Young People and Mental Health, Policy and Research Review

This brief focuses on issues relating to young people’s mental health. It draws on published research evidence and discussion at a Roundtable event organised by YouthAction Northern Ireland (YANI) and ARK and held in December 2012. Roundtable participants included officials from a number of government departments, Health Trusts, representatives from a range of NGOs, academics, and young people from YouthAction Northern Ireland’s Right Here Fermanagh
project and Young Men Talking Project who opened the debate with a contribution on what they think is important for young people’s mental health. The event was conducted under the anonymity of reporting allowed under the Chatham House Rule to encourage open debate.

The Millennium child with autism: Early childhood trajectories for health, education and economic wellbeing

Objective: Most of what we know about children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is based on post-diagnostic, retrospective, self-select studies. Oftentimes, there is no direct comparison between trajectories of children with ASD and children without ASD.

Methods: To circumvent both of these problems, the present secondary data analysis utilised a large-scale longitudinal general population survey of children born in the year 2000 (i.e. the Millennium Cohort Study; MCS; n=18522). Bi-annual MCS data were available from five data sweeps (children aged 9 months to 11 years of age).

Results: Pre-diagnostic data showed early health problems differentiated children later diagnosed with autism from non-diagnosed peers. Prevalence was much higher than previously estimated (3.5% for 11-year olds). Post-diagnosis, trajectories deteriorated significantly for the children with ASD and their families in relation to education, health and economic wellbeing.

Conclusion: These findings raise many issues for service delivery and the rights of persons with disabilities and their families.

Zooarchaeology at the Niah Caves, Sarawak:Context and Research Issues INTRODUCTION

Extensive archaeological excavations in the Niah Caves (Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo) over the past 50 years have produced perhaps 750 000 fragments of vertebrate bone, one of the largest faunal assemblages in the region, This paper introduces a series of research studies examining different aspects of the Niah fauna, and discusses how they are contributing to, and shaping, regional research agendas relating to prehistoric environments and societies in Island Southeast Asia. Zooarchaeology has traditionally had a rather 'Cinderella' status here, but the ongoing programme of study of the Niah Caves fauna is demonstrating the remarkable potential of this material to address questions of Pleistocene and Holocene climate and environment, biodiversity, human activities within caves, people's engagement with the landscapes they inhabited as foragers and farmers, and the nature of the transition from foraging to farming. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Autism and ABA: Best Practice in America and the Way Forward for Europe.

According to recent estimates, 1 in each 68 new-borns will be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the USA (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014), while 1 in every 29 children will be diagnosed with ASD in the UK (Dillenburger, Jordan, McKerr, & Keenan, 2015). Individuals diagnosed with ASD share a set of characteristics at varying levels of severity: impairments in social communication skills and presence of restricted interests and repetitive behaviours (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).Notwithstanding these figures, little effort has been placed in European countries’ policies for reaching an early diagnosis. This has a detrimental effect on future prognosis for children with ASD, since research has clearly shown that when evidence-based interventions are accessed early in life, they can lead to great improvements on the overall functioning of children with ASD, including significant gains in social communication and reduction of inappropriate behaviours (Dawson, Rogers, Munson, Smith, Winter, Greenson, Donaldson, & Varley, 2009).Additionally, when looking at the services available for children with ASD and their families in Europe, it seems that not much improvement has been made in the last decades. Traditional eclectic approaches and a wealth of non-scientific methods seem to be available and often recommended by public bodies, while state-funded evidence-based interventions are not offered as part of the education or health system. Given that there is a wealth of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions based on the science of ABA, it seems that specific action is required to correct the situation, respecting children’s right to effective treatment and inclusion.In the present paper, these issues are fully discussed and recommendations for best practice are offered.

Understanding informal kinship care: a critical narrative review of theory and research

Many children are cared for on a full-time basis by relatives or adult friends, rather than their biological parents, and often in response to family crises. These kinship care arrangements have received increasing attention from the social science academy and social care professions. However, more information is needed on informal kinship care that is undertaken without official ratification by welfare agencies and often unsupported by the state. This article presents a comprehensive, narrative review of international, research literature on informal, kinship care to address this gap. Using systematic search and review protocols, it synthesises findings regarding: (i) the way that informal kinship care is defined and conceptualised; (ii) the needs of the carers and children; and (iii) ways of supporting this type of care. A number of prominent themes are highlighted including the lack of definitional clarity; the various adversities experienced by the families; and the requirement to understand the interface between formal and informal supports. Key messages are finally identified to inform the development of family friendly policies, interventions, and future research.

Community engagement in Belfast: Queen's University and the Sandy Row community

This chapter examines a case study of a university-community civic engagement project involving a homework club in an area of significant educational and social disadvantage. The chapter gives voice to community leaders who talk about the role of the initiative and their relationship with the university.

Irish language education and the national ideal: The dynamics of nationalism in Northern Ireland

Since the beginning of the Northern Ireland conflict in the late 1960s, Irish nationalism has been identified as a prominent force in the political culture of the state. Recent studies have suggested, however, that the ‘Nationalist’ population has become increasingly content within the new political framework created by the peace process and the aspiration for Irish unity diminished. In placing the Northern Ireland situation within the theoretical framework of nationalism, this paper will analyse how these changing priorities have been possible. Through an analysis of Irish language study in Northern Ireland's schools, the paper will examine how the political ideals espoused by the nationalist Sinn Féin Party reflected the priorities of the ‘nationalist community’. It will be contended that the relationship between the ideology and ‘the people’ is much more complex than is often allowed for and that educational inequalities are a significant contributing factor to this.