Explaining the Cognitive-Enhancing Effects of ADHD Treatments
August 4, 2008
Norman Sussman, MD, DFAPA
Editor, Primary Psychiatry and Psychiatry Weekly, Professor of
Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine
First published in Psychiatry Weekly, Volume 3, Issue 27, on August 4,
2008
The clinical use of psychostimulants to treat
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is widespread, but the
neural mechanisms responsible for their
cognition-enhancing/behavioral-calming have never been adequately
explained. This lack of clarity makes it more difficult to address
criticisms that these drugs are not effective or are harmful.
The fact is that stimulants are high on the list of controversial
psychotropic medications. Apart from unanswered questions about how
these drugs work, a major reason for concern about the use of drugs like
amphetamines and methylphenidate is that they have a potential for
diversion for recreational use, or some argue, may result in abuse among
those who use them therapeutically. Most recently, there have been
reports that influential researchers at Harvard Medical School may not
have adequately disclosed the extent of their relationships with
manufacturers of ADHD medications; these reports have raised additional
questions about the validity of some studies that show very favorable
risk-benefit profiles when these drugs are used to treat ADHD.1
Understanding how a drug works-demystifying its mechanism of action-can
go a long way in overcoming excessive skepticism or antipathy to a
psychotropic agent. It can also help in the development of more
effective or better-tolerated medications. It may be helpful that
researchers have made recent progress in explaining how these drugs
work.
Devilbiss and Berridge2 report that methyphenidate "fine-tunes" neuronal
activity in the prefrontal cortex. This is the brain region involved in
attention, decision-making, and impulse control. Of particular interest
is that the medication had little or no effects on other areas of the
brain. To investigate, Devilbiss and Berridge2 attached tiny electrodes
to individual neurons in the brains of normal rats and watched how
different doses of the drug affected neuron activity. This is an
important study because it seeks a more scientific explanation for the
cognition-enhancing/behavioral-calming actions of these drugs.
The usual response to the question of "How do these drugs work?" has
been to say that they raise brain activity of the catecholamine
neurotransmitters, dopamine and norepinephrine. This study2 provides a
more complex but more specific explanation. According to the authors,
the study showed that cognition-enhancing doses of methylphenidate
"increase the magnitude of both excitatory and inhibitory responses of
pre-frontal cortex [PFC] neurons while simultaneously reducing the
duration of the inhibitory response. Low-dose methylphenidate also
produced 'gating,' resulting in a larger number of PFC neurons
responsive to CA1-subiculum input. Combined, these observations suggest
that low-dose methylphenidate increases both the sensitivity of PFC
neurons and the pool of responsive PFC neurons in a more complex manner
than simply regulating the level of PFC excitability (ie, gain of
neuronal activity), consistent with known actions of catecholamines on
cortical neurons."
As we learn more about the underlying neurobiology of ADHD and the
mechanism-of-action of drugs that treat it manifestations, the idea of
seeking treatment will become more prevalent and the types of treatment
options will expand.
References
1. Harris G, Carey B. Researchers fail to reveal full drug pay. New York
Times. June 8, 2008. Available at:
www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/us/08conflict.html. Accessed July 21, 2008.
2. Devilbiss DM, Berridge CW. Cognition-enhancing doses of
methylphenidate preferentially increase prefrontal cortex neuronal
responsiveness. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Jun 26. [Epub ahead of print].
Disclosure: Dr. Sussman reports no affiliations with, or financial
interests in, any organization that may pose a conflict of interest.
http://www.psychweekly.com/aspx/article/articledetail.aspx?articleid=804
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Autism United Free Baseball Camp with the New York Mets - Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Autism United Free Baseball Camp with the New York Mets
For Kids on the Spectrum
Kids of all abilities are welcome to participate in a day of baseball fun.
Three coaches experienced with kids on the spectrum will help teach the baseball skills and games.
New York Mets players will be participating and working with the kids.
Molloy College Baseball Field
Molloy College
1000 West Hempstead Avenue
Take exit 19 or 20 on Southern State Parkway
Ages 6 and up
Parent or guardian needed.
Lunch available at the Molloy College Cafeteria for $6 or bring a bag lunch.
