relations appropriate to his age and development.
c. A lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests or achievements with other people.
Both before and after the 2010 election, did President Obama share his enjoyment and achievements with the American public? No. He did not talk about his achievements (ObamaCare, the stimulus bill, the bailouts) and he immediately left the county for ten days. On his most recent birthday, President Obama went by himself to Chicago. His wife and child went to Spain for a separate holiday. Obama scores an X in this category.
For Category 1, Obama meets the criteria of two different areas. He must get one in Category 2 and one in Category 3 and a total of six. Can he meet criteria for a diagnosis of 299.0 Autistic Disorder? Let’s see….
d. Lack of social or emotional reciprocity
Obama is frequently described as aloof, cold, distant. First visiting the gulf after the oil disaster he chastised the governor as soon as he got off the plane. That Obama was largely interested in how he was viewed and perceived rather than how were the people in the gulf doing says a lot. In various situations, Obama’s social and emotional reciprocity is low — but not lacking entirely. So, no X here.
Category 2: Quantitative impairments in communication as manifested by at least one of the following:
a. Delay in or total lack of development of spoken language .in individuals with adequate speech not accompanied by alternative modes, e.g., gesture, mime.
There is no information in President Obama’s two autobiographies about his early development. Insufficient information known. No rating given.
b. In individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
President Obama says that most Americans do support his policies but that there has been a “communication problemâ€. Obama says it is a PR problem and that he must do a better job explaining his policies to the public. Does Obama’s comments on the election results show an inability to “sustain a conversation†with the American public? Is Obama merely tone deaf? A conversation entails the ability to “hear†what others are saying and understand what is said from their perspective. Obama is not hearing what the public said per the 2010 elections. Hence, Obama gets an X rating for Category 2 b.
c. Stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language.
Obama engages considerable repetitive use of language. How many hundreds of times has Obama said, “you can keep your health care… you can keep your health care….health care costs will not rise…. taxes on the middle class will not rise… Hence, Obama gets an X in this category.
d. Lack of varied spontaneous make believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level.
President Obama engages in considerable make believe play and there is a knee jerk reaction rather than spontaneity in how he does it. For example, it is make believe play to print billions of funny money and say to the public that this will “grow the economyâ€. But there is no “lack…†Thus, no rating of an X.
Category 3: Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities as manifested by at least one of the following:
a. Encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
President Obama clearly was preoccupied in pushing his agenda through congress. ObamaCare will pass whether the public likes it or not. The intensity of focus to achieve his goals was apparent to the American public. Was his preoccupation abnormal either in intensity or focus? That is hard to estimate. The American public said no more and voted Democrats out of office who were pro-Obama policies. It was not only what he did but how President Obama went about it. There was no listening to l the Republicans. No inclusion of others. Overall, an X here.
b. Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals.
No information. No rating made.
c. Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms.
None observed or reported. Head bobbing because of teleprompter has been coded already.
d. Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects.
Not observed or reported. No rating made.
Overall, using the above scoring — an adult such as President Obama does not meet criteria for a diagnosis of 299.0 Autistic Disorder. However, he may meet a criteria for PDD-NOS or Asperger’s Disorder. More information is necessary….
Yes this is done tongue in cheek. This is an imaginary exercise.
Conclusions: The ADOS is a test that is subjective and “drift†in scoring can readily occur. When used in litigation the entire ADOS tape should be provided in evidence for others to examine.
In actuality I do not think President Obama suffers from an autistic disorder. But he is “tone-deafâ€. And he seems convinced that he knows best for America. Probably, narcissistic is a better description of many of his behaviors.
So what say you? Is President Obama “out of it� Tone deaf? Narcissistic? Sort of autistic?
written by Cameron Jackson DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
Do you have an adult child in California who substantially – very different from others his or her age — cannot do what society typically expects a young person to do?
