Sunday 25 March 2012

Autistic Obsessions and Rituals - AUTISM NI warns of the dangers!

WARNING

Do you have a child/loved one who has a diagnosis of autism? Do you have autism yourself? If you go to Autism NI (Northern Ireland's Autism Charity) you will find a very interesting 'fact' sheet which you should read before it's too late!

see:    "Obsessive and Ritualistic Behaviours in Individuals with ASD"

For everyone else, I suggest you upgrade your home security, set evening curfews for your children, and install 'autistics' detection devices throughout your home and in your children's school bags to avoid the very scary prospect of bumping into one of these pornography loving, weapon obsessed pyromaniacs. If your children go to school with children who have even a whiff of autism, beware and never ever let your own child be in their company alone (unless of course your child wishes to join the military and already has interests in the above noted activities.) Keep autistic and non-autistic siblings apart and refrain from leaving your children who have autism alone with your elderly relatives.

I don't want to worry you, but if this 'fact' sheet is correct, and your child has a diagnosis of autism s/he is a potential: sexual predator, murderer, arsonist. (and any other scary descriptive noun you can think of)
Perhaps MI5 and the CIA should be included as part of the multi-disciplinary team during the diagnostic process. This is just too SCARY!

What is holding up the gene research on autism? The sooner we find a test to detect autism in the womb, the sooner we can rid this world of these monsters via abortion!

See below for Autism NI's  frightening array of what could be in store for you and/or your child with autism:

(emphasis mine - the grammar mistakes are those of AutismNI)











Negative aspects of obsessive /ritualistic behaviour

"Parents/carers may have to try and reduce the inexhaustible compulsion to fuel the interest. This could be achieved by limiting the time spent by setting a clock, time timer or schedule.

The special interest can be expensive to maintain and the individual can feel compelled to spend money on it or steal to satisfy the compulsion.




If the individual’s special interest is potentially harmful to themselves or others then steps have to be taken to stop or modify the interest.
However this may prove to be particularly difficult and the individual, parent or carer may require professional support.       (**This is classic! Problem creation and problem solution! see below)
If an obsession is potentially dangerous, observe the individual to see if it is the whole activity or only an aspect of it that is compulsive. e.g. a child obsessed with lighters may not need to keep lighting them but may like the noise, sensations and spark rather than the flame that goes with flicking the lighter. Therefore empty lighters may be safer. If behaviour is potentially harmful always seek professional advice.

(sound advice if I ever heard it!)
Parents and carers need to be aware and alert to morbid or macabre interests. (weapons, pornography, fire etc.)                                   

There needs to be further investigated and an explanation of legislation to the individual as they will be unaware of the dangers they face. Professional help should be sought as the intensity and dominance of the obsession will be hard to control."



Never forget, it's depressing having a child who has a diagnosis of autism and potentially the life ahead of you with this child could be hell.  You can't do this on your own, you need 'support' from 'professionals' and organisations like Autism NI. It's highly likely that you will not be able to change things like 'ritualistic' behaviours and all you can do is just go with the flow and refrain from keeping guns and lighters in the house.  No, we don't provide help, we are just telling you in our own impersonal way, what we think your child's future might look like so we can  scare the pants off of you and encourage you to join one of our support groups where you will receive unending tea and sympathy.

We don't need to provide evidence for what we say (we usually don't) and we certainly do not need to worry about being politically correct. The parents who join our organisation have other things to worry about, and we have  done our best, for the last 20 years, to ensure their time is spent raising funds for us so they don't have to worry about their children.

See here for our official Facebook page where you will find all you need to know about opportunities to raise funds for us. We have scores of staff wages to pay every month and we need YOUR help to ensure their mortgages are paid. If you want links to research or support or services in Northern Ireland for you and  your family, well, we suggest you go elsewhere. What do you think we are, a charity?

To Autism NI:   Does cramming parents into drafty halls, and repeating the same mantra over and over about having passed a redundant autism bill count as obsessive or ritualistic behaviour?


**There is a pill for that! Autism NI has developed a  relationship with one of the biggest 'pill' makers  Glaxo Smithkline. In 2008, Autism NI was awarded £30,000 for the IMPACT Award from Glaxo Smithkline in partnership with the King's Fund. see here .

More recently, in their 'What People Say about Us' page, here , Katie Pinnock, GSK Director of Corporate UK Contributions says, "This charity has done an amazing job of supporting families of those with Autism, and informing health professionals about treatment. It is to be commended for its work in helping to reduce the isolation and stress that is often caused as the result of the condition. "

"We all know that autism has had a huge impact on the psychopharm industry", so the name of the award was fitting. "Sales of atypical antipsychotics went from $0 to $16 billion a year since the start of the (autism) epidemic." see here .

