Guest guest Posted June 8, 2002 Report Share Posted June 8, 2002 SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT " Healing Autism: No Finer a Cause on the Planet " Your Profile: Name? Last Name? Zip/postal code? Country? To Update: http://topica.email-publisher.com/survey/?a2i3oR ________________________________________________________________ June 5, 2002 CALENDAR LISTING: EVENTS@... >> SPECIAL NOTE TO ASA MEMBERS: Your ballot for electing << Board Directors should have arrived to you by now by mail. Please vote! Here are Schafer's endorsements: Baumann Rick Rollens Jeff Sell Details: www.feat.org/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0205 & L=FEATNEWS & P=R5981 EDUCATION * Numbers, Needs Strain Special Education & #8211; Wisconsin * For Many, Special-Ed Requires Special Effort & #8211; Virginia * Duties Exceed Training, Teacher Aides Say * Career Development Urged as Schools Increase Demands LETTER * A Collapsing Special Education >> ADVOCACY << * WARNING CALL OUT TO ALL PARENTS WITH KIDS IN SPEC-ED, BEHAVIOR PROGRAMS TREATMENT * Cause For Running * Happy by Nature * Letters on ASA Board Candidates EDUCATION Numbers, Needs Strain Special Education - Wisconsin [by Amy Hetzner of the Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin.] http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may02/44311.asp It touches one of every seven children educated by public schools in Wisconsin, and the number grows year by year. It chews up educators at an alarming rate. Depending on your perspective, it is regulated too much, funded too little, shortchanged without regard to the law - or some combination of all three. Nearly three decades after disabled children were guaranteed access to public schools through special education, Congress and President Bush are re-evaluating a system that has accomplished a great deal but also has grown unwieldy and inefficient - even overwhelming. Some statistics from Wisconsin shed light on why many say some kind of change is necessary: The number of students classified as needing special education has more than doubled in the last 26 years, and now represents 14.5% of the state's public school population. Nearly half are categorized as learning disabled, a label some say is overused. And one of the most service-intensive disabilities - autism - has more than tripled in just five years, from 856 students in 1996-'97 to 2,581 this school year. The cost of dealing with disabled students has grown dramatically - partly because of the increased numbers, partly because of the increased complexity of the cases. Wisconsin public schools spent more than $1 billion on special education services in 2000-'01. And although the federal government vowed in 1975 to pay 40% of the annual costs associated with special education, it pays only 15% today and has contributed even less in the past. Special education teachers are so hard to find and leave the profession so quickly, they now represent about half of the emergency certificates - 1,137 in 2000-'01 - issued annually by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to people who fall short of full licensure. Many are overwhelmed by the paperwork they must deal with and what they consider the contentious nature of special education. Just last year, 96 complaints were lodged over special education issues, with 57 involving due-process hearings and requiring testimony from teachers, administrators and experts before administrative law judges. By some measures, not a single state has been in full compliance with the federal special education law. A recent report on Wisconsin school districts said that, even when fully staffed, they are not providing all the services to which disabled students are entitled under the law. " There are some serious problems with special education, " said Annette Talis, a new mother to a daughter with Down syndrome and a lobbyist for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards. " There are some excellent efforts out there, but the system is beyond kids and it's almost beyond policy-makers at this point. It is a labyrinth that no one feels they can control. " Needs, numbers grow Special education as we know it began in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, a federal measure that, in Wisconsin, quickly superseded a state law that had passed two years earlier. Although some disabled children were already in the schools, the act opened classrooms to more than a million deaf, blind, mentally retarded and otherwise disabled children nationwide for whom the schoolhouse door had been shut. Under it, public schools also have to provide special education services to private-school students. Since then: The law's name has changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; enrollment nationwide in special education has increased from nearly 3.7 million students to more than 6 million; and, although some students come with disabilities that seem more complex than before, the bulk are more likely to have moderate learning disabilities. This school year, 127,035 children ages 3 to 21 were designated in need of special education services in Wisconsin, according to statistics last month from the state Department of Public Instruction. That's 