The Ontario government announced $25 million in new funding for ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) therapy for autistic children yesterday.
The program is intended to benefit 8,000 children, although there has been no news about how these funds will be distributed. A current program, funded with $115 million, is currently treating 1,450 children with IBI therapy (Intensive Behaviour Intervention), while about 1,600 are on a waiting list.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Report: Mentally Disabled Sold for Manual Labour in Chinese Sweatshops
Mentally disabled and/or mentally ill men from Sichuan have been sold to do manual labour in Xinjiang, according to articles appearing in Danwei, the Chongqing Business News, the Tibet Business Daily and the Global Times.
A total of 11 workers, including eight mentally disabled people, were found to be working in appalling conditions at the Jiaersi Green Construction Material Chemical Factory in Toksun county, the Xinjiang Metropolitan newspaper reported.
According to the report, the workers have allegedly been confined to the factory, toiling for at least three years without being paid or given any protective uniforms or equipment. And authorities said the workers were forced to live in shabby conditions, not given showers for years and fed the same food as the boss' dogs.
A man in Sichuan Province has been arrested in connection with the case.
A total of 11 workers, including eight mentally disabled people, were found to be working in appalling conditions at the Jiaersi Green Construction Material Chemical Factory in Toksun county, the Xinjiang Metropolitan newspaper reported.
According to the report, the workers have allegedly been confined to the factory, toiling for at least three years without being paid or given any protective uniforms or equipment. And authorities said the workers were forced to live in shabby conditions, not given showers for years and fed the same food as the boss' dogs.
A man in Sichuan Province has been arrested in connection with the case.
Monday, December 13, 2010
New autism study raises hope, questions
A new study has been hailed as a "Breakthrough Discovery" on the causes of autism. The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, is entitled "Mitochondrial Dysfuction in Autism".
Writing about the study in the Huffington Post, Dr. Mark Hyman says that he has already successfully treated autism by addressing known causes of mitochondrial dysfunction, including environmental toxins such as mercury, lead and persistent organic pollutants, latent infections, gluten, sugar, allergens and nutritional deficiencies.
I found all these problems in Jackson, and over a period of two years we slowly unraveled and treated the underlying causes of his energy loss which included gut inflammation, mercury, and nutrient deficiencies. Over time, the tests for his mitochondrial function and oxidative stress (as well as levels of inflammation and nutrient status) all normalized. When they became normal, so did Jackson. He went from full-blown regressive autism to a normal, bright beautiful six-year-old boy.
Dr. Hyman writes that the information taken from the new study is one symptom of a complex variety of causes that could be associated with autism. A number of other symptoms could include systemic inflammation, brain inflammation and many others. Therefore, he says, future research "must synthesize current data and design relevant whole systems research studies that don't focus on a single factor, but examine all the factors together."
Hyman notes that most physicians do not test autistic patients for oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction or other related factors which could possibly be treated by controlling environmental factors.
For a comprehensive overview of this subject, please see the article in the Facing Autism in New Brunswick blog, with its wider analysis of the implications and controversial overtones.
Writing about the study in the Huffington Post, Dr. Mark Hyman says that he has already successfully treated autism by addressing known causes of mitochondrial dysfunction, including environmental toxins such as mercury, lead and persistent organic pollutants, latent infections, gluten, sugar, allergens and nutritional deficiencies.
I found all these problems in Jackson, and over a period of two years we slowly unraveled and treated the underlying causes of his energy loss which included gut inflammation, mercury, and nutrient deficiencies. Over time, the tests for his mitochondrial function and oxidative stress (as well as levels of inflammation and nutrient status) all normalized. When they became normal, so did Jackson. He went from full-blown regressive autism to a normal, bright beautiful six-year-old boy.
Dr. Hyman writes that the information taken from the new study is one symptom of a complex variety of causes that could be associated with autism. A number of other symptoms could include systemic inflammation, brain inflammation and many others. Therefore, he says, future research "must synthesize current data and design relevant whole systems research studies that don't focus on a single factor, but examine all the factors together."
Hyman notes that most physicians do not test autistic patients for oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction or other related factors which could possibly be treated by controlling environmental factors.
For a comprehensive overview of this subject, please see the article in the Facing Autism in New Brunswick blog, with its wider analysis of the implications and controversial overtones.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
León y Olvido
A Spanish film about Down syndrome and relationships.
This is just the trailer but if you speak Spanish it looks like you can pretty much watch the whole thing on Youtube.
This is just the trailer but if you speak Spanish it looks like you can pretty much watch the whole thing on Youtube.
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