The two week camps provide an environment for these children to learn acceptable behaviors. In order for this structure to be maintained, there is a high ratio of adults to children. Camp staff goes through an intense training process before camp begins, highlighting discipline, the curriculum and overall running of the camp. Camp staff is a Leader and two counselors per group, three teachers, a nurse and administration.

The curriculum deals with the themes of Making and Keeping Friends, Fitting In, Feelings, Cooperation and . Activities are then geared to work within those themes.

Managing The Behavior of Your Special Needs Child

    Change has to start with you. If you don’t believe you have to change to get different results, you won’t be effective.

    Coercion or the use of punishment and the threat of punishment to get others to act as we would like and our practice of rewarding people by letting them escape from our punishment and threats. It is through coercion, we instinctively try to control others. Coercion will cause the behavior to stop temporarily, but punishment doesn’t have lasting effects, although it does have side effects. Coercion produces escape, avoidance and counter coercion.

    Punishment does not teach alternatives. The best way to solve any behavior problem is to replace it with an appropriate behavior. Punishment does not meet the function of the behavior.

    Young recommends a Functional Analysis of Behavior to discover the reason for the behavior. Once you’ve discover the reason for the behavior, then teach, reteach and reteach again an appropriate behavior to take the place of the inappropriate behavior.

    Parents are teachers first and foremost and in that role need to teach their children appropriate alternatives to their behaviors.

• Children who interact regularly with an adult more readily accept and identify with the adult values.

• With regular interaction, the children are more responsive to direct and incidental teaching.

• Children accept criticism more easily and are less likely to be oppositional when the adult uses 8-10 positives for every negative.

• "Learning occurs best under pleasant consequences."

    "The child who has not been disciplined with love by his little world—will be disciplined generally without love by the big world."

Urgent Memorandum
From Federation of Families For Children's Mental Health

     APRIL 23, 1999—We are once again stunned and in pain as the faces of screaming children and terrified families from Columbine High School in Colorado fill our television screens. Stories about scores of wounded and dead students trapped inside the school as two teenagers brandishing guns finally die themselves by suicide seize us with shock and disbelief.

    No one is untouched by the tragedy—not the victims or the survivors, not the families and friends of the alleged shooters, not the family watching the news in a far away state. None of us is immune. Human reactions to such crisis are varied, but there are some very common and "normal" reactions. They include:

• Increased feelings of fear and vulnerability.

• Intense anger.

• A need to blame (the parents, the kids, the schools...)

• Inability to concentrate, to think clearly or to problem solve and

• Depression

    The dangers for those of us raising, loving and teaching children with mental health issues include:

• Further stigmatization.

• Inappropriate responses to our children's "normal" reactions to the public trauma, and

• Overly punitive juvenile justice legislation.   

   Later, as the collective emotional chaos eases, we must look to prevention and ways to de-toxify the environments where are children are growing up. The Federation of Families for our Children’s Mental Health will continue to support efforts to raise awareness, promote policies and advocate for appropriate services and supports, including prevention.

Could This Have Been My Child? How to Identify Youth at Risk of Violent Behavior

         YOUTH LIKELY TO ENGAGE IN VIOLENT
         BEHAVIOR MAY:             

• Have a history of early trauma or abuse

• Believe they do not have a future

• Have been exposed to violence at home or in the community

• Have participated in the drug economy or have a history of repeated theft

• Have experienced abandonment

• Express feelings of humiliation or shame

• Express distorted notions of justice

• Display a lack of compassion

"It would make a particular difference for troubled boys, who are most likely to act out violent scenarios when they reach the desperate point of no return—when they, depressed, angry, ashamed and humiliated, are bent upon action to relieve their intolerable state of mind and heart through violent behavior at home, on the streets or in school." James Garbarino; Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them; New York The Free Press; 1999

WHAT TO DO:

• Form or facilitate a relationship based on trust

• Guide the young person toward positive expression of his feelings

• Entrust that relationship to a mental health expert

What about the child with serious emotional disturbance?

