The study will be measuring a child’s ability to spot the differences between two images on a computer screen and point out what is missing. This study is approved by the London Ethics Committee, with the approval of the British Psychological Society, and under the umbrella of Middlesex University, Dubai.

The study can be concluded in three sessions of thirty minutes each, and may be conducted in the participant’s home or learning/therapy center, in any of the emirates.

Guidelines for the children’s abilities are as follows. Parents who are interested, or who have further questions may contact:

Eleanore Coulthard
Psychology Department – Middlesex University Dubai
+971 50 655 2753 EC507@mdx.ac.uk

At this stage, Eleanore is in the process of identifying a large enough sample of Autistic children to make her study viable.

1. Aged between 7-12 years old
2. Diagnosed with Autism based on established criteria (DSM-IV)
3. No co-morbid conditions – e.g. Epilepsy
4. Normal vision (or corrected with glasses/ lenses)
5. Familiar and not-averse to working with Computers

• Able to sit down in front of a computer for ~30 minutes
• Able to use buttons on a keyboard to express whether they have noticed a change in the visual scene, i.e press the space bar when they notice a change in the picture
• Able to verbally or non verbally express where the change occurred,  i.e. point to the part of the screen that has changed.

6. Familiar with working with Computers

“In 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist at London’s Royal Free Hospital, published a study in the prestigious medical journal Lancet that linked the triple Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine with autism and bowel disorders in children. The study — and Wakefield’s subsequent public statements that parents should refuse the vaccines — sparked a public health panic that led vaccination rates in Britain to plunge.

Wakefield’s study has since been discredited, and the MMR vaccine deemed to be safe. But now medical authorities in the U.K. have also ruled that the manner in which Wakefield carried out his research was unethical. In a ruling on Jan. 28, The General Medical Council, which registers and regulates doctors in the U.K., ruled that Wakefield acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” during his research and with “callous disregard” for the children involved in his study.”

…

“The panel also criticized Wakefield for failing to disclose that, while carrying out the research, he was being paid by lawyers acting for parents who believed their children had been harmed by the MMR jab.

The panel’s ruling follows a refutation of Wakefield’s research from the scientific community. Ten of 13 authors in the Lancet study have since renounced the study’s conclusions. The Lancet has said it should not have published the study in the first place, and various other studies have failed to corroborate Wakefield’s hypothesis.”

Dubai Healthcare City
Al Razi Bldg, Block “A”, Suite 2005
Dubai, UAE

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Working hours: 8:30 am to 6:00 pm
Home-based therapy available from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm
Established in the United States since 2001, operating in the UAE since January, 2007

Services Offered:

• Psychological Testing and Services (including diagnostic testing)
• ABA treatment/Discrete Trial Therapy
• School Shadowing
• Inclusion/Mainstream School Support Services
• Floortime
• TEACHH
• Social Skills Training
• Social Skills/Play Groups
• Speech Therapy and Assessment
• Occupational Therapy & Assessment
• Parent Training Workshops
• Professional Training Workshops
• Parent Support and Education Groups
• Professional Support Groups

How should parents contact Stepping Stones if they are seeking your services in regards to a child suspected of autism or other ASD disorder? What is the recommended process?

They should contact our office at 04-363-5433 and ask to speak with someone regarding services (Operations Manager, Clinical Assistant and/or Clinical Director-at least one of these individuals can be available). Then such individuals go over services offered and schedule an initial consultation process.

This is a free consultation once it takes place. Once this process is scheduled, clinical staff meet with parent to review entire services, discuss research that supports the field, discuss how Stepping Stones provides clinically qualified staff and discusses staff training process as well as history of Stepping Stones and the number of years we’ve been in the field.

Furthermore they answer questions the parents may have and then recommend an assessment to begin this process Comprehensive assessment includes: Psych Assessment, Behavioral Assessment, Speech Assessment and Occupational Therapy assessment. Once the assessment is scheduled and completed, the family meets with the clinicians/evaluators and reviews the detailed assessment report and goals and objectives then makes treatment recommendations based on assessment outcomes. At this time services are ready to commence.

How should parents contact you if they are seeking services for a child who has already been diagnosed with autism? What treatment options do you offer?

The process noted above would be completed, however the Psychological portion of the assessment may not be necessary if the diagnosis has already been given and provided it’s given from a reliable source where actual testing measures were used to assess the client. Then treatment services would be ready to commence of which can be a combination of all services noted in question #5.

I hope this information has been useful. Please also note that the Clinical Director and founder (myself) of all 5 branches (US & Dubai) is based in Dubai and possesses over 18 years of experience in the field of autism and is a Clinical Psychologist that is also Board Certified Behavior Analyst trained. Therefore, she is able to offer her expertise in Dubai on an ongoing basis. We provide services to over 400 families and have over 200 staff worldwide offer quality services to the Autism population and such staff are extensively trained in ABA and receive certification prior to working with clients and in addition they are educationally qualified (bachelor’s and master’s level staff).

Information provided by:

Vivian David-Nicolas, PsyD
Clinical Director
Stepping Stones Center for Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Inc.

Worried about your child?  The simplest way for a parent to determine whether their child may have Autism or a similar disorder is to use the list of criteria from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.  It is easy enough for even parents to be able to evaluate their children within a reasonable degree, allowing for early recognition and thus, further medical assessment and intervention.

Additional methods of diagnosis are available, the simplest for toddlers being the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT) typically issued by a GP at the child’s 18 month checkup.  There is also the M-CHAT, or Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers.

The American Psychiatric Association guidelines are as follows:

A. To qualify for a diagnosis, a person must have a total of six or more items from (1), (2), and (3), with at least two from (1) and one each from (2) and (3):

1. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, manifest by at least two of the following:

• A. Marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors, such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures and gestures, to regulate social interaction
• B. Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
• C. Lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest)
• D. Lack of social or emotional reciprocity

2. Qualitative impairment in communication, as manifest by at least one of the following:

• A. Delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gesture or mime)
• B. In individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
• C. Stereotyped and repetitive use of language, or idiosyncratic language
• D. Lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe, or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level

3. Restrictive repetitive and stereotypic patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

• A. Encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
• B. Apparently inflexible adherence to specific nonfunctional routines or rituals
• C. Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
• D. Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects.

B. Delays or abnormal functioning in at least one of the following areas, with onset prior to age 3 years:

1. Social interaction

2. Language as used in social communication

3. Symbolic or imaginative play

C. The disturbance is not better accounted for by Retts Disorder or childhood disintegrative disorder.