Please bring bat and glove if available
Free T-shirts
9 am to 3 pm
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
RSVP to reserve a spot at (516) 933-4050 or email,
jgilmore@autismunited.org, please write "baseball" in the subject line.
For Kids on the Spectrum
Kids of all abilities are welcome to participate in a day of baseball fun.
Three coaches experienced with kids on the spectrum will help teach the baseball skills and games.
New York Mets players will be participating and working with the kids.
Molloy College Baseball Field
Molloy College
1000 West Hempstead Avenue
Take exit 19 or 20 on Southern State Parkway
Ages 6 and up
Parent or guardian needed.
Lunch available at the Molloy College Cafeteria for $6 or bring a bag lunch.
Please bring bat and glove if available
Free T-shirts
9 am to 3 pm
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
RSVP to reserve a spot at (516) 933-4050 or email,
jgilmore@autismunited.org, please write "baseball" in the subject line.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Students on the Spectrum - Colleges are devising programs that try to integrate
A Dream Not Denied
Students on the Spectrum
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/education/edlife/traits.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=edlife&pagewanted=all
By ABIGAIL SULLIVAN MOORE
Published: November 5, 2006
VALERIE KAPLAN has an aptitude for math, and scored a perfect 1600 on her SAT. When her high school classmates applauded the announcement at lunch, she was pleased. But less obvious signals — a raised eyebrow or impatient glance at a watch — elude her. In an advanced course at Carnegie Mellon called “Building Virtual Worlds,” that problem caused classmates to sideline her in group projects. And during a critical meeting to win approval for her customized major, electronic art, she intently circled the freckles on her arm with a marker.
Miss Kaplan’s behavioral quirks are agonizingly familiar to students with an autism spectrum disorder. Simply put, their brains are wired differently.
Children with classic autism have language delays or deficits and difficulty relating to others; they display rigid, often obsessive behaviors; deviation from routine disturbs them. Some are mentally retarded. Those with milder conditions on the spectrum — Asperger’s is one of them — exhibit some or all of these characteristics to lesser degrees. But Asperger’s is also distinguished by average or aboveaverage intelligence, an early acuity with language and singular passions — Miss Kaplan, for example, has absorbed every detail of an animated 90’s television series called “ReBoot.” People like Miss Kaplan have a disability, but to others they can seem merely gifted, or difficult, or odd.
Of course, high-functioning people on the spectrum have long attended college. Tony Attwood , a psychologist and author of “The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome,” tells of trying to spot the professor with Asperger’s when he’s on the lecture circuit. That is, unless Dr. Attwood is at an engineering school, in which case he tries to spot the professors who don’t have Asperger’s.
A top expert estimates that one in every 150 children has some level of spectrum disorder, a proportion believed to be rising steeply. With earlier and better intervention, more of these children are considering college, and parents, who have advanced them through each grade with intensive therapies and unrelenting advocacy, are clamoring for the support services to make that possible.
Finding suitable colleges for such students was a topic at the national conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling in October. Last March, 89 college administrators from across the country gathered to learn about support strategies at a conference sponsored by the University of Connecticut School of Law and the Yale Child Study Center. The director of the center, Dr. Fred Volkmar, helped define autism and Asperger’s for the American Psychiatric Association in the early 90’s. “Twenty- five years ago,” he says, “I would have been stunned to learn that I was going to put together a conference on col leges for these kids. Twenty-five years ago, the stereotype view was that they were not very bright and not college material.”
His conference is further evidence of changes already rippling across campuses as colleges scramble to figure out how to accommodate this new, growing population of disabled students.
Community colleges are particularly unsettled. Scores of students are turning up, hesitant about their ability to handle four years of college. “Colleges call us all the time in a panic, and the calls are increasing,” says Lorraine E. Wolf, clinical director of disability services at Boston University and a consultant on the topic. “One college had 20 students coming. It was a technical college in New Mexico.”
Unable to navigate social intricacies, many such students once decided to forego college; or, isolated and depressed, they left before graduating. They bring a host of tricky issues to classrooms, dorms and the dating scene. “I can’t emphasize how difficult college is for these kids,” says Dania Jekel , executive director of the Asperger’s Association of New England. “Many are going to college and they really aren’t ready. We’ve had cases where a parent hasn’t known for an entire semester that the kid hasn’t attended class and is flunking every class.”
