The Weber County Sheriff’s Office released dash-cam video of a 7-year-old boy who went to great lengths to get out of going to church on July 26. He took the family car and led police on a low-speed chase.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

The boy told deputies it was just too hot to go to church, so he went for a joyride. His parents had no idea their car and their child was missing.

“People in the neighborhood are talking about this,” said Weber County sheriff’s Lt. Matthew Bell. “They could tell there was a small, young driver in the car.”

Deputies found the car near the local high school and tailed it for 10 blocks, all while the driver weaved in traffic lanes and blew through stop signs.

“The deputies at one time had pulled up kinda close to him on the side and could see it was a very small person driving the car,” Bell said.

Deputies say this dime-sized, delinquent driver maintained speeds up to 45 miles an hour even though he had some trouble reaching the pedals.

“His speed was slow, but erratically; and so he would kind of scoot down lower to push on the gas and kinda sit up on the seat more to see right where he was going,” Bell said.

And where he went, was home. That’s when deputies got a better look at who they were dealing with: a 7-year old boy whose feet were as quick as his caper.

“Very unusual situation, very unusual. I mean, what can you say?” Bell said.

Investigators say the boy is too young to charge with a crime. They just hope his parents keep a closer eye on him.

KSL

Two Bountiful Junior High School teachers are accused of sexually assaulting the same 13-year-old student, after their separate relationships with him spiraled from personal conversations to the exchange of sexual text messages and phone sex, authorities said.
On Friday, the Davis County Attorney’s Office filed first-degree felony charges of rape and sodomy on a child against Linda R. Nef, 46, and Valynne Bowers, 39.
Nef, a Utah studies teacher and cheerleading adviser, and Bowers, who teaches math, each confessed to having sex with the student, said Bountiful Police Lt. Randy Pickett. Until recently, the two teachers did not know about each other’s relationship with the same boy, Pickett said.

Linda Nef

The charges were filed after Nef arranged a meeting with police on Thursday and admitted having sex with the boy for more than a year, Pickett said. Their sexual relationship allegedly began in October 2007 and lasted until December 2008, he said.
During the meeting, Nef revealed Bowers’ relationship with the boy, Pickett said. Bowers allegedly began having sex with him in December, and she also has acknowledged the relationship, he said.
Nef was booked into the Davis County Jail on Friday afternoon and has her first court appearance scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 27.
Bowers also was arrested and booked into the jail on Friday, Pickett said. She later appeared in court, where she waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was ordered to stand trial. A felony arraignment in her case is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 16.

Valynne Bowers

Nef, who began her career with the Davis County School District in 2004 as a physical education teacher at Taylor Elementary School, resigned from her post at the junior high on Monday, said school district spokesman Chris Williams.
Bowers was placed on administrative leave while district officials conduct their own investigation. Bowers has taught in the district since 1996 and was an elementary school teacher for nine years before she transferred to Bountiful Junior High in 2006, Williams said.
“So far, there is nothing to indicate that there are any other students involved, or any other faculty or employees involved,” Pickett said.
In separate conversations, the boy and the two teachers began discussing personal problems, Pickett said. That led to text messages, including ones involving sexual matters, then phone sex and the alleged sexual assaults, Pickett said.
The investigation so far indicates none of the alleged sex acts occurred at the school, Pickett said. Instead, the teachers allegedly went with the student to homes, parking lots or parks in Bountiful, Woods Cross, Farmington and Kaysville.
Williams said parents picking up their children from the school Friday expressed disbelief and shock. Jenifer Wright, whose eighth-grade daughter attends the school, said the news alarmed her.
“It makes me very worried. I’m very protective about my children,” she said.
Holly Ruhr, whose seventh-grade daughter attends the school, said she is not worried by the charges because she has been “impressed in every way” by Bountiful Junior High.
“My daughter is thrilled to go to class every day,” she said. “This is just a case of one or two teachers. Not a bad school.”
Another parent struggled to believe the allegations, defending Bowers as a great teacher.
Recent cases
Since 2007, at least 10 other Utah teachers or school employees have been charged with engaging in sexual acts with students. Among recent cases:
In November 2007, Frank Laine Hall, 37, was sentenced to prison for molesting 11 of his first-grade students at Rosamond Elementary School in Riverton.
Also in 2007, former West High School guidance counselor Marco R. Herrera, 53, received three consecutive one-to-15 year prison terms for engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl at least 10 times. An honors teacher at the same school was charged in 2008 with multiple counts of having sex with the same girl; his case is pending.

