Caring about our future

Asperger, Anxiety and Hypnosis- Language Based Therapies and Communication

Foreword

After 13 years of working with people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (including High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger Syndrome (AS)), I have arrived at a place where I feel I am able, and where I need, to make a contribution. 

There are two specific areas that, in my view, are not well supported either in current practice or literature, and where I feel my small contribution may be useful.  The first applies to individuals who provide invaluable services to the community, in a range of capacities, and yet receive little or no training, and who often work for minimum wages, for instance, carers and classroom assistants.  The second applies to professional practitioners who may be specialists, but whose training contains sparse information on ASD, such as, counsellors/psychotherapists, police, social workers, and many other practitioners providing a community service.   

The content of this book is aimed primarily at those with ‘Asperger personalities’, and I use this title as a mark of respect for those individuals with whom I have been privileged to work, and who see themselves as different rather than disabled or impaired. 

What seems to be missing in current literature, is an approach to language based support, that would help both parents and professionals.  I believe a selection of practical strategies, presented in a way that everyone can use, could be extremely helpful. 

My hope is that this book will begin to address this situation and will also provide information that is equally useful for the practitioner and the academic – not to re-train them, but to enable them to adapt their existing knowledge constructively to work in a way that is more effective and rewarding for everyone concerned. 

‘When you try to apply psychodynamic theories to me and others with my disability I find it as offensive as when, a hundred years ago, people would look at, for instance, a mildly developmentally disabled boy and believe that he got that way because of excessive masturbation or believe that people with epilepsy were neurotic.  Society’s view of the individual and abnormal behaviour sometimes seems to develop very slowly, sometimes extremely rapidly.  Attitudes that we consider entirely outdated, may have been the prevailing ones until fairly recently.  For example, in the 1970s, homosexuality was still considered a psychological illness and even in the 1980s, there were deaf individuals in psychiatric care whose underlying disability had not been uncovered.  It is up to you to help us change the way autistic spectrum disorders are viewed.’

~ Gunilla Gerland 1998 Code of Good Practice ~

The Elephant in the Room: the Bovine Tuberculosis Bacillus (bTB)

  Once again the prospective cull of badgers is almost upon us!  Every society needs its lepers, for, at whom else can we throw stones, with collective justification?  I still feel very strongly that badgers are true victims in the circle of bTB in the countryside.  If, as I suspect, the bacillus has become more virulent and infective, we will see more and more species involved.  Already deer, alpacas, goats and cats have been affected by bTB, but a pandemic may just be waiting to happen.  Killing badgers will be a distraction and not a cure.

In order to eradicate, or at least reduce, the incidence of bTB we need to breed genetically resistant cattle and vaccinate widely.  Artificial insemination on a huge scale has opened the door to reduced bTB resistance in the national herd.  Cattle to cattle spread has encouraged more virulence inthe bacteria, which have gone back into the wildlife pool to infect more badgers.  These animals will themselves now hoave to evolve new resistance by the slow process of natural selection.

If modern farming practice has been responsible for BSE and thereby CJD, why not bTB as well?  I wonder how much denial the farming industry can exhibit?

Dr John

Equine Metabolic Syndrome

 Recently, i was invited to an evening lecture on Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS).  This is the condition that ppredisposes some ponies to laminitis, and is thought to be the result of downright obesity in our well cared for stock.  In their respective species, humans and horses may have the size of their abdominal girths as common predictors of metabolic syndrome.  Increased morbidity and premature mortality are associated with the condition, and certain people (probably some types of equine, too) seem to have a genetically inherited predisposition to metablolic syndrome, possibly as many as 10% of us.  These folkd ona chronically high proportion of dietary proteins get into avicious circle of resistance to their own body's insulin (Type 2 diabetes), an increase in abdominal and liver fat deposits and develop high blood pressure.  They can end up on pills for every feature.