For example, let’s say you have a son or daughter age 25 who has never held a part time job more than a couple months, who still lives with you or in a separate space you pay for, who has no real friends, who cannot cook more than microwave and who cannot make normal decisions that young persons make at that age?
Are you in effect still acting as the parent in charge although the adult child is moving along in age — but quite delayed?
What to do?
Think about a Limited Conservatorship as one vehicle that might assist.
For those who can, of course you can contact your personal attorney.
You need to know that there are free (govt paid for) or relatively low cost alternatives:
For example, SPIN in Santa Cruz County, supported by your tax dollars, offers workshops which assist families with children with developmental disabilities and delays.
Tonight SPIN (10-26-2010) in Watsonville, California held a meeting (6:30 – 8:00) with an attorney present. The meeting was to provide legal information concerning Limited Conservatorships.
I am a licensed, clinical Ph.D. psychologist. I attended the SPIN meeting because I had referred a couple families and on occasion I write reports recommending Limited Conservatorships.
As I could not stay for the entire SPIN meeting (10-26-2010) regarding Limited Conservatorships here is some info — perhaps it was not provided — concerning how to get a Limited Conservatorshp.
This is not legal advise. This is based on my experience as a licensed clinical psychologist interacting with families who need to exert control over the affairs of adult children:
There is FREE assistance for families who need to assist adult (over age 18) persons who cannot manage their life without family or other assistance.
What you can do:
Using Google:
1) type into Google” California Judicial Council Forms
go to: Browse All Forms
type in: Probate – Guardianships and Conservatorships
Download appropriate forms for Conservatorships
2) not know what forms to download?
3) go to the Law Library in Santa Cruz (in the Court House, basement, there is an attorney there to assist you).
4) With assistance from the attorney, file the forms with the County clerk of SAnta Cruz, CA
5) Get a Hearing Date stamped on your legal form by the County Clerk of Santa Cruz County.
6) Be sure to “ Notice” the Regional Center – learn what that means with assistance from the lawyer provided by Santa Cruz County
7) With a Hearing Date, Notice and what you are requesting (how many of the usual 7 powers are you requesting be removed from your adult child) in my experience the regional center near you in CA will respond to Superior Court
8) In my experience, when Superior Court requests a California regional center to provide a Limited Conservatorship that report will be provided in a timely manner.
A Limited Conservatorship is one vehicle that may assist parents who need to provide basic assistance to adult children. There are other vehicles. If you need more information or assistance, contact Dr. Cameron Jackson DrCameronJackson@gmail.com 831 688-6002 P.O.Box 1972, Aotos, CA 95002-1972
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Excellent idea to have a therapy center rather than a mosque at Ground Zero. See recent article in New Patriot Journal 9-19-2010 by Cindy Chafian reprinted from The Daily Right.
Bad idea to make therapy free — better to make it sliding scale and everyone pays according to an agreed on formula.
Instead of Hollywood stars and well known folks, get community involvement and require parent/family participation from all using the center.
It works fine to have some pay more. The proposed therapy center at Ground Zero needs to attract families with money and stability and connections who want to get behind the goals of the project. Get those people on the board.
Again — don’t make it “free”.
The above advise is based on my five years experience starting and running a child care center in Santa Cruz, CA to assist homeless families get on with their lives. The name is Calvary Childcare Center and – 20 years later – it is still serving the community.
I learned that children’s lives could be turned around with as little as 4 hours child care 2 days a week. I learned that ‘free-bees” are not the way to motivate people to change their lives.
The impulse and motivation of DAD’s offer are authentic. And the timing is right.
Just get the pricing right. And get personal involvement by every family served. I support the therapy center’s overall goals. And many, many people can get behind the idea. written by Cameron Jackson
See the following story about the proposed therapy center:
Non-Profit Organization Proposes Ground Zero Mosque Compromise
Written By: Cindy Chafian
Published: 9/19/2010
“New Jersey based Non-Profit organization Drums and Disabilities is prepared to move forward with plans to build a state of the art therapy facility in the location where the Ground Zero Mosque is currently slated to be built.
