I provide diagnostic services for individuals suspected of having autism spectrum disorder, ASD (formerly called Aspergers Disorder). This includes diagnostic services for children under 19 to obtain ministry funding and qualify for school-based support services.
Additionally I see many adults for suspected autism disorder, and have worked with adults with ASD or "Asperger's" for over 25 years. This includes working on issues of social cognition, social learning, employment, higher education and various legal issues.
I have served as the behaviour management specialist for several school districts, worked as a teacher of children with autism, as a school psychologist and as a clinical psychologist in the field. The focus of much of my work is on "social learning" and applying the techniques and methods of Michelle Garcia Winner to adults. I advise all parents, teens and adults dealing with issues in this area to look over Mitchell's wonderful site and her curriculum materials at www.socialthinking.com
For more information of autism related services that I provide please visit my website at www.relatedminds.com
Showing posts with label Asperger's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asperger's. Show all posts
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Concerns about autism spectrum disorder: Where to get advice, a diagnosis and treatment in Vancouver/Burnaby and the lower mainland.
I conduct diagnostic assessments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), sometimes called Asperger's Disorder, with individuals aged 6 and above. There are special conditions for those below the age of six involving a team of professionals that I cannot make arrangements for, however, another member of a team may ask me to participate in such an investigation. Private assessments are costly, with the cost ranging from $1,600-$1,950. The BC government does provide for these assessments through their own system. If you wish to make arrangements for the government to provide an assessment please see your family doctor who may refer you to the British Columbia Autism Assessment Network (BCAAN) for assessment and diagnosis. There are, sometimes, substantial waiting lists. Also, while at one age a child may not meet the criterion for a diagnosis, as two, three or more years go by patterns may develop that make the diagnosis much clearer, and sometimes it is very difficult to arrange a second assessment, so families often contact a private psychologist such as myself.
From the BCAAN site: "BCAAN is responsible for assessing and diagnosing children in British Columbia who may have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and will arrange for an assessment to be done as close to where you live as possible. There is no charge for their services. For more information on ASD diagnosis and testing, visit the BCAAN website or contact BCAAN at 604 453-8343."
Often parents who wish to arrange for a private diagnostic assessment. BCANN states: "These assessments must meet the same standards and guidelines as BCAAN assessments. The clinician will need to complete a Non-BCAAN (Private) Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder form to document the diagnosis if the family wishes to apply for Autism Funding programs. Parents are responsible for any costs charged by the private clinician." Clinicians who provide these services must have specific tools and experience, these include the use of the ADOS and ADI-R assessment instruments, required by the provincial government to accept the practitioner's diagnosis. Many times parents see a practitioner who is not familiar with the government requirements, and then, regretfully, need to have a new assessment completed. Make sure your provider knows their way around these regulations.
I complete diagnostic assessments on children, adolescents/teens, as well as adults who suspect they have autism spectrum disorder, or what previously had been referred to as "Asperger's Disorder." In addition to being a registered psychologist I am also an approved member of the RASP list of behaviour interventionists, and my services (after diagnosis and acceptance of the diagnosis by the ministry) are paid for through ministry fundings. I provide autism consultation services to parents, families, brothers and sisters of children or teens with autism spectrum disorder or "Asperger's" who may be having relational difficulties, I provide training and consultation to individual teachers, schools, and the workplace of many young adults. i also provide couples therapy for individuals who are in relationships and one or both may have autism spectrum disorder of "Asperger's Disorder." These services are provide in my Burnaby office, and some arrangements can be made for my Vancouver office.
If your child is diagnosed with ASD, you may be eligible to receive funding from the ministry's Autism Funding Programs. If your child does not have ASD, there may be other services to assist you and your child such as tax credits or special education services and supports based upon other issues such as learning disorders, ADHD or dyslexia. Many of these issues require additional testing, such as a psychoeducational assessment.
My services are available to those with autism spectrum disorder of any age. Please contact me through my webpage at www.relatedminds.com. Email is the best way to make arrangements for an initial meeting, as I am often with patients throughout the day.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Dr. Jim Roche
I am a Registered Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in working with teens and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and what has been called Asperger's Disorder. My work with teens and young adults addresses school issues, sometimes psychoeducational testing, school observations, emotional issues and behavioural issues.
I am a member of the ACT RASP and am a registered behaviour consultant with them, and therefore can see children below the age of six using provincial funding. I provide autism diagnostic services and help parents become familiar with the many treatment modalities that are available to them. As a registered psychologist my services are also covered by most extended health care plans.
A number of patients see me for weekly 1-2 therapy, often addressing issues of anxiety, stress, depression or behavioural issues. I also see parents for parent education and sometimes for family or couples related counselling relating to the stress of dealing with the many aspects of ASD.
With most clients my focus is on either behavioural training, aimed at parents, caregivers or schools, or on social communications issues. I often use materials from Michelle Winner and her Social Thinking program. This includes curriculum materials such as "Social Behaviour Mapping," and "The Incredible Five Point Scale." I also teach a number of visual support techniques.
The methods I use are those that are considered by most school districts as "research based" and in use in those districts. As a previous POPARD provincial consultant for autism I am familiar with the methods, materials and curriculum used in most schools in the Vancouver/BC area and try to work in a manner that works well with what you should expect from the schools.
I also provide school based observations and consultations in both public and private schools.
I am a registered and licensed psychologist with over twenty five years of experience in this field. I also hold licenses and certificates in school psychology and as a teacher of special education, so I am familiar with what it's like to run a classroom.
For ore information on my services please visit the ACT-RASP web page at http://www.actcommunity.ca/profiles/224/
Or visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com
Other places you can find information about my services include:
http://psyris.com/drjimroche
https://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Jim_Roche_JD,PhD,CAGS,RPsych,RMFT_Burnaby_British+Columbia_70682
http://www.psychologists.bc.ca/users/jimroche
I am a Registered Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in working with teens and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and what has been called Asperger's Disorder. My work with teens and young adults addresses school issues, sometimes psychoeducational testing, school observations, emotional issues and behavioural issues.
I am a member of the ACT RASP and am a registered behaviour consultant with them, and therefore can see children below the age of six using provincial funding. I provide autism diagnostic services and help parents become familiar with the many treatment modalities that are available to them. As a registered psychologist my services are also covered by most extended health care plans.
A number of patients see me for weekly 1-2 therapy, often addressing issues of anxiety, stress, depression or behavioural issues. I also see parents for parent education and sometimes for family or couples related counselling relating to the stress of dealing with the many aspects of ASD.
With most clients my focus is on either behavioural training, aimed at parents, caregivers or schools, or on social communications issues. I often use materials from Michelle Winner and her Social Thinking program. This includes curriculum materials such as "Social Behaviour Mapping," and "The Incredible Five Point Scale." I also teach a number of visual support techniques.
The methods I use are those that are considered by most school districts as "research based" and in use in those districts. As a previous POPARD provincial consultant for autism I am familiar with the methods, materials and curriculum used in most schools in the Vancouver/BC area and try to work in a manner that works well with what you should expect from the schools.
I also provide school based observations and consultations in both public and private schools.
I am a registered and licensed psychologist with over twenty five years of experience in this field. I also hold licenses and certificates in school psychology and as a teacher of special education, so I am familiar with what it's like to run a classroom.
For ore information on my services please visit the ACT-RASP web page at http://www.actcommunity.ca/profiles/224/
Or visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com
Other places you can find information about my services include:
http://psyris.com/drjimroche
https://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/name/Jim_Roche_JD,PhD,CAGS,RPsych,RMFT_Burnaby_British+Columbia_70682
http://www.psychologists.bc.ca/users/jimroche
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
College Students and Aspergers Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder
Academic Support Plans for College Students with Aspergers/Autism
Much of my practice at this time of year is with students attending college who suspect they have Aspergers or ADHD. An cult assessment for Asperger's Disorder, now called Autism Spectrum Disorder since it was moved to become part of the autism spectrum, have average to above average intelligence, study hard, but are having difficulty socially with peers, and sometimes with facility. They often have developed high levels of anxiety around the school day after having done so well in a highly supported secondary school.Besides being amazed that most of my patients were not diagnosed during high school or before, I also regret that they are now confronted with the costs of an assessment which should have been provided earlier for free by the school district. An assessment for adult Asperger's costs approximately $1,950.00 due to the time and complexity of the process. Usually it leads to some accommodations in the school setting, and below I am posting a general statement on accommodations. More importantly a comprehensive assessment helps us understand what skills and abilities a student has socially, and where their deficits are so we can focus treatment on those - making use of their strengths. Almost all therapy for adults with Asperger's starts with psychoeducation, fully and completely understanding the disorder. We then review, model, practice and critique a series of specific skill sets, always using our new insight to guide us.
