[PHOTO - The Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment
Research at NUI Galway, in partnership with Autism Speaks and The American
Ireland Fund, Launch the First International Autism Conference in
Ireland]
GALWAY, IRELAND, JANUARY 12, 2012
(FOR PHNO) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - FROM AUTISM SPEAKS,
Brown Lloyd James Katie Hill – 212.486.7070; katieh@brownlloydjames.com
IRISH HEALTH MINISTRY ANNOUNCES MAJOR FUNDING INCREASE TO SERVICES FOR
CHILDREN WITH AUTISM AT IRELAND'S FIRST INTERNATIONAL AUTISM CONFERENCE
Irish Minister for Health James Reilly Allocates €1m in
Additional Funding for Autism
GALWAY, IRELAND (January 13, 2012) –
Irish Minister for Health Dr. James Reilly (photo) today
announced the allocation of €1m in additional funding to address the needs of
children with autism this year, with a further €1m following over each of the
next two years - €3m in total. His announcement came at the conclusion of
Ireland's first international autism conference, "Autism Spectrum Disorder: From
Clinical Practice to Educational Provision," which took place from January 12 to
January 13, 2012, and was convened by The Irish Centre for Autism and
Neurodevelopment Research, at NUI Galway, in partnership with Autism Speaks, The
American Ireland Fund, and Galway University Foundation.
"For school age children with disabilities, including autism, access to
therapy supports contributes significantly to the extent to which they can
engage in school life and with the curriculum. In this context, additional
funding is being allocated to address existing waiting lists and ensure that
children with autism receive the supports they require to achieve their full
potential," said Dr. Reilly.
An estimated 1 in 100 children in the UK is on the autism spectrum, or 1%,
which is what researchers suggest is the global prevalence.
Over 600 international autism experts, researchers, healthcare professionals,
teachers, and parents gathered at the conference to discuss best practices from
diagnosis to intervention and associated medical conditions. Experts presented
the latest research on early signs of autism and the use of medication for
people on the autism spectrum.
Experts that attended included Professor Connie Kasari, Ph.D., from the
Centre for Autism Research and Treatment at UCLA; Professor Cathy Lord, Ph.D.,
Director of the Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital
Institute for Brain Development; Professor Richard Foxx, Ph.D., of Penn State
University; and Professor Helen McConachie, Ph.D., of Newcastle University.
"This is a tremendous example of transatlantic cooperation to tackle one of
the most demanding and complex issues affecting millions of families worldwide,"
said Kieran McLoughlin, CEO of the American Ireland Fund. "The partnership
between Autism Speaks and NUI Galway and the willing support of our donors is a
wonderfully tangible expression of the depth of Irish-American relations."
Virginia Bovell, founding parent of the Tree House School in London, spoke
about her longtime campaign for autism services in England and experience
raising her son Danny, who is on the autism spectrum, in the context of the
wider policy and intellectual environment.
Ms. Bovell, who received her masters degree and is currently studying for a
doctorate in medical ethics and law, suggested future social policy goals should
include 1) access to relevant and appropriate support will be available to all,
without struggle, and across the lifespan 2) developments in autism research and
practice will be informed and led by a partnership of stakeholders,
professionals and researchers.
"Having a child with autism has been an amazing journey, and it's a real
pleasure and privilege to share some of that at this conference at NUI Galway.
The work of the Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research is truly
exciting and I am sure will help many people directly and by inspiring others,"
said Ms. Bovell. "Setting up Tree House and seeing it grow over time has been a
big adventure, I'm just thrilled to know that we are all – wherever we live –
dedicated to making lives better for people with autism and their families."
The conference unveiled the latest autism research covering early diagnosis,
practical solutions, clinical management, education and adult service provision.
Adrian Jones, a parent of an autistic child who is a board member of Autism
Speaks and of the American Ireland Fund welcomed the conference. "Our family has
been dealing with autism since we got Liam's diagnosis 10 years ago, during
which time we have been fortunate to benefit from the insight and guidance of
experts in the field," Jones said. "We've seen the impact that Autism Speaks has
had in generating awareness throughout the U.S., and the tangible benefits to
families of its many programme initiatives. We hope the insights of global
experts at this conference will accelerate improvements in care for children and
adults with autism."
Parents of children with autism participated in workshops on early
intervention, caring for children on the autism spectrum, new technologies and
practical strategies for schools.
President of NUI Galway Dr. Jim Browne said the conference highlighted NUI
Galway's commitment to autism research and underscored the translational
dimension of the university's work. "With over 600 parents, professionals and
support workers present to learn from best international practice, we are
bringing our research-led teaching from the clinic to classroom and back again,"
Browne said. "This conference will be an important landmark for many families
affected by autism."
The Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research at NUI Galway will be
officially launched on Friday, February 24, 2012.
For further information on the conference, or to register, visit www.conference.ie.
About NUI Galway NUI Galway* is one of Ireland's foremost centres of academic
excellence. Over 17,000 students undertake an extensive range of studies at the
University, which is renowned for the quality of its graduates. NUI Galway is a
research-led University with internationally recognised expertise in areas
including Biomedical Science and Engineering, Web Science, Human Rights, Marine
Science, Energy and Environmental Science, Applied Social Sciences and Public
Policy, and Humanities, in particular literature, theatre and Irish Studies.
For more information visit www.nuigalway.ie or view all NUI Galway
news here.
*The University's official title is National University of Ireland, Galway.
Please note that the only official abbreviation is NUI Galway.
The Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research is a centre of
excellence in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related neurodevelopment
disorders. ASD affects 1:100 people and the diagnosis involves difficulties in
communication, forming relationships, developing language and in using abstract
concepts.
The lack of services in Ireland places an enormous burden on parents. The
mission of The Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopment Research is
dedicated to ensuring improvements for individuals with ASD and their families;
through research, education and improving services.
NUI Galway offered an MSc program in Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in
2006. Since its inception, 55 students have graduated, and are working
throughout Ireland as autism treatment specialists, family support workers, and
consultants to schools and educational programs that serve children with autism
diagnoses.The University now offers a PhD programme in ABA, training graduates
to become practitioners, researchers and educators.
About Autism Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex
developmental brain disorders – autism spectrum disorders – caused by a
combination of genes and environmental influences. These disorders are
characterized, in varying degrees, by social and behavioral challenges, as well
as repetitive behaviors. An estimated 1 in 110 children in the U.S. is on the
autism spectrum – a 600 percent increase in the past two decades that is only
partly explained by improved diagnosis.
About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the world's largest autism science and advocacy
organization. Since its inception in 2005, Autism Speaks has made enormous
strides, committing over $160 million to research and developing innovative new
resources for families.
The organization is dedicated to funding research into the causes,
prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism
spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and
their families. In addition to funding research, Autism Speaks has created
resources and programs including the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network,
Autism Speaks' Autism Genetic Resource Exchange and several other scientific and
clinical programs. Notable awareness initiatives include the establishment of
the annual United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day on April 2,
which Autism Speaks celebrates through its Light it Up Blue initiative.
Also, Autism Speaks award-winning "Learn the Signs" campaign with the Ad
Council has received over $300 million in donated media. Autism Speaks' family
resources include the Autism Video Glossary, a 100 Day Kit for newly-diagnosed
families, a School Community Tool Kit, a Grandparent's Guide to Autism, and a
community grant program. Autism Speaks has played a critical role in securing
federal legislation to advance the government's response to autism, and has
successfully advocated for insurance reform to cover behavioral treatments in 29
states thus far, with bills pending in an additional 10 states. Each year Walk
Now for Autism Speaks events are held in more than 80 cities across North
America.
To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.
About the Co-Founders
Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob
Wright (photo), the grandparents of a child with autism. Bob Wright is
Senior Advisor at Lee Equity Partners and Chairman and CEO of the Palm Beach
Civic Association.
He served as Vice Chairman of General Electric; and as the Chief Executive
Officer of NBC and NBC Universal for more than twenty years.
He also serves on the board of directors of the Polo Ralph Lauren
Corporation, Mission Product, EMI Group Global Ltd., and AMC Networks Inc., and
is a Trustee of the New York Presbyterian hospital. Suzanne Wright is a Trustee
Emeritus of Sarah Lawrence College, her alma mater.
Suzanne has received numerous awards, the Women of Distinction Award from
Palm Beach Atlantic University, the CHILD Magazine Children's Champions Award,
Luella Bennack Volunteer Award, Spirit of Achievement award by the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine's National Women's Division and The Women of Vision
Award from the Weizmann Institute of Science.
In 2008, the Wrights were named to the Time 100 Heroes and Pioneers category,
a list of the most influential people in the world, for their commitment to
global autism advocacy. They have also received the first ever Double Helix
Award for Corporate Leadership from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the NYU Child
Advocacy Award, the Castle Connolly National Health Leadership Award and the
American Ireland Fund Humanitarian Award.
In the past couple of years the Wrights have received honorary doctorate
degrees from St. John's University, St. Joseph's University and UMass Medical
School.
About the American Ireland Fund
The American Ireland Fund is a philanthropic network that supports worthy
causes in Ireland and around the world. Our mission is to be the largest network
of friends of Ireland dedicated to supporting programs of peace and
reconciliation, arts and culture, education and community development throughout
the island of Ireland. Founded in 1976, The Worldwide Ireland Funds currently
operate in 12 countries and have raised over $380 million for more than 1,200
outstanding organizations.