(By the way Katie, isolation is not caused by autism, the isolation is a social construct created largely by the kind of ignorance displayed in the content of Autism NI's fact sheet above.) Further, it is very worrying if Autism NI has, as you say, been informing health professionals about treatment. Based on the the content noted above in this blog entry, and together with Autism NI's relationship with your company, I infer that professionals are being informed that people who have autism are sociopaths and ultimately, with the help of 'professionals' become  fodder for drug testing. Some treatment!


Let's remember that Glaxo Smithkline is the producer of many drugs including Paxil (Seroxat) prescribed for OCD and depression. Glaxo is/was embroiled in multi million dollar lawsuits regarding this drug and others and its failure to divulge the damaging impact of the drug on children . Children don't have to physically take this drug or others to be affected. Their pregnant mothers who have been prescribed SSRIs  like Seroxat can pass on the negative effects to their foetus.  Use of Paxil/Seroxat and other anti-depressant use during pregnancy has been linked to higher rates of autism. See here .


Why would an Autism Charity link itself or accept commendations from a large pharmaceutical company, particularly Glaxo Smithkline, the producer of SSRI's, vaccinations, etc that are of such contention within the worldwide autism community.

Over to you parents.



Friday 23 March 2012

Southern Health Trust - Preferential Treatment to Autism NI Charity?

Update 26 March 2012 

The SHSCT referred to in this blog entry has been amended. SHSCT has removed the link to Autism NI and replaced it with
http://www.familysupportni.gov.uk/

The link to the webpage regarding Autism Services in the Southern Trust area is:  http://www.southerntrust.hscni.net/services/1965.htm .






On perusing the SHSCT (Southern Health and Social Care Trust) website,  I came across their 'autism specialist intervention service' page. It all looked interesting. I read the whole page but when I came to the end of the page, I noticed that this Trust provides only one external weblink  regarding autism. That link is to the organisation 'AutismNI'.

I would like to say to the other 9 or more voluntaries and charities in Northern Ireland that work with autism related issues,  please contact the Southern Trust and advise them of their oversight. You are not receiving equitable publicity.

Why are children and families in the Southern Area being formally advised via an official Health Trust website, to go to just ONE charity. Out of all the links in the world, why is AutismNI the only external link on the page?

If you live in the following areas, you are in the Southern Area Trust:
Armagh, Banbridge, Craigavon, Dungannon, Newry & Mourne.


AutismNI is a company. Its sells many of its services, it requires that 'members' pay a membership fee, it also has a need to feed itself and this is done via membership fees, fundraising by families, etc. How much money would AutismNI receive from the hundreds of potential families being fed to it via this website? Who made the decision in the Southern Trust to give preferential treatment to this organisation? AutismNI had £400,000 (approx) in its coffers last year. Why were they selected by the Southern Trust as the only voluntary organisation to have its link on their website regarding autism? Was it because they are the 'richest' and by implication, the best?  (AutismNI touts its 20 year history as something to celebrate.
20 years of ineptitude, incalcitrance, mediocrity? )

The real question is what is AutismNI offering anyone in the Southern Area Trust? If you refer to AutismNI's own website they have minimal if any training going on, none of which is in the Southern area. Most of their 'training' you have to pay for and it looks like Trusts in general, are no longer funding the organisation, preferring their own in-house trainers and services.  A cursory look at the AutismNI website indicates not much is happening with this organisation at all except fundraising and hiring more fundraisers! 

It's all smoke and mirrors. If you live in the Southern Trust area and you have a newly diagnosed child where do you turn for help then? What information and support do you need?

SEN and Statementing help
DLA/carer's assessments advice
Access to the latest autism intervention strategies
Advice on schools
Diet/Nutrition/Health advice
Socialisation/Play/Communication opportunities?
Parent training in advocacy, understanding the Health and Education Systems?
Understanding the Implication of the SEN (Special Educational Needs) Review and what to do about it?

If you are a family requiring help with the above list, there are organisations all over Northern Ireland working in different areas providing help in these matters. Some of them are :

PEAT (Parent Educators as Autism Therapists)
ANNI  (Autism Network NI)
NAS  (National Autistic Society)
PRAXIS
Autism Initiatives
MENCAP
Barnardos (Forward Steps Programs)
Contact a Family
SENAC
Children's Law Centre


If you organise a charity, working with persons who have autism in the Southern Trust, you will now know why families, new to the diagnosis of autism, are not contacting you, they are potentially contacting only AutismNI because that is the only organisation that is being given publicity by the Trust's autism service. Shocking and totally unethical.

Nice cosy relationship between the Trust and Autism NI?  Quid pro quo relationship? What benefits are being enjoyed by each party in this twosome?

