Aptos psychologist: Easter Seals offers P.L.A.Y. autism therapy in Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

written by Dr. Cameron Jackson, Ph.D.. L.D. Licensed Psychologist 831 688-6002

Children with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, NOS) have major social and communication difficulties.

Families need to be given the TOOLS how to have fun and be spontaneous with their children as they teach them. It is very hard on families to be social and engaging with ASDD children who seem to be in their own world, who seem to ignore their parents, who seem unaware of brothers and sisters.

The P.L.A.Y. project’s goal is to teach parents to PLAY in a fun way in developmentally appropriate ways. Not only the child – the whole family can benefit. Currently available in Monterey County, P.L.A.Y. is also available to Santa Cruz County parents. P.L.A.Y. is a vendor of San Andreas Regional Center which covers the four counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Clara. Pl.L.A.Y. is a regional center vendor for under 3 children. It is appropriate for children before attending school.

The following information comes from the Easter Seals site. There is a link to the site at the bottom.

“Easter Seals P.L.A.Y. Project (Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters) program started in 2006. The mission of the project is to help young children (up to age 6) with autism spectrum disorders and their families obtain interventions that consist of 2-3 hours of intensive, individualized therapy per day, and are integrated with other therapies saving the parents time and money.

“The P.L.A.Y. Project is unique in that it provides training for the parents of children with autism so they can implement therapy at home. Easter Seals has home consultants, including specially trained occupational therapists and speech pathologists, to implement the P.L.A.Y. Project, enabling them to teach parents how to initiate therapy in the home setting. A child with autism needs 20-30 hours per week of therapy to learn and grow as quickly as possible. This project is highly cost effective for families and enables the child to receive a continuum of service throughout their day.

“The P.L.A.Y. Project was founded by Dr. Rick Solomon, who has diagnosed and treated children with autism for over 15 years. Dr. Solomon’s initial study of 70 children with autism demonstrated that 65% of the children in the P.L.A.Y. Project made good to excellent progress. Solomon’s study has been given tremendous credibility with its recent acceptance for publication in the Journal of Autism and receipt of a National Institute of Health grant.

Goals of the P.L.A.Y. Project include:

Improving parent/child relationships.
Improving behavior of the child reducing stress within the home.
Including siblings in coaching and training.
Creating strong families including improved spousal relationships
Improving child development so children are ready for school.
Improving systems for families so services are integrated, accessible, culturally-appropriate and of high quality.
The P.L.A.Y. Project is partially funded by First 5 Monterey County, First 5 Fresno County and the Fansler Foundation.

“If you or someone you know would like information regarding the P.L.A.Y. Project, please contact Drea Martinez at 559-267-3952 in Fresno and Mark Wenzler at 831-684-2166 in Monterey.

“For more information about the P.L.A.Y. Project, you can also visit www.playproject.org.

Above comes from Easter Seals

Share

pre-birth decision: cord blood banking for your newborn? www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Cons to cord blood banking (saving the umbilical cord of new borns)
“Although money shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to saving a child’s life, one of the biggest arguments against private cord blood banking is that it is just too expensive for many families. In addition to a large initial processing and banking fee, you then have to pay an annual storage fee. First-year fees can range from $595 to $1,835, depending on which private bank you choose. Annual storage fees are usually about $95.

That American Academy of Pediatrics sums up most of the cons against private cord banking nicely in their subject review of cord blood banking, in which they state that ‘Families may be vulnerable to emotional marketing at the time of birth of a child and may look to their physicians for advice. No accurate estimates exist of the likelihood of children to need their own stored cells. The range of available estimates is from 1:1000 to 1:200,000. Empirical evidence that children will need their own cord blood for future use is lacking. There also is no evidence of the safety or effectiveness of autologous cord blood transplantation for the treatment of malignant neoplasms. For these reasons, it is difficult to recommend that parents store their children’s cord blood for future use.’
Also keep in mind that the AAP again, in a 2007 policy statement on cord blood banking titled Cord Blood Banking for Potential Future Transplantation, stated that ‘private storage of cord blood as “biological insurance” should be discouraged.’

