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What does it cost to drop 30 pounds?
Getting smaller is big business. As you lose weight, your wallet could end up thinner, too – sometimes by thousands of dollars, depending on which diet plan you pick.

By Bankrate.com
It could be a wedding, a high school reunion or a tropical vacation. We’ve all had that moment when an upcoming event makes us wish we could instantly drop 10, 20 or 30 pounds.

As panic sets in, ads featuring before and after shots of weight-loss success stories capture the imagination, and we muse: “If Mike Bullard lost 30 pounds in seven weeks, why can’t I?”

Despite studies saying Americans are getting fatter every year, people are obsessed with weight loss, and the business of losing weight has ballooned into a $30 billion-a-year industry in the U.S. How much would you be willing to spend to lose 30 pounds?

There’s no shortage of options when it comes to weight-loss programs. The key is finding a program that fits your lifestyle and budget. Of course, you could always go the old-fashioned route, reducing calories and increasing exercise, but many dieters benefit from added structure and support, not to mention the accountability that accompanies an organized program. (There’s nothing like a little public humiliation to keep you motivated.)

Video: A combination pill for diabetes and weight loss

But paying someone to keep you on the straight and narrow isn’t cheap. Remember, the phrase “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware) was practically coined for the diet industry. Do your homework, and remember that there are no shortcuts or magic shakes or bars that will to be your ticket to Slimville.

Jenny Craig
The weight-loss brand recently marketed by spokeswoman Queen Latifah boasts a sensible approach to weight loss, advocating an average drop in body mass of about 1%, or 1 to 2 pounds per week. The program addresses mind-body aspects of weight loss by helping clients adopt healthful eating and exercise habits, as well as encouraging them to examine the underlying causes of their weight problems.

Jenny Rewards, priced at $399 or $359, is a 12-month program that rewards dieters’ efforts and weight loss with discounts on food. There’s also an at-home option that is similar except you also pay for shipping and have consultations by phone.

Sign-up costs include weekly one-on-one counseling, personalized menus, motivational plans and assorted manuals and guides, depending on membership level. Then, there’s the cost of food. The prepackaged foods generally cost $12 to $18 per day, or $84 to $126 per week.

Cost of losing 30 pounds: $399 or $359 (if paid upfront), not including food.

NutriSystem
This at-home system (no office visits or weigh-ins) will appeal to those who don’t like to cook. It involves exclusively eating the company’s prepackaged meals. The 28-day program includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks (you may add fresh vegetables, fruit and dairy). Support is offered through a free Web site.

“Some people lose 1 pound a week; some people lose 3 pounds a week,” says a NutriSystem sales representative. If, on average, you lose 2 pounds a week, the diet will take about four months. It’s cheaper to sign up for the Auto-Delivery Savings program (the food keeps coming until you cancel it), which costs $293.72, including shipping, per month.

Cost of losing 30 pounds: $1,174.88, including all food, except fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy.

Continued: Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers
This is one of the most popular diets in the world, probably because there’s no such thing as taboo food. The diet is based on portion control and involves weekly support meetings. You can also do the program online.

The Flex plan means each food is assigned a point value, and you can eat anything as long as you stay within your allotted points. The Core plan involves a preapproved list of foods. Though there are plenty of Weight Watchers food items on the market, they are optional.

Registration is between $15 and $20, depending on location. Weekly meeting fees range from about $10 to $15, again, location-dependent. The standard monthly plan for Weight Watchers Online costs $46.90 the first month and $16.95 for subsequent months. Plan to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week for 20 weeks to reach a 30-pound weight-loss goal.

Cost of losing 30 pounds: $214.80 to $299.80, depending on location, or $97.75 online, not including food.

The Zone Diet
This well-rounded plan is based on a 40-30-30 ratio of daily calories obtained from carbohydrates, proteins and favorable fats.

Though you could buy a book and follow the diet independently, why not do it like the stars? You could opt for the company’s In the Zone Delivery. The service delivers a customized daily supply of food (three meals and two snacks) tosubscribers in most metropolitan areas by 6 a.m. each day. Outside major cities, you can receive two to three days’ worth of food at a time for a higher delivery fee.

Video: A combination pill for diabetes and weight loss
The Canadian service came to the U.S. two years ago, starting with Los Angeles, and has since spread to the metropolitan areas of New York City, Boston, San Diego, South Florida, Connecticut, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.

Signing up for the 30-day plan will cost $39.99 a day plus a shipping charge, which is $3 for customers in most cities and $10 for those in other areas. If you want to try it out for two weeks, you’ll pay $44.99 per day plus shipping. The average Zone dieter loses 8 to 10 pounds a month, and it will take three or four months to drop 30 pounds.

