Autism/Aspeger's - Board, Committee Appointments Lack

Serious questions must be asked of organisations supposedly created to support people with autism and or Asperger’s Syndrome.  Interestingly, few very of such organisations have at board level, or committee management level anyone who actually has autism or Asperger’s – such entities in local, nation, not-for-profit, NGOs and profit making businesses are usually populated by parents who joined up because they wanted to feel that they were contributing to their child and the general community.; or promote a small business they had created based on their child been on the autism spectrum.

 It is astounding to find people on boards and committees who run businesses pushing nutritional supplements and home-spun philosophy on what therapy you should buy from them to treat your child or young adult.  These people rarely; if at all, have high-live university qualifications which provide the fundaments of ethics, duty of care, business management, governance and more.  Raising a family and running a small home-based business is not sufficient skill, experience or specialist high-level education to contribute at a level that is necessary to develop an organisation or company and to address and understand the needs of the client-base as opposed to their child, teen or young adult. 

In this day and age of litigation and disappearing Government funding been a parent positioning yourself on a board or committee; regardless of how well-meaning, is not a suitable qualification to help develop and lead and organisation. Often, at this level of understanding the focus is, naturally, on what their child or youth needs and wants-even if the parent realises it or not.

 Yet Governments continue to hand out money to organisations with a board or committee that sounds like there will be a few knitting bags under the board room table.  Helping people with autism or Asperger’s requires skill, dedication-and education along with specialist knowledge and reflection and  anunderstanding onf business management and service that only comes with high-level education.

If you have authority or influence in selecting people for board or committee positions try to ensure that you have at least one or two people who have autism or Aspeger’s included.  Such people; suitably qualified and experienced, are out there in vast numbers willing to share their experience and assist their community. All you need to do is to ask.

AUTISM - Simple Thing That Will Make A Difference

If you are on the autsim spectrum, or have a child or teen on the autism spectrum; there is one very simple and easy thing you can do to engender further discussion and ponderance on the condition at a level where people get to decide how the taxpayer dollars are spent. Then simple thing you can do is to write, ring or email your local member of parliament asking for a reply.  In that contact you should request answers to all or some of these questions;

(a) What does the sitting member know about autism? What experience has he or she in dealing with autistic people?
(b) What training has the sitting member and/or his or her staff received in dealing with people with autism; specifically since a large number of local people in their electorate will have autism.
(c) What funds are been considered at the local members level of government planned to help autistic people? If there are none; why not?  Has there ever been any funds that your local member knows about?
(d) Does the member mind if you blog, FB or share in other ways the responses you get on the topic of his or her knowledge of autism, and the funds under allocation for people with autism.

These questions will get people thinking. Asking for similar information ever six (6) months or so will make sure that your sitting member becomes to understand more and more about autism.  If you have a local group of autistic people and their supporters do not be too shy to arrange a roster whereby people are allocated the task of keeping autism under the nose of your local member.  The squeeky door gets the oil.

DSM V WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

DSM V – Autism Community Must Speak Up and Speak Out, NOW!

Statistics state that 1 in 88 people are on the autism spectrum; and the USA has a population of psychiatrists which number 4 in 100,000. However, one book written by one group of people is used to determine the needs of every single person on the autism spectrum. That book is the DSM; or Diagnostic Services Manual.  Interestingly, the publishers of this book gave us the ‘oppositional child’ syndrome; but did not provide any reference, condition or even concept of violent or aggressive parenting; or even poor lazy or ineffective parenting, which may result in an oppositional child. Indeed, parenting is not raised in any area of the DSM; why not? Parenting is an issue that causes so many behaviour and mental health problems in childhood and in adulthood for those who have the misfortune to be born to incompetent or useless individuals whose only contribution to the role of mother or father is the ability to breed.