But what accommodations can you expect from a college or university? In the United States laws are very specific bout what services can be expected. In Canada the laws are not specific, and often not enforced, so it can vary greatly from school to school. This year I developed a hand out based upon one I found at a university website, I think this one is from Allegheny College. You can do a simple search on the web and see many colleges have a set policy and supports for students with Asperger's of ASD. If your son or daughter's college doesn't have such a procedure already set up, you might consider working with them to do so. Here is what I use, based on Allegheny College's outline:
Appropriate Accommodation for Students who have Autism Spectrum Disorder or “Asperger’s Syndrome”
Asperger’s Syndrome is a developmental disorder characterized by major difficulties in social interactions and unusual patterns of behaviour. It was discovered by Hans Asperger in 1944 and was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual- IV in 1994. Asperger’s Syndrome is often referred to as “high functioning autism.” Currently, in the newest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 Asperger’s Syndrome has become part of a spectrum of disorders called autism-Autism Spectrum Disorder. This can be confusing to some as there is an expectation that an individual with Autism Spectrum Disorder has some cognitive or intellectual deficit. This is not the case. Many people with Asperger’s Syndrome have high intellectual and verbal abilities, but appear to be socially awkward. In my own practice I work extensively with adults who have Autism Spectrum Disorder or “Asperger’s” and these individuals work at high level jobs, in management, in a variety of setting and fields and have successful and full careers, families and social lives. ASD is a language based developmental disorder which makes it difficult for individuals to “see the perspective of others” and “read their minds” as many of us do day to day in order to interact socially. There are also some neurocognitive difficulties common with ASD, such as resistance to change, hyper focus and sensory sensitivities.Characteristics of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Asperger’s Syndrome
• May have difficulty communicating, including difficulty understanding facial expressions, nonverbal communication, and have poor eye contact in conversational settings. • May have difficulty asking for help when they need it, or difficulty talking when experiencing stress. • May lack social awareness and misread social cues; may experience difficulty making friends or working in small groups. • May have trouble dealing with change; students withASD/Asperger’s Syndrome do best with structured routines and schedules. • May be very rule-oriented and logical • May not do well with noisy settings or bright lights.Tips for Positive Communication • Stress the importance of good study habits and effective time management. • Be firm and direct with the student, as a student with ASD/Asperger’s may not understand social cues or nonverbal communication. • Give praise when merited; it builds confidence. • Give timely feedback to the student; errors need to be corrected as soon as possible.Possible Classroom Accommodations • Be open to students recording lectures; if you are concerned have the counselling department write up an agreement and confidentiality form. Recording classes can be a critical component to academic success. • Point out the organizational items in textbooks, e.g., chapter summaries, sub-headings, graphic design, charts, maps, and indexes. • Give all assignments and course expectations in written and oral form. • Incorporate “hands on” and lab experiences when they are appropriate. • Consult with your schools student counselling centre when assistance is needed in solving problems. • Give students a clear syllabus, listing tests and assignments with due dates noted. • Use demonstrations and hands-on experiences. • Use overhead projectors or PowerPoint presentations. Break down difficult concepts into steps or parts. • Outline the day’s lecture on the board, overhead, or PowerPoint. • Keep the structure of the class the same everyday, and if it must change giving the student advance notice is helpful. • Give a brief review of the material presented and emphasize key points. • Include a time for questions and answers. • Encourage all students to take advantage of the school based tutoring and consultation services. • When group projects are a must, assign the groups and put the student with Asperger’s in a smaller group. All of these accommodations are not necessary all the time, and many of these can be easily dealt with by assigning a student/peer coach who can essential provide most of these services through simply modelling and a 15 min daily check up with the student.Test Accommodations and Administration • Allow extra time for test taking (usually time and one half). • Arrange for exams to be taken in a separate room. • Explain directions more fully and if something isn’t understood - write it out. • Keep all test formats the same. Offer alternate means to demonstrate competency if the student has difficulty with the testing format.
Each student and situation can be different, but working with a professional you should be able to come up with a good outline of what your child's needs, in terms of support for their "handicapping condition"- and I advise you to use those words as they will lead to more serious consideration by the college. For information on the services I provide in terms of autism/Asperger's testing, treatment and support, visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com
Friday, March 7, 2014
Asperger's Disorder, Autism and Visual Supports
One of the key features of autism interventions for children, adolescents and adults are visual support systems. These range from visual schedules to visual prompts and cues, hand signals and reminder notes. Visual supports are critical to success with young people with autism, but regretfully they are one of the first things that teachers, aides and parents want to drop because they feel their student or child no longer needs such supports. This, most of the time, is a mistake.
Today on my way to the office I checked my fridge for any notes from family members, checked my calendar (yes, in spite of the fact I have a Mac and every program know for schedules etc I use a paper calendar to maintain my daily schedule) and then checked a short to do list at the office, a list of things I didn't complete yesterday. On the way to work there were road signs telling me to switch lanes, and someone actually holding a bright orange and yellow sign, waving it, tell me and everyone else to "slow down."
Amazingly there seems to be an attitude that as soon a a student begins to write, or as soon as they speak fluently they no longer need these visual support systems you and I seem to need every day. I often urge parents to maintain visual prompts and cues because when a problem does come up, and having had several teenagers myself I know problems come up, you need a system to use to correct the problem, to teach new skills and to reinforce those skills. If you already have a system in place you are using you don't need to invent a new support/intervention method while addressing the new crisis. And childhood, teen years and early adulthood are full of these crisis moments!
My answer to parents who wonder when to give up visual supports is: Never! You change them, make them more age and socially appropriate and rework them and focus on using them to generalize new behaviours, but don't give up a good tool that you could use later on.
Schools especially seem to give up visual supports, especially when an aide is assigned to a student. Often the aide will say, "Well, he talks to me and asks questions so I don't think we need those. Besides, he needs to learn to ask questions and talk more." This is not true. Children who use visual supports use more language, and when it comes to a choice of a visual support or a verbal prompt from a classroom aide I would usually suggest sticking to the visual support." The visual support should be reminding the student to look to his or her environment to get social cues as to what is going on, and what we are doing next. An aide often stands in the way of that behaviour by providing constant verbal cues or prompts. I can't tell you how many times I've gone into a classroom and seen a student with a high IQ, very aware, sitting while other students get their coats on...waiting for the prompt of cue from the aide rather than looking at the schedule, looking at and listening to the teacher or simply watching what all the other students are doing - putting on their coats. The behavioural process becomes - other students are putting on their coats to go to the playground - that means I should turn to my aide and wait for her to tell me to - "put on your coat!" Students become overly reliant on verbal prompts, and maintaining visual prompts can help avoid that.
Visual supports remain a critical part of any person's life, and it sometimes seems odd that we withdraw these supports so quickly from individuals with Asperger's and autism. Some places to find information on visual supports are:
http://autismdigest.com/visual-strategies-valuable-support-at-any-age/
POPARD, the Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders also has several great handouts and videos on using visual supports: http://www.autismoutreach.ca/assets/30visual.pdf
This article: 30 Reasons to Use and Keep Using a Visual Schedule or "Please don't take my visual schedule away," is a great resource for teachers, or parents who have to convince a teacher to maintain visual supports.
Finally, a lot of times visual supports are stopped because they seem to stop working, things get complicated and confusing for staff who don't have a lot of training in behavioural interventions, and rather than fix something that doesn't seem to work they just stop using the system. This sometimes happens with very young children as teachers or parents become frustrated as students seem to object to using the visual supports or seem to work against them. Well there are two great manuals on this issue EVERY teacher or parent of a child with Aspergers or autism should have:
Visual Strategies for Improving Communication and Solving Behavioural Problems in Autism by Linda A Hodgdon. These are the best books I've seen in this area in years. There are also video training programs and other support materials that go with this comprehensive program. My favourite part of these books is the chapter on using your body, hands, face, posture and so on as a visual support to get the meaning of what you are saying across to the student with Asperger's or autism, and to help them with issues such as anxiety and stress. Great book!
To sum this up - don't stop using visual supports. Learn more about them, get creative, make them more age and environmentally appropriate. We all use them and they can make a huge difference in how well anyone with Aspeger's or autism navigates the world.
For information about my practice and services I offer for children with Autism, adolescents and young adults with Asperger's and High Functioning Autism, please visit my website at: http://www.relatedminds.com or http://www.relatedminds.com/adult-autism-and-aspergers-disorder/
Today on my way to the office I checked my fridge for any notes from family members, checked my calendar (yes, in spite of the fact I have a Mac and every program know for schedules etc I use a paper calendar to maintain my daily schedule) and then checked a short to do list at the office, a list of things I didn't complete yesterday. On the way to work there were road signs telling me to switch lanes, and someone actually holding a bright orange and yellow sign, waving it, tell me and everyone else to "slow down."
Amazingly there seems to be an attitude that as soon a a student begins to write, or as soon as they speak fluently they no longer need these visual support systems you and I seem to need every day. I often urge parents to maintain visual prompts and cues because when a problem does come up, and having had several teenagers myself I know problems come up, you need a system to use to correct the problem, to teach new skills and to reinforce those skills. If you already have a system in place you are using you don't need to invent a new support/intervention method while addressing the new crisis. And childhood, teen years and early adulthood are full of these crisis moments!
My answer to parents who wonder when to give up visual supports is: Never! You change them, make them more age and socially appropriate and rework them and focus on using them to generalize new behaviours, but don't give up a good tool that you could use later on.
Schools especially seem to give up visual supports, especially when an aide is assigned to a student. Often the aide will say, "Well, he talks to me and asks questions so I don't think we need those. Besides, he needs to learn to ask questions and talk more." This is not true. Children who use visual supports use more language, and when it comes to a choice of a visual support or a verbal prompt from a classroom aide I would usually suggest sticking to the visual support." The visual support should be reminding the student to look to his or her environment to get social cues as to what is going on, and what we are doing next. An aide often stands in the way of that behaviour by providing constant verbal cues or prompts. I can't tell you how many times I've gone into a classroom and seen a student with a high IQ, very aware, sitting while other students get their coats on...waiting for the prompt of cue from the aide rather than looking at the schedule, looking at and listening to the teacher or simply watching what all the other students are doing - putting on their coats. The behavioural process becomes - other students are putting on their coats to go to the playground - that means I should turn to my aide and wait for her to tell me to - "put on your coat!" Students become overly reliant on verbal prompts, and maintaining visual prompts can help avoid that.