69,014, or 118.9%, more than were served in the state in 1976-'77, even as Wisconsin's total public school enrollment declined over that same time period. If the state's 146,145 private school students are included, 12.4% of all the state's pupils are now in special education. Serving them is more difficult than ever. " In terms of what we're asked to do, and even the needs of kids, the needs have changed significantly since 1975, and some of it's due to medical advancement, " said Joe Overturf, director of special education and pupil services for the Fort Atkinson School District. " We have more and more medically fragile kids. We have more kids with autism. . . . I came into the district in 1985, and we had one child with autism. I think we have 12 now. When I came into the district, we had one kid with a wheelchair. I think we have 10 kids with wheelchairs. " Each special education student requires an individualized education plan - a detailed document that lays out educational goals for the year and what services the school must provide - and annual meetings between staff and parents. The students also often require aides and may have regular sessions with speech therapists, school psychologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists. They might need special technology, signers if they're deaf, Braille teachers if they're blind. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1999, in the case of a quadriplegic boy in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that schools should provide all-day nursing care if it's essential for a student to attend class. The needs are real, school administrators say. But they also fear that the needs can seem virtually endless. No other governmental entity functions quite this way, with staff members and citizens getting together and determining what the entity should provide, said Ed Hawkinson, director of special education for ative Educational Service Agency No. 6, which encompasses public school districts in the Oshkosh area. Not the health care system. Not any social services agency. Only public schools have a responsibility to provide services to people with disabilities with no regard to what those services might cost, he said. Courts have said schools can choose the least expensive option when presented with comparable services. But cost does not usually factor in decisions on special education, Hawkinson said. " The solution I hear from most folks is we just need more money, " he said. " And I really don't believe you can print enough. " Too Many Mistakes? Consider what has happened in the Menominee Indian School District. Roughly one in every four students has a diagnosed disability that qualifies for special education services. One in eight has a learning disability, one in 15 has speech and language problems, one in 24 is emotionally disturbed and one in 59 is cognitively disabled. No other district in the state sees such a high rate of students served through special education, but 11 other districts have special education populations equal to at least 20% of their total enrollment. That has some questioning how districts select special education students. " It's very simple: There are just too many children identified from certain districts, " said Benson, who raised the issue when he was Wisconsin's state superintendent of schools. " I don't think that anyone wants to - or at least should want to - serve children in special education if the child really doesn't have a special need. I think it's a mistake. And I think that the mistakes should be fewer. " Much of the growth in special education has come from students defined as learning disabled, a category that generally covers children performing far below grade level in math and reading contrary to where intelligence tests show they should be. More than 40% of all students in special education in Wisconsin have learning disabilities. The numbers conform to no pattern. A link exists between low birth weights or prematurity - traditionally more prevalent in poor populations - and developmental problems later on. But Milwaukee Public Schools, which serves some of the poorest areas in the state, has a special education rate only slightly above the state average - 16.45% - and a learning disability rate a fraction below average - 5.86% of its total public school population. School districts and special education advocacy groups say Benson and others are wrong, that there are plenty of safeguards to prevent mislabeling. For a student to be placed in special education, someone - most likely a teacher - must have made a referral, assessments using state guidelines must have confirmed the suspicion, a parent must have been included in a discussion and a team of professionals must have agreed that the solution was special education. " At first, I thought my son wasn't motivated, but that's not it, " said Burke, a parent in the Mequon-Thiensville School District who cried when her fifth-grade son, , was diagnosed with a learning disability 21/2 years ago. " I know a lot of people say it takes up extra money, and I would probably say the same thing, too, but my son has special needs, " she said. " And, without a program like this, I think he would fall between the cracks. " + Article continues at: http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may02/44311.asp * * * For Many, Special-Ed Requires Special Effort - Virginia [by Jay Mathews in the Washington Post.] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55054-2002Jun3.html Ellen Tuttle knew that her adopted daughter had been born addicted to heroin. The learning disabilities were obvious very early. But she could not persuade the Fairfax County school system to test her until second grade. By fourth grade, despite being placed in special education, the girl was making little progress. " The public school was trying to help her, " Tuttle said, " but they were not equipped either with staffing, materials or time. " So Tuttle took charge -- making calls, cornering administrators, citing the rules until she found a county special education center that knew what to do. " I have had to be the steamroller for my daughter's life to get her the help she needs, " she said. So it goes in many communities a generation after Congress passed the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which was designed to guarantee that public schools address the needs of all children. As Congress prepares to reauthorize the program, changes in the law are being discussed, but many parents say they have little hope that much will be done to lift the burden on them. Parental involvement, a key to success for any student, is essential to those with mental or physical disabilities, say mothers and fathers who have long navigated the system. A disabled student living in a low-income area without an energetic and astute parent will have trouble getting the services needed. Even the children of affluent and persistent parents will find many obstacles. " My most harrowing thoughts throughout this ordeal have been of all the parents out there who do not have access to the Internet, or who don't know how to look up the procedures, or worse, don't speak the language, " said Andee Steinman, a Los Angeles parent who spent an entire school year fighting for special education services for her third-grade son. " If someone who is college educated and has legal research experience, as well as access, can't get redress in less than eight months, how can anyone? " Lynda C. Van Kuren, a spokeswoman for the Arlington-based Council for Exceptional Children, said that the " vast majority " of the nation's 6 1/2 million students in need of special education services receive them but that parental involvement is vital. And more money -- a jump from the current $7.5 billion to as much as $22.2 billion a year -- is needed to ensure proper services for everyone. " We have individuals who are teaching our neediest students who do not have the training to do so, " she said. Shortages of money and training, in addition to complicated rules, can make otherwise conscientious educators look like obstructionist dunces when they are approached by worried parents looking for help, special education experts say. Byrnes said her Castro Valley, Calif., school district had no formal plan for including students like her son, who has a form of autism, in regular classes and did not " employ any inclusion specialists that help general education teachers adapt or modify curriculum. We have had to push for all of the supports and services he receives. " Rose said that when her husband suggested that their son had autism -- a disability that can include lack of empathy, fixation on objects and difficulty speaking -- Loudoun County experts responded that they thought it was less serious and that all he needed was an hour of speech therapy a week. Seventeen months later, , 3, has made great progress, with a vocabulary of 1,000 words, Rose said, but only because they set up their own training program for him using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Recently, the Fairfax County School Board narrowly defeated an effort to expand funding for a similar program. Many parents say they have had good results with it, but experts disagree on its usefulness. Even when there are talented and well-intentioned public school teachers available, the attempt to find the right combination of services for each child often falls apart unless there is a parent making calls, sending e-mails and insisting on meetings to hold it together, experts say. Some parent advocates say more money for special education will not have the desired effect unless parents have more say over how it is spent. Salisbury, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Washington-based Cato Institute, suggests that Congress allow states to set up parent-choice programs. " In those states, parents of a special-needs child could place their child in any school, public or private, " Salisbury said. " The cost would be limited to what the public school normally pays for a child with a similar disability. The parents can use the local public schools if they want. But they would always have the option of selecting another public or private school. " Lautenberger, who has long struggled with the Montgomery County school system over services for his son, said that under the current system, school officials have most of the power. " It has either been their way or the litigation way, and