Now it is the intention of the DSM publishers to ‘change’ ‘remove’  ‘alter’ the autism entry to something that simply covers an inability to communicate socially.  This dramatic change strongly indicates that the following points must be raised and discussed at length throughout the autism community, the general medical fraternity, the school communities, psychology communities and all other associated areas;

(a)    Where, why and how did the DSM become the only reference by which the medical or health fraternity considers they are  permitted to diagnose - many ‘conditions’ that are described as psychiatric/medical have a cultural basis. Autism is a culture of thinking; just the way we accept that indigenous and others from non-western areas have their own form of cultural thinking.   

(b)   Exactly who are the publishers of the DSM?  Statistically it is about 38,000 psychiatrists who are members of a specific organisation. That organisation is basically a ‘professional body’, not unlike a teachers’ union, a church head office, a sporting code of conduct body and similar organisations. How and why did the publication start?  Is the publication of such a manual even valid today? Now, everyone who works at a professional level (meaning university qualified) associated with health or medicine goes through rigorous education and training whereupon what is in the DSM will be taught from a myriad of different sources and in a host of ways to undergraduates and postgraduate students.

(c)    It is time for the medical and autism communities to closely evaluate the processes for selection of content in the DSM.  Questions that need to be asked include;

1.       Where do the publishers of the DSM get research to support changes in the manual?

2.       How restrictive are the sources; only members of the organisation may contribute?

3.       Is the process of valid scientific research utilised; that is

a.       Ethically approved research (by a high-level university bodies outside of the DSM organisation and not involved in any association or commercial activity with the DSM or its members)

b.      Scientific construct (meeting the criteria for valid scientific research determined by universities)

c.       Double blind

d.      Independent (research conducted by universities or high-level, non-commercial institutions not involved with the DSM organisation or its members)

e.      Repeatable (by independent researchers who use the same methodology and get the same results)

f.        Conducted over a sufficiently valid period and large enough population – with regards to autism this is a huge task. The body of knowledge that is held about autism at the present is not sufficient for any claims to be made that this is even possible.

(d)   How, where and when did the publishers of the DSM get the ‘authority’ to make such a determination as to abolish autism? Who said they could have the role of deciding who has what? Currently, in many Western countries it appears that the DSM appears to be given a place and a role that no one can actually define as been formally approved by any Government.   Did the USA Government at any stage nominate a commercial publication published by one group within the medical fraternity with the intention of making a profit from its sale as the only reference to be used in clinical determinations? Did any other Government do so?  These are questions no one can answer; possibly because no one has paused to stop, ponder.

(e)   Who monitors and evaluates this publication – it is a publication which costs a great deal of money and presumably a large profit is made from the sale of the book.  Are the publishers lobbied in any form by drug companies, hospitals or Government health departments to include or exclude that which does not fit in with the intend policy or funds of interested parties outside of the group of members?  Given that so many ‘official’ organisations appear to use this manual – does any independent body exist whereby ever claim and entry is check for  validity to ensure it is not just the opinion of the members of a small group of medical professionals; as well meaning as they might be.

To coin a phrase – who made them judge and jury!

It is time to stand up, ask questions and demand answers - your child, you and everyone else living within the boundaries of autism is affected.

Casey Erica Banks is a mature-aged postgraduate student. She has Apserger’s and has an extensive career in mainstream, competitive broadcast media as a senior journalist, executive producer, talking head.  She holds a B.Ed.(AWE) and a M.Ed.(LM) – qualifications in teaching adults and in the workplace. Her recent work has included working with autistic adult students. Currently she is preparing to study concurrently law and a doctorate in autism studies focusing on autistic people seeking work and or advanced study opportunities.

Twitter @caseyericabanks,  -  If you use this article or any part of it; you must contact me, first.

Facebook	http://facebook.com/caseyericabanks							PLEASE RE-TWEET, EMAIL, SHARE

Asperger Syndrome Online Test

DO YOU HAVE AUTISM / ASPERGER SYNDROME Test online-no tricks, takes about 10 mins, immediate report http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.phpAsperger Syndrome Online Testopy and paste the link if it does not work immediately.

Autism Expert - Never Finished High School

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20001644-504083.html
Copy and paste this link into address bar to get to the story.

