Last week, news that changes to the diagnostic criteria for autism could cut the number of diagnoses was met with a mixed reaction, and many were concerned that those affected by the changes might go without much needed services to manage the condition.

This week, research has emerged that some simple tools could be effective in dealing with autism when implemented at an early age. One of the differences between thought processes in people with autism has to do with visual thinking versus thinking “in words,” and encouraging children at crucial educational stages to “talk things through” in words could help many deal with the effects of autism even as adults, research reveals.

The new data comes from a study in the UK, and British researchers found that while the ability to process thoughts in words exists, many autistic children “don’t always use it in the same way as typically developing people do.” Durham University’s department of psychology lead the study, and researcher David Williams commented on the findings:

“Most people will ‘think in words’ when trying to solve problems, which helps with planning or particularly complicated tasks… Children with autism probably aren’t doing this thinking in their heads, but are continuing on with a visual thinking strategy… So this is the time, at around six or seven years old, that these teaching methods would be most helpful.”

The study was published in this month’s Development and Psychopathology Journal, and was conducted at Durham, Bristol and City University London. 15 adults with high-functioning autism and 16 neurotypical adults participated.

Autism May Be Helped by ‘Talking Things Through’ in Thoughts is a post from: The Inquisitr

It never fails, the moment something begins the rollercoaster of popularity the psychologists will come crawling out of the woodwork with study about this is bad for you or that will cause kids to have some sort of ‘problem’. We have seen it happen with regularity when it comes to gaming and of course there is the incessant blathering on about how dangerous the Internet is as a whole and ruining our future generations.

Today sees the groundwork being laid for the next generation of psychological maladies that will affect our children because of the big bad Internet and this odd thing called texting. Yes the simple act of typing messages on cell phones is going to lead our children down a path that leads to anxiety, distraction in school, sleep deprivation and falling grades.

At least this is what Katie Hafner is reporting in a post in today’s New York Times.

Michael Hausauer, a psychotherapist in Oakland, Calif., said teenagers had a “terrific interest in knowing what’s going on in the lives of their peers, coupled with a terrific anxiety about being out of the loop.” For that reason, he said, the rapid rise in texting has potential for great benefit and great harm.

“Texting can be an enormous tool,” he said. “It offers companionship and the promise of connectedness. At the same time, texting can make a youngster feel frightened and overly exposed.”

Not to mention the physical damage kids are doing to themselves with all the key pressing

Texting may also be taking a toll on teenagers’ thumbs. Annie Wagner, 15, a ninth-grade honor student in Bethesda, Md., used to text on her tiny LG phone as fast as she typed on a regular keyboard. A few months ago, she noticed a painful cramping in her thumbs. (Lately, she has been using the iPhone she got for her 15th birthday, and she says texting is slower and less painful.)

Peter W. Johnson, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington, said it was too early to tell whether this kind of stress is damaging. But he added,

“Based on our experiences with computer users, we know intensive repetitive use of the upper extremities can lead to musculoskeletal disorders, so we have some reason to be concerned that too much texting could lead to temporary or permanent damage to the thumbs.”

So now parent you had better start putting away some extra cash in order to pay for the impending therapy your kids are going to need from all this electronic message passing that is going on.

Psychologists gearing up to push new texting disorder is a post from: The Inquisitr

Editors note: update from this post, includes extra details and video

A sneak peak of the documentary that everyone has been wanting to see, where Britney talks for 90 minutes, candidly about just how her life has unravelled so publicly is available.

Britney talks about how dance is therapy, and not everyone needs to go to therapy and talk about things. I think we might have discovered right there just what went wrong. Clearly, not enough dancing.

The other video touches on her marriage (presumably the one to K-Fed) and she says she got married for the idea of it, not because she was following her heart. Ok, the bys are going to love that when they are older.

Britney does however look like her old self, which is a positive. Time will tell whether the doco works wonders for her public reputation, and we all stop talking about her vagina. It would have to be a good documentary for that, though.

The documentary airs in the United States on MTV on November 30 and in the United Kingdom on 1 December on Sky 1.

Sneak Peak: Britney Spears Documentary Videos is a post from: The Inquisitr