Posts by Hilary Stace
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All part of of an ongoing programme of improvement to meet the needs of our customer base.
Now that the pages are so much longer do you think it might be possible please to have a System>Public Address Cafe link at the bottom of the column as well as at the top?
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Ladyhawke (Pip Brown) is a great ad and role model for Aspergers. She's from the new generation who are OK about it, and talking about the 'difference' it means growing up.
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In the recent line by line review by the Ministry of Health, budgets for all sorts of health services were cut drastically. Some cuts included funding for DHBs (which provide disability support for the over 65s, and mental health services).The DHBs were also given a narrow range of new targets to achieve. Unfortunately, timely and appropriate disability supports were not among them. So before long cuts to front line disability supports would happen as shrinking budgets were redirected.
So we are now seeing, in different ways, the results of these cuts around the country. I have heard about major reassessments, reduced services, cuts in services, cuts to staffing, reduced eligibility criteria.
So, Joe, it appears that you are seeing one result in your area. We need to keep hearing these stories so we can monitor and report what is happening throughout our very fragmented system - and protest.
Not helped, unfortunately, by having a Minister for Disability Services outside cabinet, and a government not that fussed about disability support.
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It concerns me that works for a generally healthy adult white male (the norm for most RCTs, and therefore registration of new medicines) might not work as well for someone from another demographic.
So using it for someone from another age, gender or ethnic group is almost a leap of faith for the prescribing physician?
I know of several autistic children who have reacted very unexpectedly to prescribed drugs, as if their whole metabolism works differently. Conversely it could be possibly that alternative therapies may work more effectively for them than for eg Peter.
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Ok, let's move on - how about the development and efficacy of western psychology and psychiatry? Institutionalisation anybody? Just been reading this great book...
Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and The Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present by Lisa Appignanesi ...
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Good discussion on Media7 tonight about miracle stem cells and the media.
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Lucy- Chinese medicine has been around many centuries longer than modern western. That means it has has had many centuries to evolve and to develop effectiveness. Just as western medicine is continually improving. And what about Maori medicine - rongoa I think its called. Where does that fit?
Medical practitioners of all traditions should have forums to share and discuss ideas - they would probably find they have more to agree on than disagree. This thread has shown that it is not an either/or situation.
Look at something like manuka honey and its antiseptic properties - where did that idea come from? Now been proven through randomised control trials. A remedy from one tradition tested and becomes part of another.
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Lucy - New Zealand Chinese herbalists no longer use remedies from endangered species. Now they use equivalents from plant or synthetic origins. That's a change. And the alternative therapists I know are always changing and updating their work. Just like all health practitioners, the best ones are those prepared to critically and constantly review their practice.
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Ben - I hesitate to inflame the discussion but from my personal experience of eczema I have found the Chinese herbal/acupuncture medical tradition (which is after all older than modern western medicine) to have been effective. The theory behind this is that the body needs to be kept in some kind of equilibrium like a well tuned engine. However, it can get overheated and eczema is one manifestation. It certainly feels hot and itchy. According to this theoretical approach there are ways to cool the body and reduce inflamation by using various herbs/acupuncture points and particularly foods known for their cooling properties.
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Jolisa, we are all fine now but it is sometimes helpful to reflect why you did stuff. I shouldn't talk about my kids like this but they are adults now and used to me.
BTW I would really like to recommend a fascinating, well-written autobiography about (undiagnosed) autism and growing up in NZ.
Jen Birch, Congratulations! It's Asperger Syndrome. London, Jessica Kingsley, 2003
You can get it from better bookshops or direct from Jen for $35 - www.aspergers.co.nz