Can listening to sexually aggressive lyrics prompt teenagers to have sex at an earlier age?

That’s the issue raised by a new study, and it could unleash a fierce debate over whether a teen’s music player is potentially risky and — if so — what should or can be done about it.

In an unusual piece of research, investigators at the University of Pittsburgh graded the sexual aggressiveness of lyrics, using songs by popular artists on the US Billboard chart.

The lyrics were graded from the least to the most sexually degrading.

They then asked 711 students aged 15 to 16 at three local high schools about their music preferences and their sexual behaviour.

Overall, 31 percent of the teens had had intercourse.

But the rate was only 20.6 percent among those who had been least exposed to sexually degrading lyrics but 44.6 percent among those highly exposed to the most degrading lyrics.

The study’s lead author, Brian Primack, said music by itself was not the direct spark for sex but helped mould perception and was thus “likely to be a factor” in sexual development.

“These lyrics frequently portray aggressive males subduing submissive females, which may lead adolescents to incorporate this ’script’ for sexual experience into their world view,” he told AFP.

The study took social factors, educational attainment and ethnicity into account.

“Non-degrading” lyrics described sex in a non-specific way and as a mutually consensual act, while “degrading” lyrics described sexual acts as a purely physical, graphic and dominant act.

“Lyrics describing degrading sex tend to portray sex as expected, direct and uncomplicated,” said the paper, which appeared last week in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“Such descriptions may offer scripts that adolescents feel compelled to play out, whether they are cast in the role of either the female or the male partner.”

Steven Martino, author of a study published in 2000 that also made the same association between music and sexual behaviour, said the findings were a wakeup call.

“The need [is] for parents to be aware so that they can place limits and criticise and understand what their children are listening to,” said Martino, a behavioural scientist in Pittsburgh with the Rand Corporation.

More than 750,000 American teenagers become pregnant each year, giving the United States one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the rich world, according to figures quoted in the study. Nearly a quarter of all female teenagers in the United States have a sexually-transmitted disease.

Nearly a quarter of a century ago, lyrics by Prince on his album “Purple Rain” prompted wives of senior politicians in Washington, led by Tipper Gore, to set up the Parents Music Resource Center.

They pushed for the music industry to develop guidelines and a rating system for lyrics, similar to the ratings for movies. The system was criticised by many as unworkable and counter-productive, making it more daring for teens to buy songs they deemed taboo.

“Government needs to help parents to regulate the industry,” said Helen Ward, president of the Kids First Parents Association of Canada.

Today’s technology means it is “physically impossible” for parents to monitor what their children listened to or watched on their MP3, she said.

But Raymond MacDonald, a specialist in music psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University, described it as “a perennial debate that cropped up with artists like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the Sex Pistols and Elvis Presley before that.”

“Do we really need a solution to the problem?”, he asked.

MacDonald said that even if every generation rehashes the discussion differently, there’s an important difference today: age lines have blurred and now everyone is listening to everything.

“Maybe we should do a study to see if the music has as a bad influence on grandparents,” he said wryly.

A video showing a King County Sheriff’s deputy pummeling a 15-year-old girl in a holding cell was released Friday over the strenuous objections of the officer’s attorney.

The case goes beyond police misconduct, County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a prepared statement.

“It’s about criminal misconduct. And that’s why he needs to be prosecuted,” he said.

The video of the Nov. 29 incident was disclosed Friday, one day after Deputy Paul Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault in King County District Court.

Schene, an eight-year veteran, works out of Precinct 4, which covers SeaTac, Burien and high crime areas in White Center and Skyway.

He is the third sheriff’s deputy since 2006 to face charges on allegations of excessive force. All three are from the Burien precinct.

A detective assigned to the girl’s case discovered the video Dec. 1 and immediately forwarded it to supervisors.

The Seattle P-I requested a copy of the holding cell video and all reports from the incident under the state’s open records law. A judge on Thursday denied a request from Schene’s attorney to bar the video from public disclosure.

“We take this very seriously and we’re very concerned about this,” sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Laing said Friday. An internal investigation would begin after the criminal case is finished.