Ms. Jekel worries about exposing inherently naïve students, who are as sexual as the next college student, to the complexities of dating. Women on the spectrum are especially vulnerable sexually and emotionally, since they have problems deciphering intentions. Men are at risk, too, misreading clear signals of rejection (“I’m busy”); instead, they might pursue a romance until a confrontation results.
Some assume conventional learning-disability programs will do for such students. But that’s a mistake, experts say. Students on the spectrum need help chopping course loads into manageable bites. They need to learn how to act appropriately in class — correcting professors or asking too many questions are common gaffes. They also need support with ticklish social issues like roommates who complain they are too messy or who lock them out when a date stays overnight.
“That’s a little bit different from what administrators normally do,” says Richard Allegra , director of professional development for the Association on Higher Education and Disability. “If a blind student needs books in Braille, they know how to do that.”
Most advisers just don’t have the training or the time to shepherd students with cognitive disabilities. One student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tells of being assigned, because of a family connection, to a freshman adviser whose son had Asperger’s. “He met with me weekly,” says the student, Richard, who describes his Asperger’s as mild and asked that his last name be omitted for fear of being stigmatized. “It helped keep me on track,” he says. “He would just light a fire under you once in a while.” Sophomore year he had a different adviser, one who was not personally invested. Meetings dwindled to monthly or less. Richard’s grades dropped as he stayed up late into the night roaming the Internet and procrastinating. “I was just not getting the work done,” he says.
Colleges are devising programs that try to integrate students on the spectrum into the academic and social fabric of the campus. The Essex campus of the Community College of Baltimore County, in a joint program with a state agency and a local school, has hired a special-education teacher to help students organize their time and assignments and improve the skills that are second nature to most, like how much space goes between two people in a conversation or how to make gentle eye contact.
At Keene State College, in New Hampshire, fellow students act as “social navigators.” Their assignment: change their charges’ “outsider” status by introducing them to their friends. The mentors get $10 an hour (and sometimes course credit in psychology) by helping students on the spectrum make small talk, date and get consent at every level of romantic advancement. For example, says Larry Welkowitz , who helped create the program: “Would it be O.K. if I asked you out on a date?” “Would it be O.K. if I kissed you?” Some 50 undergraduates have participated in the program, which Professor Welkowitz calls “the single best intervention _ I just know it because of how I have seen their lives change.” In turn, he says, the mentors develop new understanding. “We’re learning about ourselves,” Professor Welkowitz says. “A lot of us have a dash of autism.”
At Marshall University, the West Virginia Autism Training Center operates a program in which graduate students work daily with students with Asperger’s, reviewing assignments, helping with time management and teaching classroom etiquette. They take the students on field trips to Wal-Mart, to restaurants and to the movie theater to let them practice social skills. Bottom line for parents: $6,200 a year.
Colleges are legally required to ensure equal opportunity for academically qualified students. Accepted adjustments include note-takers, extra time for tests (often in distraction-free settings), and single dorm rooms for students for whom normal noise or the flicker of a fluorescent light amounts to sensory overload. Social skills training, however, is assistance of a personal nature. “It’s very much parallel to what we’ve seen happen with attention deficit disorder and some learning disabilities,” says Ruth Bork , dean of the Disability Resource Center at Northeastern University in Boston. “It’s above and beyond what’s considered to be appropriate support at the college level.”
Complicating the situation is a scarcity of data on best practices in a college environment. Jane Thierfeld Brown , director of student support services at the University of Connecticut School of Law, is helping to create a pilot program for the University of Minnesota and Boston University that will assess its own success rate. “Once we can prove the program increases the students’ graduation and retention rates,” she says, “it can be replicated at other colleges.”
Lisa King , a disability specialist with the Minnesota program, is working now with eight students. She recalls one who was so unnerved by the crowds of strangers at the dining halls that he subsisted largely on junk food from vending machines. Though hungry and sick of chips and pop, he didn’t change his behavior. Eventually his mother called Mrs. King, who walked the boy through a series of trips to the university food court. The first foray was over spring break. “There was not a lot of activity and it felt nice,” he says now. “It was good to eat an actual good meal.” Successful trips followed during busier times. He also got help figuring out the bus route from home and around campus. “It was a matter of knowing where it stops and how often it comes,” he says. “Now I do it myself. It makes me feel independent. All I need is a run-through.”