“Also, if your child does get one of the conditions that an umbilical cord transplant is supposed to cure or treat, if you don’t store your child’s cord blood, that doesn’t mean that no treatments will be available to him. In addition to more traditional treatments and bone marrow transplants, you may be able to find a cord blood match in a public cord blood bank, from which most cord blood transplants are currently being done.

Where it Stands
In addition to non-profit cord blood banks and for-profit cord blood banks, like Viacord and Cord Blood Registry, parents are increasingly having more options for [link u rl=http://pediatrics.about.com/od/birthandpregnancy/ht/109_cord_dntn.htm]donating their baby’s cord blood[/link] or if they later need a cord blood transplant. The Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005 will work to create a ‘National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Network to prepare, store, and distribute human umbilical cord blood stem cells for the treatment of patients and to support peer-reviewed research using such cells.’ The Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005 has been introduced in both the House and Senate, although it has not yet passed. Still, money has already been set aside to fund an Institute of Medicine report on how best to implement the national network, so hopefully it will be set up quickly one the legislation passes.
Public or free cord blood banks are already available as part of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Network in 12 major cities if you are interested in donating your baby’s umbilical cord blood so that it is available to any child that needs a transplant. The AAP strongly encourages parents to donate their baby’s cord blood to a public cord blood bank.

And of course, if you think the cost is acceptable and you would feel comforted or reassured if your baby’s umbilical cord blood is available if needed, then you can always choose to go with a private cord blood bank.

Share

Aptos psychologist: free screeenings for SOCIAL & COMMUNICATION delays in children 6-36 months old, go www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Free screenings for possible SOCIAL & COMMUNICATION delays in children ages 6 – 36 months. By appointment with licensed clinical psychologist on Fridays and Saturdays, 1-4 pm. Office located in Santa Cruz. Call 831 688-6002 and leave name and telephone number. Or write P.O. Box 1972, Aptos, CA 95001-1972. For information about autistic spectrum disorders and other childhood dificulties visit and discuss your questions on Monterey Bay Forum, www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

Share

From an Aptos psychologist: Think you want FREE federally run health care? www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

The Cost of Free Government Health Care

By David Gibberman, in the American Thinker
Proponents of government-run health care like to point out that countries with such a system spend a smaller percentage of their gross domestic product on health care than the United States. What they don’t like to mention is how those savings are achieved. For example:

Patients Lose the Right To Decide What Treatment They’ll Receive. Instead, patients receive whatever care politicians and bureaucratic number crunchers decide is “cost effective.”

Britain’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence usually won’t approve a medical procedure or medicine unless its cost, divided by the number of quality-adjusted life years that it will give a patient, is no more than what it values a year of life in great health – £30,000 (about $44,820). So if you want a medical procedure that is expected to extend your life by four years but it costs $40,000 and bureaucrats decide that it will improve the quality of your life by 0.2 (death is zero, 1.0 is best possible health, and negative values can be assigned), you’re out of luck because $40,000 divided by 0.8 (4 X 0.2) is $50,000.

There Are Long Waits for Care. One way governments reduce health care costs is to require patients to wait for treatment. Patients have to wait to see a general practitioner, then wait to see a specialist, then wait for any diagnostic tests, and then wait for treatment.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service recently congratulated itself for reducing to 18 weeks the average time that a patient has to wait from referral to a specialist to treatment. Last year, Canadians had to wait an average of 17.3 weeks from referral to a specialist to treatment (Fraser Institute’s Waiting Your Turn). The median wait was 4.9 weeks for a CT scan, 9.7 weeks for an MRI, and 4.4 weeks for an ultrasound.

Delay in treatment is not merely an inconvenience. Think of the pain and suffering it costs patients. Or lost work time, decreased productivity, and sick pay. Worse, think of the number of deaths caused by delays in treatment.

Patients Are Denied the Latest Medical Technology and Medicines. To save money, countries with government-run health care deny or limit access to new technology and medicines. Those with a rare disease are often out of luck because medicines for their disease usually cost more than their quality-adjusted life years are deemed worth.