WATCH FOR AND ATTEND TO:

• Sudden changes in behavior

• Feelings of fear, anger or hopelessness

• Withdrawal

• Agitation

BE SUPPORTIVE BY:

• Listening

• Sharing your own feelings in an honest and "real" way

• Helping children and youth find realistic ways to feel safer

• Supporting children and youth to express their anger, fear and vulnerability in safe ways

• Walking with children who are agitated or anxious

AT SCHOOL:

• Provide an adult partner to walk and walk and walk with the child who cannot sit in a discussion group

• Identify an adult partner for each child to go to anytime they feel the need to walk, to talk and to be heard

• Provide a nurturing "safe place" for the children to retreat when they are anxious. Fill it with books, puzzles and quiet music

• Post important resource phone numbers for children and youth in well-traveled areas near telephones

• Call the national Federation of Families for children’s Mental Health at (703)684-7710 or your local chapter, UPLIFT at 1-888-UPLIFT3 or (307)778-8686 for more information

• Always reach out to your local community-based supports: mental health centers, churches, cultural elders, spiritual leaders, friends and neighbors

The Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health offers this checklist as a guide to help your child or student with emotional, behavioral or mental disorders cope with public tragedies. It is not to replace individual therapeutic supports, but to help you support your child or student.

For local information: Contact UPLIFT

New ADHD Test Warrants Hope

    You’ve heard the opinions of the teachers, your pediatrician and the school psychologist. Now there’s an objective diagnostic aid to find out whether the diagnosis du jour—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—is accurate for your child or not.

    Previous technology could discern that certain kids moved around a lot more than other kids (and "moving around a lot" is a distinguishing factor of ADHD"). But a new test from Harvard University is far more specific. It can measure--quantitatively--the three key elements of ADHD" inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. The idea is that it can distinguish merely "fidgety" kids who may be unnecessarily taking a drug called Ritalin from those who really benefit from the medicine.

    While a child watches (and sometimes is instructed to respond to) a computer screen for a 15 minute test, an infrared motion-analysis system tracks his movements 50 times a second. The test itself is boring, but requires a lot of vigilance on the child’s part (an unfortunate, but fitting description of much classroom time, notes the study leader).

    This study compared 18 kids already diagnosed in other ways as having ADHD with 11 kids that did not have it, and found that the test accurately identified 16 of the 18 ADHD’s and agreed that the controls didn’t have this disorder. With this new technique, researchers could distinguish ADHD responses from normal ones with more than 90% accuracy, says Martin Teicher, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School—McLean Hospital, study author. Because it analyzes characteristics of the disorder so scrupulously, the test also holds promise for children whose behaviors can easily be mistaken for ADHD, adds Dr. Teicher (Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, March 1996).

It Can Happen to Anyone

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)—As the nation’s largest grassroots organization dedicated to helping people with severe mental illnesses, NAMI applauds Tipper Gore for her forthright disclosure of her personal struggle with major depression. We have long known that she is a woman of extraordinary insight, courage and compassion, and her decision to talk about her 1991 experience adds to our high esteem for her. Mrs. Gore’s story gives hope to all Americans who struggle with severe mental illnesses. It strikes a significant blow against stigma and will encourage many people to seek treatment who otherwise might be afraid. Furthermore, Mrs. Gore’s testimony underscores the fact that treatment works and is vital to recovery.

At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that approximately 50 percent of individuals who suffer from an episode of major depression will experience second episodes. Individuals who experience second episodes in turn have a 70 percent chance of a third, and those who suffer three episodes have a 90 percent chance of experiencing a fourth. One reason for relapses is that millions of Americans go without adequate treatment, in part because of healthcare insurance policies and laws prevent them from getting the treatment they may desperately need.