The Worldwide Ireland Funds have launched the Promising Ireland Campaign to
raise $100 million by the end of 2013 on behalf of Irish charities. Charities
across the island of Ireland are experiencing an increased demand for their
services at a time of a major reduction in resources. The Campaign's title -
Promising Ireland - reflects The Worldwide Ireland Funds' pledge to these groups
as well as a belief in Ireland's future.
Speakers
Connie Kasari, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychological Studies in
Education and Psychiatry at UCLA, where she is the Principal Investigator for
several multi-site research programs, including the Characterizing Cognition in
Nonverbal Individuals with Autism Intervention network by Autism Speaks.
She received her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
was a NIMH postdoctoral fellow at the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA. Since
1990 she has been on the faculty at UCLA where she teaches both graduate and
undergraduate courses, and has been the primary advisor to more than 30 PhD
students. She is a founding member of the Center for Autism Research and
Treatment at UCLA and has been actively involved in autism research for the past
25 years, leading projects under the CPEA, STAART, and Autism Centers of
Excellence programs from NIH. Her current research focuses on developing
targeted interventions for early social communication development in at risk
infants, toddlers and preschoolers with autism, and peer relationships for
school aged children with autism.
She is involved in several randomized controlled trials, with her most recent
work involving multi-site studies for interventions aimed at underserved and
under-represented populations of children with autism. She has published widely
on topics related to social, emotional, and communication development and
intervention in autism. She is on the treatment advisory board of the Autism
Speaks Foundation, and regularly presents to both academic and practitioner
audiences locally, nationally and internationally.
Catherine Lord, Ph.D. is the Director of the Institute for Brain
Development, a new autism center at New York Presbyterian Hospital, a
collaborative effort among Weill-Cornell Medical College, Columbia College of
Physicians and Surgeons and the New York Center for Autism, a not-for-profit
autism advocacy organization. Previously she was the director of the University
of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC) and the Urie
Bronfenbrenner Collegiate Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Pediatrics.
She is a clinical psychologist who has worked in Canada and the U.K. and at
various universities in the U.S., including the TEACCH program. She was involved
in developing standardized diagnostic instruments for ASD [the Autism Diagnostic
Observation Schedule (ADOS), an observational scale, and the Autism Diagnostic
Interview – Revised (ADI-R), a parent interview]. She was the Chair of the
Committee on Effectiveness of Early Intervention in Autism for the National
Research Council and is currently on the DSM-V Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Committee.
In her current, as well as previous positions, she provides clinical
evaluations, carries out and consults to various interventions and trains
university students and professionals in the diagnosis of ASD.
Most recently, she has participated in randomized studies of four preschool
interventions: the Early Start Denver Model (Rogers & Dawson), the Early
Social Interaction study (Wetherby & Wood), a focused supplemental
intervention targeting joint attention/symbolic play (Kasari), and a pilot test
of a new home-based intervention designed to better meet the needs of families
with very few resources.
Other recent or current projects include the development of a toddler ADOS
module and a more efficient diagnostic interview; analysis of behavioral data
from a genetic repository for families with a child with autism and a typical
child; the development of a measure of spontaneous, functional language in
children with ASD and other language disorders; and a longitudinal study of
children from North Carolina and Chicago followed from age 2 who are now in
their twenties.
Virginia Bovell has an 18-year old son with autism and severe learning
difficulties. He attends the 6th form of Tree House School, which is run by the
charity Ambitious about Autism (formerly the TreeHouse Trust – which she helped
found, together with other parents).
Virginia has been active in awareness-raising and lobbying, hoping to make
autism a higher priority among policy-makers and opinion-formers. She has
participated in a range of UK Government working parties and was one of the
Expert Advisers on the Lamb Inquiry into parental confidence in the Special
Educational Needs system. She has been a trustee for the NAS and remains a NAS
Regional Councillor for Greater London.
Before all of this she worked as a researcher at London School of Economics.
In recent years she has completed an MA in Medical Ethics and Law and is
enrolled for a doctorate at Oxford to research the ethical issues around 'cure'
and 'prevention' of autism. She is a member of the UK Autism Rights Movement.
Gillian Baird is Professor of Paediatric Neurodisability at King's
College London and a consultant paediatrician at Guy's & St Thomas Trust,
where she works with a multidisciplinary team in diagnosis and management of a
range of neurodevelopmental disabilities in children and young people.
Her research interests are in autism, language disorders and cerebral palsy.
She is vice president of Afasic and the NAS , chair of the british academy of
childhood disability and on the neurodevelopmental working groups of both the
DSM and ICD.
####
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
