Each year, PAR asks our customers to select a charity to be the recipient of an annual donation on behalf of our customers. We are proud to announce the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the recipient of this year’s annual donation.
NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. It is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
“We began our Pay It Forward campaign several years ago as a way to honor the important work our customers do. While we provide our customers with insights and information to assist clients and patients throughout the year, this allows us to support them in a different way,” said PAR CEO Kristin Greco. “As a company, we feel so fortunate to be able to pay it forward on behalf of our customers.”
PAR will be donating $5,000 to support the important work NAMI is doing in communities throughout the country.
“NAMI is dedicated to raising awareness and providing support and education on the topic of mental health. This is vitally important work and dovetails with the work we do at PAR,” said Greco. “We are grateful to be able to contribute toward that purpose during this year’s Pay It Forward initiative.”
To learn more about NAMI, visit nami.org.
Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter spent much of her life as a prominent advocate for mental health. On Sunday, November 19, she passed away at her home in Plains, Georgia at the age of 96. We take this opportunity to showcase some of her important work in the field of mental health advocacy.
Advocated for mental health reform in Georgia
When her husband Jimmy Carter was running for governor of Georgia, Mrs. Carter met a woman who had just clocked out from the night shift. She mentioned that she was on the way home to take care of her daughter who had mentally health concerns. Mrs. Carter campaigned the rest of the day and then stood in line at one of her husband’s rallies. When Mr. Carter asked her what she was doing on the rope line at his rally, she said, “I came to see what you are going to do to help people with mental illnesses when you become governor.” He replied that Georgia was going to have the best program in the country and he would put her in charge of it.
Mrs. Carter served as a member of the Governor’s Commission to Improve Services to the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped during her husband’s governorship.
Served as an advocate for mental health as First Lady
Once Mr. Carter was in the White House, Mrs. Carter served as the honorary Chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health and testified before the Senate on behalf of the Mental Health Systems Act, which led to the passage of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980. The Mental Health Systems Act provided grants to community mental health centers. It was considered landmark legislation and has created a framework for much of the mental health legislation since that time.
While in the White House, the Carters helped establish 123 community mental health centers.
Focused on improving mental health and health care
After leaving Washington, DC, Mrs. Carter continued to advocate for mental health. The Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy has focused on improving mental health care by engaging thought leaders on topics such as how to promote access to appropriate and affordable behavioral healthcare services, issues related to improving the quality of mental health services, and concerns about reducing the stigma related to mental health and substance abuse.
In addition, she was pivotal in the Carter Center Mental Health Task Force, the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism, and the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI). Through these initiatives, Mrs. Carter was able to address the concerns of caregivers, promote mental health awareness, and advance public and social policies by shining a light on mental health issues.
Mrs. Carter cowrote several books on mental health and caregiving topics and received many honors for her work, including the 2018 Bill Foege Global Health Award, Volunteer of the Decade Award from the National Mental Health Association, the Dorothea Dix Award from the Mental Illness Foundation, the Nathan S. Kline Medal of Merit from the International Committee Against Mental Illness, the Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health from the Institute of Medicine, the United States Surgeon General's Medallion, induction in the National Women's Hall of Fame, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. She was an Honorary Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Mrs. Carter once reflected why it was important to make mental health her priority: “I wanted to take mental illnesses and emotional disorders out of the closet, to let people know it is all right to admit having a problem without fear of being called crazy. If only we could consider mental illnesses as straightforwardly as we do physical illnesses, those affected could seek help and be treated in an open and effective way.”
Rosalynn Carter was a tireless advocate for mental health causes. The Carter Center plans to continue this important work.
The newest additions to the PDD Behavior Inventory (PDDBI) product family are now available.
The PDDBI can better help you to document and evaluate change in individuals on the autism spectrum. The PDDBI is an informant-based rating scale that can be completed by parents and teachers to assess features of autism and responsiveness to intervention.
Unlike other measures for ASD, the PDDBI was developed to assess both problem behaviors as well as appropriate social, language, and learning/memory skills. It can be used in assessment, treatment planning, and monitoring. Two new reports and a manual supplement have just been released.
PDDBI supplement provides practical insights
The just-released PDDBI Professional Manual Supplement: Advanced Score, Multirater, and Progress Monitoring Interpretation digital supplement provides practical insight into the reasoning behind the development of the new reports as well as their application in practice.
This new supplement provides guidance for calculation and interpretation of parent–teacher rating comparisons and tracking changes in scores over time using Reliable Change Indices. In addition, it includes guidance for advanced interpretation of the PDDBI, including interpretation of individual scores and clusters and comparisons between parent and teacher ratings. Reliable change indices are provided in order to detect significant differences (a) between raters and (b) over time.
Enhanced and updated PDDBI reports
Updated and new reports offer clinicians additional insights to better document and evaluate change in individuals with ASD. The PDDBI Multirater and Progress Monitoring Reports are both available for no additional charge when you purchase and use a score report for each form you wish to compare.
Using the PDDBI with TRICARE
If you are covered by TRICARE, use of the PDDBI is mandated under the Autism Care Demonstration (ACD) benefit. Under the ACD, applied behavior analysis (ABA) providers are authorized to render services for the core symptoms of ASD. The goal of ABA therapy is to minimize challenging behaviors and improve the quality of life for the individual and their caregivers.
Under this program, the PDDBI is used as a baseline outcome measure to help providers develop treatment plans and evaluate an individual’s change in behavior over time. The PDDBI will be readministered every six months.
If you are a clinician who accepts TRICARE, the PDDBI is mandated for use as part of initial assessment and every six months to monitor progress. Additional age-based outcome measures that evaluate parenting stress are also required under ACD (the Parenting Stress Index, Fourth Edition Short Form [PSI-4-SF] and the Stress Index for Parents of Adolescents [SIPA]) are also available from PAR. Learn more about the requirements for TRICARE reimbursement under ACD.
This week, schools everywhere will be celebrating National School Psychology Week (NSPW)!
NSPW is more than just a yearly observance; it's a way to acknowledge school psychologists who work tirelessly to nurture the mental health and emotional well-being of students. It also serves as a reminder of the multifaceted support that school psychologists provide. From addressing academic challenges to fostering emotional resilience, these professionals are dedicated to ensuring that each student receives the personalized support they need to thrive.
The importance of mental health in education cannot be overstated. NSPW serves as a platform to raise awareness about mental health issues among students, parents, and educators. By fostering a culture of openness, school psychologists contribute to reducing the stigma associated with seeking mental health support.
Being a school psychologist has always been crucial, and given the current shortage of school psychologists along with the increasing demand for their services, NSPW is just one way to recognize that this role is more demanding—and more important—than ever.
Sponsored by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), the theme for NSPW this year is “Let’s Grow Together.” This theme brings to the spotlight the essential work school psychologists do to help students to flourish.
PAR would like to thank all school psychologists for the essential services they provide to their students, and for placing your trust in our instruments. Celebrate this week by showing your school psychology pride—download our complimentary virtual background here for use on your teleconferencing software.
Looking for more information about PAR school resources and assessments? Visit our school resources page.
How to use a virtual background on Zoom:
Sign in to the Zoom desktop app. Click your profile thumbnail, then go to “Settings.” Navigate to “Background & Effects.” Download the complimentary image here and click the “+” icon to upload.
How to use a virtual background on Teams:
From the Calendar, click “Join” on a meeting. In the pre-meeting screen, turn on your camera. Select the background filters icon and a panel will appear on the right with all the available background options. Download the NSPW image here. Select “Add new” and upload the image from your computer.