with virtually unlimited litigation funding, they have the upper hand in that arena, too, " he said. Given political resistance to school vouchers, he said he does not have much hope that parental choice will be adopted. But, he said, " who is to say that taxpayer money could not be better applied where the parent believes the most effective result might be obtained? " Rose noted that Loudoun County spends on average about $17,000 for each special education student. " I would have loved to have gotten even a portion of that " when paying a consultant and purchasing the books needed to help her autistic son, she said. For the moment, veterans of the bureaucratic struggle recommend that parents seek help at federal- and state-funded facilities, such as the Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center in Springfield. Byrnes said if she had not gotten help from a parent training center seven years ago, her son " would have been another casualty of the system. " Such training and advice help parents do what Tuttle did: get her child into Fairfax County's Armstrong Center in Reston. It has provided what Tuttle called " my daughter's most successful school year yet. " " Don't believe all the things that you are told your child cannot accomplish, " Tuttle said. " Find out what they can accomplish. " © 2002 The Washington Post Company * * * Duties Exceed Training, Teacher Aides Say Career Development Urged as Schools Increase Demands [by A. s in the Washington Post.] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55014-2002Jun3.html When Kathy became a teacher assistant in Prince County 13 years ago, her duties were considered " Mom Lite. " Assistants decorated bulletin boards, photocopied work sheets, supervised children on the playground and made sure they got on and off the bus safely. Since then, has seen her job shift dramatically, from mostly clerical to mostly academic. She now helps special education students bolster their reading skills and works one on one with students in math. and the two special education teachers she supports at Fred Lynn Middle School in Woodbridge have formed a comfortable team. " I don't have the responsibility of testing. I don't have to write the lesson plans, " said. " You're responsible for working directly with the students, and that's what I like to do. " In Calvert County, Grace has been a teacher assistant for 29 years and now works as a media assistant at Sunderland Elementary, helping children in the library and with computers. " Years ago, I did bulletin boards, and I used to pride myself on the big decorations I did for the school. But my job doesn't give me time any more, " said. " It's no longer a big part of our job. Academics are a much more important part. " The role of teacher assistants -- also called instructional aides or paraprofessionals -- has expanded nationwide as the number of students with special needs has grown. Teacher unions say that aides are one of their fastest-growing membership pools and that with their increased duties, the need for training, career development and mentoring grow as well. And those needs are being met differently -- sometimes haphazardly -- in many school systems. " It is a major, major issue, and it is across the United States, " said Mahurin, president of the National Council for Education Support Professionals, which operates under the umbrella of the National Education Association. The council has 343,000 members, Mahurin said, and " most do not get development in their school districts. They're screaming for career development. " Teacher aides in Title I programs, which are federally funded reading and math assistance for at-risk students, will be required to have more training as a result of the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Those teacher assistants will have to pass a state or local assessment, have two years of college or hold a two-year degree. The act exempts Title I assistants who provide only interpretation services or work only with parental involvement efforts. Part of the concern with training Title I paraprofessionals, according to a Department of Education report released two years ago, is the belief that those teacher assistants are doing too much. The report noted that 41 percent of Title I paraprofessionals spent more than half of their time teaching without a teacher present. Seventy-six percent spent at least some of the time teaching on their own. Marcella Kehr, a special education teacher assistant in Baltimore County and president of the union that represents assistants there, said some paraprofessionals are worried that they will have to pay for training. But Kehr said, " I don't know of anybody who doesn't want to be more educated. Not once did I hear that they didn't want to be better qualified. " In the Washington area, teacher assistants provide all kinds of services. Some tube feed and catheterize disabled children. Some work with at-risk students to bring their academic skills to grade level. Others work with children who have limited English skills. Starting pay ranges from $8 to $12 an hour, depending on where they work and how much education they have. Nationwide, there were nearly 1.3 million teacher assistants in 2000, compared with 