Mrs. King sees these interventions as “the minimum that we can do” for academically qualified students. Musing, she takes it a step further: “We would provide an interpreter to a hard-of-hearing person. Why don’t we provide an interpreter for somebody with Asperger’s?” And that’s not far from what some parents are seeking. One mother wanted her son to have 24/7 access to all staff and faculty, says Barbara Roberts, manager of M.I.T.’s disability services; the request was denied. Families of more capable students hire coaches — psychologists, speech therapists, specialed teachers and graduate students — for fees ranging from $30 to $100 an hour.
Because of her mother’s perseverance, Miss Kaplan spent her last two years at Carnegie Mellon living near campus with a coach, who helped her organize her work, buy groceries, keep her room clean. “It was the answer to a prayer,” says her mother, Jan Kaplan, who watched her daughter flounder during sophomore year, trying to pick a major. Miss Kaplan eventually came home for a year. Testing led to a diagnosis of Asperger’s.
The coach, Carolyn K. Hare, a former special-education teacher for autistic students, went on to create Aheadd (Achieving in Higher Education With Autism/ Developmental Disabilities), which provides services at the University of Pittsburgh and, beginning in the spring, at George Mason in Arlington, Va. This fall at Carnegie Mellon, Ms. Hare is working with seven students. Aheadd charges $7,000 a year, with some need-based scholarships available through Carnegie Mellon.
“The Asperger’s population is much bigger than we think it is,” according to Larry Powell, manager of disability services at Carnegie Mellon. “But students aren’t disclosing that. It’s kind of like, if you build it they will come. If we could put together systems that would adequately support these students, word would get around and more students would disclose it and would come. One of my issues is that I am an office of one with 264 students.”
Miss Kaplan graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2005. Her experience with “Building Virtual Worlds” led her to a new strategy for social interactions. Randy Pausch, the course’s teacher, noticed what Miss Kaplan did not: that her classmates were working around her instead of with her on group assignments. When he found out why, he encouraged her to explain her cognitive difficulties to her teammates and ask them to be direct about what they wanted her to do. Dr. Pausch says the results were beneficial not just to Miss Kaplan but to the others. “They found a way to work with someone who opened up to them about something that was very embarrassing,” he says. “Once she puts that on the table, what else can anyone feel embarrassed about having to divulge?”
Now managing a Games Unlimited store in Pittsburgh, Miss Kaplan still uses his method. “Tell me flat out if I need to do something different,” she says to her supervisor. Her career goal is to make video games or work for DreamWorks (but only after “Shrek 3” is released — she wants to be surprised).
Though no longer a student, Miss Kaplan belongs to a student organization called the K.G.B., a swipe at the Cold War secret police. The acronym does not, she says, stand for “Keep Geeks Busy.” An on-campus variation of capture the flag is one of its signature activities. Surrounded by a self-described “eccentric bunch of nerds, geeks, freaks, visionaries, outcasts,” Miss Kaplan says, she feels perfectly comfortable.
Students on the Spectrum
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/education/edlife/traits.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=edlife&pagewanted=all
By ABIGAIL SULLIVAN MOORE
Published: November 5, 2006
VALERIE KAPLAN has an aptitude for math, and scored a perfect 1600 on her SAT. When her high school classmates applauded the announcement at lunch, she was pleased. But less obvious signals — a raised eyebrow or impatient glance at a watch — elude her. In an advanced course at Carnegie Mellon called “Building Virtual Worlds,” that problem caused classmates to sideline her in group projects. And during a critical meeting to win approval for her customized major, electronic art, she intently circled the freckles on her arm with a marker.
Miss Kaplan’s behavioral quirks are agonizingly familiar to students with an autism spectrum disorder. Simply put, their brains are wired differently.
Children with classic autism have language delays or deficits and difficulty relating to others; they display rigid, often obsessive behaviors; deviation from routine disturbs them. Some are mentally retarded. Those with milder conditions on the spectrum — Asperger’s is one of them — exhibit some or all of these characteristics to lesser degrees. But Asperger’s is also distinguished by average or aboveaverage intelligence, an early acuity with language and singular passions — Miss Kaplan, for example, has absorbed every detail of an animated 90’s television series called “ReBoot.” People like Miss Kaplan have a disability, but to others they can seem merely gifted, or difficult, or odd.