In a Commonwealth Fund/Harvard/Harris 2000 survey of physicians in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, physicians in all countries except the United States reported major shortages of resources important in providing quality care; only U.S. physicians did not see shortages as a significant problem.

According to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Health Data (2008), there are 26.5 MRIs and 33.9 CT scanners per million people in the United States compared to 6.2 MRIs and 12 CT scanners in Canada and 5.6 MRIs and 7.6 CT scanners in the United Kingdom.

Breakthroughs in Life-Saving Treatments Are Discouraged. Countries with government-run health care save money by relying on the United States to pay the research and development costs for new medical technology and medications. If we adopt the cost-control policies that have limited innovation in other countries, everyone will suffer.

The Best and Brightest Are Discouraged from Becoming Doctors. Countries with government-run health care save money by paying doctors less. According to a Commonwealth Fund analysis, U.S. doctors earn more than twice as much as doctors in Canada and Germany, more than three times as much as doctors in France, and four times as much as doctors in Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The best and brightest will be encouraged to go into professions where they can earn more money and have more autonomy.

Is Government-Run Health Care Better? Proponents of government-run health care argue that Americans will receive better care despite the foregoing. Their main argument has been that despite paying more for health care the United States trails other countries in infant mortality and average life expectancy.

However, neither is a good measure of the quality of a country’s health care system. Each depends more on genetic makeup, personal lifestyle (including diet and physical activity), education, and environment than available health care. For example, in their book The Business of Health, Robert L. Ohsfeldt and John E. Schneider found that if it weren’t for our high rate of deaths from homicides and car accidents Americans would have the highest life expectancy.

Infant mortality statistics are difficult to compare because other countries don’t count as live births infants below a certain weight or gestational age. June E. O’Neill and Dave M. O’Neill found that Canada’s infant mortality would be higher than ours if Canadians had as many low-weight births (the U.S. has almost three times as many teen mothers, who tend to give birth to lower-weight infants).

A better measure of a country’s health care is how well it actually treats patients. The CONCORD study published in 2008 found that the five-year survival rate for cancer (adjusted for other causes of death) is much higher in the United States than in Europe (e.g., 91.9% vs. 57.1% for prostate cancer, 83.9% vs. 73% for breast cancer, 60.1% vs. 46.8% for men with colon cancer, and 60.1 vs. 48.4% for women with colon cancer). The United Kingdom, which has had government-run health care since 1948, has survival rates lower than those for Europe as a whole.

Proponents of government-run health care argue that more preventive care will be provided. However, a 2007 Commonwealth Fund report comparing the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom found that the U.S. was #1 in preventive care. Eighty-five percent of U.S. women age 25-64 reported that they had a Pap test in the past two years (compared to 58% in the United Kingdom); 84% of U.S. women age 50-64 reported that they had a mammogram in the past two years (compared to 63% in the United Kingdom).

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service has been around for more than 60 years but still hasn’t worked out its kinks. In March, Britain’s Healthcare Commission (since renamed the Care Quality Commission) reported that as many as 1,200 patients may have died needlessly at Stafford Hospital and Cannock Chase Hospital over a three-year period. The Commission described filthy conditions, unhygienic practices, doctors and nurses too few in number and poorly trained, nurses not knowing how to use the insufficient number of working cardiac monitors, and patients left without food, drink, or medication for as many as four days.

Does Government-Run Health Care Provide Everyone Access to Equal Care? Proponents tout government-run health care as giving everyone access to the same health care, regardless of race, nationality, or wealth. But that’s not true. The British press refers to the National Health Service as a “postcode lotter” because a person’s care varies depending on the neighborhood (“postcode”) in which he or she lives. EUROCARE-4 found large difference in cancer survival rates between the rich and poor in Europe. The Fraser Institute’s Waiting Your Turn concludes that famous and politically connected Canadians are moved to the front of queues, suburban and rural residents have less access to care than their urban counterparts, and lower income Canadians have less access to care than their higher income neighbors.

