Surviving Prostate Cancer Could Happen To You

Some of Australia’s biggest TV, music, media and sports stars have come together to front a major prostate cancer awareness campaign that offers clarity about prostate cancer and testing. The campaign has been developed to provide men with clear advice on prostate cancer risk by encouraging men to discuss their individual risk and testing options with their doctor.

Well-respected actors, musicians, sportsmen and media commentators including Bert Newton, Steve Waugh, Gyton Grantley, Kirk Pengilly, Adam Spencer, Simon Westaway, and Marcus Graham, have dedicated their time to appear in a series of television commercials, radio commercials and online videos with the aim of reducing confusion some men feel about prostate cancer and prostate cancer testing. The television commercials were developed by award winning director, Paul Middleditch, of Plaza Films and Josh Whiteman, of The Host Agency. The campaign was shot entirely at The Wiggles Studios, in Sydney and edited by Peter Whitmore, of The Editors.

The campaign has been launched as new research shows the majority of men recognise prostate cancer as the most important men’s health issue (83%), but are seeking further information about the benefits of testing for prostate cancer risks and treatment options.

Early detection is the key to enabling better outcomes and potential cure of prostate cancer. Accordingly, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) recommends that men at 50 with no family history of prostate cancer, and men at 40 with a family history, should discuss prostate cancer and assess their personal risk each year with their doctor. If deemed necessary, a combination of both a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and a Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) is recommended.

Please talk to the men in your life ... husbands, partners, brothers, fathers and get them to go to their doctor and talk about their health.

Stephen Wiltshire - Sydney

From 19 April, Stephen Wiltshire will draw an image of Sydney, which he will do from memory following a climb up Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Stephen has been invited by Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) to coincide with Autism Month. The public is invited to watch Stephen at work, and to see a collection of his earlier works on display at Customs House, Circular Quay in Sydney, from 19 to 25 April 2010.

Venue: Customs House, Circular Quay
Admission: Free (donations welcomed)
Time: Customs House is open from 8am - Midnight - the exhibition will be open to the public at all times until April 25.

Each Day is a Gift

For me the last few months as we traversed through the maze of diagnosis for my son and cancer treatment for one of our cats I have found that some days I have felt that I have just been working one day at a time. However I have also found strength in stories like this. I found this originally at Inspirational Words of Wisdom. I hope that this might be helpful for someone else ...

Each Day Is A Gift by Author Unknown

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... just wait."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged, it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away, just for this time in my life."

She went on to explain, "Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."

And with a smile, she said, "Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 

1. Free your heart from hatred. 

2. Free your mind from worries. 

3. Live simply.

4. Give more. 

5. Expect less."

One per cent children suffer from autism in U.S.

A report by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that one per cent children in the U. S. had autism in 2006. CDC’s most recent data show that between one in 80 and one in 240 children with an average of one in 110 have an ASD. These results reflect data collected by CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network in multiple communities throughout the U.S. in 2006.

Estimates are based on health and education records from participating communities, which includes eight percent of the U.S. population of eight year olds. All children in the studies were eight years old because previous research has shown that most children with an ASD have been identified by this age for services.

Experts also stated that boys were more affected by autism than girls. One in 70 boys was diagnosed with the disorder, compared with one in 315 girls. But reports also stated that girls diagnosed with autism had more severe symptoms.

Catherine Rice, a CDC behavioral scientist who worked on the new report, stated that autism might actually not be increasing but it depends on how well records are kept.

Personally ... if it is an increase or even if we are just gettig better at identifying it I think we need to do more in our communities to support people on the spectrum and their families. This includes early invention but also services for life. This is a life long condition that does not disappear after the age of 8. We need to do more .. we must do more.

Autism & iPhone

Disclaimer: Before I start I should point out I am a technology junkie and have worked in technology companies for the last 10 years. I also love my iPhone and would be lost without it. However I am in no way endorsing any of these products below and have no affiliations with any of the creators.

I was looking through the Apple iTunes Store while feeding my daughter. I typed in Autism just to see what would come up. I was very surprised at the number of applications that had some reference to Autism. The applications seem to fit into a few buckets

• Pre-diagnostic tools
• Games/Tools to help children on the spectrum
• Tools to help Parents/Therapiset record information
• Information & News on Autism
  
• Autism Awareness

A couple I found interesting ..

Pre-Diagnostic Tools - Autism M- Chat
Autism M-Chat is based on the the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT™; Robins, Fein, & Barton, 1999) M-CHAT is a validated tool for screening toddlers between 16 and 30 months of age to assess the risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

However it should be noted that caution must be used, given that the current scoring system is designed to maximize sensitivity (i.e., identify as many children with autism spectrum disorders as possible), which results in a number of false positive cases (i.e., children who will not be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, although they fail the M-CHAT).

When thinking about buying this tool, that it's main advantages are that it scores the test and can email it t a specified location ... as you can download the test yourself (to score manually) from web for free.