Cost of losing 30 pounds: $3,869.1 to $5,158.8, which includes $3 a day for delivery.

Free advice
These diets are just the tip of the iceberg. The options for losing weight are endless.

Keep in mind that this article isn’t an endorsement of any of the programs listed. Before committing to a particular plan, research the company, talk to your doctor and ask questions.

Some questions to ask before signing up:

What are the costs for membership, weekly fees, food, supplements, maintenance and counseling?

What’s the payment schedule?

Are any costs covered under health insurance?

What is the refund policy?

This was posted on MSN Money today. Just Food for Thought, or health as you prefer.

What are the health risks?

How many participants succeed in reaching their goal and keeping the weight off?

What kind of professional supervision or counseling is provided?

It’s also important to be realistic. Ask yourself whether you can afford the program and whether it fits your lifestyle. If you have the motivation but not the means, don’t fret. Instead, consider the age-old method for losing weight: Reduce the number of calories you take in while exercising to increase the amount you burn off.

This article was reported and written by Sheyna Steiner and Rose Raymond for Bankrate.com. Michelle Warren contributed to this article.

Updated July 3, 2008

What is a Multi-Sensory Environment or Snoezelen® Room?

It is a dedicated room that attempts to block out noise, control space, temperature, and lighting. It is an artificially created venue that brings together multi-sensory equipment in one place to stimulate the senses. This venue promotes pleasure and / or feelings of well-being and can be utilized as part of the learning or treatment experience or for leisure and relaxation. It is Controlled Sensory Input (CSI), especially designed to promote choice, interaction, and relationships through planned stimulation of the senses. It relieves stress, anxiety and pain. MSEs have been shown to help with autism, brain injury, challenging behaviors, dementia, developmental disabilities, mental illness, palliative care, pre and post surgery, PTSD, special education and of course wellness. It aims to maximize a person’s potential to focus and then to act on this change through an adaptive response to their environment. An adaptive response is defined as the individual initiating and reacting in a meaningful, productive way to situations, things and people in their environment. An adaptive response is a dynamic and ever changing process. Simply put Multi-Sensory Environments help change behavior, increase focus and attention and add to the feelings of positive self-esteem and well-being. (Written by: Linda Messbauer, MA, OTR/L)

Background of AAMSE

AAMSE was established by a group of professionals who came together in March, 2006 at a workshop on multi sensory environments (MSE) in Miami, Florida. Due to an increasing awareness and interest in MSE, the group decided to establish an Association as a way to bring together different disciplines to improve education, research, training and awareness in the use of MSE. It was also a way for those interested in MSE to network with each other and find out where the MSE rooms are located throughout the nation.

Music Therapy and Autism
[Information taken from AMTA website]

WHY MUSIC THERAPY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIAGNOSES ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM?
• The literature reports that most individuals with autism respond positively to music (DeMyer, 1974; Edgerton, 1994; Euper, 1968; Snell, 1996; Thaut, 1992).
• People with diagnoses on the autism spectrum often show a heightened interest and response to music, making it an excellent therapeutic tool to work with them.
• Music is a very basic human response, spanning all degrees of ability/disability. Music therapists are able to meet clients at their own levels and allow them to grow from there. The malleability of music makes it a medium that can be adapted to meet the needs of each individual.
• Music is motivating and enjoyable.
• Music can promote relatedness, relaxation, learning, and self-expression.
• Music therapy addresses multiple developmental issues simultaneously.
• Music therapy can provide success-oriented opportunities for achievement and mastery.
• The structure and sensory input inherent in music help to establish response and role expectations, positive interactions, and organization.

HOW DOES MUSIC THERAPY MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIAGNOSES ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM?