“Weeks ago, Pat Gesauldo, an accomplished, award-winning drummer and CEO of D.A.D. presented Governor Patterson, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Imam Faisal Rauf and property owners Sharif El-Gamal, and Hisham El-zanaty with his proposal, timeline and plan to build the center.
The State-of–the Art Therapy Center will offer free physical and cognitive therapy services for children whose parents were victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Police, Fire, and Rescue workers who might now be disabled, and for the wounded troops from the Tri-State Area.
As of yet, no one from Governor Patterson’s or Mayor Bloomberg’s office has even bothered to return calls from Gesualdo about joining efforts to reach a less controversial use of one of the last remaining buildings directly impacted by the attacks from 9/11. (The top of the building was damaged by the landing gear from one of the planes during the attack.)
Property owners Sharif El-Gamal and Hisham El-zanaty as well as Imam Faisal Rauf recently turned down Donald Trump’s offer of $6 million to purchase the building, claiming that the building was worth almost 4 times that amount.
Gesualdo respects the right to build the mosque in this location but feels that his idea would be a much more reasonable compromise for the community and country. He describes the facility as one that “will be funded by our own organization, our own community, and our own Government. Additionally it will offer free therapy services for special needs children whose parents were victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Police, Fire and Rescue Workers, and wounded troops.â€
Gesualdo has reached out to Trump hoping to join efforts and his support as well.
Through private, state and federal grants and donations, Gesualdo is willing to come to the table with an offer of $12 million. This is double what Donald Trump came to the table with last week. and a 3 times the amount the current owners purchased the property for a little over a year ago.
Critics of Gesualdo and his plan have raised questions as to the timing, funding and motivation of his proposal. He addressed those concerns with me in an interview yesterday.
The Daily Right: There are those who would question why you have chosen now to get involved. Why have you chosen now to build the center? What motivated you to propose your center here vs. somewhere else?
Gesualdo: I have been searching for a building to build a DAD Program Therapy Center in the Ground Zero area and lower Manhattan for 3 years. What not a better location then to offer our free therapy services for 9/11 victims? This building is the last remaining building that was directly damaged by one of the planes as it flew into the twin towers. No one should tear it down, whether it be the mosque developers, or an American construction company.
My motivation for this purchasing this specific building is because I offer a truly healing opportunity for this location. We help children and adults with Autism, Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, Tourette’s, Aspberger’s Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, ODD, OCD, and other disabilities, to develop retention, coordination, self-esteem, fine motor skills, and physical and cognitive functioning.
We currently offer our program, which is conducted by doctors, teachers, and special needs service providers in schools, hospitals, and community centers throughout the world.
TDR: You say that this facility will provide free therapy services for special needs children from those affected by 9/11 as well as military members and their family. How will your organization be able to provide these services free of charge?
Gesualdo: We plan to build a state-of the-art non-profit therapy center that would offer free therapy services for special needs children whose parents were victims of 9/11, free therapy services for the Police Officers, Firefighters, and Rescue Heroes who are now disabled as part of 9/11, and free therapy services for wounded troops from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and the Wounded Warriors Project. We can offer our services to these victims for free, because we will offset the cost with other paid therapy services and income from this building. Additionally, we have a team of therapists willing to donate their services for free.
TDR: $12 million is a lot of money. How do you intend to raise the money if Trump or anyone else won’t get involved?
Gesualdo: I have countered Donald Trump’s original offer of $6,000,000.00 with my own offer of $6,000,000.00, to raise the purchase the mosque property at Ground Zero, with an offer of $12,000,000.00. I have recently invited Donald Trump to join forces with me in this effort, by using our combined donations. If he does not wish to join me, then I will raise the $12,000,000.00 through our own efforts of our non-profit organization, with part private and public funding.