Cost AU$1.19

Games/Tools to help children on the spectrum - Kindergarten.com ABA Games and Tools
They have about 24 games and they look like alot of fun. I have only played a few of the games but they look like a great idea to keep kids on the spectrum engaged while teaching some basic skills. All of the games have been created using behavioural techniques that are based on the principals of "Applied Behaviour Analysis" (ABA) using a "Verbal Behaviour" Technique.

One I did play was Which Does Not Belong. This application introduces the child to the negative form “NOT” which requires some expanded thinking. The application provides the user with 4 images per page, and asks which one does not belong. Such as grapes, strawberry, orange and a chocolate cupcake. Another example may be three chairs and a stool or a police man, a firefighter, a construction worker and a young girl.

One great thing also about these games is that they are FREE during April in honour of Autism Awareness Month.

http://kindergarten.com/

Summary
The tools for parents and professionals look interesting but I am not sure if they are the most appropriate medium (and you can also get alot of the same information for free through other sources) ... And for the games ... I am wondering how many people let their kids play with their iPhone ... or have given their child a iPhone or iPod Touch. However as they are free for the month of April ... I think they are worth downloading and I will be happy if I am proved wrong.

Don't Palm Us Off - Sumatran Tigers and Palm Oil

Sumatran Tigers are losing their habitat – forests are being cleared to make way for unsustainable farming and forestry including oil palm plantations.

To save precious animal habitat, palm oil must come from sustainable farms. As a first step, sign the Taranga Zoo petition to call for the labelling of palm oil on food products, so that we can work towards a sustainable solution.

Did you know that palm oil is an ingredient in one in four food products? And that most of the world's supply comes from Indonesia and Malaysia - including the rainforest home of the endangered Sumatran Tiger.

Check out the Taranga Zoo website for more ideas on how you can help to get better labeling on food products and help animals like the Sumatran Tiger.

Don't forget that Taranga Zoo is a great day out for kids of all abilities. Studies show animal therapy can truly help kids with special needs. That's why a trip to the zoo can be quite rewarding. But if you have a child with autism, a day at the zoo may present some challenges. My secret to zoo success is do not try and do everything in one day. There is just too much to see and do. My family are Zoo friends and we can come back as many times during the year as we like. There are also some great places within the zoo that you can go to give both your kids and yourself a break including the Kidzoo.

AutismGames and WhizKid Games.

AutismGames.com.au is a site for parents and teachers of children with moderate to severe autism. The information on this site describes the objectives of the games found on WhizKidGames a games portal for autistic children. The games are a free resource that aim to help autistic children to develop independent living skills. Each game has keywords such as 'special activity' that are reinforced so that in-game learning can be transferred into real world situations.

Autism Games is a collaboration between Swinburne University's Multimedia Design Program, Bulleen Heights Specialist School, Swinburne Autism Bio-Research Initiative (SABRI) and the National eTherapy Centre (NeTC). Created by more 80 students 8 lecturers and 10 autism specialists, the project represents more than 16,000 hours of research and development.

This site is fantastic and I think can be enjoyable way to reinforce skills with kids in enjoyable way


http://www.autismgames.com.au/

Australian Autism Handbook - A must read

This book was written for all those who care for or work with children who have an autism spectrum disorder. It has a specific relevance for families whose children have and in the process of being diagnosed or have recently been diagnosed.

The Australian Autism Handbook is first and foremost a useful book, a comprehensive guide to what autism spectrum disorders are and what they are not. It has chapters on early intervention, useful therapies and schooling (click on The Book above to see full list of chapters). The Australian Autism Handbook is both informative and reliable, it is steeped in science but also deeply personal.

The Resource and Services Guide has sections covering federally-funded support and state-by-state listings. Information includes: what benefits can be claimed; what can Medicare offer; where to find reliable, unbiased information; where to buy resources to help children learn

I think that the book is a fabulous resource and should be provided to parents when Autism is first raised by their doctor or Pediatrician as a possible condition for their child as they wait for diagnostic services. The books gives a great introduction to the condition and what options are available for intervention with great insights from parents with children that have been there and ones that are older to give you an insight into what might possibly evolve. It also a great comfort during this difficult time and provides great hope for the future.


Links

• Australian Autism Handbook Website
• Free Sample Chapters
  
• Authors Blog

Building Foundations DVD - Autism: Your Child, Your Family

Building Foundations is a 30-minute DVD and detailed manual for families who have recently had a child diagnosed with autism. It features families and service providers talking about their experiences. It provides information about autism to families and the people who work with their children and shows some simple strategies parents can use to help their child.

The information includes:

• What is autism?,
  
• After the diagnosis
  
• Helping communication
  
• Play and social interaction
• Managing behaviour

To acccess your copy go to the Aspect website or call 7800 069 978 (02 8977 8377)