Parents who rely on 'therapists' often go with people who seem to know what they are talking about; but who cost the least - this is basic necessity for many people. However, the above link goes to a story where a school employed a 'therapist' who was a failed high school graduate.  Parens began to complain and an investigation was conducted.  The point is that the results these parents got from this person pretending to be a therapist is in line with what can and does happen when you hire 'a therapist' such as another mom or someone similar to advise you on what to do with your child.  The work that you then need to do to pick up the pieces of the mess made by people like this is astronomical.  People without qualificatons argue that they get results and cost less; so why not give them a go.  Basic practices are taught at university such as 'ethics', 'legal responsiblitity', 'professional standards' and much more.  If you cannot afford a properly qualified person; get together with other families and see if you can find a person with recognised high-standard qualifitions (that is university at least masters level) to work with a small group of children. Anything is better than the blind leading the blind.  If you think someone is unqualified, or under qualified, you must go directly to the local authorities and ask for a check to be conducted.  Autism never goes away; you have only one chance.

1 in 88 Autism Spectrum - NOT NEW

The figure that is been quoted from one side of the world to the other to indicate a dramatic increase in people on the autism spectrum is not new.  In fact; the real figure is probably many times higher. It is just that nowadays we have become much more interested in indentifying who has autism and who does not. Why is the question. In children it is easy to understand; interventions that can assist in life skills development, but in the older population - 30 plus nothing could be further from the truth.  Western countries do NOT offer people on the autism spectrum aged above the youth determination - generally 24/25 years any support services unless those folks are seriously handicapped in day-to-day living skills.  The truth is that it is the over 30s who need intense support; even those who seem to be living normally - remember the expression 'fake it till you make it'.  Neither the autism community; predominately made up of people who do not actually have an form of autism but have children or teens on the autism spectrum, nor the support service industry realise the extent of the need in many adult people on the high end of the autism spectrum.  Simple things like housework, money management and maintaining contact with the general community and or family are often citied as areas of need.  However, because people up this end of the spectrum are seen as 'capable' and look to be what psychologists refer to as within the 'normal range' they are simply told they are too lazy to keep their homes clean and need to pull their socks up and get stuck into the housework, or they just need to use their brains to manage their money and get their act together or they will never have anything - sound familiar?  We understand a lot now about the autism spectrum in babies, children and teens - with the goal of giving skills for later in life. Yet, there is a large group of adults living on the autisim spectrum who struggle with the most basic concepts of living skills; yet many can hold a job, usually out of desperation and need-and that job is usually poorly paid and way below the intellectual capacity of the person with autism.  Interestingly, the boards, government bodies and other organisations that manage the funds and services for autistic people do not actual have any high functioning autistic people as members. Mainly it is parents or educators - these people mean well but it is a bit like asking the theatre scrub nurse to diagnose a brain tumour and remove it. The autism community must wake up, and very soon and in large numbers, to the needs of the millions of older autistic people living unsupport and often unpleasant lives. This is particularly important as the world moves deeper into debt and the notion of welfare in old age is lost in the Western World. It is not fair to expect older autistic people who seem capable to have built up the property and private pension resources of your average worker. Most people in this group never had the chance to get and keep a long term decent job with an average wage. Some were lucky; some were even luckier and married and had a second income to help build a future in their old age.  It is a desperate need in the autism perspective for politicians and others to address this issue.  It starts with one voice at a time; will you be that voice?

AUTISTIC SPECTRUM-FAMILY HISTORY A CLUE

If you or your child is on the autism spectrum and you are wondering why; a good place to start to find out about autism is the genealogy section of your local library.  Family historians will tell you that there are clues in documents such as census releases as to whether you may have high-end autism spectrum family members in your recent past. Recent means in the last 200 or so years. Indeed, in some cases, when people emigrated from one country to another the paper work, all hand written by authorities at that time, may also provide clues.  The other thing you should focus on is who married, and or had children. Who appeared to spend a life time living alone, without children, unpartnered or moving from location to location. It is possible to gather together lots of records and to build a picture that can give clues to the presence of autism. Often documents such as the census records will specifically state what may appear to be rude comments such as 'slow-witted' - and various other similar phrases, these was no standardisation in those days. What you are doing is going in search of the lives of dead people - you may be surprised what you find; and it probably will not be just about autistic dead relatives. Nowadays, with the internet, and so many people interested in family history hundreds of millions of family trees have already been done. You may just meet cousins you did not know you had and find out a few more family history secrets. Happy tree climbing.