Ironically, as we’re moving toward having our government completely control health care, countries with government-run health care are moving in the opposite direction. Almost every European country has introduced market reforms to reduce health costs and increase the availability and quality of care. The United Kingdom has proposed a pilot program giving patients money to purchase health care. Why is this being done? According to Alan Johnson, Secretary for Health, personal health budgets “will give more power to patients and drive up the quality of care” (The Guardian, 1/17/09). It’s a lesson we all should learn before considering how to improve our health care system.

For other articles from the American ThinkerAmerican Thinker

Share

Aptos psychologist: What allows people to work and love as they grow old? Employ “mature” defenses (altruism, humor etc.), a stable marriage, education, some exercise, not smoke, healthy weight and not abuse alcohol. www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

The following is from The Atlantic article on happiness. Citation at bottom.

“What allows people to work, and love, as they grow old? By the time the Grant Study men had entered retirement, Vaillant, who had then been following them for a quarter century, had identified seven major factors that predict healthy aging, both physically and psychologically.

“Employing mature adaptations was one. The others were education, stable marriage, not smoking, not abusing alcohol, some exercise, and healthy weight. Of the 106 Harvard men who had five or six of these factors in their favor at age 50, half ended up at 80 as what Vaillant called “happy-well” and only 7.5 percent as “sad-sick.” Meanwhile, of the men who had three or fewer of the health factors at age 50, none ended up “happy-well” at 80. Even if they had been in adequate physical shape at 50, the men who had three or fewer protective factors were three times as likely to be dead at 80 as those with four or more factors.

What factors don’t matter? Vaillant identified some surprises. Cholesterol levels at age 50 have nothing to do with health in old age. While social ease correlates highly with good psychosocial adjustment in college and early adulthood, its significance diminishes over time. The predictive importance of childhood temperament also diminishes over time: shy, anxious kids tend to do poorly in young adulthood, but by age 70, are just as likely as the outgoing kids to be “happy-well.” Vaillant sums up: “If you follow lives long enough, the risk factors for healthy life adjustment change. There is an age to watch your cholesterol and an age to ignore it.”

The study has yielded some additional subtle surprises. Regular exercise in college predicted late-life mental health better than it did physical health. And depression turned out to be a major drain on physical health: of the men who were diagnosed with depression by age 50, more than 70 percent had died or were chronically ill by 63. More broadly, pessimists seemed to suffer physically in comparison with optimists, perhaps because they’re less likely to connect with others or care for themselves.

For more information about “mature defenses” and what allows people to work and love when old, go to

Share

Aptos psychologist: it’s how you choose to respond to life’s events – not the events themselves – that matters & shapes your life. What makes for happiness? www.freedomOK.net/wordpress

This story is from the famous study of Harvard men selected from the classes of 1942, 1943 and 1944. Half of the men are still alive today. They are now in their late 80’s. One Harvard selectee was President Kennedy. Their lives were followed and are still followed.

It appears to me that what matters is how we respond to what life puts on our plate. We don’t get to pick what is on our plate. We can affect how we respond. What say you to the following story?

“Vaillant … tells the story of a father who on Christmas Eve puts into one son’s stocking a fine gold watch, and into another son’s, a pile of horse manure. The next morning, the first boy comes to his father and says glumly, “Dad, I just don’t know what I’ll do with this watch. It’s so fragile. It could break.” The other boy runs to him and says, “Daddy! Daddy! Santa left me a pony, if only I can just find it!”

For the complete article, go to The Atlantic

Share

Medicare patients get kidney removed in contrast to private insurance patients who get to preserve organ function. Should the government decide how to ration medical services?

Does A Person’s Insurance Coverage Affect Their Access To Quality Cancer Care? YES. Do you want that choice?
ScienceDaily (Apr. 28, 2009) —

——————————————————————————–

“We discovered a discrepancy in the type of surgical treatment patients are offered based on their health insurance,” says Robert G. Uzzo, MD, chairman of the department of surgery at Fox Chase and the study’s lead author. His research evaluated differences in surgical treatment for kidney cancer based on a patient’s health insurance carrier. The study explored this question in one specific area of medicine, but the results may have implications for other areas of medicine as well.

The study results showed that kidney cancer patients with Medicare as their primary payer were more likely to have their kidney surgically removed entirely (radical nephrectomy) whereas those with private insurance were offered surgery to preserve organ function (partial nephrectomy).

