Archive for the ‘Health and Education’ Category

Learning about Autism

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Many people have had their awareness of autism raised by the media, a family member, or a member in their community. As more and more people become familiar with autism, it is important that we all be educated. On this blog post we are going to take a look at some new advances in the education of autistic students, and then we will provide some websites for further information about the disorder.

People on the spectrum of autism disorders have trouble with social interaction and communication, which can be a liability when it comes to education. Of course, there are special education classes for such students, and there is a variety of help a family can get outside of school, but now, thanks to the wonders of the iPhone and other smart phones, there are special education apps as well.

Check out this  article in the Scranton Times-Tribune. In it, the writer talks about various apps for Apple-related smart devices that can be helpful when dealing with autistic youth.

One of them shows sign language signs so that the family can learn to better communicate with a non-verbal child who uses sign language. Another shows pictures of commonly desired objects or activities. It allows the user to pair one of those objects with the image of a person. Then the image can be made to say the words “I want.” This app would be used as a way of helping an autistic child learn to ask for what he or she needs.

There are, no doubt, many other apps out there. So, if you are looking for a little extra help with special education, the App Store of your smart phone may be a good place to go.

In other news on the technology front, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington recently purchased six robots for its Watson School of Education to study whether autistic students might better learn from and interact with them.

According to this article from StarNewsOnline.com, there is evidence that autistic children are able to develop good bonds with computers, something that it is difficult for them to do with other people. The hope is that using these robots, educators will be able to teach sign language, words, social interaction and more to autistic children.

If you want to learn more about autism, we also have five sites that may be helpful.  They were taken from this article from healthnews.com.

They are:

The National Autism Association

Autism Speaks

U.S. Autism and Asperger Association

Autism Society of America

Center for Autism and Related Disorders

Autism is a disorder that is becoming better recognized, and it is rare for anybody nowadays to not know somebody who has it or is affected by it in some way. Technology is offering new ways of dealing with autism, but it is also incumbent upon all of us to have a better understanding of what autism is and how to deal with it. You never know when it might be your turn to lend a helping hand.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Health and Education | Comments Off

More Education Equals Better Blood Pressure?

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

For those of you thinking about whether to continue your education after high school, things may soon become clearer. A new study shows a link between higher education and lower blood pressure. And females, take note. The link is more apparent in women.

Here’s the story: Researchers at Brown University studied another study called the Framingham Offspring Study. That study followed patients over 30 years at seven different physical examinations. The data collected was used to determine the average systolic blood pressure of participants. Systolic blood pressure is the top number you get when someone gives you a blood pressure reading; it signifies the pressure in arteries when your heart is beating. A high number can be bad. Something called isolated systolic hypertension can lead to problems like heart disease, chronic kidney disease and possibly strokes. In case you’re wondering, isolated systolic hypertension is when …”you have a diastolic number less than 90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and a systolic number greater than 140 mm Hg.”

If you want to read more about isolated systolic hypertension and systolic blood pressure, go here.

Researchers looking at all the study data found out that participants with 12 years of education or fewer had higher blood pressure than those with at least 17 years. And the association was stronger in women, as we mentioned above.

Read the entire study here.

Of course this is one study and certainly not enough to get too excited over.  In fact, this article on the Huffington Post quotes Natasha Stewart, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation as saying, “”…the study only showed a small blood pressure drop among women and an insignificant decrease among men.”

Also, it is important to note that the researchers couldn’t really explain why a higher education would have any impact on blood pressure levels.

If a link were confirmed by future studies, then the findings would add to student motivation. A higher salary, greater achievement, and a brighter future might not be enough, but perhaps better health would convince skeptical students that more schooling is necessary. Certainly, a high school education does not have the value it once did. It is a requirement for any job, but it’s rarely enough to get anyone a stable position in a good working environment.

Regardless, we know nothing for sure right now. But this study raises an intriguing possibility to consider. Stay tuned…

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Health and Education | Comments Off