TDR: You are hoping to raise the funds through the generosity of everyday American’s who are willing to support your vision. What happens if you raise the $12 million and those who currently hold the rights to those properties decide not to relinquish those right or move the Islamic center/mosque?
Gesualdo: I have put the offer on the table for mosque developers and leaders Imam Rauf, Sharif El-Gamal, and Hisham Elzanaty, and privately and publicly encouraged them to discuss this purchase price. I am not starting a fund raising effort now, and only will when the mosque developers accept my offer. At that time, and only at that time, will our fundraising campaign begin for the purchase of the mosque property. Our fundraising campaign and financial management is independently over seen from myself and the DAD Program, by a major CPA firm.
TDR: If those who claim to want to reach a reasonable solution to this controversial issue decide not to accept your generous offer, will you build your center in a different location? If so, won’t those who donated on behalf of the project being built at this specific location feel betrayed?
Gesualdo: I would be more then happy to build a therapy center, and offer the same services anywhere, and have been looking at different locations in NY, NJ, and CA. for the past few years. Each specific fundraising campaign will be focused for a specific location only. Therefore, the money raised from the fundraising campaign to purchase the mosque property, will be used to purchase the mosque property only. A fundraising campaign for the Mosque property will begin when the mosque developers agree to a purchase price with me, and at that time only.
TDR: How can you guarantee that the money donated by everyday American’s will be used for the purpose they intended?
Gesualdo: The nice thing about working on this specific project, is that I want all people to feel they have some part in saving this building. Since we are a 501 (C)(3) non-profit organization, anyone who donates can use their donation as a write off. It is mandatory that everyone knows exactly how much money we have raised, and the current amount at all times, which will be disclosed publicly, constantly. Donors may also wish to remain anonymous. The fundraising campaign and financial management for the purchase of the mosque property at Ground Zero is independently over seen from myself and the DAD Program, by CPA Michel Karu and the major CPA firm of Levine/Jacobs & Company. We will also have a separate Board of Directors for the Therapy Center, which will be comprised of many of the celebrities, sports stars, executives, and community leaders, and police officials who currently take part in our program.
If those who are currently in the middle of the controversial issue surrounding the Ground Zero Mosque truly are interested in achieving a compromise that all communities are satisfied with, it would appear as though Mr. Gesualdo’s offer would achieve just that.
What better use of this property than a non-profit organization who has a proven track record of giving back to the community? This offer would enable those currently holding the rights to the property to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. It would truly show the American citizens, all of whom were affected by the attacks from 9/11 in one way or another, that this Imam and his associates really are about mending fences,healing and moving forward.
If they reject this truly altruistic offer by Gesualdo and the D.A.D. program then it will show America and the rest of the world that they really don’t care what they feel, rather they are only in it for themselves.
Here’s a case that illustrates why and how to reform social security disability.
Billy – not his real name – is a five year old boy. When age 3 he was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder and put on social security disability.
Billy’s parents have drug problems, are unemployed and have been in and out of shelters.
Due to neglect, Billy was removed by CPS and placed in a foster home 2 days a week. The other 5 days Billy lives with his mother in a shelter. His father’s where-abouts are unknown.
The care that Billy received 2 days a week for 10 months in a foster home was sufficient that Billy changed dramatically.
Billy changed from having no language to speaking in 4-5 word sentences, from not being potty trained to potty trained, from ignoring other children to seeking them out.
This child is not autistic and should not receive social security disability based on that or any other diagnosis. Currently, Billy has behavior problems and having missed considerable school is behind other students.
How to reform the system so children are not put on disability who should not?
There are some very simple ways to radically reform social security disability.
Judiciously limit who gets on social security disability to start with. Limit the time period to maximum of 1 or 2 years depending on severity. Make it clear that any new information that shows much higher functioning will automatically cut off the benefit.
Tell the family that the benefit automatically dies once the 1 or 2 years has passed. Make the family be the moving party to continue the benefit. Assess the child again prior to re-newing the benefit.
