Dr. Partington is a licensed psychologist and Doctoral-level Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D). He has more than 35 years experience working with children with developmental disabilities, and operates the Strategic Teaching and Reinforcement System (STARS) Clinic. 

Partington Behavior Analysts is a service-delivery system working with children with autism and other developmental disabilities, their parents, and other professionals.  Each child’s curriculum is unique, individually developed through the assessment of basic language and learning skills.

First there is a precise measurement of the existing skills of the child. Next, the Partington makes a clear analysis of the conditions under which the skills are utilized. These direct observations provide insight into the behaviors or circumstances that prevent the child from acquiring new skills.

As the autistic child learns further, Dr. Partington’s ABLLS-R system tracks and continually measures learning achievements, giving his team ongoing data and ensuring the student’s acquisition of new skills and learning. Dr. Partington will speak more the developments that led to his system and the implementation at ICare4Autism’s upcoming August 2012 conference Autism: A Global Perspective.

The Parent Child Training Program (PCTP) at Action For Autism is a ‘model’ program that addresses the critical need for parent education. How to parent an autistic child is not an intuitive process. True parental involvement is the key to successful autism programming and activities.

PCTP’s training empowers parents to take charge of their children’s health and education. Parental involvement on this level not only helps educate children, but it heals the emotional stresses that parents face. The PCTP training program is a ten-week country wide opportunity.

The coursework covers behavior modification and skills maintenance. Mothers learn tools and tactics for facilitating learning. Most importantly, they gain confidence through community by meeting other parents. This is the goal of ICare4Autism’s conference and our institute at large. By sharing information we strengthen our skills.

Ms. Barua’s organization quotes that they hope for “a society that views the interdependence of people of every ability as valuable and enriching.” AFA seeks to provide equal opportunities for all. Their goals are not only research and expanding autism education in India but also independent life training and skills.

The AFA’s reach goes beyond Los Angeles and India to the Europe. AFA created “Activate Yourself!” to put into action the value of all people. Due to the nature Autism, people with this disorder have difficulties in terms of self-advocating their fundamental rights. Therefore “Activate Yourself” was developed to encourage active participation of young people with ASD; empower them as active citizens, make them aware of their role in creating their own future and promote their equal rights and opportunities. The project is supported by the Youth in Action Programme of the European Union.

This kind of active work is right in line with the International Center for Global Research. We learn as much in the classroom as we do from the scientists in our lab. How to educate our autistic youth comes directly from their communication and achievements.

The daily encounters and friction between the staff of therapists and the families of children with special needs (and sometimes also with the extended family) are often obscured within the obligations of rather complicated professional and mental challenges.

The family of the special needs child – who face a tremendous financial burden on top of the emotional burden they already bear – loses its privacy; they find themselves exposed, against their will, to the team of therapists. Often there are sensitive situations which cannot be hidden, and sometimes the family encounters open or latent criticism. The therapists also find themselves privy to the difficult emotional situation of the family members; crises in the relationships between the child’s parents; and complicated ethical problems: all of which while they are supposed to be providing professional and appropriate treatment for the child with whom they are working.

Inbar Konforti will be speaking about bridging the gap between families and therapists in home-based ABA at the upcoming ICare4Autism International Autism Conference in Israel.

The presentation will cover how parents and family members should be supported and involved in the treatment process, the difficulties experienced by the parents of children with special needs during such complex treatment and the difficulties experienced by the therapists.  She will also discuss how to optimize the effectiveness in applying such a home involvement program.

Inbar Konforti is the founder and Director of the Refael Center (www.merkaz-refael.co.il) – the National Guidance Center to Train Behavioral Therapists ABA; Certified Behavior Analyst BCABA, with 12 years’ experience working with children suffering from autism and delayed development. She is a graduate of the University of Tel Aviv for certification studies in Applied Behavioral Analysis. BA (Honors) in Special Education from Bar Ilan University. Inbar Konforti is a lecturer on ABA at various locations in Israel, instructor of the Home-Based Program, and programs designed to integrate children suffering from autism and delayed development into schools and kindergartens.

Dr. Hollander will be speaking at the upcoming ICare4Autism International Autism Conference on the Neuropsychopharmacology of Oxytocin and Inflammation in ASD.  He is also receiving Global Autism Research Award for his breakthrough research in autism treatment at the ICare4Autism Fundraising Gala on Thursday, 7th of June, 2012.