3.8 million teachers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of jobs is expected to increase 21 to 35 percent between 2000 and 2010, the bureau predicts. , who also is secretary of a paraprofessional advisory council in Prince County, is pressing the training issue there. " If they want excellence in their teachers, they need to have excellence in their teacher assistants, " she said. " If you're going to work in a certain area, you need to have training in that area. If you're going to work with mental retardation, you need to know about mental retardation. " Prince conducts a yearly seminar for teacher assistants, but it is not mandatory. Teacher assistants are also allowed to attend seminars for teachers when space is available. Recently, the Prince Education Association complained to the county School Board that teacher assistants were being asked to perform a delicate catheterization on a student with a reconstructed bladder, even though they did not feel comfortable doing it. The county does not have a full-time nurse at each school, and providing health-related services is part of assistants' job description in Prince . But the assistants said such a procedure is beyond the scope of their duties. " I really think there should be someone else who could do it, " said. " I also think they would feel more comfortable if they had the proper training. " In some counties, individual schools provide training to teacher assistants even if it is not mandated. Principal Wiskochil said instructional assistants are the backbone of H. Winship Wheatley school in Capitol Heights. That is why they attend the same training seminars and classes as her teachers do. Wiskochil said she takes care with new hires, looking for sensitive people to work with her 637 students, who receive services at her school from birth to age 5. Eighty percent have special needs, such as autism or Down syndrome. " We have a lot of input into the curriculum. " said Barbara Wisotzkey, a paraprofessional at Wheatley for six years. " Our teachers are very good with letting us be a part of the overall team. " Districtwide training could be helpful, Wiskochil said, but good career development at the school level is probably more effective. " When you do that big one-size-fits-all training, it doesn't really address directly what the people are doing. " © 2002 The Washington Post Company * * * LETTERS A Collapsing Special Education Your recent re-printed article " Many Special Education Teachers Plan to Quit in Washington " from the Seattle Times http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134466781_specialed03e.html is a hot topic nationally. This is a very serious concern, not only regarding teachers but a range of professional special educators (administrators, ancillary staff such as school nurses, speech and language pathologists, psychologists, Adapted PE teachers, and paraeducators). I have been in this field for over 25 years and have seen the increasingly negative impact on families, staff and most importantly the students we are to serve. This situation is not unique to special education alone. Many good teachers and administrators are leaving the field of general education as well. Who needs the work environments and struggles your article so briefly described? A very important concern that the Washington Education Association (WEA) survey did not address was the increased hostile climate that families and schools now operate in - numerous mediations, due process hearings, lawyers, and advocates and the seemingly never ending " battles " that are becoming the 'norm' in too many educational decisions. It is not unusual for difficult IEP meetings to last more than 6 hours, to occur over multiple days, and to end without resolution. I know many colleagues who work evenings and weekends in an effort to get their jobs done or to prepare for another due process hearing and the inherent legal conflicts. I can give many examples... a speech pathologist who spends 20 hours writing her assessment evaluation report at home, only to have a lawyer dismiss it at a hearing; a Program Specialist who retrieves her 15 + voice messages-- some angry and verbally offensive, most are considered " urgent, " at 3:30 AM because she is up anyway, unable to sleep, stressing about her upcoming day; the staff that works weekends to prepare for the " make and take " session for families and teachers for that week; the teacher who will spend the weekend at a educational conference, that she paid to attend herself. There are so many challenges. Mistrust, anger, finger pointing and constant threats are defeating and discouraging. The morale of educators and parents is very low. The " us against them " attitude is a losing one. Paperwork and caseloads may be the least of our compliants. I am concerned about the lack of respect towards special education teachers and other educators. Precious resources are being wasted in so many ways... both financial and emotional. I work in a community that has placed staff and parent training and support as a high priority. Student progress and achievements, as well as the mutual respect between professional educators and parents are our goals; but without the qualified, dedicated and valued