Visual supports remain a critical part of any person's life, and it sometimes seems odd that we withdraw these supports so quickly from individuals with Asperger's and autism. Some places to find information on visual supports are:
http://autismdigest.com/visual-strategies-valuable-support-at-any-age/
POPARD, the Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders also has several great handouts and videos on using visual supports: http://www.autismoutreach.ca/assets/30visual.pdf
This article: 30 Reasons to Use and Keep Using a Visual Schedule or "Please don't take my visual schedule away," is a great resource for teachers, or parents who have to convince a teacher to maintain visual supports.
Finally, a lot of times visual supports are stopped because they seem to stop working, things get complicated and confusing for staff who don't have a lot of training in behavioural interventions, and rather than fix something that doesn't seem to work they just stop using the system. This sometimes happens with very young children as teachers or parents become frustrated as students seem to object to using the visual supports or seem to work against them. Well there are two great manuals on this issue EVERY teacher or parent of a child with Aspergers or autism should have:
Visual Strategies for Improving Communication and Solving Behavioural Problems in Autism by Linda A Hodgdon. These are the best books I've seen in this area in years. There are also video training programs and other support materials that go with this comprehensive program. My favourite part of these books is the chapter on using your body, hands, face, posture and so on as a visual support to get the meaning of what you are saying across to the student with Asperger's or autism, and to help them with issues such as anxiety and stress. Great book!
To sum this up - don't stop using visual supports. Learn more about them, get creative, make them more age and environmentally appropriate. We all use them and they can make a huge difference in how well anyone with Aspeger's or autism navigates the world.
For information about my practice and services I offer for children with Autism, adolescents and young adults with Asperger's and High Functioning Autism, please visit my website at: http://www.relatedminds.com or http://www.relatedminds.com/adult-autism-and-aspergers-disorder/
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Behaviour Interventionist Vancouver
Dr. Roche provides behavioural intervention services in both his Vancouver office, located near City Hall in Vancouver (corner of Yukon and 8th Ave West) and his Burnaby office. He is an approved behaviour interventionist with ACTBC (Autism Community Training - BC) and has over 20 years of experience providing behavioural interventions and treatment planning for children, adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder and Aspeger's disorder, as well as other cognitive dysfunctions. Dr. Roche specializes in providing behavioural training to parents and schools and has worked with parents, teachers and other professionals throughout the province as a provincial autism outreach worker. As an approved behavioural interventionist he is able to accept provincial payments for his services.
Dr. Roche also provides comprehensive diagnostic assessments for children, adolescents and adults who are suspected to have autism. This includes psychoeducational assessments for use in the schools to develop IEPs (Individual Education Plans) and behaviour management plans.
Please use the contact form on the home page of the website to contact Dr. Roche and make an appointment for assessment, counselling or therapy in either his Vancouver or Burnaby office.
Please visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com for more information.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Social Skills classes are not the answer for students with ASD
For information on assessment and treatment programs offered by Dr. Jim Roche, a Registered Psychologist in British Columbia, please see his web page at www.relatedmindsbc.com or www.relatedmindsbc.com/autism.
Again a school district wanted to know about social skills training for kids with ASD (actually, Asperger's Disorder or high functioning autism as some people would call it).This request came three minutes after writing an email to another school psychologist who wanted to know about social skills evaluation programs for students with ASD. I suspect that both these programs are being managed by someone with little or no experience in autism, or any real theoretical background for that matter. Suggesting that ASD students, students on the autism spectrum, need social skills training is clearly a sign they are lost in the mae of terminology or don't understand the nature of ASD.
Sure, kids with ASD (autism) have some strange social skills at times. They come across in a strange way, and this deficit causes problems between them and staff, other students and even their friends. But the issue isn't one of social skills. A social skills program (like Skills Streaming by Research press, a GREAT social skills program) simply doesn't address their deficit. These students with autism have a deficit of perspective taking. Their problem is seeing things from the other persons point of view. It's a deficit of social reciprocity.
all the social skills training in the world will not teach your child reciprocity and perspective taking. Often, when working with teens with ASD I get, " Yeah, but it really doesn't matter....I did the right thing" as an answer to why they did some behaviour, said some statement or behaved a certain way in spite of what the social results were.
I'll just give the the bluntest situation, and one that I hear about a lot. A student passes gas, farts, in class. Then when another student makes a comment he gets in a prolonged argument. " It's a natural process..." "I had to do it, everyone does, it's natural." Because of the student's rigidity of thinking and inability to accept the viewpoint of others he ends up socially isolated and often picked on. Social skills training is NOT what this student needs.
Working from the perspective of "social learning" we address this student's deficit in social reciprocity, in perspective taking. The student needs to understand that his actions cause people to react a certain way, and from observing others we learn to understand how we are doing - socially. Mitchell Winner has a program called "social behaviour mapping" in which we engage the student in a process of understanding how others feels and respond by asking new questions. One set of formal questions we ask is: "Was that an expected behaviour, or unexpected?" Unexpected behaviours make people anxious, nervous and want to avoid you. Expected behaviours are more familiar, and we don't avoid those.
Sometimes other processes are used, such as social stories, drawings, mapping out the situation visually. This method of intervention addresses the key deficit that is causing the child difficulty: a lack of social understanding. In a social skills class you are unlikely going to get a student to engage in the social behaviour you want because it simply doesn't make sense to them. Often they already know the proper social skill, and make the choice not to engage in it because it makes no sense to them. Out job is to teach this skill of social reciprocity.
If your school is trying to put your child with ASD (autism, Asperger's Disorder of NVLD) into a "social skills" group they are setting your child up for more social failure because they are not addressing the real issue. Perhaps they understand and are using the wrong terms? If that's so, make sure and correct them. I also don't want people thinking that children with ASD simply lack social skills .... that often leads to a rejecting and punitive environment. Check out what your school is up to. And for more information feel free to contact me, or look up the work of Mitchell Winner on the web.
Again a school district wanted to know about social skills training for kids with ASD (actually, Asperger's Disorder or high functioning autism as some people would call it).This request came three minutes after writing an email to another school psychologist who wanted to know about social skills evaluation programs for students with ASD. I suspect that both these programs are being managed by someone with little or no experience in autism, or any real theoretical background for that matter. Suggesting that ASD students, students on the autism spectrum, need social skills training is clearly a sign they are lost in the mae of terminology or don't understand the nature of ASD.
Sure, kids with ASD (autism) have some strange social skills at times. They come across in a strange way, and this deficit causes problems between them and staff, other students and even their friends. But the issue isn't one of social skills. A social skills program (like Skills Streaming by Research press, a GREAT social skills program) simply doesn't address their deficit. These students with autism have a deficit of perspective taking. Their problem is seeing things from the other persons point of view. It's a deficit of social reciprocity.
all the social skills training in the world will not teach your child reciprocity and perspective taking. Often, when working with teens with ASD I get, " Yeah, but it really doesn't matter....I did the right thing" as an answer to why they did some behaviour, said some statement or behaved a certain way in spite of what the social results were.
I'll just give the the bluntest situation, and one that I hear about a lot. A student passes gas, farts, in class. Then when another student makes a comment he gets in a prolonged argument. " It's a natural process..." "I had to do it, everyone does, it's natural." Because of the student's rigidity of thinking and inability to accept the viewpoint of others he ends up socially isolated and often picked on. Social skills training is NOT what this student needs.
Working from the perspective of "social learning" we address this student's deficit in social reciprocity, in perspective taking. The student needs to understand that his actions cause people to react a certain way, and from observing others we learn to understand how we are doing - socially. Mitchell Winner has a program called "social behaviour mapping" in which we engage the student in a process of understanding how others feels and respond by asking new questions. One set of formal questions we ask is: "Was that an expected behaviour, or unexpected?" Unexpected behaviours make people anxious, nervous and want to avoid you. Expected behaviours are more familiar, and we don't avoid those.
Sometimes other processes are used, such as social stories, drawings, mapping out the situation visually. This method of intervention addresses the key deficit that is causing the child difficulty: a lack of social understanding. In a social skills class you are unlikely going to get a student to engage in the social behaviour you want because it simply doesn't make sense to them. Often they already know the proper social skill, and make the choice not to engage in it because it makes no sense to them. Out job is to teach this skill of social reciprocity.
If your school is trying to put your child with ASD (autism, Asperger's Disorder of NVLD) into a "social skills" group they are setting your child up for more social failure because they are not addressing the real issue. Perhaps they understand and are using the wrong terms? If that's so, make sure and correct them. I also don't want people thinking that children with ASD simply lack social skills .... that often leads to a rejecting and punitive environment. Check out what your school is up to. And for more information feel free to contact me, or look up the work of Mitchell Winner on the web.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
New Research: Environmental Factors found in Autism
Click here to read the New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/health/research/05autism.html
For more details from the original article, click here: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/archgenpsychiatry.2011.76
A new study implicates environmental factors in the cause of autism (ASD, Asperger's and related disorders). By "environmental factors" they mean conditions for the fetus while in the womb. These conditions, the researchers say, are as at least as important as overall genetic factors.