The research, which included 37 high-functioning adults with, mainly diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, followed participants for 12 weeks. Taking fluoxetine doubled the chances that a patient would show overall improvement, measured by their clinicians. Half of the participants taking fluoxetine had significant reductions in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, compared with 8% taking placebo.

“Repetitive behavior is a core symptom of the illness,” says lead author Dr. Eric Hollander, medical director of the Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, explaining that “from a very early age, these children have rituals and routines. For example, they like to line up their toys and they get very bent out of shape if there is any deviation.”

A previous, larger study of a similar medication, citalopram, in children with autism did not find a reduction in repetitive behaviors, but the drug did reduce irritability and was superior to placebo among children who had the highest levels of irritability. Irritability can sometimes lead to repetitive behaviors because people wit autism often engage in these activities to self soothe.

Both fluoxetine and citalopram belong to a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. Prior research on SSRIs in people with autism has also looked at fluvoxamine and found a reduction in repetitive behavior in adults but not children. It is not known if the differences between these studies are due to differences between the medications or other factors.

Obsessive behaviors may also arise in people with autism in response to the stress or discomfort of unpredictable situations. “Many of these individuals have expectations for what’s going to happen, and if there is an unexpected deviation, they experience a lot of discomfort and then they do all these kinds of behaviors,” says Hollander. That’s why people with autism may obsessively avoid locations where they previously experienced discomfort, for example, or they may engage in a repetitive habit like washing, checking, counting, touching or tapping.

When taking fluoxetine, Hollander says, “Patients acknowledge experiencing less discomfort. They’re more able to go outside their comfort zone and to better resist their habits and rituals.” One participant in Hollander’s study was previously too anxious to take the subway or eat in a restaurant, but, when taking fluoxetine, was able to tolerate these unpredictable environments.

Hollander notes that the findings were statistically significant and clinically meaningful. “The clinicians could tell that people were doing better not only in terms of OCD symptoms but overall distress and ability to function.”

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/05/prozac-may-reduce-symptoms-of-autism-in-adults/#ixzz1toOkty7N

Attendees at past ICare4Autism International Autism Conference

On August 1-2, 2012, more than 1,500 leaders in autism research, educationand policy from every continent will gather in Jerusalem, Israel, for ICare4Autism‘s 2012 International Conference, “Autism: A Global Perspective“.

Dr.Joshua Weinstein, CEO & Founder indicated that the, “Conference will highlight groundbreaking research into the causes and treatments of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and serve as a catalyst for powerful new collaborations to tackle the global autism crisis”.

Students from around the world are invited to present their autism research at a poster session. One poster will be selected by the review committee to receive a scholarship to attend the Conference.  The scholarship will cover travel, hotel accommodations and conference registration fee. The scholarship winner will also be invited to participate on one of the Conference panels. The Poster Session consists of physical displays (aka posters) of information shown during a 60-90 minute session, with presenters standing by their poster reporting empirical research and pilot projects for future research.  Attendees have the opportunity to speak with the presenters about their work.

Dame Stephanie Shirley, The British Government’s Founding Ambassador for Philanthropy, and Chairman of the Shirley Foundation, will deliver the Keynote Address and The First Lady of Panama Mrs. Marta Linares de Martinelli will be giving opening remarks.

They will be joined by distinguished researchers and practitioners from more than 20 countries who will unveil their latest biomedical discoveries andeducational innovations.

Groundbreaking biomedical research will be presented; notably Henry Markram, Ph.D, the Director of Blue Brain Project, Coordinator of the Human Brain Project and Professor at Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (EPFL) will present, “Prospects of using detailed brain simulations to explore possible causes and treatments of Autism”

Innovativeeducational practices will be featured in presentations by Dr. S. Mariam Aljunied (Senior Autism Specialist, Singapore Ministry of Education); Dr.Carlos MarcinSalazar (Director of the National Autism Clinic of Mexico); and Dr. Pamela Wolfberg (Director, Autism Spectrum Program,UniversityofCalifornia San Francisco). Attendees will tour the campus where ICare4Autism will open the world’s first Global Autism Research andEducationCenterin 2015.