Good hay may have 9-10% protein in its composition, but haylage may contain over 40%.  In my opinion humans feed themselves and their horses too much protein.  Indeed, our diets should be more balanced with carbohydrates and unsaturated fats.  I wonder if Tony Bevington could give us more insight into the culinary use fo starchy foods in the Far East?  We smallholders may need to look at our own diets, and could this be a topic for a winter discussion, perhaps?

Dr John

Conundrums - Quin Bosca Farm 2010

Balsam Blues

The yellow-flowered Touch-me-not Balsam, Impatiens noli-tangere, is a native balsam that grows in damp woods in mid-west Wales and the western edge of the Lake District.  Up and down British waterways its non-native cousin the Himalayan Balsam, Impatiens glandulifera,
has 'invaded' and pushed out native undergrowth flowers that support native invertebrates.  While we might be hard pushed to go out and find the British plant, the masses of pink/purple flowers on two metre high Himalayan Balsams are in huge swathes and even intruding into many corners of Cornwall.  However, it is a time of austerity in the bee world - so is the Himalayan Balsam a sinner or a saviour?

Impatiens glandulifera is an annual plant.  Rapid growth, profuse flowering and very effective seed dispersal demand huge resources from the environment, although in return these nutrients do go back into the ground in the winter.  During the flowering time, however, the plant produces copious amounts of nectar, and the heavy body weight and strong legs enable the bumble bee to reach the nectaries in the spur at the back of the flower.   In competitive terms the Himalayan Balsam is an Olympic champion, but would growing small clumps of well-controlled plants maintain viable propulations of bumble bees until the world wakes up to the plight of rapid loss of bee habitats?  Can we risk any further invasion that has been out of control for more than the fifty years with which I am familiar, or can we accept its 'naturalisation' as part of our ever-evolving landscape?

Dr John Bergin 

 

Depression, Dairy, and Artificial Sweeteners

Lead up: During WWII sugar was in short supply and sweets and chocolate were a luxury!!  You could only get these items with tokens from your Ration Book - when they were available.

Post WWII, the items that had been rationed became more plentiful, and we started to guzzle as much as we could grasp. 

Consequences: We started to give our children the things we had been deprived of, particularly sweet things, to the point that ortho-dontists became concerned at the state their teeth.

Rickets  was a common disorder amongst children lacking Vitamin D in their diets both before and during the war, to the extent that the government decreed that all schools should provide a daily third of a pint of milk for every primary school child (School Milk Act 1946).

Legacy: The messages 'sugar is bad for you' and 'milk is essential for your health' have become mantras in our food industries. 

The hidden combination of sugar and salt that makes food tastier is not something we are consciously aware of, neither do we recognise it as being unhealthy. 

The increase in obesity, and in our image-consciousness, with everyone wanting to be a celebrity and to fight the ageing process, has resulted in a massive industry for consumer goods that allegedly make us thin, beautiful, desirable, and successful.

In addition, our obsession with diets, as well as not wanting rotten teeth has resulted in a very lucrative  'sugar free' food industry.

So let's look at some of the facts that are just beginning to emerge:

1. Whilst we need vitamin D and Calcium, the Casein and Lactose in Cow dairy products can have an adverse effect on our emotional and physical well being.
2. Small amounts of raw cane sugar are good for us but artificial sweeteners are toxic.

Intolerance to dairy products is associated with

• Skin problems (soles of feet, dermatitis, spots, dry areas)
• IBS (irritable Bowel Syndrome)
• Depression
• Anxiety (Panic Attacks, Phobias, Palpitations)
• Mood swings (similar to Bi-Polar disorder)
• Behaviou problems in children (excess energy, lack of concentration, similar to ADHD)
• Confusion, saying the wrong words (similar to Alzheimer's symptoms0

Artificial Sweeteners are associated with:

• problems with vision
• confusion
• depression
• anxiety/ aggression / irritability
• bloating
• liver/kidney problems
• skin problems
• allergies
• chest pain
• hearing difficulties
• epilepsy
• and many more

The most common combination of sweeteners and milk is in coffee!