“The notion that the kind of insurance you have can affect the quality of the care you receive has implications for the ongoing discussion about national health care reform. This research raises important questions for the government to consider,” adds Uzzo. “As our national leaders begin to discuss health care reform, it will be important to keep in mind that who pays for the care can affect the quality of care received.”

Kidney cancer is commonly treated by surgically removing the entire organ, but this is often unnecessary. Due to its technical demands, however, kidney-sparing surgery remains widely underutilized except at high-volume academic centers, where surgeons are experienced not only in resection of very complex kidney tumors but also in minimally-invasive techniques to treat patients with kidney cancer.

There are numerous long-term health benefits to patients when the non-cancerous portion of the kidney can be preserved. These include preserving maximum kidney function, reducing the risk of dialysis down the road and a longer life expectancy.

Uzzo’s study evaluated the potential impact of a patient’s primary insurance status as it relates to the likelihood of the patient undergoing a radical or partial nephrectomy. The study relied on inpatient discharge data from nearly 42,000 adult patients in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania over a six-year period.

The study results revealed that disparities in quality of care exist. Patients 65 and over, with Medicare coverage, were significantly less likely to undergo kidney-sparing surgery for treatment of renal malignancy (kidney cancer) than patients whose primary payer was a private insurance carrier.

——————————————————————————–

Journal reference:

Kutikov et al. Patients With Medicare As The Primary Payer Are Less Likely To Undergo Nephron Sparing Surgery (NSS) For Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) Than Their Privately Insured Counterparts. The Journal of Urology, 2009; 181 (4): 77 DOI: 10.1016/S0022-5347(09)60221-4
Adapted from materials provided by Fox Chase Cancer Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Email or share this story:
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
APA

MLA Fox Chase Cancer Center (2009, April 28). Does A Person’s Insurance Coverage Affect Their Access To Quality Cancer Care?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 28, 2009, from

Share

Aptos: Aptos dad creates site to remember young daughter and raise money for rare cancer

Father designs Internet game in memory of daughter
By John Sammon
Posted: 04/26/2009

APTOS — Dave Wardle, in struggling to come to grips with the loss of a beloved daughter to a rare cancer-like disease, thought he could best serve her memory by designing a free online computer game that would spread awareness of hystocytosis and raise money to fight it.

“Sofia passed away six months ago,” Wardle said. “This is a rare disease, with 1,500 cases a year reported in the U.S. It’s like cancer, and it’s a blood-born illness produced in the bone marrow.”

“Wardle, 39, a computer programmer originally from England, moved to Aptos after meeting his wife Rebecca in 1992.

Doctors first diagnosed Sofia’s illness as leukemia. It would later appear to be in remission, but instead develop into histiocytosis.

“It started on the skin,” Wardle recalled. “Sofia developed these huge lesions, and they were very painful. She had them on her feet and couldn’t walk around.”

“Up until then, she had been a normal first-grader, a loving child who embraced life, a big sister and friend to her classmates at Rio del Mar Elementary School. A curly-headed child, she played the usual games, dress-up, stickers, music and dancing. She could hip-hop dance, too.

“But that ideal world shattered. “Just before Christmas of 2003, Sofia developed a fever, and her stomach was distended and firm to the touch,” Wardle said. “We took her to the doctor and were immediately sent to Dominican Hospital for blood tests. That was the beginning of our ordeal.”
Advertisement

“Only 2 years old, she was one of the youngest patients at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto. She would be ill for five years.

“The disease progressed slowly, and during the treatments there seemed to be successes. “It was a rollercoaster for us,” Wardle said. “At one point in 2008, the skin symptoms were getting better, or they seemed to be. But the disease was attacking other parts of her body.”

“The parents had insurance. However, the medical bills ran into the thousands of dollars as the child had to undergo an agonizing round of treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation. Though the pain at times was enough for her to cry out, her father said she bore it with courage and determination. She wanted to get dressed up for school, and go back and be with her classmates. Toward the end of her life, she was planning to become a singer, and had an iPod filled with her favorites: Hannah Montana, Hilary Duff and music from the theatre production, High School Musical.