ICare4Autism (InternationalCenterfor Autism Research & Education) is a charitable organization, founded in 2004 to catalyze breakthrough innovations in autism research, diagnosis and treatment.

Martha Naber, education program coordinator at KVCC, said the program is important for the health of families and communities.

As the prevalence of Autism rises, so does the need for educators to have a thorough understanding of those autism spectrum disorders.  Naber said the courses will be helpful for a host of people, including education technicians, teachers in search of recertification credits, health-care workers and family members.

“Each person on the spectrum is unique,” she said. “There is no one method (of teaching). One (child) might be very verbal and one might not have any language. One might flap their arms and one might not at all. One might be highly sensitive to light and another might be sensitive to sounds.”

Courses in the college’s 62-credit program include Working with Family Members, Language Development, Data Collection, and Assisted Technology.

Kennebec Valley Community College President Barbara Woodlee said the college is reacting to the needs of the community.

“KVCC has always adapted its program offerings to meet changing workforce needs, and the addition of a two-year autism degree is both timely and appropriate given the college’s experience in autism education and the significant increase in autism diagnosis nationwide,” she said.

Two courses for the degree will be offered this summer, according to Jonathan Humphrey, media specialist at the college. One will be available statewide through interactive television sites and one will be available online.

We have known for many years that autism is more common in boys than girls. Latest CDC figures show that as much as 5 times as many boys are diagnosed with autism than girls. The disorder appears different in the sexes, and these differences may have important implications for both diagnosis and treatment.

There is currently no adequate explanation for this imbalance in the sex ratio, but Dr. Peter Szatmari, a professor and the head of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at McMaster University believes that something could be protecting girls from developing ASD and other developmental disorders. That factor could be hormone levels in utero, epigenetic factors that turn autism susceptibility genes “on” and “off” during development, or the fact that young girls have in general better social skills than boys and so need a bigger “dose” of what causes ASD to cross that threshold to being impaired.

Dr Szatmari explains “It is possible that those possible protective factors, once identified and understood, could play an important role in pointing toward new treatments and interventions that capitalize on those protective factors and so make a real difference to long-term outcomes.”

The clinical expression of autism is also different in boys. Generally speaking, girls with autism have greater learning disabilities and more problems academically than boys.

Higher-functioning girls with ASD are may be missed by clinicians who are not experts in diagnosis, Dr Szatmari states. There is some evidence that among this subgroup, girls have better social skills than higher-functioning boys with ASD and so are not diagnosed as readily. Although, the symptoms of ASD can appear as extreme shyness or anxiety in girls, masking that they may not be responsive to the social cues of others.

Girls on the autism spectrum have fewer repetitive behaviors such as rocking and spinning and less sensory sensitivity than boys with ASD. Since these signs are subtle, doctors may not recognize the disorder. Diagnosis at a later age reduces the chances of early treatment, which is understood to provide a better outcome.

Some evidence suggests that girls with ASD are bullied less often than boys. They appear to blend in more easily with their peers and are less often the victim of bullying by other girls.

Understanding these differences both biologically and experientially holds the promise of improving the long-term outcome of all children with ASD. Most important, clinicians need to be sensitive to how the disorder shows up in girls so that those affected can receive early intervention as soon as possible.

The rate of U.S. cases of autism and related disorders rose to about 1 in 88 children. The previous estimate was 1 in 110.  The study showed that there are five times as many boys with autism as there are girls and there are fewer recorded instances of autism in African-American and Hispanic children.

The study is considered the most comprehensive U.S. investigation of autism prevalence to date. Researcher gathered data from areas in 14 states — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin.

This new number means autism is nearly twice as common as officials said it was only five years ago, and likely affects roughly 1 million U.S. children and teens.

Health officials believe the increase largely due to better recognition of cases, through wide screening and better diagnosis. But the search for the cause of autism is really only beginning, and officials acknowledge that other factors may be helping to drive up the numbers.

“We’re not quite sure the reasons for the increase,” said Coleen Boyle of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For decades, the diagnosis was given only to kids with severe language and social impairments and unusual, repetitious behaviors. The definition of autism has slowly expanded, and “autism” is the umbrella term for a group of milder, related conditions, including Asperger’s syndrome. Meanwhile, there’s been an explosion in autism-related treatment and services for children.