3. Caffeine is a stimulant - one cup of coffee means that caffeine is in your system for 12 hours. 

Caffeine is associated with:

• anxiety
• irritability
• aggression
• fatigue
• palpitations
• diarrhoea
• IBS
• skin problems

So what can you do?  Try a little test:

1. remove or reduce the amount of caffeine in your diet for 10 days
2. remove dairy products from your diet for 4 days (read labels carefully and check for: whey, lactose) - if necessary find an alternative source of vitamin D
3. remove all artificial sweeteners from your diet for 7 days and replace with raw cane sugar- check labels for E numbers
4. drink plenty - at least 2 - 3 litres (doesn't have to be water, but sugar free drinks are forbidden)

You may have some withdrawal effects, but after a week you should start to feel generally better - if not, then these ingredients may not be what is affecting you.

For more information contact: Dr Dawn Heather on dawn@dawnheather.com

NEW - Web Conference Training

As a provider (Honorary Lecturer for Peninsula Medical School, Consultant, Trainer and Therapist) situated in Cornwall (that long thin peninsula at the southern most end of the UK) I can appreciate the difficulty in getting to training venues, attending conferences etc, that are rarely located nearby.  I can really sympathise with those who have to travel, and possibly stay over - it's not just the time involved, it's the cost and the inconvenience.

However, all is not lost - with the emergence of new technologies, the world of business is becoming diverse. No longer are we restricted to operating in areas where our clients are located. Virtual offices are fast replacing the need for static geographical locations. 

The challenge of communication is met by web video and audio conferencing, with its myriad of applications not just in the world of business, but also in education and training, professional and social networking.  The versatility of this ubiquitous medium has facilitated communication between different continents and different time zones, at times which are convenient for each of us.  7pm for me is 1pm for Phoenix Arizona - I'm happy working evenings!

Of course, video web conferencing offers an obvious advantage over audio technology conferencing. With video web conferencing non-verbal communication, such as facial expressions, gestures etc are not lost.

I can see if you're nodding appreciatively or raising your eyes to the heavens. In addition, it lets me pace the interaction, gauging more effectively when listeners are getting tired or in need of a comfort break.

AND travel cost, time and inconvenience are no longer issues!!

To this end I am now making my courses available online, thus avoiding disappointing individuals in far flung corners:

COURSES AVAILABLE:

1. Asperger Personalities and Counselling

Counselling, Psychotherapy and other language-based therapeutic approaches can have adverse effects on the AS personality if the therapist is unaware of the particular way in which these individuals function.

·         When someone communicates through verbal language alone, 93% of communication is lost to her/him.

·         When someone perseverates on specific topics that are emotionally charged, then encouraging them to talk about these may serve only to escalate the anxieties.

Course Ref: AC001 

2. Offenders and Asperger Personalities

Many young people with AS personalities fall foul of the law. This can be extremely distressing for their families and friends, but understanding how the AS personality operates can help prevent these activities and their consequences.

• When someone has no real understanding of consequences, punitive or rehabilitative measures will have no effect. For instance, saying 'if you do that then this will happen to you' will not necessarily have the desired result.
• when a person views things from his/her own perspective, each desire becomes a compulsive act without pausing for thought.

Course Ref: CH003

3. Clinical Hypnosis and the Autism Spectrum

The self empowerment inherent in hypnotherapy has the potential to enable people with ASD, particularly those with Higher Functioning Autism or Asperger’s syndrome, to manage their own stress levels sufficiently well to avoid anxieties escalating, thereby improving social functioning.

Our courses encompass the following issues:

1.   the nature of the Autism spectrum – social construct, inheritance, impairment;

2.   the advantages of an individualised approach for these individuals vs standardised delivery of generic services;

3.   the contra-indications of using a language based therapy with individuals whose interpretation may be different from the majority – alternatives to language;

4.   facilitation of self-empowerment – autonomy and Rights.