Researchers say that, "This is a very significant study because it confirms that genetic factors are involved in the cause of the disorder....but it shirts the focus to the possibility that environmental factors could also be really important."
This was a twin study. 192 pairs of identical twins were drawn from California data bases. At least one twin in each pair had the classic form of autism, extreme social withdrawal, communications problems and repetitive behaviours. Identical twins share 100 percent of their genes. The study found that autism occurred in both children 77 percent of the time when they were males and 36 percent with females. Mathematical models suggest only 38 percent of the cases could be attributed to genetic factors, compared with 90 percent from previous studies. Even more surprising, shared environmental factors appeared to be at work in 58 percent of the cases.
The rate of autism occurring in siblings who are not twins is much lower, suggesting that the conditions the twins shared in the womb, rather than what they were exposed to after birth ( vaccines... again show not to be a cause) contributed to the development of autism.
There was a second study that showed an elevated risk of autism in children whose mothers took a popular type of antidepressant during the year before delivery. The authors assure mothers that the risk is still very low. Speak with your doctor directly if you have concerns.
These two articles are considered "game changers" and will redirect studies to what is going on in terms of prenatal and perinatal factors with respect to autism susceptibility.
As the "fear factor" of the anti-science and conspiracy crowd around individuals like Jenny McCarthy and the former Dr. Wakefield (see :http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/anti-vaccine-warriors-vs-research-ethics/) lose their credibility with the public, more important and actual science based research can now become the focus of the publics attention. There may be environmental factors, but they are not what we have been told. We urgently need to refocus research efforts and monies, but this time lets let scientist guide the direction of the inquiry rather than a former model, a movie comedian and a defrocked MD.
For information on autism treatment your welcome to view my web page at: http://www.relatedmindsbc.com/autism or at http://www.relatedmindsbc.com/ General information about my practice can be found at: http://www.bcpsychologist.org/users/jimroche or at http://Therapists.Psychologytoday.com/70682
For more details from the original article, click here: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/archgenpsychiatry.2011.76
A new study implicates environmental factors in the cause of autism (ASD, Asperger's and related disorders). By "environmental factors" they mean conditions for the fetus while in the womb. These conditions, the researchers say, are as at least as important as overall genetic factors.
Researchers say that, "This is a very significant study because it confirms that genetic factors are involved in the cause of the disorder....but it shirts the focus to the possibility that environmental factors could also be really important."
This was a twin study. 192 pairs of identical twins were drawn from California data bases. At least one twin in each pair had the classic form of autism, extreme social withdrawal, communications problems and repetitive behaviours. Identical twins share 100 percent of their genes. The study found that autism occurred in both children 77 percent of the time when they were males and 36 percent with females. Mathematical models suggest only 38 percent of the cases could be attributed to genetic factors, compared with 90 percent from previous studies. Even more surprising, shared environmental factors appeared to be at work in 58 percent of the cases.
The rate of autism occurring in siblings who are not twins is much lower, suggesting that the conditions the twins shared in the womb, rather than what they were exposed to after birth ( vaccines... again show not to be a cause) contributed to the development of autism.
There was a second study that showed an elevated risk of autism in children whose mothers took a popular type of antidepressant during the year before delivery. The authors assure mothers that the risk is still very low. Speak with your doctor directly if you have concerns.
These two articles are considered "game changers" and will redirect studies to what is going on in terms of prenatal and perinatal factors with respect to autism susceptibility.
As the "fear factor" of the anti-science and conspiracy crowd around individuals like Jenny McCarthy and the former Dr. Wakefield (see :http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/anti-vaccine-warriors-vs-research-ethics/) lose their credibility with the public, more important and actual science based research can now become the focus of the publics attention. There may be environmental factors, but they are not what we have been told. We urgently need to refocus research efforts and monies, but this time lets let scientist guide the direction of the inquiry rather than a former model, a movie comedian and a defrocked MD.
For information on autism treatment your welcome to view my web page at: http://www.relatedmindsbc.com/autism or at http://www.relatedmindsbc.com/ General information about my practice can be found at: http://www.bcpsychologist.org/users/jimroche or at http://Therapists.Psychologytoday.com/70682
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Learning "styles," an idea whose time has come and gone
While a teacher in Brooklyn, actually East New York, I took several of my graduate courses at Brooklyn College through the teacher's union education program. One course focused on the "learning styles" of children. We were taught, for the entire semester, about different learning styles that our students had, and taught that if we didn't cater to these different and individual learning styles, our students would suffer. We were taught how to assess students, asking them questions and watching their facial, eye and hand movements in reaction to our questions. If a student looked up to the right...she was "accessing visual memory" and if the student looked down to the left she was "accessing auditory memory." Or it may have been the other way around, I don't remember. But the point is we assessed all of our children and then addressed their learning styles in their IEP's (Individual Education Plans).
Like so many interventions in education this one was simply based upon someone's idea they had at breakfast that morning, and was supported by little and poor research. Really poor research. (One thing we never were required to take in graduate school - in the education department - was a course in statistics ...or research design for that matter, so we were easy victims to the woo science of education). As the years went by I realized individual children might have specific learning disabilities, or actual physical disabilities that made learning certain information difficult, but individual learning styles? No, not really. And finally this theory of how to educate our students is falling by the wayside under the pressure of real science, real research and a basic understanding of what learning really is. Here is what one recent paper on "Learning Styles" concluded:
"Our review of the literature disclosed ample evidence that children and adults will, if asked, express preferences about how they prefer information to be presented to them. There is also plentiful evidence arguing that people differ in the degree to which they have some fairly specific aptitudes for different kinds of thinking and for processing different types of information. However, we found virtually no evidence for the interaction pattern mentioned above, which was judged to be a precondition for validating the educational applications of learning styles. Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis.nWe conclude therefore, that at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice. Thus, limited education resources would better be devoted to adopting other educational practices that have a strong evidence base, of which there are an increasing number."
For more about this click here.
Here is an excellent video about learning styles and current research. IT's pretty good at explaining this issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk&tracker=False
I write about this because many parents still consider schools to be failing them if they don't cater to their child's particular "learning style." This is especially true in the past few years as so much money and effort has been put into teaching children with autism disorder "visually" because people think that children with autism are "visual learners." That's not true, and what's worse is this "visual learner" idea has infiltrated the general education classroom.
We learn about art by looking at it, but we understand it by thinking about it. Same with reading, same with math. What we all need to understand is that learning is about thinking, and we might use different methods to understand something,to get information about it, to see or hear it, but these are not the same as different "learning styles" or different styles of thinking. We all think, pretty much, alike.
That goes for children with autism and Aspeger's as well. Sooner or later it comes down to a very similar process of thinking something out. And while some individuals may use visual tools or auditory tools to help with memorization and other specific cognitive processes, they are not really visual or auditory learners in the sense some educators want us to believe. When we ask a child to look at a photo and tell us what is going on, or alternatively to read or listen to a story and tell us what is going on, the cues and prompts may be different in each case, but the learning and thinking is not. So it's difficult to sit through a discussion at an IEP and hear how student X is a "visual learner." He isn't! People make some assumption that this student has superior visual abilities, well, his visual abilities and skills may be higher than auditory, true, but he is not a "visual thinker." Thinking is a complex cognitive process and for all of us it's pretty much the same. The video clip listed above gives a great example of this, and in spite of the fact that some proponents of "learning styles" have spammed the site with negative feedback, the science is strong and learning styles are not supported by most research.
Now does this mean that visual supports are not appropriate for children with autism or Asperger's disorder? NO! Visual supports are great, and honestly, just this past week I had to convince three parents to return to using visual supports with their children who they thought had grown out of them. Figuring out and using visual supports is a critical component to success with these children. I use visual supports all the time. I need a pencil and paper to figure out math problems, I take notes in meetings, I draw and write out plans and use pen and paper to try out different ideas when rebuilding my house. My daily calendar is a visual support. My to do list. I am surrounded by visual supports that provide an external way of planning, seeing and explaining my ideas. My learning and thinking, however, goes on in my head...supported by external visual and auditory (I listen to a lot of books on CD or MP3) input. The visual supports we provide are external devices, sometimes used to help with input, sometimes output. But when your child uses a PECS board to tell you they need to use the toilet, or wants to go outside, or likes something and wants more (maybe even you!) the learning and thinking didn't go on visual on the PECS board. The PECS board or other visual communication system was the input or output device that supported your child in communicating and ultimately understanding. We can't understand and think about things that can't be communicated. And visual supports are communication supports.
I decided to write this and provide the explainatory video because too often parents and school get into protracted arguments when every single learning situation isn't somehow reflective of the idea that their child is "a visual learning." I even have kids tell me this. Research shows that specific handicaps aside, learning is just learning. How you get the information into your child's mind is a different matter, but we shouldn't confuse the two.
Thank you for reading my blog, provided to you on your visual communication support system (computer, ipad, or maybe even printed out). You now can either agree or disagree ....but that happens in your head, not in the computer.
This web page is not meant as a medical aid, not meant to provide specific advice, treatment protocols or diagnosis. Please see your medical doctor or register psychologist for specific advice. You can also visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com.