personnel, our goals are doomed. It is time to get this message out.... Like it or not... special educator teachers are the backbone of the system. We all need to find ways to make this field attractive to new teachers while mentoring and supporting current teachers and ancillary staff to take the helm as future instructional leaders and administrators. We owe it to our students! , S.U.C.S.E.S.S. Project Coordinator and OCDE Special Education Services Administrators Orange County Department of Education * * * ADVOCACY WARNING CALL OUT TO ALL PARENTS WITH KIDS IN SPEC-ED, BEHAVIOR PROGRAMS I would have to agree with above that this is a " hot " topic nationally. The NY Times mentioned the Seattle Times article in their publication, yesterday. I have been seeing an increase in such news stories recently across the country like the one out of Wisconsin, and the two from Virginia, above. For the autism community there is an additional aspect to this pending crises that has yet to be addressed much. As many may be aware, much of the IEP " warfare " referred to between school districts and parents is over the parents drive for the implementation of ABA or behavioral programs for their ASD children. These programs are expensive and difficult to implement due to in part, the shortage of sufficiently trained program developers, supervisors and assistants or tutor/aides. This situation is about to get even worse for autism community. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has completely stopped funding behavioral research, an action that will lead to an even greater shortage of experts who obtain they're training via such programs. To my knowledge, the Department of Education also funds no such research, either. We are about to implement a campaign to put pressure on the NIH to continue funding this critical research. It occurs to me that we may have some natural allies with those who advocate for the distressed collection of providers have mentioned in her letter. It is urgent that this campaign be mounted immediately to preserve behavioral treatments programs for the early intervention of ASD children by pressuring the NIH and Congress to restore funding to behavior programs. Last year, as a result of a letter-writing campaign, the NIH relented and provided " bridge funding " to Bob Koegel and Lyn Koegel, one of the few remaining behavior researchers. There are no organized groups of parents and professionals seriously promoting behavioral research. Yet most families with autism prefer behavioral treatments, or ABA for their children with ASD. There are organizations like CAN, NAAR and the NIH who are most interested in genetic autism research. Some autism organizations like Safe Minds and the Autism Research Institute advocate for biomedical research. Yet there is no one advocating for behavioral research on a national level. The protections of the IDEA means nothing if there is no professional infrastructure to implement the programs. Yet, this is where we are headed. When behavioral research stops being funded, we end a key place for growing new behavioral experts. This, in the face of a growing autism epidemic means disaster. If you are a part of an organization, or foundation, or advocacy group who would see the importance of championing Behavior Research for our children, I urge you to contact me at the newsletter so that I can put ourselves in touch with one another. We can build a campaign to save behavioral programs for our children and towards the overall stabilization of special education. The newsletter can be the bulwark for launching another letter writing campaign or other political actions. But a newsletter is not enough. This is going to take people and resources committed to ABA and ABA Research. SAVE ABA / BEHAVIOR RESEARCH & #8211; CONTACT schafer@... ASAP Lenny Schafer Schafer Autism Report Editor * * * TREATMENT Cause For Running Former actress Olsen is a true believer in the power of healing. [The research behind the efficacy of " equestrian therapy " for autism is limited. (For a look at this research, see the next article " Happy by Nature " , from the Washington Post.) But believers insist " that a person can benefit and develop a connection with an animal even though the animal is unable to communicate with words & #8221; - unless of course, it's a talking horse or a parrot. The article is freshly published. The quip however, is slightly recycled. By Liane Klein in The Signal. & #8211;LS.] http://www.the-signal.com/main/0602/060302a.html Olsen, best known for her role as on the television sit-com & #8220;The Brady Bunch, & #8221; said her 5-year-old son was diagnosed with high functioning Autism and has been undergoing equestrian therapy at Carousel Ranch for six months. & #8220;Never underestimate the power of horses, & #8221; Olsen said. & #8220;I am a true believer that a person can benefit and develop a connection with an animal even though the animal is unable to communicate with words. & #8221; More than 250 participants joined Olsen at Valencia Elementary School Sunday for the fourth annual Walk, Jog and Roll-A-Thon to raise funds for Carousel Ranch, a program benefiting disabled and disadvantaged children. Dance music blared as Annette Alan from the