This course can be broken down into smaller modules, suitable for trainees, if desired.

Prices negotiated according to:

·         Length of course

·         Numbers attending

·         Level of qualification

Course Ref: CSM004

Courses can be tailored to suit your needs, so if none of the above are suitable then please contact me and let's discuss what course content would be valuable for you.

Price guide: 6 hrs is the minimum and costs £350.00.  If a group is accessing this training please add an additional £10.00 for each additional Professional Career Development Certificate required.

The Advantages of Web-conference Training:

1.   Both Video and Audio web conference are time efficient and cost effective ways of delivering training to individuals or groups powerfully.

2.   Sessions are comparatively short and intensive without dominating your normal routine or interfering with existing commitments.

3.   We learn more in ‘small chunks’, so shorter training sessions mean that participants learn more effectively.

4.   Online access allows additional visual material to be incorporated eg PowerPoint presentations, images etc.

5.   Short tele-classes over time ensure that participants can complete additional assignments and practice in between class, which further embeds their learning.

The applications of video and audio web conference training are endless.  For instance, recording studios, audio production control rooms, and editing suites support distance learning in hundreds of multimedia classrooms around the world.  But you can also study in the comfort of your own home!

Another consequence of this technology is that groups of medical students can witness a new surgical procedure without setting foot into the operating room, and a single specialist can address groups of students, scattered throughout the world, simultaneously.

All you need is a pc, internet access, a webcam (optional), a mic (essential), either Skype (free download), or Messenger (free download), and you're all set.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Dr Dawn Heather DCHyp, Chartered Scientist

Tel:+ 44 (0)1209 613 653  Mob: +44 (0)7887 602 508

Email: dawn@dawnheather.com 

If EMR is a threat - what can we do?

One of the first things that we can do is to check the age and SAR value of our mobile phones:

Click here to check your Mobile  Specific Absorption Rates (SAR) now!

SAR (specific absorption rate) is a measurement of how much electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by body tissue whilst using a mobile phone. The higher the SAR the more radiation is absorbed.

In Europe, the European Union Council has adopted the recommendations made by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP Guidelines 1998). These recommendations set a SAR limit of 2.0 W/kg in 10g of tissue. The UK Government has endorsed this limit (following a report by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones) and the five mobile phone network operators have agreed to voluntarily adopt the ICNIRP guidelines for public exposure. All mobile phones on sale in the UK comply with this limit.

In the United States, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) requires all cell phones to comply with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) SAR limit of 1.6 W/kg in 1g of tissue.

SAR Values
If you are interested you can check your own phone's SAR value against the SAR values list.  However, it is worth mentioning that the SAR values shown are maximum values and in practice emissions from mobile phones will normally be lower than these figures. The emissions depend on factors such as distance from a transmission mast, whether the phone is used indoors or outdoors, how close the phone is held to the ear and other operating factors. It is important to realise that a phone with a high SAR rating may actually operate with much lower emissions in practice, and conversely a phone with a lower SAR rating may operate with emissions higher than a high SAR phone in practice.

You should not rely on a low SAR rating to guarantee your health.

Another point worth noting is that SAR values are not necessarily the most appropriate metric to measure the potential risk of phones in general (as cordless phones appear to be having just as pronounced effects as mobile phones despite having about one twentieth (5%) of their SAR value). It seems that some other characteristic (the nature of the pulsing signal perhaps?) is causing the increase in cancer, by a mechanism we have not yet discovered.

What can I do to reduce the risk?