Here is an excellent video on learning styles: click here.
For more information on this Click here.
Like so many interventions in education this one was simply based upon someone's idea they had at breakfast that morning, and was supported by little and poor research. Really poor research. (One thing we never were required to take in graduate school - in the education department - was a course in statistics ...or research design for that matter, so we were easy victims to the woo science of education). As the years went by I realized individual children might have specific learning disabilities, or actual physical disabilities that made learning certain information difficult, but individual learning styles? No, not really. And finally this theory of how to educate our students is falling by the wayside under the pressure of real science, real research and a basic understanding of what learning really is. Here is what one recent paper on "Learning Styles" concluded:
"Our review of the literature disclosed ample evidence that children and adults will, if asked, express preferences about how they prefer information to be presented to them. There is also plentiful evidence arguing that people differ in the degree to which they have some fairly specific aptitudes for different kinds of thinking and for processing different types of information. However, we found virtually no evidence for the interaction pattern mentioned above, which was judged to be a precondition for validating the educational applications of learning styles. Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis.nWe conclude therefore, that at present, there is no adequate evidence base to justify incorporating learning-styles assessments into general educational practice. Thus, limited education resources would better be devoted to adopting other educational practices that have a strong evidence base, of which there are an increasing number."
For more about this click here.
Here is an excellent video about learning styles and current research. IT's pretty good at explaining this issue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIv9rz2NTUk&tracker=False
I write about this because many parents still consider schools to be failing them if they don't cater to their child's particular "learning style." This is especially true in the past few years as so much money and effort has been put into teaching children with autism disorder "visually" because people think that children with autism are "visual learners." That's not true, and what's worse is this "visual learner" idea has infiltrated the general education classroom.
We learn about art by looking at it, but we understand it by thinking about it. Same with reading, same with math. What we all need to understand is that learning is about thinking, and we might use different methods to understand something,to get information about it, to see or hear it, but these are not the same as different "learning styles" or different styles of thinking. We all think, pretty much, alike.
That goes for children with autism and Aspeger's as well. Sooner or later it comes down to a very similar process of thinking something out. And while some individuals may use visual tools or auditory tools to help with memorization and other specific cognitive processes, they are not really visual or auditory learners in the sense some educators want us to believe. When we ask a child to look at a photo and tell us what is going on, or alternatively to read or listen to a story and tell us what is going on, the cues and prompts may be different in each case, but the learning and thinking is not. So it's difficult to sit through a discussion at an IEP and hear how student X is a "visual learner." He isn't! People make some assumption that this student has superior visual abilities, well, his visual abilities and skills may be higher than auditory, true, but he is not a "visual thinker." Thinking is a complex cognitive process and for all of us it's pretty much the same. The video clip listed above gives a great example of this, and in spite of the fact that some proponents of "learning styles" have spammed the site with negative feedback, the science is strong and learning styles are not supported by most research.
Now does this mean that visual supports are not appropriate for children with autism or Asperger's disorder? NO! Visual supports are great, and honestly, just this past week I had to convince three parents to return to using visual supports with their children who they thought had grown out of them. Figuring out and using visual supports is a critical component to success with these children. I use visual supports all the time. I need a pencil and paper to figure out math problems, I take notes in meetings, I draw and write out plans and use pen and paper to try out different ideas when rebuilding my house. My daily calendar is a visual support. My to do list. I am surrounded by visual supports that provide an external way of planning, seeing and explaining my ideas. My learning and thinking, however, goes on in my head...supported by external visual and auditory (I listen to a lot of books on CD or MP3) input. The visual supports we provide are external devices, sometimes used to help with input, sometimes output. But when your child uses a PECS board to tell you they need to use the toilet, or wants to go outside, or likes something and wants more (maybe even you!) the learning and thinking didn't go on visual on the PECS board. The PECS board or other visual communication system was the input or output device that supported your child in communicating and ultimately understanding. We can't understand and think about things that can't be communicated. And visual supports are communication supports.
I decided to write this and provide the explainatory video because too often parents and school get into protracted arguments when every single learning situation isn't somehow reflective of the idea that their child is "a visual learning." I even have kids tell me this. Research shows that specific handicaps aside, learning is just learning. How you get the information into your child's mind is a different matter, but we shouldn't confuse the two.
Thank you for reading my blog, provided to you on your visual communication support system (computer, ipad, or maybe even printed out). You now can either agree or disagree ....but that happens in your head, not in the computer.
This web page is not meant as a medical aid, not meant to provide specific advice, treatment protocols or diagnosis. Please see your medical doctor or register psychologist for specific advice. You can also visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com.
Here is an excellent video on learning styles: click here.
For more information on this Click here.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Study shows autism linked to education....sort of. (But not)
NPR (National Public Radio) may have gotten the title wrong, but the news article itself got the information correct. Click HERE to go to NPR's web page and listen to the radio broadcast.
This story is about research that looks at clusters of children diagnosed with autism and how they tend to occur in places where parents are older, more educated, and white. The study (U of California, Davis) found, and this is important to those who are convinced otherwise, there is no link to local pollution or chemical exposures. This particular result is important to all those parents that want to have all the "toxins" removed from their children, or who over protect them with fad diets and social isolation because they hear about "toxins" in the air, water and food.
The study results suggest that areas in California with apparently high rates of autism spectrum disorders are probably just places where parents are more likely to obtain a diagnosis for their child. In other words, they look like areas with high autism rates, but they are in fact the same as other areas of California, except the parents can afford medical care, psychologists and ....lawyers to help with school issues. And these are of course areas where parents have jobs that require higher education, and therefore ..... not much in the therefore area here. It's as simple as it sounds.
"It doesn't necessarily mean that higher education causes autism," says Irva Hertz-Picciotto, one of the study's authors and a researcher at the UC Davis MIND Institute. "It gets you the diagnosis more frequently."
The UC Davis study looked at the geographic distribution of about 10,000 children who were born in California from 1996 through 2000 and later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. A "cluster" was defined as a community in which the proportion of children diagnosed with autism was at least 70 percent higher than in surrounding areas. 70%. That's pretty high, and tells you what money and education get for children. A diagnosis, and treatment! (This study should be done by the department of political sciences, with an action plan.)
The study found that differences in parents' age, education and ethnicity explained the cluster most of the time. It doesn't necessarily mean that higher education causes autism. Having parents with a higher education, and I suppose salary and better medical insurance, gets you the diagnosis more frequently. The study found that children of parents who finished college were at least four times more likely to be diagnosed than children of parents who didn't finish high school.Interestingly, children were also more likely to be diagnosed if they were born in a community near a regional service center for people with autism. (Some, I suppose, would think that living near a regional service center causes autism....but most of us get the point.)
The study may be most interesting because it did not find any environmental explanation for higher autism rates, says Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University and the author of the blogs "Neurologica," and "Science-Based Medicine." "You can't prove a negative," Novella says. But the results of this and other studies suggest that "if there are environmental factors, they're small."
The California results also show how widely autism diagnosis rates can vary from place to place, Novella says. In some areas of the state, children were four times as likely to be diagnosed as in other areas.That suggests that in many areas there are still a huge number of children with autism spectrum disorders who are slipping through the cracks, Novella says. I wonder how many, and what that says about us here in Canada, where the government won't pay for private practitioners..licensed and registered medical and psychological professionals.... to perform a diagnosis but instead put you on a long waiting list for Provincial services. (When is that going to change? WHY can't the government pay for a private practitioner to administer a diagnostic exam? Could it be a way to avoid paying for services for those they would diagnose? No, that couldn't possibly be it.)
This is a nice article, and it's an excellent way to look at what science tells us, and what it doesn't. As we always say, "correlation does not equal causation."
...........................................
My web page lists a number of resources you can make use of yourself in dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Asperger's, as well as many other learning disabilities. Please visit it at www.socialcognitivetherapy.com, or one of my other sites at: Psychology Today, AAMFT, PSYRIS or my professional site or www.adhdhelp.ca.
Autism assessment and treatment services are offered for individuals, couples, families, children, adolescents and adults in the Burnaby, Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Moody, New Westminster and Maple Ridge areas of the lower mainland. This includes neuro-developmental assessments, psycho-education assessments, autism assessments as well as behavioural and cognitive behaviour therapy. I also provide diagnostic assessments for autism and Asperger's Disorder in my Burnaby office.
Dr. Jim Roche
Registered Psychologist, British Columbia 01610
778.998-7975
www.relatedminds.com
This story is about research that looks at clusters of children diagnosed with autism and how they tend to occur in places where parents are older, more educated, and white. The study (U of California, Davis) found, and this is important to those who are convinced otherwise, there is no link to local pollution or chemical exposures. This particular result is important to all those parents that want to have all the "toxins" removed from their children, or who over protect them with fad diets and social isolation because they hear about "toxins" in the air, water and food.
The study results suggest that areas in California with apparently high rates of autism spectrum disorders are probably just places where parents are more likely to obtain a diagnosis for their child. In other words, they look like areas with high autism rates, but they are in fact the same as other areas of California, except the parents can afford medical care, psychologists and ....lawyers to help with school issues. And these are of course areas where parents have jobs that require higher education, and therefore ..... not much in the therefore area here. It's as simple as it sounds.
"It doesn't necessarily mean that higher education causes autism," says Irva Hertz-Picciotto, one of the study's authors and a researcher at the UC Davis MIND Institute. "It gets you the diagnosis more frequently."