Of course, high-functioning people on the spectrum have long attended college. Tony Attwood , a psychologist and author of “The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome,” tells of trying to spot the professor with Asperger’s when he’s on the lecture circuit. That is, unless Dr. Attwood is at an engineering school, in which case he tries to spot the professors who don’t have Asperger’s.
A top expert estimates that one in every 150 children has some level of spectrum disorder, a proportion believed to be rising steeply. With earlier and better intervention, more of these children are considering college, and parents, who have advanced them through each grade with intensive therapies and unrelenting advocacy, are clamoring for the support services to make that possible.
Finding suitable colleges for such students was a topic at the national conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling in October. Last March, 89 college administrators from across the country gathered to learn about support strategies at a conference sponsored by the University of Connecticut School of Law and the Yale Child Study Center. The director of the center, Dr. Fred Volkmar, helped define autism and Asperger’s for the American Psychiatric Association in the early 90’s. “Twenty- five years ago,” he says, “I would have been stunned to learn that I was going to put together a conference on col leges for these kids. Twenty-five years ago, the stereotype view was that they were not very bright and not college material.”
His conference is further evidence of changes already rippling across campuses as colleges scramble to figure out how to accommodate this new, growing population of disabled students.
Community colleges are particularly unsettled. Scores of students are turning up, hesitant about their ability to handle four years of college. “Colleges call us all the time in a panic, and the calls are increasing,” says Lorraine E. Wolf, clinical director of disability services at Boston University and a consultant on the topic. “One college had 20 students coming. It was a technical college in New Mexico.”
Unable to navigate social intricacies, many such students once decided to forego college; or, isolated and depressed, they left before graduating. They bring a host of tricky issues to classrooms, dorms and the dating scene. “I can’t emphasize how difficult college is for these kids,” says Dania Jekel , executive director of the Asperger’s Association of New England. “Many are going to college and they really aren’t ready. We’ve had cases where a parent hasn’t known for an entire semester that the kid hasn’t attended class and is flunking every class.”
Ms. Jekel worries about exposing inherently naïve students, who are as sexual as the next college student, to the complexities of dating. Women on the spectrum are especially vulnerable sexually and emotionally, since they have problems deciphering intentions. Men are at risk, too, misreading clear signals of rejection (“I’m busy”); instead, they might pursue a romance until a confrontation results.
Some assume conventional learning-disability programs will do for such students. But that’s a mistake, experts say. Students on the spectrum need help chopping course loads into manageable bites. They need to learn how to act appropriately in class — correcting professors or asking too many questions are common gaffes. They also need support with ticklish social issues like roommates who complain they are too messy or who lock them out when a date stays overnight.
“That’s a little bit different from what administrators normally do,” says Richard Allegra , director of professional development for the Association on Higher Education and Disability. “If a blind student needs books in Braille, they know how to do that.”
Most advisers just don’t have the training or the time to shepherd students with cognitive disabilities. One student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tells of being assigned, because of a family connection, to a freshman adviser whose son had Asperger’s. “He met with me weekly,” says the student, Richard, who describes his Asperger’s as mild and asked that his last name be omitted for fear of being stigmatized. “It helped keep me on track,” he says. “He would just light a fire under you once in a while.” Sophomore year he had a different adviser, one who was not personally invested. Meetings dwindled to monthly or less. Richard’s grades dropped as he stayed up late into the night roaming the Internet and procrastinating. “I was just not getting the work done,” he says.
Colleges are devising programs that try to integrate students on the spectrum into the academic and social fabric of the campus. The Essex campus of the Community College of Baltimore County, in a joint program with a state agency and a local school, has hired a special-education teacher to help students organize their time and assignments and improve the skills that are second nature to most, like how much space goes between two people in a conversation or how to make gentle eye contact.