Here are some precautionary measures you can take to reduce the risk to yourself and your family:

• Assess your environment levels of phone radiation - using a screening device eg Electrosmog - this device emits a sound whenever EMR is present - you should hear nothing at all as you go around your house - but you will be surprised I suspect.
• Do not use your phone more than necessary and keep your calls short
• Send a text instead of making a call
• Try to avoid using your phone if the signal strength is low - find a better location to make a call
• Try to use the phone outdoors rather than inside, or move close to a window to make a call
• Keep the phone (and particularly the aerial) as far as possible from your head
• Avoid touching the aerial while the phone is turned on, and keep the phone away from areas of the body such as eyes, testicles, breasts and internal organs
• Limit usage as much as possible if pregnant
• Switch off your phone when not in use
• You should be aware that if the phone is receiving a very strong signal from a base station, then power output can be reduced by up to 1000 times compared with when the phone has a poor signal

  Norwegian Study on How to Combat EMR - the Biophone

A Norwegian team have conducted ground breaking research into how mobile phones effect the body’s cells. In addition, the report also introduces a technology, in the form of a Biophone button, that appears to help combat those harmful effects of EM radiation.

  (For more information re: Biophone and Bioguard, please email me: dawn@dawnheather.com)

Electro Magnetic Radiation - What is it?

So what is it that we are worrying about?  What is Electro Magnetic Radiation (EMR)?

According to Andrew Goldsworthy (Radiation Research):
All modern electronics emit electromagnetic radiation. Radio waves, microwaves, visible light, and x-rays are all examples. Electromagnetic waves are produced by the motion of electrically charged particles. These waves are also called "electromagnetic radiation" because they radiate from the electrically charged particles. They travel through empty space as well as through air and other substances.

If I can’t see Electro-Magnetic radiation – how do I know where it is?
The internal circuits of personal computers generate EM fields. Also, cathode ray tube (CRT) displays generate EM energy over a wide band of frequencies. As do mobile phones. To prove this simply place a radio receiver of any kind and use it at the same time as you use your personal computer, or mobile phone and you will probably hear RF noise in the receiver that originates in the computer or from the phone.

What is EMI (electromagnetic interference)?
EMI (electromagnetic interference) is the disruption caused by an electromagnetic field. This is why mobile phones are not allowed to be used in hospitals, aeroplanes or petrol stations. The EM radiation emitted from them can interfere with sensitive equipment and poses a danger to safety.

EMI was traditionally used to describe how one EM field emitted from one electronic device affects the operation of another electronic device, EMI can now also be used to help explain the ways in which EM radiation effects living things.

How do I know if I am at risk?
A study was conducted by Lennart Hardell, a professor of oncology at university hospital in Orebro, Sweden. It was published in a British journal, Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

This study showed that the chance of developing a malignant brain tumor was roughly eight times higher for cell phone users in the Swedish countryside than in urban areas. The risk of developing any brain tumour was four times higher for country dwellers using mobile phones for five years or more, compared with those who did not use the devices.

The study suggests that mobile handsets in rural areas deliver a higher dose of electromagnetic radiation because they have to transmit a stronger signal to distant transmission towers, whereas towers are closer together in urban areas, resulting in phones transmitting a weaker signal.

They suggest that the risk may be greater in children whose thinner skulls and developing nervous system make them more vulnerable.

This suggests that we are in a no win situation - if you live near a base station you are at risk, if you live in a rural area you are at risk.

According to IMS research, the number of active base stations worldwide is set to pass 3 million units by the end of 2007.

Other reports:

The Daily Mail reported that “researchers found that long-term users had double the chance of getting a malignant tumour on the side of the brain where they held the handset”.

The stories are based on a review of studies that looked at the difference in mobile phone usage between people with and without brain tumours for more than a 10 year period.

The authors found 11 studies on people who had used mobile phones for more than a decade. Some of these showed that mobile phone use significantly increased the risk of some types of brain cancer while others did not.

Further perspective is given to this by data from Cancer Research UK, which suggests that “brain tumours” are rare and occur in less than seven in 100,000 people.

Contrary to newspaper reports, this review did not find that children are at greater risk of cancer from mobile use. The review did not look specifically at children and it would not be possible to come to this conclusion.