The UC Davis study looked at the geographic distribution of about 10,000 children who were born in California from 1996 through 2000 and later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. A "cluster" was defined as a community in which the proportion of children diagnosed with autism was at least 70 percent higher than in surrounding areas. 70%. That's pretty high, and tells you what money and education get for children. A diagnosis, and treatment! (This study should be done by the department of political sciences, with an action plan.)
The study found that differences in parents' age, education and ethnicity explained the cluster most of the time. It doesn't necessarily mean that higher education causes autism. Having parents with a higher education, and I suppose salary and better medical insurance, gets you the diagnosis more frequently. The study found that children of parents who finished college were at least four times more likely to be diagnosed than children of parents who didn't finish high school.Interestingly, children were also more likely to be diagnosed if they were born in a community near a regional service center for people with autism. (Some, I suppose, would think that living near a regional service center causes autism....but most of us get the point.)
The study may be most interesting because it did not find any environmental explanation for higher autism rates, says Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University and the author of the blogs "Neurologica," and "Science-Based Medicine." "You can't prove a negative," Novella says. But the results of this and other studies suggest that "if there are environmental factors, they're small."
The California results also show how widely autism diagnosis rates can vary from place to place, Novella says. In some areas of the state, children were four times as likely to be diagnosed as in other areas.That suggests that in many areas there are still a huge number of children with autism spectrum disorders who are slipping through the cracks, Novella says. I wonder how many, and what that says about us here in Canada, where the government won't pay for private practitioners..licensed and registered medical and psychological professionals.... to perform a diagnosis but instead put you on a long waiting list for Provincial services. (When is that going to change? WHY can't the government pay for a private practitioner to administer a diagnostic exam? Could it be a way to avoid paying for services for those they would diagnose? No, that couldn't possibly be it.)
This is a nice article, and it's an excellent way to look at what science tells us, and what it doesn't. As we always say, "correlation does not equal causation."
...........................................
My web page lists a number of resources you can make use of yourself in dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Asperger's, as well as many other learning disabilities. Please visit it at www.socialcognitivetherapy.com, or one of my other sites at: Psychology Today, AAMFT, PSYRIS or my professional site or www.adhdhelp.ca.
Autism assessment and treatment services are offered for individuals, couples, families, children, adolescents and adults in the Burnaby, Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Moody, New Westminster and Maple Ridge areas of the lower mainland. This includes neuro-developmental assessments, psycho-education assessments, autism assessments as well as behavioural and cognitive behaviour therapy. I also provide diagnostic assessments for autism and Asperger's Disorder in my Burnaby office.
Dr. Jim Roche
Registered Psychologist, British Columbia 01610
778.998-7975
www.relatedminds.com
Friday, November 12, 2010
Autism study reveals how genetic changes rewire the brain
ScienceDaily (2010-11-08) -- Using a blend of brain imaging and genetic detective work, scientists have illustrated how genetic variants rewire the brain. The discovery offers the crucial missing physical evidence that links altered genes to modified brain function and learning.
"In children who carry the risk gene, the front of the brain appears to talk mostly with itself," explained first author Ashley Scott-Van Zeeland, now a Dickinson Research Fellow at Scripps Translational Science Institute. "It doesn't communicate as much with other parts of the brain and lacks long-range connections to the back of the brain."
Researchers could test whether specific therapies actually change brain function by measuring connectivity of patients before and after therapy, she added.
The authors emphasized that the patterns of connectivity found in the study still fall along the spectrum of normal gene variation. "One third of the population carries this variant in its DNA," noted Geschwind. "It's important to remember that the gene variant alone doesn't cause autism, it just increases risk."
The story can be found by following this link CLICK HERE
For information about my private practice you may go to my website at www.relatedminds.com and look for autism services. You can also find out more about my services for children, adolescents and adults with autism or Asperger's Disorder at my PsychologyToday website or my BCAMFT/AAMFT website.
"In children who carry the risk gene, the front of the brain appears to talk mostly with itself," explained first author Ashley Scott-Van Zeeland, now a Dickinson Research Fellow at Scripps Translational Science Institute. "It doesn't communicate as much with other parts of the brain and lacks long-range connections to the back of the brain."
Researchers could test whether specific therapies actually change brain function by measuring connectivity of patients before and after therapy, she added.
The authors emphasized that the patterns of connectivity found in the study still fall along the spectrum of normal gene variation. "One third of the population carries this variant in its DNA," noted Geschwind. "It's important to remember that the gene variant alone doesn't cause autism, it just increases risk."
The story can be found by following this link CLICK HERE
For information about my private practice you may go to my website at www.relatedminds.com and look for autism services. You can also find out more about my services for children, adolescents and adults with autism or Asperger's Disorder at my PsychologyToday website or my BCAMFT/AAMFT website.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Does it make sense to use Time Out with children with Asperger's?
Another parent comes by with tales of woe from attempting to use "Time-Out" to change behaviour. Well, this doesn't surprise me at all. Time Out is a very difficult procedure, and it really isn't designed to do what most people expect: get a new behaviour started. It is especially difficult to use with children with ADHD, autism, Asperger's and other disorders that have a high percentage of problems with executive function.
Time Out is designed to reduce the frequency of a behaviour by reducing the reinforcement it gets. If a behaviour isn't reinforced, eventually it will fade away. The problem with this is that often times we don't do Time Out well, and because we argue, occasionally give in, and sometimes the child simply wins or gets other reinforcement (like attention) Time Out is very hard to do. This is especially true with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism or those kids we think of having paediatric bipolar disorder. Even if we do it wrong one time out of five, we are providing what we call "intermittent reinforcement" and the child will become even more difficult to change. Intermittent reinforcement is what keeps people going back to gamble, in spite of the fact they only win occasionally. Face it, if you've watched "Super Nanny" you know she uses Time Out a lot, calling it the "naughty circle." And in every episode she needs to return and retrain the parents.
But eventually things do improve, and that's often because other behaviour techniques are being used that work better for ADHD, autism and bipolar disorder. These include setting up a family visual schedule, which helps reduce anxiety and depersonalizes the parent-child interactions, and there is always a positive reinforcement system (sometimes a token system) being used.
Whatever the inappropriate and unwanted behaviour is, somehow it works for the child. Somehow it is reinforcing. It may not have been at first, but sooner or later something about the behaviour and the response to it is reinforcing. Otherwise the behaviour would have stopped. It's our job to find out what is reinforcing the behaviour, what its "function" is, and teach our children new, more appropriate and functional "replacement behaviours." Behaviours that serve the same function as the original one, but are appropriate. We call this behaviour the FERB or Functionally Equivalent Replacement Behaviour. Every behaviour plan worth it's salt has a FERB. The replacement behaviour is taught, reinforced, and at the same time the inappropriate behaviour is ignored (as much as humanly possible ....we aren't all Super Nanny!). In this way we are teaching a new skill, and ignoring something we want to go away. We also make environmental changes to decrease the need to engage in the inappropriate behaviour (that's the purpose of that visual family schedule).
Notice, we are ignoring, and teaching, but what are we not doing? We aren't punishing. It isn't really a "naughty circle." It's a Time Out space where what your doing doesn't get reinforcement. Punishment is seldom an important component of successful parenting!
A really good book to learn interaction techniques to deal with children who have frequent and excessive temper tantrums is Dr. Ross Green's "The Explosive Child." It teaches you the skill and philosophy behind providing positive behaviour support to your child rather than trying to use punishment, which, you may have noticed, might stop a particular behaviour, but fails in one big way: It doesn't teach new skills!
For more information about child and adolescent parenting you can visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com, or www.adhdhelp.ca or my Psychology Today Website. You can also call my office at 778.998-7975 to make an appointment for a consultation.
Time Out is designed to reduce the frequency of a behaviour by reducing the reinforcement it gets. If a behaviour isn't reinforced, eventually it will fade away. The problem with this is that often times we don't do Time Out well, and because we argue, occasionally give in, and sometimes the child simply wins or gets other reinforcement (like attention) Time Out is very hard to do. This is especially true with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism or those kids we think of having paediatric bipolar disorder. Even if we do it wrong one time out of five, we are providing what we call "intermittent reinforcement" and the child will become even more difficult to change. Intermittent reinforcement is what keeps people going back to gamble, in spite of the fact they only win occasionally. Face it, if you've watched "Super Nanny" you know she uses Time Out a lot, calling it the "naughty circle." And in every episode she needs to return and retrain the parents.
But eventually things do improve, and that's often because other behaviour techniques are being used that work better for ADHD, autism and bipolar disorder. These include setting up a family visual schedule, which helps reduce anxiety and depersonalizes the parent-child interactions, and there is always a positive reinforcement system (sometimes a token system) being used.
Whatever the inappropriate and unwanted behaviour is, somehow it works for the child. Somehow it is reinforcing. It may not have been at first, but sooner or later something about the behaviour and the response to it is reinforcing. Otherwise the behaviour would have stopped. It's our job to find out what is reinforcing the behaviour, what its "function" is, and teach our children new, more appropriate and functional "replacement behaviours." Behaviours that serve the same function as the original one, but are appropriate. We call this behaviour the FERB or Functionally Equivalent Replacement Behaviour. Every behaviour plan worth it's salt has a FERB. The replacement behaviour is taught, reinforced, and at the same time the inappropriate behaviour is ignored (as much as humanly possible ....we aren't all Super Nanny!). In this way we are teaching a new skill, and ignoring something we want to go away. We also make environmental changes to decrease the need to engage in the inappropriate behaviour (that's the purpose of that visual family schedule).
