The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website provides the public with information about an array of health conditions and issues. There are also publications focusing on emergency preparedness, workplace safety, environmental health, injury, violence and safety, and other topics pertaining to health.
View the Website – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” program run by the Center for Disease Control works to educate families, child care providers, health care providers, and the general public about the developmental milestones that children will achieve. It provides information about the stages that children go through and the timeframe for these stages, and it provides information on what to do if a child is not reaching the developmental milestones. This website also provides several free materials and resources, including milestone checklists, which can be helpful to people to track their child’s development.
View the Website – Centers for Disease Control – Act Early, Learn the Signs.
This association is a group of camp professionals who work to preserve, promotes, and improve that camp experience. They do this through an accreditation program for camps to show that they have a high quality and by providing information and education to camp professionals about best practices in running and managing camps and accommodating campers’ needs.
View the Website – American Camp Association.
The AAPAR emphasizes the importance of physical activity and recreation. It offers resources to educators and community leaders that promote fit and healthy lifestyles. It includes several resources on how to adapt physical exercise activities for people with autism and other disabilities as well as for youth and older adults. Additionally, it provides resources on how to encourage people to join in physical activities.
View the Website – American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishes the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans to emphasize the importance of an active and healthy lifestyle. These Guidelines address aspects relating to physical activity such as the health benefits, the proper way of conducting it and how to engage others in being active.
View the Web page – Physical Activity Guidelines.
This report describes the programs and projects as well as the expenses that the Federal government has made to provide research surrounding autism spectrum disorders and services developed to benefit people with autism spectrum disorders since the enactment of the Combating Autism Act. Additionally, this report also presents information about the current diagnostic and intervention landscape in the United States as well as identified gaps in current ASD supports and services programs.
Download the Report – Report to Congress on Activities Related to Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Developmental Disabilities Under the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (PDF).
Age, the role of parents in modeling good exercise habits and supporting good exercise habits in their children, and time spent in activities that involve sitting influence the amount of physical activity children pursue. However, this has not been looked at for children with autism spectrum disorders. This article found that age and time spent in sedentary activities did negatively impact the amount of physical exercise youth with autism spectrum disorder did; however, the role of the parents did not seem to significantly impact their children. This difference is contrasted to research about youth without disabilities.
Pan, C.Y., & Frey, G.C. (2005). Identifying Physical Activity Determinants in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 2, 410-420.
Download the Academic Research – Identifying Physical Activity Determinants in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (PDF).
This academic study evaluated a particular type of intervention that uses a group of fictional peers who eat and discuss the benefits of eating fruit and vegetables, rewards children for eating targeted amount of fruit and vegetables, and encouraged people to do more physical exercise. This study found that there was a substantial increase in the children’s physical activity during the program and that the increased level of physical activity lasted over a 12-week period in the girls that participated in the study.
Horne, P.I., Hardmand, C.A., Lowe, C. F., & Rowlands, A.V. (2007). Increasing children’s physical activity: A peer modeling, rewards and pedometers-based intervention. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 63, 191-8.
Download the Academic Research – Increasing Children’s Physical Activity: A Peer Modeling, Rewards and Pedometers-based Intervention.
This brief provides concise descriptions of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act related to providing universal and continuous, adequate, and affordable coverage for children and youth with special health care needs, including autism. It also analyzes the implications of these provisions for future health care coverage for children and youth.
Download the Brief – The Affordable Care Act – A Side-by-Side Comparison for Children with Special Needs (PDF).
From the Publisher, courtesy of Amazon.com:
Since the DSM-IV® was published in 1994, we’ve seen many advances in our knowledge of psychiatric illness. This Text Revision incorporates information culled from a comprehensive literature review of research about mental disorders published since DSM-IV® was completed in 1994. Updated information is included about the associated features, culture, age, and gender features, prevalence, course, and familial pattern of mental disorders.
The DSM-IV® brings this essential diagnostic tool up-to-date, to promote effective diagnosis, treatment, and quality of care. Now you can get all the essential diagnostic information you rely on from the DSM-IV® along with important updates not found in the 1994 edition.
View the Training Material/Book (a link to purchase it on Amazon.com) – The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