Spectrum Club and celebrity guests Olsen and actress Mackenzie Rosman of & #8220;7th Heaven & #8221; led parents and children through a heart pounding stretch and warm-up session before hitting the 1 mile, 5k, and 10k routes on the Valencia paseos. Carousel Ranch is hoping the large turn-out will enable them to raise $25,000, beating out last year & #8217;s total of $17,000. & #8220;The community support is basically essential, & #8221; said Carousel Ranch Director Tomey. & #8220;We could not operate this program without the wonderful support from the community. & #8220;The nice thing about this program is that you can come out to events, see the kids & #8217; smiles, talk to the parents, and see where your money went. & #8221; And those smiles were all too visible to parents as Bugs Bunny made his way through the crowd of children offering hugs and posing for photographs. Parents Diane and Matt Forger attended the event along with their 13-year-old daughter Meagan who suffers from Cerebral Palsy and has been a member of the Carousel Ranch program for many years. & #8220;Meagan was premature at birth, she only weighed a pound and a half, and she is also blind, & #8221; her mother said. & #8220;We drive to Carousel Ranch every other week from Chatsworth. The people at Carousel Ranch are amazing. They not only understand children with special needs, they apply therapeutic value. They are very good with , and we are very thankful. & #8221; Carousel Ranch is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing developmental therapeutic and recreation programs for disabled and disadvantaged children. Therapeutic riding combines traditional skills with concepts of physical therapy to improve the strength, balance and self-esteem of physically and mentally disabled children and adults. Equestrian therapy combines vaulting, Western and English therapeutic riding. Many participants took advantage of the complimentary massages available, while other children flocked to the face painting booth. All participants received goodie bags. & #8220;It & #8217;s really cool, I am so glad I got to participate, & #8221; said Rosman. & #8220;I think this is a really great charity, and it is for a great cause. & #8221; * * * Happy by Nature Fondness for Plants And Animals May Be Hard-wired, Healthy [Excerpted from an article in the Washington Post By Beth Baker.] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54318-2002Jun3.html In an analysis of biophilia-related literature published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Frumkin, chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University in Atlanta, found evidence that contact with the natural world -- including animals, plants, landscapes and wilderness -- may offer health benefits. While he acknowledged that many of the studies lacked scientific rigor, Frumkin says, " I became convinced it's an important and researchable area. " Among results from what researchers judge to be some of the more credible studies: * In a study of children with autism and other pervasive development disorders, University of Washington researchers found that including a dog in therapy sessions led children to be more verbal and more engaged with therapists. * In experiments conducted at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., participants experienced a clinically significant decline in blood pressure after gazing at fish in an aquarium for 20 minutes. Other studies have found that aquarium-watching reduces stress and anxiety for patients awaiting dental surgery. * Researchers in Japan compared brain wave activity for a group of participants who viewed a hedge of greenery and then a concrete fence. While watching the hedge, the subjects had a higher relaxation response while the concrete provoked a stressful effect. In another study, similar brain wave patterns occurred when subjects watched a pot filled with flowers, then an empty pot. Some of the most consistent findings link companion animals with enhanced physical, mental and emotional well-being. One of the first such studies, conducted in 1977 at the University of land, followed 92 patients with heart disease for a year. Patients with pets outlived their counterparts without pets. The finding stunned the researchers, says Alan Beck, director of the Center for Applied Ethology and Human-Animal Interaction at Purdue University and a pioneer in companion animal research. Even after they eliminated dogs from the study -- to ensure that exercise from dog-walking wasn't skewing the results -- patients who owned iguanas, fish and gerbils had the same survival advantage. Subsequent studies found that pet owners tended to have lower cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure than their petless peers. Pet Care Trust, a foundation funded by the pet industry, is now supporting clinical research on possible benefits of including dogs in hospital visits to heart patients; watching aquarium fish on the mood and food intake of Alzheimer's patients; and using animal therapy with children who have been severely abused. Integrating Nature Is there a place for nature in the modern world of high-rise offices and apartments, institutional schools and hospitals, and super highways? Yes, says