Legislative changes: Require that a copy of all 3 year school assessments is sent electronically to social security for review. Hire licensed psychologists as independent contractors to review cases.
Require that all California regional centers provide social security with electronic copies of psychological and medical reports.
These simple changes can reform social security disability.
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.
At times one wonders why huge sums of money are spent on research! The article below finds more autism is diagnosed close to regional centers and that more education and race is connected than environmental factors.
This money could have been better spent on what probably can reduce autistic spectrum disorders — reduce use of ultra sound and other invasive technology to medical necessity and reduce use of chemicals and pollutants in the home environments What goes on pre-birth, such as use of drugs and alcohol, has huge effects on development.
This study found that more cases of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) are found to be located close to places that diagnose ASD — regional centers. Why? It is not that there are more cases close to regional centers but that there is access to a services that can diagnose ASD.
Take San
ta Cruz County which has a large agricultural population in Watsonville which is Hispanic and a more highly educated population in Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley. Far more children of Caucasian higher educated parents are routinely diagnosed than are children from less educated farm workers.
Why? Because lower income, less educated Hispanics are working 10-12 hours a day six days a week. Many do not have the time, energy or money to take their children to regional centers for a diagnosis.
So far as I can see this sort of research is a huge waste of time and money. What do you think? Read below what the researchers found:
“Researchers at UC Davis have identified 10 locations in California where the incidence of autism is higher than surrounding areas in the same region. Most of the areas, or clusters, are in locations where parents have higher-than-average levels of educational attainment. Because children with more educated parents are more likely to be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, one need look no further for a cause, the authors say. The other clusters are located close to major autism treatment centers.
“The clusters are located primarily in the high-population areas of Southern California and, to a lesser extent, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The researchers said that, while children born within the clusters during the study period were more likely to be diagnosed with autism, the majority of the state’s children with autism were born in adjacent areas outside the clusters.
“For the rigorous study, published online today in the journal Autism Research, scientists examined nearly all of the approximately 2-1/2 million births recorded in the state of California from 1996 through 2000. About 10,000 children born during that five-year period were later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, according to the state Department of Developmental Services (DDS).
After mapping the state’s birth cohort based on where the mothers lived at the time when their children were born, the researchers pinpointed birth locations of children who were later diagnosed with autism. The study looked for areas of higher incidence within each of the service zones of DDS’s regional centers, which coordinate services for individuals with developmental disorders like autism.
“This is the first time that anyone has looked at the geography of autism births in California in order to see whether there might be some local patches of elevated environmental risk. This method ignores unknown widespread factors (such as a regional pollutant) that could increase autism incidence,” said Karla Van Meter, the study’s lead author. Van Meter is an epidemiologist and was a doctoral student in the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences and at the Center for Animal Disease Modeling and Surveillance when the study was conducted.
“This spatial study was extremely rigorous because we developed a methodology that greatly improved accuracy in identifying areas of higher autism incidence. With so many possible environmental health risk factors, we see this method as generally useful for focusing studies on exposures that are elevated in such clusters,” Van Meter said.
However, the researchers said that in this investigation the clusters probably are not correlated with specific environmental pollutants or other “exposures.” Rather, they corellate to areas where residents are more educated.
“What we found with these clusters was that they correlated with neighborhoods of high education or neighborhoods that were near a major treatment center for autism,” said senior author Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a professor of public health sciences and a researcher with the UC Davis MIND Institute.
“In the U.S., the children of older, white and highly educated parents are more likely to receive a diagnosis of autism or autism spectrum disorder. For this reason, the clusters we found are probably not a result of a common environmental exposure. Instead, the differences in education, age and ethnicity of parents comparing births in the cluster versus those outside the cluster were striking enough to explain the clusters of autism cases,” Hertz-Picciotto said.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disability characterized by impaired social development and communication and restricted, repetitive behaviors. It is considered a lifelong condition that develops by the time a child is 3 years old. The researchers limited their study to the five-year period between 1996 and 2000 in order to allow all of the children born during that time to grow to an age by which they probably would have received a diagnosis – 6 years old.
