Counseling program for veterans available at WSU

Counseling services for veterans and their families will be available through a new program at Washington State University in Pullman.

The Services for Veterans and Families program, which opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, will offer individual and group counseling, marriage therapy, psychological evaluations, and post-traumatic stress disorder testing.

The clinic is contracted by the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. Clinic services are provided by doctoral-level student therapists, under close supervision.

The clinic is housed in the northeast corner of Johnson Tower on the Pullman campus.

Celebrating United Nations Day

Dr. Kim Thorburn, Planned Parenthood’s medical director in Spokane, will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming United Nations Day Celebration dinner.

Thorburn, former head of the Spokane Regional Health District, will discuss how to stem HIV, SARS and other epidemics, both locally and globally.

The event is hosted by the Spokane chapter of the United Nations Association.

The dinner takes place on Wednesday, beginning with a social at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6 and Thorburn’s talk at 6:30. The event takes place at The Commons at Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, 4000 W. Randolph Road.

Tickets are $25; $10 for students.

Call (509) 456-2382 for more information.

Is it autism?

A new site has launched to help parents answer that question.

The site, run by the nonprofit group Autism Speaks, is a unique video glossary that contains more than 100 clips.

The clips show children engaging in autistic behaviors, alongside videos of children without autism. The videos are supposed to help parents understand behaviors such as echolalia, hand flapping, sensory defensiveness and joint attention.

And the ultimate goal is to spark earlier diagnosis so children with autism can receive treatment as soon as possible.

You can find out more at www.autismspeaks.org.