Notice, we are ignoring, and teaching, but what are we not doing? We aren't punishing. It isn't really a "naughty circle." It's a Time Out space where what your doing doesn't get reinforcement. Punishment is seldom an important component of successful parenting!
A really good book to learn interaction techniques to deal with children who have frequent and excessive temper tantrums is Dr. Ross Green's "The Explosive Child." It teaches you the skill and philosophy behind providing positive behaviour support to your child rather than trying to use punishment, which, you may have noticed, might stop a particular behaviour, but fails in one big way: It doesn't teach new skills!
For more information about child and adolescent parenting you can visit my web page at www.relatedminds.com, or www.adhdhelp.ca or my Psychology Today Website. You can also call my office at 778.998-7975 to make an appointment for a consultation.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Researchers Blast Another Link Between Autism and Vaccines
Researchers Blast Another Link Between Autism and Vaccines
"Some myths never go away; they just change form." that includes the debate about vaccines and childhood autism. One that never seems to go away. Here are the simple facts: there's no link between the disorder and thimerosal. So the anti-vacciners have simply changed the rules and now say that it's not the thimerosal, but vaccines still cause autism because children get too many vaccines too soon. "Their little bodies are overloaded." How they have determined this is hard to understand, and they have come up with alternative vaccine schedules, seemingly out of thin air.
The Los Angeles Times reports "an increasing number of parents are asking their pediatricians to space out vaccines and booster shots." But, "There's no need to do that, according to pediatric infectious disease specialists Drs. Michael J. Smith and Charles R. Woods of the University of Louisville School of Medicine." See the study here.
ULSM released a study in the medical journal Pediatrics, the leading journal in the field, that states unequivocally there is no relation between autism and the frequency of childhood vaccines. The authors, Smith and Woods, analyzed data on 1,047 children from a previous study investigating the thimerosal claim.
The children were born between 1993 and 1997, and had been vaccinated on a schedule of their parents' choosing. Later they were given a series of 42 neuropsychological tests between the ages of 7 and 10. Smith and Woods report roughly 47 percent of the children received their vaccines on a regular schedule. Another 23 percent received their vaccines, but not on schedule, and the remaining children received only some of their shots. From the results it is clear that the spacing of the vaccines had no effect on whether or not the children developed autism. The authors state "This study provides the strongest clinical outcomes evidence to date that on-time receipt of vaccines during infancy has no adverse effect on neurodevelopmental outcomes 7 to 10 years later....These results offer reassuring information that physicians and public health officials may use to communicate with parents who are concerned that children receive too many vaccines too soon." There simply were no differences, none.
Over and over again, with research study after research study, we see that vaccines have no relationship to autism, Asperger's Disorder or any neurological deficits.
What we should learn from these studies is that there is a group of individuals who for some philosophical or political reason seem to want to spread discontent among parents, who want to scare them, and for some reason return us to the medicine of 100 years ago. I fail to understand it. I just hope that the overwhelming evidence will sooner or later keep parents from wasting their time and money of treatments (like chelation, chiropractic and homeopathy) that are based upon the same woo science.
Dr. Jim Roche is a registered psychologist in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has offices in Burnaby (Coquitlam, Port Moody, Maple Ridge and New Westminster) and downtown Vancouver. His website can be seen at www.relatedminds.com and www.socialcognitivetherapy.com
"Some myths never go away; they just change form." that includes the debate about vaccines and childhood autism. One that never seems to go away. Here are the simple facts: there's no link between the disorder and thimerosal. So the anti-vacciners have simply changed the rules and now say that it's not the thimerosal, but vaccines still cause autism because children get too many vaccines too soon. "Their little bodies are overloaded." How they have determined this is hard to understand, and they have come up with alternative vaccine schedules, seemingly out of thin air.
The Los Angeles Times reports "an increasing number of parents are asking their pediatricians to space out vaccines and booster shots." But, "There's no need to do that, according to pediatric infectious disease specialists Drs. Michael J. Smith and Charles R. Woods of the University of Louisville School of Medicine." See the study here.
ULSM released a study in the medical journal Pediatrics, the leading journal in the field, that states unequivocally there is no relation between autism and the frequency of childhood vaccines. The authors, Smith and Woods, analyzed data on 1,047 children from a previous study investigating the thimerosal claim.
The children were born between 1993 and 1997, and had been vaccinated on a schedule of their parents' choosing. Later they were given a series of 42 neuropsychological tests between the ages of 7 and 10. Smith and Woods report roughly 47 percent of the children received their vaccines on a regular schedule. Another 23 percent received their vaccines, but not on schedule, and the remaining children received only some of their shots. From the results it is clear that the spacing of the vaccines had no effect on whether or not the children developed autism. The authors state "This study provides the strongest clinical outcomes evidence to date that on-time receipt of vaccines during infancy has no adverse effect on neurodevelopmental outcomes 7 to 10 years later....These results offer reassuring information that physicians and public health officials may use to communicate with parents who are concerned that children receive too many vaccines too soon." There simply were no differences, none.
Over and over again, with research study after research study, we see that vaccines have no relationship to autism, Asperger's Disorder or any neurological deficits.
What we should learn from these studies is that there is a group of individuals who for some philosophical or political reason seem to want to spread discontent among parents, who want to scare them, and for some reason return us to the medicine of 100 years ago. I fail to understand it. I just hope that the overwhelming evidence will sooner or later keep parents from wasting their time and money of treatments (like chelation, chiropractic and homeopathy) that are based upon the same woo science.
Dr. Jim Roche is a registered psychologist in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has offices in Burnaby (Coquitlam, Port Moody, Maple Ridge and New Westminster) and downtown Vancouver. His website can be seen at www.relatedminds.com and www.socialcognitivetherapy.com
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Floor Time
Stanley Greenspan, the developer of the autism intervention "Floor Time" died this week at 68.
Dr. Greenspan was a psychiatrist who developed this influential approach to teaching children with autism and other developmental disabilities. He died of a stroke. He leaves his wife and co-author Nancy Thorndike Greenspan, who helped author several of his more than 30 books on education and children.
"Floor Time," as it is called, is used in many special education classrooms and therapeutic settings. It is one of the major early interventions for autism. Often times "Floor Time" is seen as an approach that is in opposition to other interventions such as behavioural interventions like ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) and clients are often surprised when I recommend both more traditional behavioural interventions as well as this more child centred intervention.
Dr. Greenspan encouraged parents, teachers and behavioural interventionists to get down on the floor with their child, even very young children, and engage with them with words, gestures and modelling in order to encourage the development of one-to-one interpersonal relationships and to expand their world of ideas, concepts, words and communications skills.
In 2000 Dr. Greenspan and Dr. Barry Brazelton co-authored an important book, "The Irreducible Needs of Children." In it he differentiates behavioural approaches from "Floor Time" in which the child leads. Dr. Greenspan found that babies who failed to connect with parents, for whatever reason, are deprived of emotional tools that he feels are necessary for learning and growth. These cannot happen without these ability to use these basic emotional ties. He writes, "Our emotions serve as the orchestra leader for getting the whole mind and brain working together."
While for a child with little communication ABA and behavioural training is a necessary component to teaching basic associations and skills, the emotional component of communication also needs to be focused on. In the best programs I have observed teachers work on ABA goals during several structured periods of the day and then spend several other periods engaged in "Floor Time" skills with children, letting the child lead.
Often schools and agencies want to limit the number of different interventions they use. But emotional contact, and teaching the child to lead, are critical to teaching the child to communicate in a human way. "Floor Time" may really be more about teaching the parent, teacher or interventionist how to follow than it is about direct intervention with the child. ( Another book I often recommend for parents of high functioning children is by Dr. John Gottman, Raising an Emotionally Healthy Child.)
Floor Time is hard to describe, but there is a wonderful video on Dr. Greenspan's web page showing him engaging in play with a child and his mother. Click here to get to the web page. you can also see him working on various videos on YouTube.
Our thoughts go out to Dr. Greenspan's family and co-workers.
Again, for more information on assessments for autism, Aspergers and learning disabilities you can visit my website at www.socialcognitivetherapy.com or www.drjimroche.com
I have offices located in Burnaby and Vancouver which are convenient to the entire lower mainland.
Dr. Greenspan was a psychiatrist who developed this influential approach to teaching children with autism and other developmental disabilities. He died of a stroke. He leaves his wife and co-author Nancy Thorndike Greenspan, who helped author several of his more than 30 books on education and children.
"Floor Time," as it is called, is used in many special education classrooms and therapeutic settings. It is one of the major early interventions for autism. Often times "Floor Time" is seen as an approach that is in opposition to other interventions such as behavioural interventions like ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) and clients are often surprised when I recommend both more traditional behavioural interventions as well as this more child centred intervention.
Dr. Greenspan encouraged parents, teachers and behavioural interventionists to get down on the floor with their child, even very young children, and engage with them with words, gestures and modelling in order to encourage the development of one-to-one interpersonal relationships and to expand their world of ideas, concepts, words and communications skills.