At Keene State College, in New Hampshire, fellow students act as “social navigators.” Their assignment: change their charges’ “outsider” status by introducing them to their friends. The mentors get $10 an hour (and sometimes course credit in psychology) by helping students on the spectrum make small talk, date and get consent at every level of romantic advancement. For example, says Larry Welkowitz , who helped create the program: “Would it be O.K. if I asked you out on a date?” “Would it be O.K. if I kissed you?” Some 50 undergraduates have participated in the program, which Professor Welkowitz calls “the single best intervention _ I just know it because of how I have seen their lives change.” In turn, he says, the mentors develop new understanding. “We’re learning about ourselves,” Professor Welkowitz says. “A lot of us have a dash of autism.”
At Marshall University, the West Virginia Autism Training Center operates a program in which graduate students work daily with students with Asperger’s, reviewing assignments, helping with time management and teaching classroom etiquette. They take the students on field trips to Wal-Mart, to restaurants and to the movie theater to let them practice social skills. Bottom line for parents: $6,200 a year.
Colleges are legally required to ensure equal opportunity for academically qualified students. Accepted adjustments include note-takers, extra time for tests (often in distraction-free settings), and single dorm rooms for students for whom normal noise or the flicker of a fluorescent light amounts to sensory overload. Social skills training, however, is assistance of a personal nature. “It’s very much parallel to what we’ve seen happen with attention deficit disorder and some learning disabilities,” says Ruth Bork , dean of the Disability Resource Center at Northeastern University in Boston. “It’s above and beyond what’s considered to be appropriate support at the college level.”
Complicating the situation is a scarcity of data on best practices in a college environment. Jane Thierfeld Brown , director of student support services at the University of Connecticut School of Law, is helping to create a pilot program for the University of Minnesota and Boston University that will assess its own success rate. “Once we can prove the program increases the students’ graduation and retention rates,” she says, “it can be replicated at other colleges.”
Lisa King , a disability specialist with the Minnesota program, is working now with eight students. She recalls one who was so unnerved by the crowds of strangers at the dining halls that he subsisted largely on junk food from vending machines. Though hungry and sick of chips and pop, he didn’t change his behavior. Eventually his mother called Mrs. King, who walked the boy through a series of trips to the university food court. The first foray was over spring break. “There was not a lot of activity and it felt nice,” he says now. “It was good to eat an actual good meal.” Successful trips followed during busier times. He also got help figuring out the bus route from home and around campus. “It was a matter of knowing where it stops and how often it comes,” he says. “Now I do it myself. It makes me feel independent. All I need is a run-through.”
Mrs. King sees these interventions as “the minimum that we can do” for academically qualified students. Musing, she takes it a step further: “We would provide an interpreter to a hard-of-hearing person. Why don’t we provide an interpreter for somebody with Asperger’s?” And that’s not far from what some parents are seeking. One mother wanted her son to have 24/7 access to all staff and faculty, says Barbara Roberts, manager of M.I.T.’s disability services; the request was denied. Families of more capable students hire coaches — psychologists, speech therapists, specialed teachers and graduate students — for fees ranging from $30 to $100 an hour.
Because of her mother’s perseverance, Miss Kaplan spent her last two years at Carnegie Mellon living near campus with a coach, who helped her organize her work, buy groceries, keep her room clean. “It was the answer to a prayer,” says her mother, Jan Kaplan, who watched her daughter flounder during sophomore year, trying to pick a major. Miss Kaplan eventually came home for a year. Testing led to a diagnosis of Asperger’s.
The coach, Carolyn K. Hare, a former special-education teacher for autistic students, went on to create Aheadd (Achieving in Higher Education With Autism/ Developmental Disabilities), which provides services at the University of Pittsburgh and, beginning in the spring, at George Mason in Arlington, Va. This fall at Carnegie Mellon, Ms. Hare is working with seven students. Aheadd charges $7,000 a year, with some need-based scholarships available through Carnegie Mellon.
“The Asperger’s population is much bigger than we think it is,” according to Larry Powell, manager of disability services at Carnegie Mellon. “But students aren’t disclosing that. It’s kind of like, if you build it they will come. If we could put together systems that would adequately support these students, word would get around and more students would disclose it and would come. One of my issues is that I am an office of one with 264 students.”