Van Meter said that the increased risk of autism in these areas is roughly a doubling of the incidence of autism over the incidence in the surrounding zone. For example, for the cluster area located in the service zone of the San Diego Regional Center, the autism incidence was 61.2 per 10,000 births and, in the rest of the Regional Center service zone, 27.1 per 10,000 births. For the Harbor Regional Center the incidence was 103.4 and 57.8, respectively. Van Meter added that it is important to remember that most of the children with autism were not born in the cluster areas.
In Southern California, the areas of increased incidence were located within these Regional Center service zones:
The Westside Regional Center, headquartered in Culver City, Calif., which serves the communities of western Los Angeles County, including the cities of Culver City, Inglewood and Santa Monica; The Harbor Regional Center, headquartered in Torrance, Calif., which serves southern Los Angeles County, including the cities of Bellflower, Harbor, Long Beach and Torrance; The North Los Angeles County Regional Center, headquartered in Van Nuys, Calif., which serves the San Fernando and Antelope valleys – two clusters were located in this regional center’s service zone. The South Central Los Angeles Regional Center, headquartered in Los Angeles, which serves the communities of Compton and Gardena; The Regional Center of Orange County, headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., which serves the residents of Orange County; and The Regional Center of San Diego County, headquartered in San Diego, which serves people living in Imperial and San Diego counties.
In Northern California, the areas of increased incidence were located within these regional centers’ service zones:
The Golden Gate Regional Center, headquartered in San Francisco, which serves Marin and San Mateo counties and the City and County of San Francisco. Two clusters were located within the Golden Gate Regional Center’s service zone; and The San Andreas Regional Center, headquartered in Campbell, Calif., which serves Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties.
Two areas of increased incidence were located in Central California regional centers’ service zones:
The Central Valley Regional Center, headquartered in Stockton, Calif., which serves Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties; and The Valley Mountain Regional Center, headquartered in Fresno, Calif., which serves Amador, Calaveras, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties.
The South Central and Valley Mountain Regional Centers autism clusters were listed as “potential clusters” because their clusters met a reduced set of statistical conditions.
All of these areas were identified using a sophisticated new biostatistical testing procedure developed by Van Meter in collaboration with study co-author Lasse Christiansen and constructed on Christiansen’s earlier statistical work. This method looked for combinations of events, in this case, autism, within a set of locations, in this case, births, whose occurrence would not be expected to occur at random. This is the first application of that method. UC Davis undertook the epidemiological study as a step toward identifying geographic risk factors for autism in California, Van Meter said.
The study also examined demographic factors recorded on the children’s birth records that are known to be associated with both autism and residential location. These included having an older parent – a known autism risk factor. The researchers found a statistically significant but small association of the cluster areas with older parental age at the time their child was born.
Hertz-Picciotto said that the findings do not counter the idea that the environment plays a role in autism, but rather, help to focus attention toward certain types of exposures.
“Because of the strong link between demographics, particularly parental education, and the locations of clusters, other explanations for these pockets of high autism incidence, such as localized sources of exposure, are not likely,” Van Meter explained.
“The risk for a child with highly educated parents to be diagnosed with autism is probably not caused by the location of the mother’s residence or any local shared environmental exposures,” she said. “Our result indicates that the most likely sources of environmental hazards for autism in California are in or around the home or else are widespread.”
“The strong link between demographics, particularly parental education, and the locations of the clusters validated the effectiveness of the statistical method that we employed because it successfully identified areas where a known risk factor was concentrated,” she added.
Keywords: Autism, Conservation, Developmental Disabilities, Developmental Disorders, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Neurology, Pediatrics, Public Health, University of California – Davis – Health System.
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