I want to try B12 shots but I’m afraid to go to a regular psychiatrist office because they might not know anything about autism/aspergers and they typically only know how to write prescriptions for xanax and antidepressants.
False. It can have a profound effect in some people.

Sorting out the truth from both sides’ claims about proposed budget
Treat numbers like politicians: skeptically. During Tuesday’s budget hearings, Democratic lawmakers jousted with Gov. Brian Sandoval’s administration over the size of proposed cuts in the governor’s budget to school districts and the higher education system.

Read more on Las Vegas Sun

I know there are these three divisions of special education services. I was in the Autism division. What is the determining factor for the student’s placement in each division, and what is the difference between these divisions?

I’m worried about my son, He’s 22 months and I’m trying to learn more about the situation. Thanks

This video, created by Amanda, Dorthea, Sam and Jennifer, is a short tutoring video that depicts a writing tutor attempting to work with a student with Autism. The video was created as part of a class project for WRT 320: Peer Tutoring in Composition at Oakland University. The goal of the video is to present a situation that facilitates discussion for tutor training purposes. For discussion questions and more information about the video, please visit: writingcentertutorials.pbworks.com

S.U.M.M.I.T. enhances interconnectivity
Members of the Penn State and State College communities are teaming together to improve students’ access to mental health services by enhancing connections between schools, mental health and juvenile justice systems.

Read more on Penn State Collegian

I am wondering what sort of topics parents of children with autism would be interested in learning about. I am putting together a program for parents with school-age children classified as autistic, and wondering what are the main areas of concern. What topics would parents of children with autism be most interested in learning about? What topics should I cover in my training? It will be done over 9 classes, but as many ideas as possible would be great.

I want to do research and help teach/create new methods of learning for young children with autism, however, I have already received a four year B.S in International Economics. I have recently applied for an Early Childhood certification but, was not eligible bc my g.p.a was too low. I graduated with the g.p.a of 2.6. I know this is very low, but, it is not because I was incapable of learning the necessary criteria for my classes, but rather the result of my 35-40 hours a week retail job I had while I was a full-time student. Irregardless, my inexcusable study habits have put me in a situation I’m not sure how to get out of….Thus, my question is, what is my next option? (This is what I want to do, so I am not intimidated by the long road it may take to get there.) Also, is Early Childhood what the correct area to be studying? Or, would a degree in Communication Disorders be more useful in this area of research? Please, any advice will help…

Please read thoroughly, two things…

The first. I am 26 weeks, and every single day, I think of something new to worry about. Is it normal to be constantly afraid that there might be something wrong with my baby? I am a special ed consultant, so I see it regularly, and I am always so afraid that my baby might not be ok when she is born…I worry about autism, about birth defects, about illness…and I am always afraid that I am not equipped to care for her properly. Is this normal? Am I going crazy?

My other question is a big superficial, but every day I look down and my belly has bigger stretch marks. I am 24, and I wake up dreading the thought of more stretch marks. People say that it is genetic, that it is your skin type, that if you are going to get them there is nothing you can really do…Is there something I can do to feel better about them? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life feeling unattractive (my fiance left me when I wouldnt abort, so I am back to single)…

Deborah Hill Cone: Self-love stuck in an endless honeymoon
4:00AM Sunday Oct 11, 2009

You heard it here first: narcissism is the new black. I predict narcissism is going to be
our next obsession.

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) was invented in 1980 when shrinks included it in
their Bible, the DSM-III, and it is poorly understood, diagnosed, reported or studied.

But once you learn a bit about it you start seeing it everywhere – especially in the
business community. Although I must confess the same thing happened to me with autism – I
started to think half the people I knew were on the spectrum.

Still do, although maybe I just know a lot of anoraks. Yes I know, I read too many self-help
books – and that’s how I got interested in narcissism. (Is there a self-help book about
curing one’s self-help book addiction?)

The roll call of narcissists is pretty long. Practically all politicians and lots of CEOs.
Pretty much anyone who owns a Bentley. They are not all psychopaths like Clayton
Weatherston, but they are wonky nonetheless.

Most narcissists don’t recognise that they are narcissists. One of the few who does is
Sam Vaknin, a PhD and financial consultant from Israel, but it took some pretty extreme
conditions for him to be forced to face his personality. (And since there is no cure, that
was pretty depressing.)

Vaknin wrote a book about narcissism in jail as he tried to understand why his nine-year
marriage had dissolved, his finances were in a shocking condition, his family estranged, his
reputation ruined. He blamed everyone else, but slowly realised it was his fault.

So what is narcissism? Contrary to the myth of the Greek boy who fell in love with his own
reflection, the narcissist does not love himself in any true sense of the word.

Narcissism is a pattern of traits and behaviours which signify infatuation and obsession
with one’s self to the exclusion of all others and the egotistic and ruthless pursuit of
one’s gratification, dominance and ambition. Most narcissists are men.

They feed off other people, getting what Vaknin calls “narcissistic supply” – this
could involve sex, attention or glory – and it is like a drug. The DSM says narcissism is
“a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy”.

The narcissist is described as turning inward for gratification rather than depending on
others and as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and
prestige.

There is no cure for it. Therapy doesn’t really help.

Psychologists say factors behind narcissism are an oversensitive temperament, overindulgence
by parents, unreliable parenting and childhood abuse.

“Narcissists feed off other people who hurl back at him an image that he projects to
them. This is their sole function in his world: to reflect, to admire, to applaud, to detest
- in a word to assure him he exists.”

But I’m not just saying this to give you a lesson in cod psychology. I can’t help
wondering if the disorder of narcissism has almost become normalised in our individualistic,
status-obsessed society – and don’t get me started on overindulged kids.

There is something wrong when the diagnosis of narcissism almost sounds like something most
BCom students aspire to. Here’s a wacky idea: let’s put away the mirrors and start
looking at other people instead of ourselves.

deborah@coneandco.com

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10602200