I Speak of Dreams

Oh Dear, Woo in the Military

via BoingBoing, I was pointed to Noah Shachtman's article at Wired, Army's New PTSD Treatments: Yoga, Reiki, 'Bioenergy'.   Many veterans have suffered Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and more are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  The military is  funding investigations into "non-traditional" ways of treating these disorders.

Even proposals for wild-sounding "therapies using bioenergies such as Qi gong, Reiki, distant healing and acupuncture" would be accepted.

Someone alert Panda Bear and the team at Science Based Medicine.

Reparative Therapy Exposed

Reparative Therapy seeks to change homosexuals into "normal heterosexuals". 

You should listen to this interview with Jeff Williamson at Box Turtle Bulletin on his experience with reparative therapy.  Mr. Williamson is an impressive young man.

Larry Magid on JuicyCampus

JuicyCampus is a website that allows students at some (but not all) colleges to post anonymous comments about their fellow students.  As might be expected by combining collegians and anonymity, many of the comments are scurrilous. 

Larry Magid calls JuicyCampus "a haven for cyberbullies".  Go read his well-reasoned article on the site.

It's tempting to argue there ought to be a law against sites like this. But before reacting too quickly, we need to think about the unintended consequences of going after this type of site.

I looked at JuicyCampus -- JumperGirl's university isn't there, nor is Stanford, Santa Clara, or Saint Mary's. UC Berkeley is in, though, as are several other UCs.

Larry directs concerned individuals to Connectsafely.org

Exemplary Blogging: Alonzo Fyfe's Open Letter to Ben Stein: A Must Read

The "documentary" Expelled has been much in the news, because on March 20, noted evolutionary biologist PZ Myers was refused entry to a showing, while his guest, the equally noted atheist Richard Dawkins, was allowed in.

I mentioned l'affaire Myers here, where this comment by JennyAlice sent me over to Atheist Ethics, the blog of Alonzo Fyfe, who wrote A Better Place. 

Back in August, 2007, Fyfe wrote an open letter to Ben Stein, on Stein's assertions in the  the documentary Expelled:

1. Belief in a  a being greater than man is basic to science
2. There is an "anti-religious dogmatism" active in "Big Science" and
3. "scientists and educators are not allowed to even think thoughts that involve an intelligent creator."

Fyfe's letter reads in part:

However, the film (or at least descriptions of it) bring up the issue of freedom of speech, which is a moral issue, and that is the sphere that I write in.

The rest of the post is a patient refutation of Stein's three claims,  of how science actually works, and how Intelligent Design (ID) and creationism fail the test of science.

 

Why I'm Busy

(click to see a bigger image)

I bought the next Casa Dreams, about 3 miles northeast of  my current house.  It is less than a third of the size of the current house (the goal -- downsizing).  That means I've got to get serious about selling this one, which (as any seller knows) involves a lot of work.   Move date is uncertain -- mid-summer?  Later?  Don't know. There are a few interior things that have to be done before we move in (bye-bye, cottage-cheese ceilings, hello crown molding and paint).   Further cutification will be planned over the summer.

Blog Against Theocracy

I forgot that Easter weekend is the traditional date for the Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm, until I was reminded by MS Teacher.  I have too much to do this weekend to  to update the buttons (below) -- feel free to download and change the date.

Read the details at the Blog Against Theocracy blog.  Read Sinfonian's introduction. 

Go thank Tengrain of Mock, Paper, Scissors for the lovely logo to the left.

And go read Chris Locke's essay on "America's Favorite Theocracy", and watch out for your own assumptions.

Around the Blogosphere

• Evolutionary biologist PZ Myers was not allowed to attend a screening of Expelled, in which he is interviewed.  The promoters of the film lie about the nature of his...expulsion.  The New York Times covers the incident.  Orac says the film will cause neuronal apoptosis

• Kristina Chew of AutismVox is interviewed in Newsweek:

Chew believes that vaccines had nothing to do with her son’s condition and she worries that all the vaccine attention detracts from the more-urgent needs of people with autism, who require intensive behavioral interventions and social services—the kind of help her son has received.

• David Kirby,who claims to be an "investigative journalist" but who is really a full-time mercury=autism propagandist, publishes an op-ed in the Atlanta Constitution Journal, asking for "Answers on Vaccines".  Orac calls Kirby out on the facts and Kirby's distortions, and later points out that the comments on Kirby's piece reveal wide-spread neural apoptosis ("level of unscientific fearmongering and lunacy" ) among antivaccinationists.
• The utter selfishness of the antivaccinationist is revealed at the New York Times.  Reaction at Pathophilia ("easy vaccine exemption is a public health risk") and Massachussets Moms (you selfish antivaccinators, keep your unvaccinated children home 24/7 so you don't endanger other peoples' children"). A thoughtful discussion on vaccination from parents of autistic children at Autism Vox.   The quote that set everybody talking:

“I refuse to sacrifice my children for the greater good,” said Sybil Carlson, whose 6-year-old son goes to school with several of the children hit by the measles outbreak here. The boy is immunized against some diseases but not measles, Ms. Carlson said, while his 3-year-old brother has had just one shot, protecting him against meningitis.