Individuals with diagnoses on the autism spectrum may display “qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication” and often manifest “restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities.” Delays and/or abnormal functioning usually occur before age 3 and may be marked by a lack of symbolic or imaginative play as well. (Diagnostic Statistical Manual-IV, pp. 70-71).
Music therapy can be effective in addressing the typical characteristics of autism listed above in the following ways:
• Music is considered a “universal language” which provides bridges in a non-threatening setting between people and/or between individuals and their environment, facilitating relationships, learning, self-expression, and communication.
• Music captures and helps maintain attention. It is highly motivating and engaging and may be used as a natural “reinforcer” for desired responses. Music therapy can stimulate clients to reduce negative and/or self-stimulatory responses and increase participation in more appropriate and socially acceptable ways.
• Music therapy can enable those without language to communicate, participate and express themselves non-verbally. Very often music therapy also assists in the development of verbal communication, speech, and language skills. The interpersonal timing and reciprocity in shared play, turn-taking, listening and responding to another person are augmented in music therapy with children and adults with autism to accommodate and address their styles of communication.
• Music therapy allows individuals with diagnoses on the autism spectrum the opportunity to develop identification and appropriate expression of their emotions.
• Because music is processed in both hemispheres of the brain, music can stimulate cognitive functioning and may be used for remediation of some speech/language skills.
• Music provides concrete, multi-sensory stimulation (auditory, visual, and tactile). The rhythmic component of music is very organizing for the sensory systems of individuals diagnosed with autism. As a result, auditory processing and other sensory-motor, perceptual/motor, gross and fine motor skills can be enhanced through music therapy.
• Musical elements and structures provide a sense of security and familiarity in the music therapy setting, encouraging clients to attempt new tasks within this predictable but malleable framework.
Many people with diagnoses on the autism spectrum have innate musical talents; thus, music therapy provides an opportunity for successful experiences. Emphasis is placed on strengths, which in turn may be utilized to address each individual’s areas of need.

Music therapists provide direct or consultative services. They work individually or in small groups, using a variety of music and techniques to engage children and adults with diagnoses on the autism spectrum. They involve clients in singing, listening, moving, playing instruments, and creative activities in a systematic, prescribed manner to influence change in targeted responses or behaviors and help clients meet individual goals and objectives. They create a musical, familiar environment that encourages positive interpersonal interaction and allows clients freedom to explore and express themselves. They utilize music that is preferred by and reinforcing to clients and is appropriate for ages, cultures, and environments in which the clients interact.

Music therapists are trained professionals who accept referrals, observe clients’ behavior and interactions, and assess their behavioral/psycho-social/emotional, communication/language, perceptual/ and sensory/motor, cognitive/academic, and musical skills. After designing realistic goals and target objectives to address identified needs, music therapists plan and implement individualized music therapy treatment programs with strategies, procedures, and interventions to develop skills necessary to achieve an optimum level of success or quality of life for individuals with diagnoses on the autism spectrum. Music therapists document client responses, conduct ongoing evaluations of progress and performance, and make recommendations for future consideration. They often work as team members in conjunction with families and professionals to best address each individual’s needs. Music therapists may also make recommendations to team members and families regarding ways to include successful music therapy techniques in other aspects of clients’ lives.

Service dogs have big impact on autistic kids
Updated Wed. Jan. 19 2005 10:41 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

There is some furry, four-legged help for parents with autistic children – they’re called dogs.

But not just any kind. These are specially-trained service dogs.

Mindy Cash-Golosky’s son Daniel is autistic. “He’s non-verbal and he functions at a lower level developmentally,” she explained.

“Every task, from dressing himself to academic tasks has to be taught on a one-to-one basis and taught repetitively.”

Daniel also needs someone on top of him at all times, she said, explaining: “He’s unaware of his surroundings.”

Enter Frolie, a golden retriever – courtesy of National Service Dogs. It’s the only organization in North America that links specially trained Labs and golden retreivers with autistic children and their families.

“A family with an autistic child approached me for help. We did some research and designed a program,” said the program’s co-founder, Chris Fowler.

“The primary function of a service dog for autism is safety!” reads the group’s website.

“There is a small window of opportunity when the dogs can physically stop a child from bolting into the street or away from the parents in public.”

That’s because the child and the dog are connected by a special leash.

The dogs are trained for a two-year period in a two-stage process before being matched with a child and family.

There is a concept known as the law of unintended consequences. In the case of the dogs, those unintended consequences were good.

Autistic children don’t connect with other people and don’t show emotion. But you can see autistic kids hug and kiss their canine companions.

“It’s coming, but slowly,” Mindy said of her son. “Daniel takes a long time to warm up to anyone or anything.”

In addition, autistic children can often be overwhelmed by uncontrolled environments with different sights, sounds and smells. With a service dog, the children are much calmer.

There are some catches. If the child is scared of large dogs, the program won’t work.

The presence of untrained pet dog in the home poses challenges in training the service dog.

Training a service dog costs $12,000. “NSD asks families to assist with the fundraising for the sponsorship of their dog. NSD will work with the family to ensure their success! If a family falls short of their $12,000 target this will NOT disqualify them from receiving a dog,” NSD’s website says.

So far, about 85 Canadian families have been matched with dogs.

With a report from CTV’s Sandie Rinaldo

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