The girl was arrested after she was caught in her parents’ car, which had been reported stolen from her parents’ Tukwila home. Deputy Travis Brunner spotted the car driving without headlights about 3:45 a.m. on 32nd Avenue South in SeaTac and pulled it over.

She and another 15-yearold girl were arrested and taken to SeaTac City Hall to be fingerprinted before being transported to the youth detention center.

The P-I is not naming the girl because she is a minor.

The deputies apparently didn’t know until later that the girl, who was in the passenger seat, was related to the car’s owner.

“We had argued strenuously that the videotape released to the media this morning not be released because it does not tell the whole story of the incident,” attorney Anne Bremner said in a statement.

“As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy’s right to a fair trial.”

The video shows Schene and Brunner as they escorted the girl into the holding cell. Schene had asked her to remove her basketball shoes, and, as she slipped out of her left shoe, she appeared to kick it at Schene.

Schene then lunged through the door and kicked her, striking either her stomach or upper thigh area, court documents say. He pushed her against a corner wall before flinging her to the floor by her hair. He then squatted down on her and made “two overhead strikes,” although it’s unclear where the blows landed.

The detective who reviewed the video said it appeared Schene and Brunner had the girl under control when Schene struck her. Schene, who is 6 feet 2 and weighs 195 pounds, did not explain his action to investigators, court documents say.

He and the girl exchanged words. Brunner said she was “real lippy” after being informed she was under arrest and called them “fat pigs.”

The Sheriff’s Office policy manual says deputies should use physical or deadly force only when “necessary to effect an arrest, to defend themselves or others from violence, or to otherwise accomplish police duties according to law.”

Schene could face up to a year in jail if convicted. He has been on administrative leave since early December.

The girl said that she couldn’t breathe after the incident, prompting the deputies to call paramedics.

Paramedics decided that she didn’t require hospitalization. Felony charges require proof of serious injury.

“If the matter were to go to trial, he could face additional charges,” said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff in the Prosecutor’s Office.

In his own report from the incident, Schene wrote that the shoe hit him in the right shin, “causing injury and pain.” He wrote that he “placed” her into handcuffs and that she needed medical attention for a “panic attack.”

He said a “blood filled pocket” formed on his shin, requiring treatment at Auburn General Hospital, according to his report. The video, however, appears to show his shin strike a metal toilet as he pushes the girl against the wall.

The girl told investigators that she didn’t intend for the shoe to hit him, court documents say.

Schene had previously been in the news in 2006 after he fatally shot Pedro Jo, a mentally ill man, during a struggle after a traffic stop on Interstate 5. It was the second officer-involved shooting of his career.

An inquest jury ruled the shooting was justified. Jo viciously attacked Schene, trying to strangle him with his own radio cord.

Jo then ran back to his car and disobeyed Schene’s orders to stop. Schene said he saw Jo reach for something in the seat, so Schene fired 11 times after Jo ran back to his car.

Shortly after the shooting while on administrative leave, Schene was stopped for driving under the influence.

He had been drinking and taking prescription medication, according to court records. He received a deferred sentence and was placed on probation, records show.

Schene works in an urban precinct with higher rates of violent crime and gang activity than other precincts. Officers assigned there more often report having to use physical force in arrest situations, Laing said.

Schene is the second officer from the precinct in three months to face charges. In addition, a third deputy, Brian Bonnar, was acquitted in January of civil rights violations during a trial in U.S. District Court. Bonnar, who patrolled in the precinct, was accused by other deputies of using excessive force on a woman who’d been restrained after a high-speed pursuit.

Legal costs for Bonnar’s private attorneys, David Allen and Todd Maybrown, as well as lawyer costs for other deputies involved, cost the county’s insurer $315,000, according to records the P-I obtained.

In December, Deputy Don Griffee was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching a handcuffed male suspect. The state Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case.

A license isn’t necessarily a guarantee of quality. It merely shows that the facility has met the minimum health, safety, and teacher training standards set by the state. In some states, having a license means only that a preschool has registered as a business; in others, it means a preschool has passed a stringent test. In any case, ask to see the preschool’s license when you visit to make sure it’s at least up to date, and check here to see what it takes to get one in your state – http://nrc.uchsc.edu/states.html. You can also check a preschool’s license by calling your state or county social services department (look in the phone book).