However, the Stewart Report, a government sponsored independent review, recommended in 2004 that the use of mobiles by children should be minimised as a precautionary measure. This recommendation is endorsed by the findings from the 2007 MTHR Report, which found that although there was no evidence that mobile phones were associated with adverse effects in adults, further research is still needed for their use by children, and for their long-term use by adults. Proposals for the MTHR 2 study that begins in 2008 include epidemiological studies of the risk of brain tumours in children.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The use of mobile phones over a long period of time can raise the risk for brain tumors, a new Swedish study said on Friday, contradicting the conclusions of other researchers. The Dutch Health Council, in an overview of research from around the world, last year found no evidence radiation from mobile phones and TV towers was harmful. A four-year British survey released in January showed no link between regular, long-term use of cell phones and the most common type of tumor. However, researchers at the Swedish National Institute for Working Life said they looked at the mobile phone use of 905 people between the age of 20 and 80 who had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and found a link.

What you need to know - Conventional View
•  A new Finnish study published online in the International Journal of Cancer compared 1,521 cellular phone users who received a glioma to 3,301 control participants without tumors.

• For people who have used a modern cellular phone for more than 2000 hours in their lifetime, the risk of getting a brain tumor rose by 270 percent.

• The study is considered the second that firmly correlates cell phone usage with an increased risk of developing certain brain tumors.

• The risk was highest among people under the age of 20.

• Older-style analog cell phones already have been shown as a source of brain tumors, but even with the development of digital cellular phones, the risk is still there.

• According to a scientist associated with the web site foodconsumer.org, the study results should not make readers assume that ten years of cell phone use will correlate to an immediate tumor, but that the tumor will show up later than that.

What you need to know - Alternative View
• Mobile phone manufacturers have tried to suppress the dangers of mobile phones by funding their own distorted research that concludes the phones are perfectly safe.
• All people -- but children and teens especially -- should be warned against using mobile phones due to the increased risk of brain tumors.

Bottom line
• Cell phone usage is shown to increase your risk of a brain tumor.

Do Mobile Phones pose a risk to our health?

Mobile phones are now an essential part of our everyday lives - helping us keep in touch - acting as a safety precaution - performing as business aids and so on - many of us would find it difficult to manage without them.  However, there is a great deal of evidence suggesting that they could be very bad for our health in the long term.

SO as a mobile, or even a cordless phone, user, what do you know about the link between Electro Magnetic Radiation and brain tumours?

How much are you at risk? 

Here is some information compiled from  a range of reliable sources that illustrates the size of the issue and the implications for many of us:

It is an accepted fact that one of the fastest growing communication industries is Mobile Phone production:  In 2006 Nokia, a major manufacturer, predicted that by 2009 there will be over 3 Billion mobile phone users worldwide. That may sound astonishing, but we are already well on the way to reaching that demographic in most of the developed world.

Worldwide, the percentage of households with mobile phones are:

Japan - 95%
South Korea - 94%
China 93%
France - 85%
Germany - 83%
UK - 79%

Mobile Internet Usage
With the additional technological advancement of being able to surf the net and email from our mobiles our overall usage has increased.  In April 2006, it was estimated that 28% of mobile users had accessed the Internet from their mobile phones, which is an increase from an estimated 25% in late 2004.

Whilst this number signals the increasing popularity, there is one fact that makes it more interesting.  The area of chief growth came from the sector comprising 35-54 year old males.  This demographic is not known to invest in technology fads, and their adoption of this technology indicates viable growth potential.

Mobile Internet usage has grown worldwide, with Japan in the lead. The percentages of mobile users accessing the Internet per country are estimated at:

Japan - 40%
UK - 29%
USA - 26%
South Korea - 26%
Canada 19%
Germany 18%
France - 18%
Mexico - 16%
China - 10%

UK Mobile Phones

According to the Oftel Residential Survey, 75 per cent of all adults in the United Kingdom owned or used a mobile phone in May 2003.  Twenty one per cent used their mobile as their main method of telephone communication, with 8 per cent of homes relying totally on a mobile, with no fixed line phone.

