      *  Helper method to remove a UIComponent instance from either an IVisualElementContainer
      *  or DisplayObjectContainer.
      */ 
-    protected function removeComponentFromContainer(component:UIComponent, 
+    mx_internal function removeComponentFromContainer(component:UIComponent, 
                                                     container:UIComponent):void
     {
         if (container is IVisualElementContainer)

     *  @private
     *  Helper method to set the child index of the given component.
     */ 
    protected function setComponentChildIndex(component:UIComponent, 
                                              container:UIComponent, 
                                              index:int):void
    {

     * @private
     * Helper method to test whether a component is visible to user.
     */ 
    mx_internal function componentIsVisible(component:UIComponent):Boolean
    {
        return component && component.visible && 
            component.width && component.height && component.alpha;