“It’s amazing how much courage she had, and with good humor,” Wardle said of his daughter. “She taught us the meaning of bravery.”

Sofia was 7 at the time of her death. Her parents have a son Quinn, 5.

Wardle said the loss of his daughter was a blow that had him searching for a way to not only remember her, but to do something to try to find a cure for the disease so future children would not have to experience it. “I had to take an extended sabbatical from work,” he said.

Wardle called being Sofia’s father both a blessing and a tragedy, a struggle full of love and heartache. But, he noted, his daughter will always be an inspiration for him.

He created a Web site in Sofia’s memory called “Sofia Maze.”

An interactive challenge,
the game involves helping Sofia navigate a multi-stage picture maze, from her home in Aptos, to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The game combines beautiful images, with jokes, visual humor and whimsical distractions.

“Low-tech gaming can be just as compelling as the latest offering from Sony or Nintendo,” Wardle said.

The game created by Sofia and her dad went live Friday. The site will promote sponsorships and raise funding through donations to fight histiocytosis, the money going to the Histiocytosis Association of America and Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services.

People wishing to donate to fight histiocytosis can call Sofia’s father at (831) 332-1021 or visit sofiamaze.com Sofia’s Maze.

Share

Aptos psychologist: new 1 oz. bottles for breastfeeding make it easier to collect and store. Babies can be fed directly from bottle.

Article Date: 23 Apr 2009

“Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has expanded its line of Snappies breastfeeding solutions with the new small volume 1oz container. Responding to the demand for more feeding choices, this sterile, leak-proof, airtight container can be used for the collection, storage and feeding of expressed breast milk. Designed to work with most popular breast pumps, 1oz Snappies container makes it even easier to collect and store smaller volumes of colostrum safely and conveniently. Babies can be fed directly from the container, eliminating the need for bags and bottles, as well as making breastfeeding easier both in the first few days after birth, and throughout the early, critical months at home.

“Snappies containers come in both 1oz and 2.3oz sizes. Snappies have been manufactured with a sterile interior, and are designed to work with standard ring-sized breast pumps typically used in hospital neo-natal care units. The containers allow mothers to pump directly into the bottles and a hinged flip-top lid conveniently locks back out of the way while in use, enabling the container to be opened and closed with one hand. In addition, the unique triple-seal design offers a complete airtight and leak-proof solution, ensuring maximum shelf life for breast milk when stored in the refrigerator or freezer. The hinged lid eliminates concerns about dropping or misplacing the lid, and the lid closes with an exclusive audible “snap” to indicate airtight closure. Furthermore, each Snappies Container features a built-in label section to quickly and easily record the mother’s name, date and collection time, and eliminate any potential identification problems.

Go to http://www.snappiescontainers.comSnappies

Share

Aptos psychologist: research shows melatonin can assist children with autism to sleep better. Check with your doctor first.

Melatonin for Sleep Issues Related to Autism

By Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com

Updated: April 16, 2009

“Melatonin is a hormone. It is secreted by the pineal gland, and helps regulate sleep rhythms. Natural or synthetic melatonin is often prescribed for people with sleep disturbances, no matter what their cause.

Research shows that people with autism often suffer from sleep disturbances including insomnia and night waking. For parents with children on the autism spectrum (or for adults with autism spectrum disorders), melatonin could be just the ticket.

While melatonin does not generally have side effects, it is important to consult your doctor regarding appropriate dosages. This is particularly important if you are treating a child. Though you can purchase melatonin over the counter, dosages described on the bottle are unlikely to be appropriate for a little one.

Sources:

Andersen IM, Kaczmarska J, McGrew SG, Malow BA. Melatonin for Insomnia in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Child Neurol. 2008 Jan 8 [Epub ahead of print].

Dodge NN, Wilson. Melatonin for treatment of sleep disorders in children with developmental disabilities. GAJ Child Neurol. 2001 Aug;16(8):581-4.

Garstang J, Wallis M. Randomized controlled trial of melatonin for children with autistic spectrum disorders and sleep problems.Child Care Health Dev. 2006 Sep;32(5):585-9.

Share