Treatment works, but only if you get it. Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) have introduced S. 796 to end discrimination in healthcare insurance coverage against persons suffering from severe mental illnesses. Virginia and Montana recently have enacted legislation to end such discrimination, bringing to 21 overall the number of states that have passed parity laws. Next week, the governors of Indiana and New Jersey also are expected to sign parity bills into law. Similar measures are pending in other states such as California and New York. Mrs. Gore’s testimony must be a "call to arms" to all Americans to ensure that Congress and their state legislatures enact mental health parity to end the stigma and discrimination that for too long has prevented people from getting the treatment they need.

Whether the concern is situational depression or chronic mental illnesses, Americans need also to talk openly about early warning signs and treatment options and to build a better mental healthcare system overall. Mrs. Gore’s testimony has begun that dialog.

NAMI also is here to help those Americans who may not know where to begin to get help. Please tell them about NAMI’s Helpline 1-800-950-NAMI, where anyone can get information about severe mental illnesses and referral to local NAMI support groups.

Warning Signs of Depression
NAMI Fact Sheet

    Consult a physician if you have experiences five or more of the following symptoms for more than two weeks:

• Persistent sad or "empty" moods

• Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism

• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness

• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities once enjoyed, including sex

• Insomnia, early morning awaking or oversleeping

• Appetite and/or weight loss or over-eating and weight gain

• Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"

• Thoughts of death or suicide, suicide attempts

• Restlessness, irritability

• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions

• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain

    Major depression, or unipolar depression, is manifested by a combination of symptoms that interfere with the ability to work, sleep eat and enjoy once pleasurable activities. It is more than a passing case of the "blues" A person with depression cannot just "pull themselves together".

    Approximately 50 to 60 percent of individuals with major depression can be expected to experience a second episode. Individuals who have had two episodes have a 70 percent chance of having a third episode, and individuals who have had three episodes have a 90 percent chance of having a fourth episode.

    In any given year, more than 17 million American adults have some form of an affective disorder, and roughly 5 percent of Americans suffer from major depression.

    Women are twice as likely as men to experience major depression; one in four women, as opposed to one in eight men, are likely to experience a mood disorder at some point in their lives.

    It takes an average of eight years to get a proper diagnosis of major depression. Depression is more widespread than coronary heart disease (7 million), cancer (6 million and AIDS (200,00).

Wyoming Early Screening Project

    UPLIFT, a non-profit, parent run organization for families of children with emotional disturbances has received federal funding from the National Center for Mental Health Services to begin addressing the growing problem of unidentified and untreated serious emotional disturbances in young children. The project is entitled, The Wyoming Early Screening Project: Advocacy, Consensus Building and Training to Implement Early Screening and Intervention For Children With Serious Emotional Disturbances (WESP). This project is utilizing funding to advocate for and stimulate community adoption of the exemplary practice of funding to advocate for serious emotional disturbances. The targeted communities for the project are Cheyenne, Laramie, Wheatland and Guernsey.

    The Wyoming Early Screening Project (WESP) is also training child care workers to use a proven screening instrument developed by the Oregon Research Institute. Oregon’s Early Screening Project was field tested in many sites around the country in order to develop a normative data base and test its efficiency. This proven child find process allows for screening and identification of children in the 3-5 year range who are experiencing adjustment problems. This instrument screens for children who may be at risk of emotional problems, speech and language difficulties, impaired cognitive ability, attention deficits, hyperactivity and other barriers to learning.

    The WESP has already trained over 100 child care providers in the use of the ESP instrument. Three consensus building meetings have also been held with key stakeholders representing parents, state agencies, program developers and service providers. An average of 35 participants have attended each meeting. Progress is being made toward an effort to see early screening and
intervention become a reality for Wyoming's children.

    Peggy Nikkel, Executive Director of UPLIFT, is serving as Project Director, with Jill Stubbs, MS from Laramie serving as Project Trainer and Holly Thomas from Cheyenne serving as Project Coordinator. Dr. Ken Heinlein with the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities at the University of Wyoming is evaluating the effectiveness of the project and the Georgetown University Child Development Center will help in disseminating the results of the project. Federal funding of the project ends September 30, 1999.

