Dyslexia: A Hidden Disability - YouTube

"Dyslexia: A Hidden Disability," produced by the Kennedy/Marshall Company, is an excellent documentary on adults and children who have dyslexia and the doctors and educators who are working to make a difference in their lives.

It features interviews with Steven Spielberg, Charles Schwab, Whoopi Goldberg, Sally Shaywitz, and Craig Watkinson.

Parents of sick kids distrust online medical help - ‘Dr. Google’

Parents of children with cancer not only don’t trust online medical sites, but fear them as well, preferring instead to receive information from a trusted source, like a doctor.

“Respondents were telling us they were uncertain of the information online and that they were afraid of the unknown,” says study co-author Elizabeth Gage, professor of community health and health behavior at the University at Buffalo. “They didn’t want to run into stories about ‘the worst case scenario’.”

Gage, along with Christina Panagakis, a UB graduate student in sociology and colleagues at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, interviewed 41 parents of pediatric cancer patients in the U.S. to learn how caregivers use the Internet as an information source about their child’s illness, its prognosis, and potential treatment options.

Published in the journal Sociology of Health and Illness, the study suggests that beyond a distrust and fear of health-related Internet sites, online searching for information about an illness might vary between patients dealing with routine conditions and those faced with life-threatening problems.

“The likelihood of a patient going online might depend very much on context,” Gage explains.

Previous studies looked at what Gage described as routine, contested, or stigmatized illnesses, while her research contributes a piece of knowledge relative to severe pediatric illnesses.

“One of the reasons we were interested in exploring this issue is that so much research and media coverage had examined how the Internet was breaking down barriers between patients and caregivers and their physicians,” Gage says.

“But that wasn’t the case in our study. Perhaps because of the severity of the diagnosis, parents and caregivers preferred to receive their information from sources other than the Internet.”

The information-seeking behaviour of parents and other caregivers appears to be influenced by the volume of available information, Gage says.

Patients with routine illnesses might find minor details online that better inform their conversations with health care providers, but respondents in this study who were confronting a more serious diagnosis were overwhelmed by the often conflicting sources of online material.

“Families in our study did not know where to begin or how to sift through such a huge mound of information,” Gage says.

Those who did look for information through the Internet tended to limit their searches to what they considered more credible sources, such as medical journals and hospital libraries, the study says.

“A lot of families used the Internet to establish connections with other families in a similar situation, as much for emotional support as for reasons to share medical information,” Gage says.

“However, many families ascribed a certain expert status upon these individuals, almost elevating the experience of what they call “the veterans” to the same level as that of a trusted hospital-based site.”

More news from University at Buffalo: www.buffalo.edu/news

When the shrieking child is your son - Real Families

A harrowing story from a mother who's son sufferers from Autism Asperger's syndrome. Unfortunately, it is a story many mothers will be all too familiar with. I have included it here to share her experiences with other mothers who are facing the same difficulties.

"My son has Asperger's syndrome. Most people have heard of it by now; even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is rumored to have it. I have my doubts, though. I see little resemblance between the billionaire genius and my 4-year-old son. I wonder if the Facebook founder had daily, explosive, irrational fits when he was 4. I wonder if his mother drank.

I first realize we have a problem when my son is 18 months old. My family tells me his screaming fits are just his way of "pressing my buttons." They say I'm spoiling him; that's why he throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way. But they can't explain his extreme negative reactions to large crowds and loud noises. Once when we're in a public restroom, the automatic toilet flushes, and my son throws himself against the door and begins beating on it in his desperation to get away. The lady in the next stall glares at me when she comes out. I know she thinks I was hitting him. Another time at church, the organist starts playing, and my son dives under the pew in front of him. The man beside us moves over, far over.

I think my little boy is just sensitive, until at age 3, he starts having bathroom issues. He holds it all in until his little tummy was bloated, and once he doesn't go for four days."

The article continues to describe how she takes her son from doctor to doctor with varying degrees of trauma and success. Read the remainder here

Overcoming Dyslexia

The history of medicine is filled with dyslexic surgeons and physicians who were at the top of their profession or pioneering new disciplines.

However, but the road to success is never easy and it was not straightforward for them either.

Gaining the skills to practice medicine and surgery was the easy part; lower education and overcoming the obstacles of standard testing, were the most difficult. You may have already experienced this for yourself.

Read more about Dyslexic Doctors at Dyslexic Advantage

Autism: Is there really an increase diagnosis

According to a recent study by The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) the rate of autism in the US has jumped 40% from 1 in 154 to 1 in 110 between 2002 and 2006.

The study also found that ASD was 4 to 5 times higher in boys than in girls. The CDC estimates 1 in 70 boys and 1 in 315 girls have an ASD.

What accounts for this staggering increase?
The CDC admits that they can isolate no one factor at this time, without further research and conclusive evidence.

Recent developments in earlier detection might account for the rise in autism diagnoses and the CDC confirms that improved community awareness, the widening of diagnostic criteria to include more mild cases and out right earlier identification have added to this increase.

So the CDC are keen to acknowledge that is not yet conclusive that the condition is on such a steep rise, but the recognition of symptoms and labeling has drastically increased.

The AAP
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends systematically screening children for autism at 18 months and 24 months even when a concern or risk is not conclusively recognised. Their philosophy is to screen children early and often.

However, parents are either the first to identify symptoms or the most likely and they need to be vigilant in helping track a child’s development. Close scrutiny will help determine how well they are progressing and ensuring they are not regressing in their skill development.

ASD
A child with ASD will develop symptoms before the age of 3. These symptoms can be detected as early as a few months of age, or not show up until 24 months or later. Some children develop normally until around 18 months and then stop gaining new skills, or they lose the skills they once had. Common symptoms are:

• Avoid eye contact and want to be alone
• Not respond to their name by 12 months of age
• Experience delayed speech and language skills
• Repeat words or phrases over and over (echolalia)
• Be extremely agitated by minor changes
• Have obsessive interests
• Flap their hands, rock their body or spin in circles
• Have unusual reactions to the way things sound, smell, taste, look or feel

There are three different types of ASD:

• Autistic Disorder: Significant language delays, social and communication challenges and unusual behaviors and interests. Some may have intellectual disability.
• Asperger Syndrome: Milder symptoms of autistic disorder. Typically do not have problems with language or intellectual disability.
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder (atypical autism): Usually have fewer and milder symptoms than those with typical autistic disorder. Symptoms might pose only social and communication challenges.

If you have concerns about possible delays in your child's developmental, contact your doctor in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with your doctor's response or if he confirms your suspicions, ask for a referral to a qualidied specialist. Someone that will be able to perform a more in-depth evaluation of your child.