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Students at Harwood Center participate in structured playtime where they learn how to play appropriately by sharing and taking turns. |
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Linking Pieces of the Autism Puzzle
In 1943, Leo Kanner, MD, classified a group of children who were withdrawn from human contact as having early infantile autism. Today the definition of autism is expanded to include a range of pervasive developmental disabilities known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The spectrum ranges from classic autism (non-verbal and withdrawn) to higher functioning forms characterized by distinctive social skills and play such as Asperger syndrome.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE |
Caption: A student at Harwood Center for Developmental Disabilities undergoes Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) |
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New Program Provides More ABA Therapists
Hearing the words “your child is autistic” can be devastating news for parents. But once that diagnosis is made, the often bigger challenge is finding therapists who can help treat their child’s symptoms.
Scientists don’t yet understand what causes autism, a complex neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Since it is considered a spectrum disorder, it can vary widely in its severity and symptoms, though most autistic children have a strong need for routine and predictability, according to Kathryn McVicar, MD, a pediatric neurologist and associate professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center
JANE SCHNEIDER |
Photo courtesy of Harwood Center for Developmental Disabilities |
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Researchers Work to Unravel Autism on Multiple Fronts
If you don’t believe the current economic downturn is real, just ask a scientist. Researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) are finding grant funding is in short supply this summer. Kathryn McVicar, MD, a pediatric neurologist with UTHSC, said she knows of several projects that are awaiting funding but money from federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health has been hard to come by. “We’re hoping that changes within the next six months because money is scarce,” said McVicar.
JANE SCHNEIDER |
Helping Tennessee’s Tiniest Residents
Statewide Effort Launched to Improve NICU Standards
When the annual KIDS COUNT survey measuring more than 100 indicators of child wellbeing came out in July, no one in the state was particularly surprised to find Tennessee near the bottom of the list.
The state has routinely been among the nation’s worst performers, particularly in areas such as low birth weight and infant mortality. Coming in at 42nd actually represents a one-place increase from last year and a five-place increase from 2000/2001, when Tennessee made its worst showing at 47th.
CINDY SANDERS |
Autistic Brain: Taking a Look Under the Hood
Pediatric neurologists at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center follow about 200 children in a tri-state area evaluated for epilepsy and autism. Pediatric neurologist and epileptologist, Fred Perkins, MD, looks for the physiological differences between children with autism and those who are normally developed, as well as the variable differences across the spectrum.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE |
Doctors Dodge a Bullet, Private Plans Take Hit In New Medicare Legislation
Last month, I reported on expected passage by the U. S. Congress of a new Medicare law which had been described as a "doctor fix" law because its primary purpose was to block scheduled cuts in payments to doctors.
The law did, in fact, pass after intense lobbying from the American Medical Association, the AARP and many others. But, it was necessary for the Senate to overturn a veto by President Bush...
Charles Farmer |
Physician Spotlight: Joseph Laver, MD
New St. Jude Clinical Director Strives to Maintain Excellence
In a medical career that has progressed like a military hierarchy, making it to the top rung in pediatric cancer was a strategic move for hematologist/oncologist Joseph Laver, MD, MHA. A nationally recognized expert in pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplantation, Laver pursued the opportunity to interview at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after the hospital expanded the function of clinical operations.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE |
State Grant Encourages Physicians to Utilize eRx
A national push toward health information technology (HIT) inspired Tennessee legislators to strengthen the capabilities of e-health in the state. The state network, TNII (Tennessee Information Infrastructure) established a place where physicians and colleagues can share patient data via a broadband internet network, regardless of the location of a practice, within all 95 counties.
HOLLI W. HAYNIE |
Alan S. Bean
Gideon & Wiseman |
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Tennessee Supreme Court Weighs in on Notice of Physicians as Hospital Contractors
When the Tennessee Supreme Court in May reversed two appeals court decisions regarding the notice given patients that physicians in hospitals may be independent contractors, it left hospitals with a big question: Just what is sufficient and meaningful notice that doctors and other providers may not be hospital employees?
SHARON H. FITZGERALD |
THA Focuses on Quality to Combat HAIs
Through the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety, more than 100 Tennessee hospitals have formed a collaborative effort to reduce healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs).
In June, the Tennessee Hospital Association (THA) outlined the state’s plans in a letter to Congress in response to a request by the U.S.
CINDY SANDERS |
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