The Nurtured Heart Approach

Dartmouth social worker Jennifer Marszalek is one of only nine practitioners in Massachusetts who teaches parents about the "Nurtured Heart Approach" to working with ADD/ADHD children. The approach is based on minimizing punishment and emphasizing positive behavior.

"Impossible as it may seem at first glance, the nurtured heart approach insists that adults avoid 'energizing the moment' when a child is acting negatively, and reserve that reinforcement for circumstances when the child is behaving well. 'It's really a skill to find what's working well. The whole trick is creating success, not waiting for it to happen.'"

Mrs. Marszalek will offer this and other programs throughout the summer at the Summer Institute. Source: South Coast Today

Learn about boarding schools for Aspergers Syndrome children at AspergersBoardingSchools.com.

Handling the News That Your Child Has Special Needs

Parents whose children are diagnosed as "special needs" often experience initial feelings of shock and confusion. These feelings are normal and understandable, but parents should be careful not to "live" there.

"After the initial shock of discovering your child is unique and special, change your focus from one of despair to gently starting to see it as an opportunity to learn how to help you and your child to explore and discover more about themselves... Some parents will always focus on the difficulties and grieve their child's lost potential compared to others, but I challenge you to see beyond the diagnosis...".

If your child has recently been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, give yourself some time to adjust to this new reality. Take time to develop an understanding of the diagnosis and avoid making any quick or rash decisions. Read more at Ecademy.com.

Talisman offers summer camps for children with special needs across the country. Find a program for your special needs child at www.TalismanCamps.com.

Faith in a Daughter with ADHD

Shortly after Allison started kindergarten, she was diagnosed with, among other things, Attention Deficit Disorder. Over the years, as her parents have helped her adapt, study, and grow; as they've advocated for her education – they've discovered a myriad of strengths in amongst her few weaknesses.

"She is wonderfully empathetic, the first one to offer soothing words to those who've had their feelings hurt. She's got a great work ethic and has recently taken to snapping on the light and studying after bedtime. She's a gifted athlete who taught herself to bat left-handed when she realized that's how Hideki Matsui of the Yankees bats."

Her parents have also learned that they experience things many other parents do not; guilt, fatigue, sometimes even envy. But one thing they share with parents worldwide is faith in their child and her ability to "do just fine in life".

New Leaf Academy helps girls with ADHD learn how to control their emotions. New Leaf is a junior boarding school for troubled girls with campuses in Oregon and North Carolina.

Including Dads

When University at Buffalo student Greg Fabiano started working with parents of children with ADHD, he noticed that many of the dads were missing. He tried to find some research that would explain why so many fathers were absent, but he found none - so he started conducting some research of his own.

"His new research program, designed for children 6-12 years of age, includes two formats: a control group of fathers and children who receive traditional, evidence-based treatments for ADHD families and another group that receives the same, plus a sports element - in this case, soccer games."

Fabiano says the results have been remarkable. Treatment drop-out rates for both fathers and children have decreased significantly and there's very little tension on the soccer field (which is unusual for kids with ADHD).

Therapeutic boarding schools, like Youth Care in Utah, offer help for families of troubled teens.

More Children of Divorced Parents on Ritalin

A recent study in Canada found that Ritalin use among children of divorced parents is double that of children whose parents stay married. The study offers more questions than answers though, as the reason for the increase is uncertain.

"'It could be that divorce is a really stressful event, the tipping point where some kids develop ADHD and are appropriately prescribed Ritalin,' Ms. Strohschein said... Ms. Strohschein said her study may also support the argument that ADHD is a genetic problem that can be passed down from parent to child."

Lisa Strohschein and her team from the University of Alberta intend to do further study on both the possible genetic and environmental factors of ADHD. Read more at Canada.com.

Residential schools for children with non-verbal learning disorders offer help in ways that public schools can't. Cedars Academy is a private Aspergers school in Delaware.

Autism Costs the US Economy Over $35 billion Every Year

A new study indicates that every person with autism costs society $3.2 million over his or her lifetime. Autism costs the US economy about $35 billion every year.

The cost is mostly in lost wages and adult care, and not for childhood medical costs and therapy.

Researchers at Harvard University found that in the first five years of life, insurance companies and families spent about $35,000 every year on therapy for an autistic child. While the child is growing up, the disease costs the family about $43,000 annually, mostly in lost parental income. However, the big costs came for adults with autism. Many people with the disorder cannot work and rely on their parents to provide care. The cost of such an arrangement translates to about $52,000 a year.

This study appears in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Learn more about Autism and Asperger's Syndrome at YourLittleProfessor.com.

Delaying Parenthood Increases Risk for Autism in Children

Parents over 40 years old have a higher chance of having an autistic child, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA.

Women over 40 years have a 30 percent greater risk and men over 40 years have a 50 percent greater risk of having a child born with autism than parents ages 25 to 29. The researchers are uncertain why risk increases with age.

Lisa Croen and her colleagues analyzed 132,844 birth records from Kaiser Hospitals in northern California between 1995 and 1999. They adjusted for factors like the parents' educational levels, race and ethnicity before they concluded that parents' ages increases the risk for autism.

This study appears in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Asperger’s schools can help children with Asperger's Syndrome, high-functioning Autism, and other conditions of the Autism Spectrum Disorders. Cedars Academy offers a year-long Asperger’s school and Talisman offers a semester-long academic Asperger’s school.