(by the way, Southern Trust, the webpage in question does not divulge the name or contact details of the Autism Coordinator for the area) These details should be on the website. I also note, that typing in 'autism' into the search facility of the main website page comes up with nothing. So, all in all, at least in my opinion, I find the 'autism specialist invervention service' page wanting and needing a complete overhaul.

For anyone who lives in the Southern Trust area, your Autism Coordinator is:

Lesley Waugh
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Co-Ordinator (Southern Trust)
11-17 Russell Drive, Lurgan
BT66 8HD
028 3831 2801
mailto:lesley.waugh@southerntrust.hscni.net

Contact Lesley if you, as a parent/carer are not happy with the service or provision your child is receiving from the Health Trust (eg. waiting times, SLT/OT/Carer's Assessments, Social Workers, etc)

 Lesley Waugh is the overall co-ordinator for autism services and provision in this area and is there to iron out your problems.



Tuesday 6 March 2012

"PASSIVE NI” New autism group in Northern Ireland seeking members

PASSIVE NI (Parents of 'Autistics' Sitting Still Inviting Vulgar Exploitation) convened it's first official meeting yesterday. Two parents, together with five children attended the meeting where tea and home-made biscuits were provided for a nominal charge.


Leavitt Twomey, a parent and social worker, hosted the inaugural meeting of the group in his Lisburn home. As chairman of the new group he hoped the membership would grow to raise enough money to pay for tea and biscuits for the entire year! “We already have 12 members including myself, my extended family and our treasurer. We hope to have many more soon. We count everyone as a member, so even if your child is 3 years old, he or she will be a member, we won't exclude anyone. (as long as they pay their membership fee)

If every parent and child in Northern Ireland who are affected by autism joined our group, including their grandparents and friends we would have tens of thousands of members! To that end, we have already printed 5000 membership forms for PASSIVE NI. It only costs £20.00 to join (£25. 00 for children under the age of 16 and unemployed/senior citizens)."


Leavitt brought the group's attention to the 'no paper' policy of the meetings and in the interest of the environment, no printed paper of any kind, including research papers, or printed information from other agencies or groups will be permitted or circulated. He said the only exception would be PASSIVE NI's membership application forms, sponsor sheets for the group's upcoming bungee jump and of course, kleenex tissues. 


“Mostly what parents want”, Leavitt said, “is for someone to listen to them. I am a social worker, so I know how the system works. Parents don't need to concern themselves with things they know nothing about. Further, our group is not about research or learning. We are here to cry on each others shoulders if we have to. Parents are happy to let others advocate for their children's future as long as they have someone to listen to them in the meantime. This is how it's always worked in Northern Ireland regarding autism and we have no desire to change that.”

PASSIVE NI knows that parents whose children have autism spend much of their time and energy caring for their children. “We know that time is precious to parents and that's why we have an array of fund-raising activities planned for parents that will take their minds off of autism. Parents will do anything to help their children. Fund-raising for PASSIVE NI is a great way for parents and their children to come together socially and to meet new people.


Fund-raising for PASSIVE NI will pay for tea and biscuits, Leavitt said, but he also hopes to employ two part-time professional fund-raisers very soon. Leavitt also hopes to quit his job as a social worker so he can work full time for PASSIVE. “We know that public awareness about autism is growing and we know how generous people in Northern Ireland can be when it comes to giving. I hope we will be able to raise enough money to pay for my full-time salary in the next six months! We are 'ambitious about autism!'


Albion Yurtale is a parent of two children, both of whom have autism. He is an accountant and is also the group's treasurer. He echoes Leavitt's optimism about the future of PASSIVE NI. “We are in the process of establishing new groups all over Northern Ireland. It will be my job to visit each of these groups and set up their accounting systems. Each of the groups will be required to carry out their own fund-raising. A stipend (85%) of all monies each group raises will be required to be given to PASSIVE NI's head office at Leavitt's home. The rest can be used by each group to carry out further fund-raising and to pay for tea, biscuits and tissues.

“Anyone who wishes to get involved with PASSIVE NI or who would like to start their own branch  is welcome to contact me at our premium telephone number :

0905 678910*
(* calls to the above number charged at £2.50 per minute. Mobile rates may vary. Please check with your provider)



PASSIVE NI
A shoulder to cry on


Thursday 1 March 2012

Autism Without Treatment

Below is a Youtube Video entitled Autism Without Treatment.

The content is self evident and disturbing. The language used in the video is not politically correct, (though that's the least of which is shocking about it).
It was created from footage in the 1960's.

Today, in Northern Ireland there are still people who have autism  who have lived most of their adult lives in "mental" hospitals.

Adults who suspect they have autism in Northern Ireland face an exceptionally long and protracted process to receive a diagnosis, much less help or understanding. They are often pigeon-holed into learning disability and/or mental health services, their autism misunderstood and ignored.