“The soaring autism rate is one of our major concerns and one that I have been trying to alarm the world for many years. That is why I am convening the International Autism Conference in August that will take place in Jerusalem” said Dr. Joshua Weinstein, CEO & Founder of Shema Kolainu - Hear Our Voices in Brooklyn, NY and ICare4Autism in Jerusalem, Israel  ”We are going to have 50 major international researchers address this very topic”.

A study led by UK researcher Simon Baron-Cohen revealed that those with autism spectrum disorders often have excellent attention to detail that is directed towards detecting ‘if p, then q’ rules (or [input–operation–output] reasoning).  It’s no secret that those with high-functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome excel in technical fields and there are great efforts to place them in suitable employment.

While there are already companies that work to place people with developmental disabilities into the technology field, the newest player Square One has a different approach.

The software and design firm has a small pilot program working to design a software-testing training program for people on the autism spectrum.  However, what is unusual about this program is that they are not using any funding or subsidies and have the bottom-line firmly in mind.

Currently a significant amount of software testing is outsourced to workers in the developing world. Square One co-founder Chad Hahn points out that his software testers will work for $15 to $20 an hour – pay comparable to, or even lower than, that of software testers in India, but with the benefit of being right here in the U.S. Hahn makes the case that there aren’t a lot of alternatives provided for people with autism —when they do find work, it’s usually unskilled work for minimum wage.

Hahn has had good feedback from parents of those with autism, who are supportive of the program if paying less makes hiring the developmentally disabled a viable option.

“I haven’t had one parent of an autistic child come to me and say this isn’t going to work,” he says. “They say, ‘This is a way for my child to make more money than they would have made otherwise, and allow them to be more independent.’ They worry, what is my child going to do when I’m gone? And this is kind of a way out.”

ICare4Autism also acknowledges the natural ability of those with high-functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome to excel in the I.T. sector. Our autism workforce development initiative based out of our Global Autism Center in Jerusalem will work to assist students on the spectrum find high level career opportunities.  The service will provide individuals with a customized job plan, job coach, skills training and ongoing on-the-job training and support.  ICare4Autism is hoping to create a model that will be replicated internationally creating new high private sector opportunities world wide.

ICare4Autism’s workforce initiative, along with many other strategies in autism education, research and policy will be explored at our upcoming International Autism Conference – Autism: A Global Perspective on August 1^st-2^nd in Jersualem, Israel.

A drawback to these videos is that some children have a hard time connecting with the subjects in the videos as they can’t relate to them. However, according to research in autism, children with autism do relate to their own face and can recognize it in a mirror.

Sen-Ching (Samson) Cheung, an associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a faculty member within the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments, has a son with autism.  Most of his research has been in the area of multimedia information analysis – it occurred to him that his area of research could be used to help his son and others like him.

“I enjoy solving problems and developing new theories, working on new technology and future products,” Cheung said. “Though we were disappointed about the diagnosis, we began taking our son to different therapies and reading about effective ways to help children with autism,” Cheung recalls.

Cheung hypothesized that if children with autism could watch themselves accomplishing basic daily living tasks they would be more likely to develop those skills given their inclination to want to look at themselves.

Working with UK pediatric professor Dr. Neelkamal Soares, autism expert from the UK College of Education Lisa Ruble and developmental psychologist from the College of Arts and Sciences Ramesh Bhatt, Cheung has submitted proposals for funding to develop what is called a “virtual mirror.” In the virtual mirror, a child will be able to look at himself in a large computer display. As he is looking at himself, the program will take his image and virtually create the child carrying out the very actions he needs to learn (speaking, sitting still, social interactions with others, etc.). Cheung hopes that this new technology can help children like his son better concentrate on behavioral learning and generalizing abstract concepts to daily life.

Sen-Ching (Samson) Cheung, associate professor in the University of Kentucky College of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

“Developing something new that will help autistic children is incredibly rewarding for me. I am taking my background and expertise and connecting them to something I have a personal stake in seeing succeed. It’s for our child and also for countless other parents of autistic children who need help.” Cheung says.

“I am hopeful for the virtual mirror’s possibilities — it is the most important work I have ever done,” he says. “But even more so, I am extremely hopeful for my son.”