Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Autism book by Harvard researcher offers holistic strategies but no guarantees

Excerpt from: Washington Post (click for full article)

 

Often, parents of autistic children are told that the disorder is genetically hard-wired, destined to remain fixed forever. A new book offers parents hope for a different outcome.

“The Autism Revolution,” by Harvard Medical School researcher and clinician Martha Herbert, aims to approach autism methodically, with strategies to help parents better meet their child’s needs and make their lives as full as possible.

Herbert shares real-life success stories of children and adults on the autism spectrum who, as she describes them, “didn’t follow the textbooks.” They followed recommendations to optimize nutrition, strengthen immunity and reduce stress and environmental toxins. They “got better — some dramatically so,” writes Herbert.

MSU leads effort to address global food challenges

Excerpt from: Lansing State Journal (click for full article)

 

Michigan State University is leading an effort to help develop sustainable ways of feeding people in large metropolitan areas around the world.

The East Lansing school says representatives from the U.S., India, Kenya, South Africa, the Netherlands and Singapore met this week in Detroit. They agreed to launch an effort called The Global Innoversity. Officials from Detroit also are participating in the effort.

Participants want to promote local economic development, land recovery and food security. An aim is to ensure metropolitan regions can meet the food demands of populations projected in 2050. FoodPlus Detroit was created in June as part of the effort.

Faculty from Michigan State University’s colleges including Agriculture and Natural Resources are involved, as well as MSU AgBioResearch and MSU Extension.

How To Get Fussy Kids To Eat Good Food

Excerpt from: About.com (click for full article)

 

Yes, for sure it's not an easy task that we're faced with as parents. It doesn't matter how nutritionally aware we as parents and how much knowledge we possess about what our children should be eating. Coping with a fussy eater and ensuring your child gets appropriate nutrition isn't easy - - especially if you have a very thin child, on the verge of becoming underweight. Further, children with sensory disabilities, oral motor problems, and food allergies make ensuring good nutrition even more of a challenge.  These tips can help!

Study: Eating Troubles Putting Kids With Autism At Risk

Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)

 

Kids with autism are five times more likely than other children to experience food-related problems ranging from mealtime tantrums to extreme pickiness, issues with potentially long-term health consequences, researchers say.

Though many parents have long indicated concerns about the eating habits of their children with autism, a new analysis of existing research on the issue is believed to offer the first comprehensive look. In the review of 17 studies, researchers at Emory University and the Marcus Autism Center found that kids with the developmental disorder face serious risks of feeding and nutrition problems.

In addition to being pickier eaters, kids with autism often have mealtime rituals and other extreme behaviors surrounding feeding, the study found. What’s more, they have lower intake of calcium and protein and more overall nutritional deficits than other children, the researchers report this month in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Disability Is an Important Risk Factor for Food Insecurity

Excerpt from: USDA (click for full article)

 

In 2011, close to 15 percent of U.S. households had trouble meeting their food needs. This phenomenon is known as food insecurity, and it means that at some time during the year, these households lacked adequate food for one or more household members due to insufficient money or other resources for food.

Lack of money for food can be caused in part by low earnings, or by high expenses. Disabilities can heighten both of these conditions. Some disabilities can limit the kind or amount of work a person can do. Other adults in the household may need to care for the person with a disability, reducing the amount of time the caregiver can devote to paid employment. Those with disabilities have higher medical expenses and may need to spend money on wheelchairs, special telephones, or other adaptive equipment. In addition, people with disabilities may have difficulty shopping for food and preparing healthy meals.

Prior research has shown that food insecurity is more common among households with an adult who has a work-limiting disability. But what about disabilities that don’t prevent employment? USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) took a look at how these disabilities might affect food security and how the type of disability relates to food insecurity. Special questions added to the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey allowed us to identify specific types of disabilities, whether or not they kept someone from holding down a job.

Questions and Answers About the Lesley University Agreement and Potential Implications for Individuals with Food Allergies

Excerpt from: ADA.gov (click for full article)

 

On December 20, 2012, the Justice Department entered into an agreement with Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts to ensure that its students with celiac disease and other food allergies can fully and equally enjoy the university's food services in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Lesley University previously required all students living on campus to participate in, and pay for, its meal service plan – even if some students with severe allergies could not eat the food available through the plan without risk of illness. Under the Agreement, Lesley has made modifications to its meal plan to allow students with food allergies to take advantage of its food services. The Agreement also requires Lesley to consider exempting from its mandatory plan students who cannot, because of disability, take full advantage of the University's meal service plan.

4 Tips To Help A Foodie Get Through Chemo

Excerpt from: NPR (click for full article)

 

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago, it was clear that I would be thinking about a lot of things — myriad doctor visits, multiple tests, surgeries and chemotherapy.

Here are some things I knew about chemotherapy going in: it is unpleasant; it poisons your body; it makes you nauseated.

But there was also something I wasn't quite as aware of: it plays havoc with your taste buds and even impacts your reaction to food smells and food textures. In short, eating can become an unpleasant chore. As someone who both loves food and loves to cook, I prepared myself to enter a period of not eating or at least not enjoying eating.

But does it have to be that way? Not necessarily. Here are four tips I learned to help cope with treatment.

1. Avoid Risk.

2. Manage Nausea.

3. Beat Metal Mouth.

4. Focus On Flavor.

Student Finds The Absolute Grossest, Disgusting Chicken Brain (Kidney?) Thing In His KFC

Excerpt from: The Consumerist (click for full article)

 

According to The Sun, the 19-year-old student picked up a Gladiator Box Meal over in the United Kingdom to share with his friend, which included two chicken pieces. If you clicked on that link then you know what it looked like when he bit into one piece of chicken.

Being a savvy consumer, the man took a picture of the offensive thing and complained online, saying he couldn’t bear to pick up the piece of chicken afterward. KFC has apologized and said that under further analyzing of the photo, it might be a chicken kidney and not a brain. But still, yuck times infinity.

The student says he’s been offered vouchers for food from KFC but yeah, who wants to eat somewhere again after an experience like that? He says he’ll just eat chicken at home from now on.