Increase in the demand for mobile phones has led to an increase in the number of base stations constructed all over the UK.  Whether living close to a base station provides a health risk is also under scrutiny at the present time:

The balance of evidence indicates that there is no general risk to the health of people living near base stations, on the basis that exposures are expected to be small fractions of guidelines.  However, gaps in scientific knowledge led the Stewart Group to recommend a precautionary approach to the use of mobile phones and base stations until more research findings become available. They added that in some cases people’s well-being may be adversely affected by insensitive siting of base stations.

So should we assume that if someone says it is safe, that we can ignore those who are saying it is not?   Who can we trust?

Mobile-phone antennae produce non-ionizing radio-frequency energy, the same kind of radiation used in microwave ovens.  RF energy of sufficient levels can harm living tissue by heating it to the point of causing damage. However, cell phones produce only six-tenths of a watt of RF energy, several orders of magnitude below that of a microwave oven.

The lawsuits contend that even this much radiation so close to a cell-phone user's head is potentially dangerous, charging that the manufacturers and service providers chose not to mitigate the risk by providing headsets with every phone.

Some more statistics on mobile phone usage

• over one trillion text messages were sent via mobile phones worldwide in 2005.
• One billion mobile phones will be sold in 2006 (812 million sold in 2005)
• The mobile phone is the most common electronics device in the world and considered the fourth window of content after television, the big screen and the personal computer.
• Asia Pacific is the world’s largest mobile phone market
• There are 409 million mobile phone users in China as of the end March 2006.
• There are more mobile users than landline customers in China.
• During the recent Chinese New Year season, 2.7 billion SMS-es were sent.
• About 50% of all handsets shipped around the world are cameraphones
• The two billionth mobile phone user worldwide was connected this past weekend and new users are signing up at the rate of 1000 per minute, says the GSM Association (GSMA). More than 72 million of these users are 3GSM customers.

Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSMA, says 'While it took just 12 years for the industry to reach the first billion connections. The second billion has been achieved in just two and a half years boosted by the phenomenal take up of mobile in emerging markets such as China, India, Africa and Latin America, which accounted for 82 per cent of the second billion subscribers.'

Results from present studies on use of mobile phones for 10 years give a consistent pattern of increased risk for acoustic neuroma and glioma. The risk is highest for ipsilateral exposure.

The latest study on brain tumours and phone use shows the biggest increase of any study so far, and is statistically significant in all areas. The new study on 905 malignant brain tumour cases shows a 1.7 to 5.9-fold increase in risk for long-term mobile phone and cordless phone users.

Increased risk was obtained for both cellular and cordless phones, highest in the group with more than 10 years use of mobile or cordless phones.

Delinquent - or just Different???

Is your child always in trouble? Does he or she find it hard to ‘fit in?’

Article re-printed with kind permission of Vitality Matters Magazine

“My daughter is very bright, but she doesn’t have any friends.
“My son has been excluded from school  - again.”
“I’m at my wits end.”

Does this sound like you?

When children or adults are perceived as being anti-social or odd, they are often isolated or bullied, and become desperately unhappy, and, in some cases, suicidal.

Families often experience high levels of stress trying to cope, and finding an appropriate support service can be an ongoing battle.
The causes, which can include autism and Asperger Syndrome, are not easy to diagnose.

So what happens?

Feeling powerless and of no worth always leads to extreme frustration, and this can result in a range of seemingly unrelated behaviours.

If you interpret rules and laws literally, you can land yourself in a lot of trouble.  If you are gullible, or don’t know when to stop, if you are passive, or insolent, these too can have serious consequences.

If you rely almost entirely on verbal interaction and have difficulty ‘reading’ situations and people, you might not pick up those social cues that will prevent you from ‘overstepping the mark’.

