The corporate owners of private hospitals dealing with NHS-funded patients are to be subject to tests to check if they are “fit and proper” persons to be involved with healthcare. The tests would be part of reforms to ensure there was no “repeat of the abuse uncovered” by the BBC last [Read more...]
Winterbourne View scandal prompts ‘fitness’ tests for hospital owners
December 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Winterbourne View scandal prompts new care guidelines
December 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Ministers will on Monday order a programme of action intended to remove up to 1,500 people with learning disabilities and autism from private hospitals such as the Winterbourne View unit where a regime of abuse and humiliation was exposed. Health chiefs will be told to review urgently the cases of all people placed in so-called “assessment and treatment” units and to [Read more...]
Boy, 11, died after waiting 40 MINUTES for ambulance after 999 operator refused to despatch nearest crew because they were on a lunch break
November 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The parents of an 11-year-old boy found hanging from a bunk-bed waited 40 minutes for an ambulance after a controller refused to interrupt the crew during their lunch break, an inquest heard yesterday. After Callum James was discovered in a bedroom by his mother Pauline she dialled 999 and a volunteer community first responder, who are trained to provide life-saving care prior to the arrival of an ambulance, reached the address within five minutes. At this point Callum still had a faint pulse but it was only when the ambulance arrived 35 minutes later that he could be placed on a spinal board and carried downstairs. [Read more...]
For children with developmental disabilities, parenting style matters
November 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Positive parenting can be particularly effective in helping young children with developmental disabilities become more independent and cooperative, a Brigham Young University study found.
Yet, while thousands of research articles have trumpeted the benefits of positive parenting for typically developing children, comparatively few studies have examined positive parenting for [Read more...]
In First, Autism Therapy Alters Brain Activity
October 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
An innovative early intervention approach may be doing far more than helping children cope with autism. New research suggests that the behavior therapy is actually modifying brain development.
The intervention known as the Early Start Denver Model incorporates applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, with a play-based approach focused on relationship-building. It can be used with children as young as 12 months.
Previous research found that the technique leads to improvements in daily living skills, language and cognition. Now researchers say they’ve found that kids with autism who participate in the therapy are displaying more normal brain activity than those who don’t. [Read more...]
Animal magic: How a specially trained dog is helping a young boy with autism to cope with his fears
October 29, 2012 By 1 Comment
If evidence were ever needed of the special relationship between man and dog, then you need look no further than teenager Murray Whooley and his goldendoodle Clive. Not only are the pair best friends, but Clive, a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle, has had nothing short of a miraculous effect on Murray’s life and that of his family. Diagnosed with autism at the age of two, Murray, like many people with the disability, had difficulty communicating and interacting with others, and the ‘outside world’ was a particularly frightening place for him. [Read more...]
Our daughter suffered up to 100 fits a day, but doctors said there was nothing wrong with her, say devastated parents
October 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The parents of a little girl who suffered more than 100 fits a day were repeatedly told there was wrong with her, they have claimed. Olivia Meredith, known as Livvy to her family, suffered from Rett Syndrome, a form of autism which leads to epileptic fits. But it took two years to get a diagnosis, with the toddler instead [Read more...]
