PHOBIAS - FEARS - PANIC

From Mortifying Meltdown to Finding Inner Peace – 10 Steps to “10% Happier”

Imagine having a panic attack in front of five million people on national television. That’s what happened to Dan Harris on Good Morning America in 2004. He was filling in for a colleague as the news anchor at the top of the hour. “It started out fine…But then, right in the middle of the second […]

Klonopin vs. Xanax

Klonopin vs. Xanax? Both of these drugs are anti-anxiety medications called “benzodiazepines” and can be effective in the treatment of many types of anxiety disorders, such as social anxiety, panic attacks, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Each, however, covers additional conditions (for example, Klonopin may also be used to treat seizures or epilepsy) and provides […]

Autism: Signs & Symptoms

Signs & Symptoms Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) vary from one child to the next, but in general, they fall into two areas: Social impairment, including difficulties with social communication Repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Children with ASD do not follow typical patterns when developing social and communication skills. Parents are usually the first to […]

Autism

Definition Autism is a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills. Alternative Names Pervasive developmental disorder – autism; Autistic spectrum disorder Causes, incidence, and risk factors Autism is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain. […]

Autism: Treatments

Treatments While there’s no proven cure yet for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), treating ASD early, using school-based programs, and getting proper medical care can greatly reduce ASD symptoms and increase your child’s ability to grow and learn new skills. Early intervention Research has shown that intensive behavioral therapy during the toddler or preschool years can […]

Should Parents Worry? Video Games and Their Impact on Children

When I started my practice almost thirty years ago, Sesame Street and the benign Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood captured our children’s attention. Disney movies proliferated throughout the video market and they followed a similar fairy tale pattern in which a hero or heroine is pursued by a villain but triumphs in the end. Children learned which […]

Autism Spectrum Disorders – Lecture for Physician Assistants

Autism Spectrum Disorders A Lecture for Physician Assistants (August 2013)Presented by: Susan Hepburn, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Depts. Of Psychiatry & Pediatrics/JFK PartnersUniversity of Colorado School of Medicine. e-mail: Susan.hepburn@ucdenver.edu Objectives: To provide future health care professionals with a succinct overview of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), including signs & symptoms at different ages and basic facts […]

Deciding if autism is the most appropriate eligibility category

Ask yourself: Given all that you’ve learned about this student, which of the following skill areas seem to impact the student most significantly? Social Awareness – Student is often “in his own world”; may attend to objects more than people; may not “pick up” or seem to be affected by other people’s nonverbal cues (e.g., […]

10 Steps to Preventing Problem Behaviors

1. Apply Your Knowledge of the Child 2. Use the Problem-Solving Approach to Behavior Change 3. Teach Functional Communication 4. Adapt the Environment 5. Incorporate Visual Cues 6. Develop Predictable Routines 7. Adapt Your Interaction Style 8. Teach Alternative Behaviors 9. Provide Powerful Rewards 10. Catch ‘em Being Good 1. Understanding the Child The first […]

Supporting Persistence in Children with Developmental Disabilities

“Persistence,” “mastery motivation,” “goal-directedness,” “causality,” “agency” are all terms that can be applied to understanding how an individual perceives his or her competence in impacting the environment or responding to task demands. Although the terminology differs depending upon one’s theoretical orientation, there is consensus across conceptual fields on the following concepts: (1) The processes of […]

Helping Less Verbal Youth with ASD Manage Strong Emotions

Learning Objectives: Participants will recognize how the biological features of ASD make coping (or self-regulation) very challenging, especially when a person doesn’t have easy access to language. Participants will increase awareness of the behavioral signs of escalating anxiety in youth with ASD. Participants will learn about a variety of strategies and resources that can be […]

Tools for Assessing Autism Symptoms and Relevant Features

AUTISM SYMPTOM CHECKLISTS – (EDUCATOR OR PARENT REPORT) Infant-Toddler Checklist (ITC) Description: The Infant-Toddler Checklist (ITC; Wetherby & Prizant, 2002) is a 25-item checklist that was developed out of the SCERTS model and is very well attuned to the communicative aspects of ASD in young children. Designed and validated in a large community sample […]