Ulrich, director of the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A & M University in College Station, who has conducted some of the most solid research in this area. " I think we'll find [biophilia] has substantial societal importance tied directly and indirectly to public health. " Everything from health care facilities, nursing homes, schools, workplaces and prisons to highway landscaping and urban neighborhoods could be enhanced by integrating nature into the design, he says. Take a typical commute to work. Ulrich designed experiments that compared simulated commutes -- those that passed " jumbled-up strip malls " vs. those marked by parks. People who " drove " through the more natural setting not only were less stressed, but were able to perform tasks more accurately and quickly once they got to their laboratory workstation. Even the grim world of prisons might benefit from a healthy dose of nature. At the correctional facility that the District operated in Lorton until last year, birds, fish and small mammals were given to prisoners. Not only were their spirits reportedly improved, but their blood pressure dropped when they talked to their pets, and those with pets showed a small decrease in the number of offenses. Prison wardens and architects might also consider the salutary effects of a cell with a view. A 1981 University of Michigan study found that prisoners with a view of rolling hills and trees had fewer sickroom visits than those whose cells faced the prison yard. " I would have expected the opposite -- that if they saw the countryside, they would feel so frustrated, " says Frumkin. " But it turns out that wasn't the case. " Ulrich found similar results in a hospital setting. In a 1984 study, he found that in 23 pairs of surgery patients who were matched for diagnosis, sex, age, smoking habits, weight -- even the color of their hospital rooms -- those in rooms with a view of trees had shorter hospital stays and took fewer painkillers than those whose rooms faced a brick wall. Some health care players aren't waiting for further evidence before putting theory into practice. Hospitals are incorporating atriums, flower beds, greenhouses, and even " healing gardens " for patients and their families. Hundreds of nursing homes around the country have embraced biophilia through an approach called the Eden Alternative, which gives frail residents the chance to do some gardening or pet a cat. © 2002 The Washington Post Company * * * LETTERS ON ASA BOARD CANDIDATES You previously stated that you would present dissenting views from your endorsements in your newsletter. I've yet to see any and I personally know that they have been submitted to you. By the way, how much do you really know about Baumann? Try speaking to some of the autism community in the metropolitan NY area. You might be in for a shock. Mark J. Krinsky * * You asked for opinions about who would or wouldn't make good board members, so I'm writing to give you my opinion of Pratt We've never bothered to fight for services in the state of Indiana because we have seen too many other parents waste their time and money fighting the school districts unsuccessfully. We decided to use our resources to get immediate help for our son Max; however, that was only because we were lucky enough to HAVE some financial resources, help from our families, good advice from other parents, and access to information via the Internet. Pratt, and IRCA, have never done anything, directly or indirectly, that helped us at all. Everyone assumes that residents of Indiana have it easy because of the IRCA ('s organization). That would be laughable if it weren't such a serious matter. Take a look at this page from their website to see the kind of incredibly " helpful " information they send parents in the mail: http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/fpublications.html I attended a workshop coordinated in Indianapolis in the spring of 1999. The speaker was Sally , of the University of Colorado. Sally presented some really great information about early intervention and education. I remember talking with friends after the workshop ended, wondering how we were supposed to implement any of Ms. ' recommendations when we had no assistance from our schools and IRCA refused to support or recommend any treatments for autism that would cost the state anything. After the workshop, several of us talked with Ms. Pratt. I told her that I felt we needed a state-wide organization of parents in order to accomplish more for our children through lobbying, etc. I asked whether IRCA could assist us in ANY way to help families connect or organize (since IRCA already had names/addresses of many Indiana families affected by autism). She said, " No, but that's a nice idea. If you do get it going, let me know. " Becky Bilek Highland, Indiana ------------------------- OTHER ADDRESSES: * SUBSCRIPTIONS: http://home.sprynet.com/~schafer/index.html * NEWS: POSTNEWS@... * EDITORIAL: Schafer@... * READERS' POSTS POSTINGS@... >> TO UNSUBSCRIBE SEND EMAIL TO: UNSUBSRIBE@... << _________________________________________________________________ Lenny Schafer, schafer@... Kay Stammers Decelie CALENDAR EVENTS@... 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