HOW VALID IS YOUR AUSTIM RESEARCH? Ponder This.

People who like to read so-called 'evidence' about autism may like to ponder the below numerology reading about me. Is it true? Is it valid? Remember, numerology is considered by many to be a valid science dating back to pre-Roman times.

If you want to do your own reading on your name enter - Affinity Numerology in a search engine and it will take you to the homepage for Affinity. It is a safe site, suitable for teens - and I do not have any affiliation with the organisation.

What Is Your Destiny?
Love Prosperity Happiness Fortune Respect Power Fame Freedom

  This reading is based on —
Birth Name: Casey Erica Banks
Birth Date: 1/ /1900 (January , 1900)

Your Inner or Soul's Urge: This is spiritual and emotional expression more than physical. It is your heart-felt desires, your incentive, how you look at life. Here are your areas of personal satisfaction.		Number: 11 You desire harmony, love, companionship, and peace with people; and you enjoy ease and comfort. You have great inner strength. You prefer kindness and thoughtfulness to the alternatives. As a dreamer and visionary, you desire others to know the necessity of living true to ideals. Many people call themselves your friend. You are a natural peacemaker and diplomat. You are often studious, attract many things to yourself, accumulate much wisdom. Spiritual and psychic sensitivity are available to you simply by your recognition of them. As such, you have the capacity to develop clairvoyant or other psychic abilities. You try to reveal the beauties you have seen and known. You enjoy study and accumulating wisdom, especially with a background of music. You are capable of remarkable inventions. Daily meditation may enhance your already considerable spiritual and psychic sensitivity, and this can allow you to cultivate more human understanding.
Click here to chat with someone about your number 11 Inner or Soul's Urge.
Your Personality: This is physical expression more than spiritual or emotional; your outer self, the way you express when meeting others. It may or may not be the real you.		Number: 8 You appear friendly, persuasive, self-controlled, and positive, with a powerful personality that attracts respect from both leaders and subordinates. You are one who gets things done. You hesitate to demonstrate emotion or tenderness. To do your personality justice, you should always be well-dressed in good materials that give you an appearance of success.
Click here to chat with someone about your number 8 Personality.
Your Quiescent Self: Stripping away all outside influences, aspirations, ambitions, "shoulds", and "shouldn'ts" -- this is you when you are alone; just you and your dreams..		Number: 8 You envision yourself as the Executive Director and/or on the Board of Directors of many large, international companies. Your suite of offices is expansive, with dedicated staff sufficient to do business on the enormous scale that you do. Your thoughts and pleasure are of vibrant businesses with you as the executive and your professional staff taking care of the details.
Click here to chat with someone about your number 8 Quiescent Self.
Your Destiny or Ultimate Goal: This is your desired lifetime accomplishment. It is a key to a useful and happy life, and to feeling fulfillment during your latter days.		Number: 1 Your destiny is leadership. You come to this position through your own actions. Not by aggressive or dominant behavior, but by relying on your own inner strength, self-reliance, and determination. Your originality and your initiative can put you in a place of authority or leadership during your lifetime. You have a healthy respect for individuality. You are innovative, and are often asked to lead, direct, and manage the affairs of people and organizations. When you have specifically defined and visualized goals, your powers of concentration and focus allow you to achieve them quickly and fully. You are happiest in the role of pioneer, explorer, creator, inventor, leader, director, chief executive, owner of any business, or editor of any periodical publication. You wish to be left unhampered to carry out your own ideas. I think this reading sounds like a true Aspie!  Casey

QLD NURSES STOP WHINGING!