Being resistant to change can create extreme anxiety when faced with the unexpected.  Being logical, and lacking in empathy, can make someone appear inconsiderate, over-bearing, or uncaring.  This may not be true, but how would you know? 

Most of us learn about empathy and social rules in our early stages of development and we tend to take this for granted, which means that meeting people who function differently is something of a surprise, and leaves us feeling perplexed, slightly uncomfortable and even afraid. 

Behavioural Issues:
Eric said: ‘Don’t be stupid!’ so George punched him.
George was suspended from school for a week – this is his third school in two years. George’s uncontrollable behaviour is making him a social outcast.

Aaron has been brought home by the Police 6 times in the last year, he has driven a car without a licence, broken windows, got falling-down drunk, and has tried to kill himself.  Aaron is 17 years old.

Asperger Syndrome:
‘John doesn’t wash, he says he doesn’t see the need’ (parent)
John has a diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome and is in a part-time residential placement. Despite having freedom, most of John’s decisions are made for him, therefore, he exerts whatever control he can, ie deciding when he will wash.

David: ‘I want to have my own flat, I want to earn a living’. 
David is bright and a bit of a linguist, but his Asperger personality means that social rules are difficult for him.  He can’t fathom why people won’t employ him, and why he can’t do the things he wants to.

‘Oscar wants to be independent.  He does have lots of skills, but the assessments say he is unemployable….’ (Oscar’s Mum)
Many individuals wish to be independent, to earn a living and to have their own accommodation, but the chances of achieving these goals seem slim.  There are also those who are ‘let go’ from their jobs because of their behaviours.

So what can you do?

Personal Empowerment Training (PET) is training for life.  PET involves intensive work with you and your family, inspiring you to move towards your goals using strategies that are acceptable, appropriate, and manageable for all of you.

PET works in close collaboration with Mental Health teams, Social Services, Teachers/Trainers, as well as any independent Service Providers, to ensure that everyone is ‘singing from the same hymn sheet’.   We also provide diagnosis and assessment for Asperger Syndrome.

Working with you in your home is much more comfortable and achieves amazing results in a very short space of time, which also makes the programmes cost effective.  An all round approach of boosting morale, viewing all options, providing incentives, and making the steps achievable, can completely turn your life around, and that of your family too.

So what does PET involve?

Step 1:  A home assessment, to identify your support needs - in your own surroundings, to avoid the stress of coming to an unfamiliar centre, and interacting with strangers – no matter how pleasant and accommodating they may be.
This keeps everyone as calm as possible. When people are less anxious they present a clearer picture of their life styles and the difficulties they, and their families, experience. 

Step 2:  A combination of therapeutic and behavioural techniques are introduced. Functional Analysis identifies the purpose of unwanted behaviours; Clinical Hypnosis helps reach deeper levels of consciousness; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy; Psychoanalysis; Strategies for Coping, and behaviour shaping; all combine to boost self-esteem, re-frame negative beliefs, resolve undesirable behaviours and sustain motivation. 

Step 3:  We match skills, behaviour and desires to help you identify your aptitudes.  We then investigate the available options, with a hefty dose of lateral thinking.
You create your own portfolio, listing your goals.  Each goal is broken down into very small achievable steps, you tick off each step as it is completed, which gives you a record of all your achievements.
This acts as a positive reinforcement when morale dips, as well as a Personal/Professional Development Plan.)

Step 4:  Support Programmes involving: identification of goals; time management; reframing (seeing things from a different angle); recognising and stopping perseverative behaviour (the cyclic tirades on one specific topic); as well as relaxation processes. 

‘We’ve seen such a difference in him, his attitude has completely changed after just two days’ (Residential Service, Norfolk)

Personal Empowerment Training
Dr Dawn Heather DCHyp
Chartered Scientist
Tel: 01209 613 653
Mob: 07887 602 508
www.dawnheather.typepad.com
email: dawn@dawnheather.com