JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A Duval County school teacher has been arrested on charges of abuse against an autistic elementary student.
55-year-old Rhona Silver was a teacher at Kernan Trail Elementary and was arrested Tuesday.
Police say last September she forced one student to sit on a "self contained toilet chair" in restraints with his pants down for the entire school day and only a short break for lunch.
And police say this continued for three to four days
Two teachers aids and an intern were also in the class of six autistic children at the time and told police Silver was the one that put the child in the chair.
"We take these things very seriously which is why when we immediately heard about the incident we removed her from the classroom while we did our investigation. So the school system takes this very seriously any sort of misuse of equipment," says Jill Johnson with Duval County Schools.
Silver was kept out of the classroom from the time the abuse was reported last year until her arrest.
The district does use the "Rifton Chairs" as they're called, but they are not supposed to be used as punishment.
Thursday parents picking up their children at Kernan Trail were stunned to hear one of the teachers had been arrested.
"Excellent school, both my kids go here, excellent school, never had any complaints and just very shocking to hear that," says parent Melissa Matthews.
Silver is a 30 year veteran teacher in Duval County Schools, she was both arrested and released on bail Tuesday.
WASHINGTON: An Indian-origin researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has shed some light on why autistic people fail to recognise faces as effectively as their normal counterparts, by studying why they often fail to recognise faces in photographic negatives.
Pawan Sinha, an associate professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, says that a person's eyes appear darker than the forehead and cheeks in nearly every normal lighting condition.
He believes that photo negatives are hard to recognize because they disrupt these very strong regularities around the eyes.
During a study, he and his colleagues asked subjects to identify photographs of famous people in not only positive and negative images, but also in a third type of image in which the celebrities' eyes were restored to their original levels of luminance, while the rest of the photo remained in negative.
Sinha says that the subjects had a much easier time recognizing such "contrast chimera" images, because the light/dark relationships between the eyes and surrounding areas were the same as they would be in a normal image.
He adds that similar contrast relationships can be found in other parts of the face also, primarily the mouth, but those relationships are not as consistent.
"The relationships around the eyes seem to be particularly significant," he says.
Sinha says that scientists studying face-perception skills in autistic children may find his observations interesting because such children are often reported to experience difficulties analysing facial information.
He points out that some studies have shown that those with autism tend to focus on the mouths rather than the eyes, which is why his study may help understand why such people have such difficulty recognizing faces.
The findings also suggest that neuronal responses in the brain may be based on these relationships between different parts of the face.
The team found that when they scanned the brains of people performing the recognition task, regions associated with facial processing were far more active when looking at the contrast chimeras than when looking at pure negatives.
Schools use tests to determine what kids have learned. Tests, 99% of the time, are paper-and-pencil tools which require verbal skills both to process the questions and to spit out the answers.
Kids with autism, by nature, have a tougher-than-average time processing and expressing ideas verbally.
This doesn't mean they haven't learned anything! What it does mean is that standard testing tools are unlikely to tell parents or teachers what kids with autism really know.
In my homeschool, I use "capstone projects" to find out what Tom really knows about a subject. A capstone project is a presentation of any sort that puts together what the student has learned during a unit of study, and allows the student to show off his knowledge.
Often, the project is a diorama, a poster, or a painting. Once or twice (when we were studying leaves, for example), the project took the form of a collection of dried plants with labels. Tom's written stories as capstones, too, including his own "Just So Story" with illustrations.
There are some tremendous upsides to capstone projects. First, they provide us with something to work on together while we talk about and process what Tom's learned. Second, they're impressive - a wonderful creation to show off to friends and family. Third, artistic capstones can also double as exhibits at, for example, the local county fair - or at homeschool events such as science or geography fairs. That gives Tom the chance to show off his work in a "safe" setting, and to get practice in presenting his work and in taking credit for a job well done.
KAMAS, Utah (ABC 4 News) – There’s a solution to a frustrating, frightening, and costly problem. The problem is that 20 year old Justin Bailey of Kamas suffers from autism and keeps wandering away from home. It happened again this week. It's costing thousands in taxpayer dollars to search for him, plus the stress it puts on his family. Now the family and the police say it's time for Justin to have a tracking bracelet.
There was a sigh of relief when search and rescuers found Bailey just 500 yards from his house. Hi mom, Jennifer Bailey says, “He wasn't out of my sight for more than a couple minutes and he was gone.” But it's not the first time Bailey - who suffers from autism - has wandered from home. Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds says, “This is the second time he's gone missing in about 9 or 10 months so it seems reasonable that he could run again.”