What does it mean if a preschool is “accredited”?
Accreditation may be a more telling sign that you’ve found a good preschool. Look for one that has passed the tough accreditation process formulated by the National Association for the Education of young Children (NAEYC), a benchmark of quality. So far, NAEYC has accredited only a fraction (approximately 6,000) of this country’s more than 96,000 licensed preschools and daycare centers. About 12,000 more have ordered materials from NAEYC that outline what a center must have to be accredited. Keep in mind that the accreditation process can take up to 18 months and cost more than $400, which is one reason why so few centers have yet to seek that stamp of approval. What’s more, preschools must update their accreditation every three years, and this can be time consuming for a small school with limited personnel.

To search NAEYC’s database and find out whether your preschool has made the cut – http://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/center_search.asp

[via Parent Center]

Most preschools operate on an installment plan, and the more quickly you pay the tuition in full — in two installments, say, rather than monthly — the cheaper it will be for you. Many schools charge interest if the tuition payments are spread out over a period of months.

Parent-run cooperative preschools generally cost less but require more of your time. Fran Brook, a mother of three in Novato, Calif., chose a co-op when she sent her third child to Novato Parents’ Nursery School. “I spent one day there every other week leading the kids in activities the director had planned,” she says. “We also had one evening meeting a month and one or two work Saturdays a year.”

Brook still had to pay something, but she estimates it was half what a regular school would have cost. What’s more, it was a great way to become part of the community. “I was new in town,” she says. “Through my son’s preschool I got to meet other parents with similar interests.”

[via Parent Center]

Watch your children for signs of fear and anxiety they may not be able to put into words. Have your children become extra clingy, needing more hugs and kisses than usual? Have your children started wetting the bed or sucking their thumb after you thought they had outgrown that behavior? They may be feeling the pressure of what is going on in the world around them. Use play to help your children express their fears and encourage them to use art or pretend games to express what they may not be able to put into words.

Use your family like a security blanket for your children: wrap them up in family closeness and make sure your children have lots of family time. During times of stress and change, spend more time with your children playing games, reading to them, or just holding them close.

Young children especially crave routine and rituals. If bedtime is the time you read stories to your children, make sure you keep that time for stories. Your child may be less able to handle change when he or she is going through a particularly rough time.

[via APA]

For every 100 girls that are conceived 115 boys are conceived.
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-3840.html

For every 100 girl babies born there are 105 boy babies born.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/vitstat.pdf

K-12 Education

For every 100 girls enrolled in nursery school there are 112 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in kindergarten there are 116 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in elementary grades there are 107 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in ninth grade there are 101 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in tenth grade there are 94 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in eleventh grade there are 109 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in twelfth grade there are 98 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in high school there are 100 boys enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 girls enrolled in gifted and talented programs in public elementary and secondary schools there are 94 boys enrolled.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_055.asp

For every 100 girls who graduate from high school 96 boys graduate
(NCES, unpublished tabulation.)

For every 100 girls suspended from public elementary and secondary schools 250 boys are suspended.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_144.asp

For every 100 girls expelled from public elementary and secondary schools 335 boys are expelled.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_144.asp

Special Education

For every 100 girls diagnosed with a special education disability 217 boys are diagnosed with a special education disability.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with a learning disability 276 boys are diagnosed with a learning disability.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with emotional disturbance 324 boys are diagnosed with emotional disturbance
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with a speech impairment 147 boys are similarly diagnosed.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with mental retardation 138 boys are diagnosed as mentally retarded.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with visual impairment 125 boys are visually impaired.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with hearing impairment 108 boys are diagnosed as hearing impaired.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls diagnosed with deafness 120 boys have deafness.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls with orthopedic impairment 118 boys have orthopedic impairment.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls with other health impairment 127 boys have other health impairment.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls with multiple disabilities 189 boys have multiple disabilities.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

For every 100 girls that are deaf/blind 98 boys are deaf/blind.
http://www.iteachilearn.com/uh/meisgeier/statsgov20gender.htm

Higher Education

For every 100 women enrolled in college there are 77 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the first year of college there are 79 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the second year of college there are 71 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the third year of college there are 75 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the fourth year of college there are 94 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the fifth year of college there are 65 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women enrolled in the sixth year or more of college there are 78 men enrolled.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2004.html