Miss Kaplan graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2005. Her experience with “Building Virtual Worlds” led her to a new strategy for social interactions. Randy Pausch, the course’s teacher, noticed what Miss Kaplan did not: that her classmates were working around her instead of with her on group assignments. When he found out why, he encouraged her to explain her cognitive difficulties to her teammates and ask them to be direct about what they wanted her to do. Dr. Pausch says the results were beneficial not just to Miss Kaplan but to the others. “They found a way to work with someone who opened up to them about something that was very embarrassing,” he says. “Once she puts that on the table, what else can anyone feel embarrassed about having to divulge?”
Now managing a Games Unlimited store in Pittsburgh, Miss Kaplan still uses his method. “Tell me flat out if I need to do something different,” she says to her supervisor. Her career goal is to make video games or work for DreamWorks (but only after “Shrek 3” is released — she wants to be surprised).
Though no longer a student, Miss Kaplan belongs to a student organization called the K.G.B., a swipe at the Cold War secret police. The acronym does not, she says, stand for “Keep Geeks Busy.” An on-campus variation of capture the flag is one of its signature activities. Surrounded by a self-described “eccentric bunch of nerds, geeks, freaks, visionaries, outcasts,” Miss Kaplan says, she feels perfectly comfortable.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
AUTISM SPEAKS INTRODUCES SCHOOL COMMUNITY TOOL KIT TO ASSIST EDUCATORS AND SCHOOL STAFF IN UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORTING STUDENTS WITH AUTISM
NEW YORK, NY (August 8, 2008)
Autism Speaks today launched an online School Community Tool Kit designed to help school administrators talk with their staff about how students with autism can best be supported and included in the school community – and recognized as important contributors -- for the betterment of all. The School Community Tool Kit is available for free download at http://www.autismspeaks.org/school and includes content about the features and challenges associated with autism, the strengths possessed by students with autism, and a host of tools and strategies teachers, administrators and other staff can use to foster an accepting learning environment.
The home page of the Tool Kit includes two short video clips, featuring public school principal Kris Bergstrom and autism consultant and author Paula Kluth speaking about including learners with autism. The kit itself is broken down into modules that provide an overview of autism, information about inclusion of students with autism in the school community, strategies for intervention, information targeted to specific members of the school community – administrators, teachers, bus drivers, school nurses, custodians, security and office staff. In addition, there is a list of autism information resources and an appendix with additional background and educational tools.
“As the rate of autism diagnosis increases, many more public and private schools are including students with autism,” said Lisa Goring, Autism Speaks director of Family Services, who spearheaded the creation of the Tool Kit. “Learners with autism may have some additional challenges in school, but with the support of the entire school community they can make incredible strides and become valued and participating members of a student body.”
“If given the opportunity, students with autism and other disabilities will enrich any school community,” said Kluth, an expert in the areas of autism education and inclusive learning environments. “The key is to ensure that our schools offer positive, welcoming learning environments that value and celebrate the unique contributions of every child.”
The information in the School Community Tool Kit was compiled by autism professionals in conjunction with public school teachers and administrators. A parent advisory committee reviewed the Tool Kit and provided further input.
Features of the School Community Tool Kit include:
What is autism? – An explanation of the symptoms of autism, the unique abilities that often accompany autism, features of Asperger’s Syndrome, and challenges that may be associated with an individual’s autism.
How might a child with special needs be a part of our school? – Information about a child’s right to public education, a definition of special education services and a description of instructional methods used in teaching students with autism.
General strategies for intervention – An exploration of the benefits of a team approach, supporting communication, means of improving social interaction and development, and strategies for promoting socially-appropriate behavior.
For specific members of the school community – A guide tailored to various school administrators and staff – from bus drivers and lunch aides to teachers, security staff and school nurses – based on the likely nature of their interaction with students who have autism.
Resources – A guide to recommended books, web sites and videos that can be consulted for more in-depth information.
Appendix – A compilation of articles, peer support information, teaching tools and assessment information.
Autism Speaks today launched an online School Community Tool Kit designed to help school administrators talk with their staff about how students with autism can best be supported and included in the school community – and recognized as important contributors -- for the betterment of all. The School Community Tool Kit is available for free download at http://www.autismspeaks.org/school and includes content about the features and challenges associated with autism, the strengths possessed by students with autism, and a host of tools and strategies teachers, administrators and other staff can use to foster an accepting learning environment.