Queensland and Australian nurses have been whining for a number of years that their population is 'ageing'. So what! The whole country is 'ageing'. However, nurses take this one step further and have complained or commented (not much difference really) that the average age of a nurse is 47 years - so what! We now live in an era where everyone can expect to work to at least 65 years, if not 70 years - (a) because they want to (b) because financially they have to. In a time when we are trying to stop age discrimination constantly listening to nurses drone on about the 'maturing' of their workforce and complaining that people are over 47 years old demeans the efforts of the nurses who want to continue to work, lowers the value of 'older workers' in the eyes of many employers - age discrimination does not need much encouragement.
Nursing is a vocation which requires the study of nursing; not medicine. Nurses are nurses; not doctors. Nurses carry out nursing duties; despite what the PR push of the last 15 years has been do not carry out medicial practice.  People who accept the advice of nursing practitioners put their life and that of their loved ones in great danger. It takes a doctor many years of study and supervised training in the art of diagnosis to be allowed to work as nurse practitioners now do. We know that people have died from errors made by 'nurse practitioners' all over the world.  If you hold an undergraduate degree in any area of study you may enter the advanced nursing degree programme (offered in Australia, QLD) and become qualified with a nursing degree in two (2) years.  If you want to be a doctor the process is about 12 years.  Over a number of years I have spoken with 'nurses' who went through their training while I was studying for degrees. Most do not like the atmosphere that nurses create. There is an unrealistic push in training nurses that they are 'professionals' above making  a cup of tea for a patient (yet research shows that such acts can reduce pain and distress more so than drugs).  What happens is that pepole who were unsuited to the vocation of nursing and more suited to higher level professions such as medicine, podiatry, physio, scientist take on a degree that cannot possible give them what they are seeking.  Registered nursing studies need to be returned to TAFE colleges; with large components of actual ward work. This gives the students the chance to see what it is really like and gives the practitcal experience that is missing in nursing 'graduates'.  The other problem nurses self report is the nasty environments that graduate nurses enter. Every single person I have spoken to who studied nursing and went on to graduate roles in public or private hospitals state that graduates are treated dreadfully - getting on the ward BEFORE graduation helps negate this problem. Nursing education is based in theory and learning such things as the history of nursing - what is needed is correct procedures, practitical skill and patient empathy.

Queensland POLICE ALLOWED TO PUNCH PEOPLE IN HEAD

If you are thinking of travelling to Queensland; please do not; for your own safety!  In the unlikely event that you are arrested by Police the State Minister for Police and the Police Commissioner believe that Queensland Police have carte blanch to punch people in the head. These two men are charged with the task of maintaining professionalism in the Police force. You should know that Queensland Police already have (a) guns on their hips (b) pepper spray on their tool belts (c) and most a stun gun on their hips.  Additionally, they are suppose to be trained in the skills required to calm people down and ensure situations do not turn violent.  The Police, the Queensland Police Commissioner and the Queensland Police Minister of State are employees of the Government which is currently running a campaign that says 'one punch kills'. However, if that punch is from a Police offer and you are killed or brain damaged; well, chances are the powers that bill will determine it to be necessary and tough luck to you.  Recently; see You Tube, a young man on the Gold Coast was arrested and handcuffed for drunk and disorderly. He was taken to the Police station in the back of a Police van. CCTV shows that young man been punched repeatedly by the Police - since he was incapacitated at the time and very drunk questions must be asked as to why this happened. The response of the Queensland Police Commissioner as alleged in the Courier Mail and on 4BC was to want to know who and how the footage was released. Both the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Police then said that it can be justified to punch people in the head - please look up the video and decide for yourself if this was justified. Interestingly, the Queensland Police Public Relations/Media Unit do an excellent job; this was proven when after appearing on TV responding to the punching in the head of the young man the next night the Police Commissioner appeared on TV was a Police dog - an attempt to soften the image. It did not work; people are not that stupid!  Queensland is about to have an election and neither the current unpopular Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, or the person nominated to be the leader of the Liberal Party have made any form of leadership statement on this issue. People have to raise a collective voice to tell Queensland Police that this is not acceptable behaviour.