After spending over $30,000 on search parties to find Bailey, Edmunds suggested a personal tracking device. He says, “If we can take a proactive measure and actually get a piece of technology that's going to find him rapidly, then clearly we're taking a proactive approach and saving the taxpayer's money.”
The Baileys agree but they're on a fixed income and can't afford $6,000 for the advanced technology. So ABC 4 took action and did some research. We came across Project Lifesaver through the National Autism Association. We called to see if it was an option for the Baileys. Wendy Fournier says it's a program that works for anyone who tends to wander, “Not only children with autism but other developmental disabilities. Children with down syndrome are on the program. The older population suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia.”
Summit County Sheriffs would be trained on how to use the satellite equipment. Bailey will wear a light weight tracking bracelet. If he wanders again it will take just two trained personnel about 15 minutes to find him. Jennifer Bailey says, “It won't be quite so much of a worry if you turn your back on him for 90 seconds.”
Again, the program costs about $6,000. The National Autism Association has agreed to cover the cost for Summit County and the Baileys but will accept any help in donations. Here's where you can take action to help. They've set up a custom donation page just for Utah donors at http://www.nationalautismassociation...mitCountyFOUND.
This is my son, Maxfield, who is eight years old and has Asperger’s Syndrome. It took five years to get his diagnosis. I am pretty sure my 14-year-old daughter, Jade, has it too – she’s being tested now.
I have no job, and no insurance, and I fight loneliness every day. I’m a single mother and have just started going to a food bank on the weekends. That was hard. Thankfully, I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: I’m in school now, studying digital gaming, and when I’m done, I hope I can get a good-paying job making video games for kids like Max.
Please share this video with friends, family and also with your contact list on Facebook and MySpace.
Health care providers question ‘Applied Behavioral Analysis' treatment
Some changes no mother would miss.
The first that Maryam Muazu noticed was that her 2-year-old son had become more social. Not yet a month in, the cues were conspicuous when the 42-year-old would take Isma to their Montgomery Village home after his daily sessions at a preschool for autistic children.
"He used to ignore everybody, usually he'd just stand apart in the corner," she said Friday, picking Isma up from the Brookeville campus of Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children. "But then he started throwing himself into the fray. Now he initiates play."
Isma's older brother is also autistic. Muazu knew what small strides to look for, and she expects Isma to see the same kind of success. His brother is a student at Montgomery Village Middle School who is mainstreamed in three classes. And for both her children, she credits the progress to a one-on-one therapy called Applied Behavior Analysis.
But her eldest son's success bore a heavy toll on the family. Her husband's insurance did not cover the treatment. Insurance companies say that the treatment is not evidence-based, and that it is an educational, not medical, program. Muazu, who no longer has insurance, was told that the decades-old methods are experimental.
"In a year we spent I think $40,000," she said. Medicaid pays for Isma's treatment.
Long waits, increased costs
Maryland's Autism Waiver Program covers Medicaid-eligible families for a range of services and treatments, until the person turns 21. That leaves 2,700 people on a waiting list for the 900 slots.
"If you were to sign up now, you probably wouldn't see services until about 2014," said Ian Paregol, CSAAC's executive director. "So if you have a child that's diagnosed with autism at about 18 months, well, you missed really an important window. That kid is going to be 7, and the window, really, for a best outcome is that 2 to 6 range."
Thousands of families choose to pay for ABA therapy.
Those stories are what prompted Del. Kirill Reznik to try to force insurers to cover the costs. Paired with a companion bill in the state senate, Kirill (D-Dist. 39) of Germantown is pushing a bill that would require insurers, nonprofit health service plans and HMO's to cover ABA and other early intervention therapies, up to $50,000 per year.
"I've met parents who have mortgaged their homes and are facing foreclosure," he said. "I've met people who have gone into bankruptcy. And more and more people are beginning to really wonder whether they're going to stay in Maryland, or go somewhere like Pennsylvania, where it's covered."
If passed, Maryland would be the eighth state to do so.
Reznik and his fellow District 39 representatives — Sen. Nancy J. King and Dels. Saqib Ali and Charles E. Barkley — have authored or backed more than half of the two dozen autism-related bills introduced this year.