The home page of the Tool Kit includes two short video clips, featuring public school principal Kris Bergstrom and autism consultant and author Paula Kluth speaking about including learners with autism. The kit itself is broken down into modules that provide an overview of autism, information about inclusion of students with autism in the school community, strategies for intervention, information targeted to specific members of the school community – administrators, teachers, bus drivers, school nurses, custodians, security and office staff. In addition, there is a list of autism information resources and an appendix with additional background and educational tools.
“As the rate of autism diagnosis increases, many more public and private schools are including students with autism,” said Lisa Goring, Autism Speaks director of Family Services, who spearheaded the creation of the Tool Kit. “Learners with autism may have some additional challenges in school, but with the support of the entire school community they can make incredible strides and become valued and participating members of a student body.”
“If given the opportunity, students with autism and other disabilities will enrich any school community,” said Kluth, an expert in the areas of autism education and inclusive learning environments. “The key is to ensure that our schools offer positive, welcoming learning environments that value and celebrate the unique contributions of every child.”
The information in the School Community Tool Kit was compiled by autism professionals in conjunction with public school teachers and administrators. A parent advisory committee reviewed the Tool Kit and provided further input.
Features of the School Community Tool Kit include:
What is autism? – An explanation of the symptoms of autism, the unique abilities that often accompany autism, features of Asperger’s Syndrome, and challenges that may be associated with an individual’s autism.
How might a child with special needs be a part of our school? – Information about a child’s right to public education, a definition of special education services and a description of instructional methods used in teaching students with autism.
General strategies for intervention – An exploration of the benefits of a team approach, supporting communication, means of improving social interaction and development, and strategies for promoting socially-appropriate behavior.
For specific members of the school community – A guide tailored to various school administrators and staff – from bus drivers and lunch aides to teachers, security staff and school nurses – based on the likely nature of their interaction with students who have autism.
Resources – A guide to recommended books, web sites and videos that can be consulted for more in-depth information.
Appendix – A compilation of articles, peer support information, teaching tools and assessment information.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Using Tax Credits to Promote High Quality Early Care and Education
by Louise Stoney and Anne Mitchell
Tax credits have been used in a variety of policy areas to encourage
increased investments in programs seen as "social goods," such as clean
energy and charitable donations. This paper explores financing
strategies for early childhood programs by examining whether carefully
crafted individual or business tax credits/deductions could 1) help
finance early care and education; 2) spur additional private investment;
and 3) create incentives for families to use, and early childhood
program to offer, high-quality services. The researchers examine a range
of tax incentives that have been used in other fields and could serve as
models for early care and education finance, such as consumer/individual
tax credits and deductions; occupational tax credits and deductions; and
investment tax credits, deductions and abatements for firms. The
findings suggest several recommendations about how to best structure and
use tax credits. Among the key points: cost and stability of credits are
critical; tax credits must be well linked to high quality "products," in
this case early childhood programs; if high quality programs are
desired, parents must have ways to distinguish them, thereby making
public education about quality important; and, for the tax credits to be
effective, administration should be simple and infrastructure in place.
Download at:
http://www.partnershipforsuccess.org/uploads/200712_StoneyMitchellpaper.
pdf
Tax credits have been used in a variety of policy areas to encourage
increased investments in programs seen as "social goods," such as clean
energy and charitable donations. This paper explores financing
strategies for early childhood programs by examining whether carefully
crafted individual or business tax credits/deductions could 1) help
finance early care and education; 2) spur additional private investment;
and 3) create incentives for families to use, and early childhood
program to offer, high-quality services. The researchers examine a range
of tax incentives that have been used in other fields and could serve as
models for early care and education finance, such as consumer/individual
tax credits and deductions; occupational tax credits and deductions; and
investment tax credits, deductions and abatements for firms. The
findings suggest several recommendations about how to best structure and
use tax credits. Among the key points: cost and stability of credits are
critical; tax credits must be well linked to high quality "products," in
this case early childhood programs; if high quality programs are
desired, parents must have ways to distinguish them, thereby making
public education about quality important; and, for the tax credits to be
effective, administration should be simple and infrastructure in place.
Download at:
http://www.partnershipforsuccess.org/uploads/200712_StoneyMitchellpaper.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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