“When I began to read about vaccines and how they work,” she said, “I saw medical studies, not given to use by the mainstream media, connecting them with neurological disorders, asthma and immunology.”

Ms. Carlson said she understood what was at stake. “I cannot deny that my child can put someone else at risk,” she said.

• Obama's speech on race.  Professor Kim:  Voices from Two America's roundup and the opening chapter of a dialog on race with Dave Winer.   Pam's House Blend: Reaction to Obama's More Perfect Union speech Cobb: Obama: Not Magic and Why Race Talk Doesn't Work.  Marty Manly asks, Is a Brilliant Speech Enough?  The Field Negro: The Speech and Why Shelby Steele Is Wrong.  Jack and Jill Politics: The Speech;  Some Afterthoughts; ptCruiser on Obama and Wright.
• And just for fun: Zimmerman in Eine Kleine Barackmusick and America

Parents and Special Education: Learn to Advocate Effectively!

I spent yesterday at the Wrightslaw conference sponsored by Parents Helping Parents, learning the rudiments of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004), Section 504 of the Rehabilitiation Act  and getting introduced to the Wrights' approach to advocacy, From Emotions to Advocacy.

I recommend this seminar (which is also available as a DVD and as Webcast) to every parent who has a child with a disability, especially children with learning disabilities.

If your school district has a Special Education PTA (SEPTA), it would be worth the investment to have the training over two or more meetings.  If your district doesn't have a SEPTA, it would probably be worth your while to start one, using this training as a start.

New Research on Reading Acquisition

Maryanne Wolf, Mirit Barzillai, and Elizabeth Norton published a short article at the Scientific American blog Mind Matters in the category The Reading Brain, outlining new research:

Cognitive neuroscienists often break down the study of reading into its components, including processes that are phonological (related to the sounds of language), orthographic (related to the way a language is written t), and semantic (related to meaning). In their seminal work, Cohen, Dehaene and their colleagues concentrated on orthographic processes. In doing so, they have pushed our understanding of what the brain does when it reads anything from the smallest features of letters; oft-repeated letter patterns (such as the "ph" or "ent" in English); to words that vary in length, frequency of usage, position (where the eyes fixate when reading them) and the overall quality, or legibility of presentation. Using imaging methods, Dehaene, Cohen and their colleagues have added to the evidence that the brain of an expert reader taps different "routes," or circuits, for well-known, routinized text, such as a the type you are reading right now, compared with text that is written in a way that is less familiar (For instance, try reading this word q u i c k l y. Or try reading The Canterbury Tales in Old English.) This research suggests that learning to read the different letter patterns in your language is similar to any other task that requires practice. At first, it requires conscious effort and focus on each letter. But then, after a period of practice, the task becomes routine and automated. Your brain is able to read the words without having to process them letter by letter.

Their conclusions after the review?

Results from this study also suggest ways we can improve reading instruction in the classroom. For instance, educators should place a heightened emphasis on acquiring a repertoire of well-known letter patterns in a language, in addition to the current emphasis on training an awareness of phonemes, the component sounds that make up words, and on training knowledge of letter-sound correspondences necessary for decoding. Most importantly, all of these emphases should be explicitly connected when teachers instruct children who have difficulty reading (see for example our lab's work on the RAVE-O intervention where emphasis is placed on training several linguistic skills (orthographic, phonological, semantic, morphological, and syntactic knowledge) necessary for fluent reading in an integrated, systematic, and fun fashion ).

 

Thanks to the Dyslexia Tutor for the tip.

Attention Northeast Parents: Autism Exposition in New Hampshire April 5, 2008

Via Asperger's Conversations, an announcement about an event for people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome:

Autism and Asperger’s Exposition

Presented by Antioch University New England (ANE)'s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders Training

Date: April 5, 2008

Time: noon-3 pm

Place: ANE campus, 40 Avon Street, Keene, NH 03431-3516

Exhibition 12 noon–2 pm

This is an opportunity for family members, individuals, professionals, and providers to connect with the greater Autism and Asperger’s community. Exhibitors include Access, Inc., Autism Society of New Hampshire, Asperger’s Study Group of Keene State College, Autism Respite Resource Outreach, Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation, Family Support Council, Forward Motion Coaching, Howda Hugs, Landmark College, New Hampshire Connections, NH Commission on ASD, Parent-to-Parent of NH, Silver Lining Multimedia, Special Needs Support Group, Psychotherapy & Expressive Arts, our co-sponsors, and many more.

Film Screenings

12:15 PM Including Samuel, (55 minutes)

1:25 PM Autism and Law Enforcement: Roll Call Briefing, (21 minutes )

2:00 PM Including Samuel

For more information, please contact Shelley Viles at sviles@antiochne.edu or 603.283.2145