Learning to Manage Feminine Hygiene Needs

Question: I have a daughter with autism who is showing signs of puberty. I want her to continue to be as independent as possible and to be prepared for all aspects of her own feminine hygiene, but don’t know where to begin with teaching her how to care for her menses. What is the best way that we can practice these skills before her menstrual cycle begins?

As with any skill you teach children and adolescents, it is important to use plain language and to avoid abstract terms as much as possible. It is also important to become comfortable with all of the terms involved in feminine hygiene, such as period, pad, blood, etc. As uncomfortable as it may seem at first, speaking about these things becomes a normal part of the teaching process over time. Due to the fact that taking care of your period is a sensitive and private event, you may consider beginning by explaining to your daughter what it is and why you need to go over essential hygienic practices. Work a few basic facts into a conversation, or visual aid if you feel it will be helpful to your daughter’s acceptance of the teaching program. 

Find some very good ideas and suggestions here. 

2-minute questionnaire may detect autism

A new two-minute questionnaire for parents could help pediatricians detect autism in toddlers earlier, at a time when intervention might be crucial, a new study indicates.

Lead investigator Walter Zahorodny, associate professor of pediatrics at Rutgers University, says the Psychological Development Questionnaire (PDQ-1), had an 88 percent likelihood of correctly identifying which of the children that screened positive had autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Zahorodny says the findings provide preliminary evidence in support of the questionnaire and suggest it may provide a practical alternative to the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers and the follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F) which requires a telephone interview, in addition to screening.

Read more here at futurity.org

Personal Emergency Profile

Download here at the National Autism Association 

Archived Webinar - Early Intervention and Preschool Child Outcomes Evaluation: A Closer Look

Each year, states are required to report on child outcomes of their early intervention (EI) and preK programs for infants, toddlers, and young children with disabilities. 

This webinar will examine the approach to evaluating child outcomes developed by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for the purpose of accountability reporting. In particular, the webinar will discuss why the single group pre-post comparison design used to evaluate child outcomes does not demonstrate that EI services are responsible for improvements in children’s functioning.

Watch the recording here. 

Archived Webinar - Conversation Skills for Teens with ASD

1. Join Aarti Nair, Ph.D. of the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior for this talk on evidence-based strategies aimed at supporting emerging conversation skills in teens diagnosed with ASD.

Watch the recording here.

Archived Webinar - Counseling Considerations for People with ASD

1. Psychotherapy can address some of the skills delays, secondary symptoms, and co-morbid conditions that can come with autism spectrum disorders (ASD); however, interventions that are successful with people with ASD might be different than those used for the general population. Join us as we discuss some areas in which psychotherapy might benefit someone with ASD and things to consider when looking for a therapist.

Watch the recording here.

Archived Webinar - Emotional Regulation and ASD

1. Watch the recording here. 

Large study ties gut issues in autism to inflammation

Children with autism are at an increased risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a large survey of electronic medical records1.

IBD includes the painful conditions Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and is associated with an overactive immune system.

The analysis, based on almost 300,000 children in the United States, reveals that children with autism are 67 percent more likely than typical children to have a diagnosis of IBD. They also are more likely than other children to be prescribed certain medications for their bowel problems.

Numerous studies indicate gastrointestinal (GI) problems are unusually common among people with autism. For example, a 2014 study suggests that children with autism are about four times as likely as other children to have symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea or abdominal discomfort.

The findings suggest that clinicians should consider IBD in children with autism who have these symptoms or show poor growth.

Read more here at Spectrum. 

Prevalence of autism in U.S. remains steady, new data suggest

The prevalence of autism in the United States remained relatively stable from 2014 to 2016, according to a new analysis. The results were published 2 January in the Journal of the American Medical Association1.

The researchers report the frequency of autism in the U.S. as 2.24 percent in 2014, 2.41 percent in 2015 and 2.76 percent in 2016, respectively. The new data come from the National Health Interview Survey — a yearly interview in which trained census workers ask tens of thousands of parents about the health of their children. These questions include whether a healthcare professional has ever told them that their child has autism.

Autism’s reported prevalence in the U.S. has climbed steadily in the past few decades. Researchers attribute most of this increase to changes in how the prevalence is measured, increased awareness of the condition and shifts in the criteria for diagnosing autism.

Reports of autism prevalence worldwide seem to be converging at 2 to 3 percent, says Young Shin Kim, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the study.

The new rates jibe with those that emerged from a 2011 prevalence study in South Korea. That study showed that about 2.64 percent of children in one school district have autism.

“I think we are saturating,” says Kim, who led that study. “Whatever study method you are using, it will be leveling off at that point.”

Read more here at Spectrum.

France faces down its outdated notions about autism

France lags about four decades behind countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom when it comes to diagnosing and treating autism, says Danièle Langloys, president of the advocacy group Autisme France. Like Sajidi, many young people with autism are not identified early, when they stand to benefit the most from behavioral therapies — although rates of early diagnosis have improved over the past decade. Some people with the condition are never identified. One 2015 study pegs the prevalence of autism in France at 0.36 percent, well below the 1 percent reported in the U.K. and roughly 2.5 percent reported in the U.S. Among children who are diagnosed with autism, only about one in five attends a mainstream school.

Read more here at Spectrum.