For every 100 women living in college dormitories there are 87 men living in college dorms.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 American women who earn an associateís degree from college 67 American men earn the same degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_262.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a bachelorís degree from college 73 American men earn a bachelorís degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_262.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a masterís degree from college 62 American men earn the same degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_265.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a first-professional degree 107 American men earn a first-professional degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_271.asp

For every 100 American women who earn a doctor’s degree from college 92 American men earn the same degree.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_268.asp

Other Indicators

For every 100 females ages 15 to 19 that commit suicide 549 males in the same range kill themselves.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/LCWK1_2002.pdf

For every 100 females ages 20 to 24 that commit suicide 624 males of the same age kill themselves.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/LCWK1_2002.pdf

For every 100 girls ages 15 to 17 in correctional facilities there are 837 boys behind bars.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 18 to 21 in correctional facilities there are 1430 men behind bars.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 22 to 24 in correctional facilities there are 1448 men in correctional facilities.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women living in military quarters there are 642 men living in military quarters.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 18 to 24 years living in emergency and transitional shelters there are 86 men living in similar shelters.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

For every 100 women ages 18 to 24 years living in-group homes there are 166 men of the same age living in-group homes.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t26.html

The latest research shows mixed results. According to an ongoing study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Md., which has tracked more than 1,300 children in 10 cities since 1991, preschoolers who attend day care for a year or more have an increased chance of discipline problems through the sixth grade, regardless of sex, family income or the quality of the day care center. On average, the more time that a child spends in day care (especially as an infant or toddler), the more problems arise.

But the study, published in the March-April issue of Child Development, also found that high-quality day care attendance is linked to children’s higher vocabulary scores through elementary school.

The takeaway message is that both the quantity and quality of child care do matter,” says Sharon Ramey, director of the Georgetown University Center on Health and Education in Washington, D.C. As a result, Ramey recommends that working parents should try to arrange their schedules creatively so that a child doesn’t have to be in nonparental care for excessively long periods of time — say, more than 30 to 40 hours a week.

In addition, Ramey says that research is just starting to show that not only is it important to find high-quality child care, but it’s also important to find the type of care that works best for your son or daughter and that takes his or her personality and individual needs into account.

In other words, a place that works for one youngster may or may not be the right place for another youngster. Thus, working parents need to be on the lookout for any signs of stress or distress in a child who attends day care — such as unusual crying or hitting incidents — and deal with them proactively.

Still, despite the somewhat troubling research findings regarding day care and discipline problems, Ramey notes that this new study “also affirms, again, that home environment has the largest and most lasting effect on a child.” This includes the overall quality of parenting — which is a stronger and much more significant predictor of developmental outcomes than any early child care experience.  

[via Revolution Health Group]

Peat (Parents Education As Autism Therapists) this morning launched Simple Steps, a CD-Rom training and support package.

The initiative will provide training and guidance to parents who have a child with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and has been designed and produced by parents and professionals to provide information about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Around 10,000 children in Northern Ireland suffer from ASD and the figure is rising. Autism, which has a detrimental affect on a child’s social interaction, communication and play skills, can also lead to challenging and inappropriate behaviour. Simple Steps aims to give parents the skills to deal with challenging behaviour, such as tantrums, and to teach their children new skills. ABA also empowers children with skills to make choices for themselves, giving them more independence and a better quality of life.

The package was funded with a grant of £236,529 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Voluntary and Community Sector Programme.

Dr Tony Byrne, Peat chairman, has two children with autism. He said that parents have “initial feelings of devastation and disbelief when their children are diagnosed with Autism”.

“We then embark on a lonely search for help. Most of us rang every charity we could find, spoke to countless professionals, read books on autism and searched many websites,” he said.

“Wouldn’t it have been great if someone had given you a complete comprehensive support package that answered the questions you needed answered.”

Peat, a parent-led charity, worked along with Dr Stephen Gallagher and Dr Mickey Keenan from the University of Ulster’s school of psychology in Coleraine, Dr Karola Dillenburger from Queen’s University Belfast and a local company, Manley’s Ltd., to produce Simple Steps. Crossroads Primary School and Stars pre-school in Kilrea also played key roles in the project.

Dr Mickey Keenan said the launch was “another step closer to addressing the acute shortage of skills in a science of behaviour for guiding parents of children with autism”.

For further information, contact Peat on 028 9032 4882 or log on to their website at www.peatni.org

[via Belfast Telegraph]