Only a few of the bills are expected to pass. But the spotlight they have shone and the platform they have given advocates has marked a change in the state's approach to one of the world's fastest growing and least understood conditions.
Already finding the axe is Reznik and King's attempt to make state health officials implement an "Adult Autism Care Training Program" that would standardize training and improve wages for caretakers. The bill's fiscal evaluation found that the program would cost the state $250,000 this year and $1.5 million the next. Reznik and King withdrew their bills last week.
Far more momentous is the effort make insurers cover ABA treatment. Autism advocates such as CSAAC, the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Autism Speaks! rallied behind the bills, as did 54 legislators who signed on in support. But with a projected hit to state coffers upwards of $10 million per year, its backers admit the outlook is bleak.
Opponents included Carefirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente, Aetna, the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business.
In a letter to the legislature, the chamber wrote that requiring ABA coverage would "add a significant and uncontrollable increase in the cost of health insurance paid by employers." The state's Department of Legislative Services calculates that requiring coverage will add between $36 and $83 per year per employee in group plans.
"It is not entirely clear what comprises the actual clinical or educational components of ABA," wrote William F. Casey, Carefirst BlueCross BlueShield's vice president of governmental affairs.
More than just fiscal pressures, Reznik concedes that it may be too soon in lawmakers' autism learning curve.
"If it doesn't pass, I'll bring it back next year, and the year after that, until it passes," he said.
Partial solace could come in a pair of bills that would create a state commission on autism. Among its priorities would be to issue, by December, a report on the impacts of forcing insurers to cover ABA therapy.
The hearing on the senate bill is set for Thursday.
This year's session has wrought many of the small increments needed for broader change, CSAAC's Paregol said.
"There's talk about autism now. Before, people would say, ‘Artism?' — they wouldn't necessarily know what it is. So I think it's getting there," he said. "I think that next year will be a very interesting year, because it's an election year. There's going to be a lot of promises made, and I hope there's going to be a lot of promises kept."
More than 50 organizations and businesses will be on had at a county-hosted fair an autism services, to be held 3-7 p.m. April 29 at the Universities at Shady Grove (Building II), 9630 Gudelsky Drive, Rockville. Admission and parking are free. For more information, or for help in attending, call 240-777-1216, 240-777-1217 (TTY) or 711 (Maryland Relay) by April 10.
COQUILLE, ORE - An 18-year-old Coos Bay man described as 'severely autistic' will undergo a mental evaluation to determine whether he understands the charges against him and can assist in his own defense.
Henry Levi Cozad appeared before a Coos County Judge on Monday. He faces a murder charge in what could be a complex case for the criminal justice system.
Cozad is accused of killing 59-year-old Linda Sue Foley, his father's girlfriend, in their Bunker Hill-area home last week.
An autopsy shows Foley died of internal bleeding as a result of severe blunt force trauma to the head, neck, chest and abdomen. It's believed to have been by hand only.
In court papers, Cozad, who appeared child-like and distracted throughout his video conference appearance in court, was described as having a history of violent outbursts.
Those outbursts included one prior adjudicated case as a juvenile, one that wasn't tried formally because of his mental condition, and a current case.
District Attorney Paul Frasier says "under the statute, if they are not competent to proceed, and never will be, then you're supposed to dismiss your case."
That is why lawyers on both sides agreed to a defense motion to have Cozad committed to the State Hospital for evaluation.
"This evaluation has to be done," Frasier said. "If the evaluation comes back that he's not competent to proceed, which I suspect it will say, then we would do an additional commitment back to the Hospital for them to treat him and so forth.
"However, they can send him back if they come back and say,'well he's not able, and will not be able, to aid and assist in his defense, and never will be."
Until a decision is rendered, which might not come until mid-April, the case is at a standstill.
There are a number of potential outcomes dependent on that decision, including civil action taken by the District Attorney's Office if the case has to be dismissed due to his mental state.
One last bit of business was able to be taken care of during this first court appearance, as Judge Martin Stone set bail at $1.5 million.
I believe that the time has come for technology to direct more attention to social issues of great importance. To that end, I have created a unique web browser called ZAC Browser (www.zacbrowser.com) that was built solely to protect and enhance the life of its young autistic users capturing both cutting edge technology and addressing social well being at the same time. ZAC Browser provides safe internet access intentionally directed to meet the specific needs and limitations of the 750,000 autistic children who benefit from using it.
John LeSieur
President & CEO
People CD Inc.
http://www.peoplecd.com
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