    The population estimate for children under age 5 in Wyoming in 32,257, with approximately 5% (national average) or 1,613 at risk for emotional disturbances. Data collected in 1996-97 show that none of these children have been identified by the State Division of Behavioral Health or the Wyoming Department of Education. Thus, an early screening project is crucial for future intervention strategies to occur in Wyoming. An early start toward identifying and treating a child’s emotional disorder often means greater success for the child toward becoming an integral part of their community. Early identification and treatment also provides the parents with much needed support and understanding of their child’s special needs and will often help the family avoid therapeutic residential placement of their child.

    Individuals with emotional, mental and behavioral disorders are significantly challenged in many areas. Past research has focused on adolescents and young adults when seeking a basis of these disorders, or planning interventions for the prevention and treatment of them. However, much less is known about the cause or origin of these problems in early childhood, or how to best assess the risk factors as precursors for later mental disturbances.

    Because symptoms of emotional disturbances continue and increase in intensity over time, identifying children in need of assistance and providing preventative intervention before school entry is vital. Early intervention and treatment have been shown to reduce drop-out rates, criminal involvement, teen pregnancy, Welfare dependency and the need for remedial education.

    Early intervention for young children (ages 3-6) experiencing adjustment and behavior problems has produced benefits educationally, socially, developmentally and prevention of delinquency years later. Effective intervention to alleviate mental health disorders in young children must be developed from timely assessment and accurate diagnosis. However, early intervention will not occur unless children have been screened and identified as having these problems. It is, therefore, imperative to provide appropriate developmental, sensory, and behavioral screening in order to aid in early intervention for all children with disabilities. This includes screening for high risk factors of emotional disturbances, which until recently has been a very difficult problem.

—Excerpt from the Project Brief of the Wyoming Early Screening Project developed by Peggy Nikkel—

Homework Help

          Excerpt from the Homework Survival Guide; Parent
       Handout, National Association of School Psychologists
       by Peg Dawson.

          "A homework session should begin by reviewing what
        the day's assignments are. It is probably a good idea to
        draw up a list of assignments on a separate sheet of paper,
        so that you can then help your child prioritize and break
        down longer tasks into shorter ones. Suggested steps
        may include:

• List out Assignments

• Make sure the child brought home the necessary books, worksheets, etc.

• Break long tasks into subtasks

• Check to see what other tasks the child has to do which should be included on the list—including long term assignments and tests later in the week for which the child should begin studying. Add these to the homework list.

• Have the child decide what order she will complete the work. A good rule of thumb is to have the child begin and end with assignments she considers "easy", sandwiching more difficult assignments in between.

• Estimate how much time it will take to complete the work.

• Make sure you have allowed enough time for the child to complete all his homework, allowing for break time as necessary.

   Sometimes it is difficult for kids to complete homework
because of other obligations they may have-- sports events, doctors appointments, scout meetings, chores, family events, etc. You may find it helpful to put together a weekly calendar to keep track of these activities. Then, as you plan your homework time each day, you can reference this calendar to allow time for the other activities your child in involved with.

   For many youngsters, just getting started on homework seems like an insurmountable obstacle. We have several suggestions for handling this problem:

• Have the child specify exactly when she will begin her homework and then reward her for getting to work within five minutes of the time she has specified.

• Sit with your child for the first five minutes to make sure he gets off to a good start.

• Talk with your child about her assignment before beginning. This is particularly important for written language assignments or more open ended tasks. Children often need to be "primed" or activated for their best efforts to com out. This is particularly true for youngsters who may have difficulties with verbal fluency or word retrieval.

• Orient your child to his assignment; walk him through the first one or two problems or items to make sure he understands what he is supposed to do.

• Build is a short break relatively quickly, if getting started is a problem.

For your copy of the Homework Survival Guide, contact UPLIFT