In 2000 Dr. Greenspan and Dr. Barry Brazelton co-authored an important book, "The Irreducible Needs of Children." In it he differentiates behavioural approaches from "Floor Time" in which the child leads. Dr. Greenspan found that babies who failed to connect with parents, for whatever reason, are deprived of emotional tools that he feels are necessary for learning and growth. These cannot happen without these ability to use these basic emotional ties. He writes, "Our emotions serve as the orchestra leader for getting the whole mind and brain working together."
While for a child with little communication ABA and behavioural training is a necessary component to teaching basic associations and skills, the emotional component of communication also needs to be focused on. In the best programs I have observed teachers work on ABA goals during several structured periods of the day and then spend several other periods engaged in "Floor Time" skills with children, letting the child lead.
Often schools and agencies want to limit the number of different interventions they use. But emotional contact, and teaching the child to lead, are critical to teaching the child to communicate in a human way. "Floor Time" may really be more about teaching the parent, teacher or interventionist how to follow than it is about direct intervention with the child. ( Another book I often recommend for parents of high functioning children is by Dr. John Gottman, Raising an Emotionally Healthy Child.)
Floor Time is hard to describe, but there is a wonderful video on Dr. Greenspan's web page showing him engaging in play with a child and his mother. Click here to get to the web page. you can also see him working on various videos on YouTube.
Our thoughts go out to Dr. Greenspan's family and co-workers.
Again, for more information on assessments for autism, Aspergers and learning disabilities you can visit my website at www.socialcognitivetherapy.com or www.drjimroche.com
I have offices located in Burnaby and Vancouver which are convenient to the entire lower mainland.
Monday, September 21, 2009
August was National Immunization Month in the US. Did you know?
American Academy of Pediatrics to fight back against the anti-vaccine misinformation scare-mongering machine. On Steven Novella's Neurologica Blog you will find more details. AAP's statement starts: "We, the undersigned, support immunizations as the safest, most effective way to control and eradicate infectious diseases. This August, as another National Immunization Awareness Month comes to a close, we are reminded that diseases such as smallpox and polio were once commonplace in the United States. Thanks to vaccinations, we have not seen or experienced many of the infectious diseases that gripped past generations, but other countries have not been so fortunate and outbreaks continue in the United States."
Read the article, and be thankful that for the most part we have moved away from the dark ages when the biology of life was thought to be unknowable. Sometime soon, I hope, there will be some common sense on the part of all involved. Sense based upon science, data, facts.
American Academy of Pediatrics to fight back against the anti-vaccine misinformation scare-mongering machine. On Steven Novella's Neurologica Blog you will find more details. AAP's statement starts: "We, the undersigned, support immunizations as the safest, most effective way to control and eradicate infectious diseases. This August, as another National Immunization Awareness Month comes to a close, we are reminded that diseases such as smallpox and polio were once commonplace in the United States. Thanks to vaccinations, we have not seen or experienced many of the infectious diseases that gripped past generations, but other countries have not been so fortunate and outbreaks continue in the United States."
Read the article, and be thankful that for the most part we have moved away from the dark ages when the biology of life was thought to be unknowable. Sometime soon, I hope, there will be some common sense on the part of all involved. Sense based upon science, data, facts.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Resources: Vaccines, Autism and Real Science
Science-Based Medicine now has a great overall listing of their reports on vaccines and autism. This resource is comprehensive and can be found here. While the anti-vac people spread psuedo-science, this resource will help you understand the many many holes in their arguments.
Remember, get you information from a doctor, not a celebrity, activist or politician.
Remember, get you information from a doctor, not a celebrity, activist or politician.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Regimens: Restrictive Diets May Not Be Appropriate for Children With Autism
Today the New York Times reported on research concerning diets for children with autism. Many of my patients come in and ask about diets, hoping that a change at the breakfast table will make a change in their child's life. Regretfully life isn't that simple. And many people are mislead by practitioners of "alternative medicine," and the "Defeat Autism Now" diet plan that they pay good money for alternative medical advice which research simply does not support. The NYT article says, "Many parents of autistic children have put their children on strict gluten-free or dairy-free diets, convinced that gastrointestinal problems are an underlying cause of the disorder. But a new study suggests the complicated food regimens may not be warranted"
Lets understand, by "may not be warranted" they are saying there is no evidence that these diets do anything to help children with autism. As a matter of fact, in many cases they do more harm than good.
"Researchers at the Mayo Clinic reviewed the medical records of over 100 autistic children over an 18-year period and compared them to more than 200 children without the disorder. The scientists found no differences in the overall frequency of gastrointestinal problems reported by the two groups, though the autistic children suffered more frequently from bouts of constipation and were more likely to be picky eaters who had difficulty gaining weight. The study, published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, is the first to look at the incidence of gastrointestinal problems in an autistic population, according to the paper?s first author, Dr. Samar H. Ibrahim, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic. She suggested that autistic children should only be put on restrictive wheat-free or dairy-free diets after having appropriate diagnostic tests done."
To make this clear,"There is actually no trial that has proven so far that a gluten-free and casein-free diet improves autism, she said. The diets are not easy to follow and can sometimes cause nutritional deficiencies."
For more information on the article and to locate the original research you can click here: New York Times
The number and frequency of gastrointestinal problems is basically the same for children with autism and children without. As a parent you may notice the problem more because your child is not as tolerant of these feelings as children who do not have autism, but that does not mean their is a connection, or that you can "cure" autism in any way with restrictive a diet.The evidence is simply not there. Some parents, who start to re-organize their child's life around diet may find behavioural improvements because of the new structure, attention, or perhaps because parents become more tuned in to their child's physical state. But there is simply no connection between the two. It's easy to become confused by reports you hear of success, but you are not hearing from all those who did not find these diets made any change, and interpretation of data becomes cloudy. The new rush to publish "Autism cookbooks" and "Autism Diets" (and their are ADHD diets too, all either unproven or in many cases disproven) is more a reaction of the publishing industries success than any success with the diet during a controlled scientific experiment.
Final advice, talk to our pediatrician.
For those who are trying to figure out who to believe in this confusion I suggest starting by reading a little about Science Based Medicine itself at Steve Novella's web page. Click here for Science-Based Medicine 101
Dr. Roche's web page can be found at socialcognitivetheapy.com
Lets understand, by "may not be warranted" they are saying there is no evidence that these diets do anything to help children with autism. As a matter of fact, in many cases they do more harm than good.
"Researchers at the Mayo Clinic reviewed the medical records of over 100 autistic children over an 18-year period and compared them to more than 200 children without the disorder. The scientists found no differences in the overall frequency of gastrointestinal problems reported by the two groups, though the autistic children suffered more frequently from bouts of constipation and were more likely to be picky eaters who had difficulty gaining weight. The study, published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, is the first to look at the incidence of gastrointestinal problems in an autistic population, according to the paper?s first author, Dr. Samar H. Ibrahim, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic. She suggested that autistic children should only be put on restrictive wheat-free or dairy-free diets after having appropriate diagnostic tests done."
To make this clear,"There is actually no trial that has proven so far that a gluten-free and casein-free diet improves autism, she said. The diets are not easy to follow and can sometimes cause nutritional deficiencies."
For more information on the article and to locate the original research you can click here: New York Times
The number and frequency of gastrointestinal problems is basically the same for children with autism and children without. As a parent you may notice the problem more because your child is not as tolerant of these feelings as children who do not have autism, but that does not mean their is a connection, or that you can "cure" autism in any way with restrictive a diet.The evidence is simply not there. Some parents, who start to re-organize their child's life around diet may find behavioural improvements because of the new structure, attention, or perhaps because parents become more tuned in to their child's physical state. But there is simply no connection between the two. It's easy to become confused by reports you hear of success, but you are not hearing from all those who did not find these diets made any change, and interpretation of data becomes cloudy. The new rush to publish "Autism cookbooks" and "Autism Diets" (and their are ADHD diets too, all either unproven or in many cases disproven) is more a reaction of the publishing industries success than any success with the diet during a controlled scientific experiment.
Final advice, talk to our pediatrician.
For those who are trying to figure out who to believe in this confusion I suggest starting by reading a little about Science Based Medicine itself at Steve Novella's web page. Click here for Science-Based Medicine 101
Dr. Roche's web page can be found at socialcognitivetheapy.com
Friday, July 17, 2009
Autism Vancouver Introduction
Autism Vancouver is a blog to help you stay informed of the latest diagnostic and treatment issues in the field of autism. We will focus on science based practice here in the lower mainland including Vancouver, Burnaby, coquitlam, New Westminster and areas nearby. We will discuss therapy and counselling for children, therapy and counselling for adolescents and therapy and counselling for adults. Dr. Roche is a proponent of scientifically supported medicine and psychological interventions for autism, asperger's, adhd and related social-cognitive disorders. The blog is moderated by Dr. Jim Roche, a Registered Psychologist and Registered Family Therapist in British Columbia. He is a behavioural and cognitive behavioural therapist as well as a certified teacher of special education. He provides consultation and training to school districts throughout British Columbia. He has offices in Burnaby, coquitlam and Vancouver and provides disgnostic, counselling, therapy and behavioural intervention services to children, adolescents and adults with autism, Asperger's and ADHD.
Dr. Roche's professional web site can be found at http://www.relatedminds.com or at http://www.socialcognitivetherapy.com
Dr. Roche's professional web site can be found at http://www.relatedminds.com or at http://www.socialcognitivetherapy.com
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