Inclusive Physical Activity

The second edition of Inclusive Physical Activity is an excellent resource for physical activity practitioners or students preparing to work with diverse populations in schools, fitness facilities, community recreation sites, and sport programs. This text shows how to provide optimal programming for all individuals—regardless of capability—so they can be healthy and active throughout the life span. Inclusive Physical Activity, Second Edition, can help you

• provide well-designed and appropriate physical activity for individuals of all abilities,
• increase opportunities for meaningful participation in lifelong physical activity, and
• facilitate physical activity to increase health and and wellness for individuals with disabilities.

Want to check it out? Email us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Intimate Relationships and Sexual Health

Looking for a curriculum on teaching sexuality and sexual health to adolescents and adults on the spectrum? A new book by our own staff at the Indiana Resource Center for Autism might be just what you're searching for. Intimate Relationships and Sexual Health is a "comprehensive and extensively researched curriculum (with a companion CD)" that will help you teach "anatomy and reproduction along with lessons that teach aspects of social judgment such as dating, relationship building and decision making."

Check out this book by emailing us at cedir@indiana.edu or use worldcat.org to find it in a library near you.

Mobile App Monday - Healthy Habits

Using 120 colorful images, this app helps children develop healthy habits, including those children who actually first need to identify those habits as skills. The verbal praise built into the app helps reward and reinforce appropriate responses.

Learn more about this app at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id363485741?mt=8#

Dental Visits

Have a child on the spectrum who needs to visit the dentist? The folks at the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, in collaboration with Riley Child Development Center, Easter Seals Crossroads, and the Sonya Ansari Center for Autism at Logan, have put together a new article on what to expect before your first visit. The article includes suggestions on preparing your child for the visit, sensory issues, communication, and more. Several resources are also located at the end of the article.

To read the entire article, go to: http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/index.php?pageId=3384

For kids

Need a website to help explain autism to kids? Want it in language that's easy for them to understand? Check out kidshealth.org. This site has lots of topics on health-related issues for kids, teens, and parents broken out into age-appropriate groups. The parent's site lists all of the articles for each topic with P, T, or K to indicate which article can be found in each age group.

The article on autism for kids talks about what it means to have Autism, how it's treated, and more. Additional topics related to autism can be found at the bottom of the screen. You can even sign up for a weekly newsletter.

Is your doctor prescribing Celexa?

If he is, you should find a new one. A study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry reveals that the antidepressant Celexa, which doctors sometimes prescribe to children with autism because it has been shown to alleviate repetitive behaviors in individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder, is no more effective than a placebo. Furthermore, the drug puts children at risk for dangerous side effects.

The study was headed by a researcher at Seattle Children's Hospital in conjunction with six other medical centers. 149 children with ASDs enrolled in the study were administered either Celexa (a.k.a. citalopram) or a placebo for twelve weeks. One third of the children taking the antidepressant showed signs of improvement in repetitive behaviors. However, the placebo was shown to be slightly more effective, without the debilitating side effects of dry mouth, shakiness, and drowsiness.

The primary author of the study noted that doctors and parents experimenting with prescriptions may be impressed by the 33% improvement, and may continue the medication inappropriately because it appears to be working. This research shows that there is no scientific evidence of effectiveness, and the use of this medication for ASDs should be discontinued immediately. You can read a summary of the article in the LA Times.

Taking Care of Myself

Taking Care of Myself: A Hygiene, Puberty and Personal Curriculum for Young People with Autism by Mary Wrobel is an excellent source for teaching a child with autism about hygiene, health, development and much more. In Taking Care of Myself you will find steps for developing a successful hygiene programs, chapters on hygiene, health, modesty, growth and development, menstruation, when it's okay and not okay to touch, and more. Within each chapter are easy to read sections such as, What's Dirty?, Going to the Doctor, People Need Privacy and Male Development which add to the lessons.

Interested in this book? Indiana resident? Contact us!

Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library!