The Autism Retort

Boy with autism, 15, shot to death by police

2012-02-02T05:07:00.000-08:00

Family: Boy, 15, shot to death after attacking police had autism disorder - chicagotribune.com

A 15-year-old boy who suffered from an autism disorder was shot and killed by police in his Calumet City home after he threatened officers and cut one of them with a knife, police and the boy's family said.

Adventures in Autism: Admitting That Vaccine Injured Children Are Acceptable Losses

2012-02-01T08:19:00.000-08:00

Adventures in Autism: Admitting That Vaccine Injured Children Are Acceptable Losses:

"I have actually found something new on the internet. In seven years of blogging, I have never seen someone actually be honest about their belief that vaccine injured children are "acceptable losses." I am a little bit stunned.

Now we all know this is true. Every parent of a vaccine injured child clues in pretty fast that their child is one of the discarded. As soon as their doc stops actually trying to heal them after their vaccine injury, stops being interested in medical symptoms you report, stops treating the family like a valued customer... you start to get it. But everyone keeps up the pretense that your kid is still worth something, if only in lip service, while they are given the shaft. "

'via Blog this'

Autistic boy wanders from school, elementary didn't notice - KFOR

2012-01-31T18:21:00.000-08:00

Autistic boy wanders from school, elementary didn't notice - KFOR

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A metro family is upset with Oklahoma City Public Schools after a kindergartner with autism walks home from school in the middle of the afternoon. It was about an hour before school got out on Friday, 6-year-old Trevor, who has autism, walked away from Oakridge Elementary School in Southeast Oklahoma City.
He made his way through the neighborhood to his house.
When the family contacted the school to let them know he had made it home, they say no one even knew he was even missing.
http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-autistic-boy-wonders-from-school-elementary-didnt-notice-20120131,0,3760239.story

Depressing News of the Day: Kids with Disabilities Friendless

2012-01-30T13:50:00.000-08:00

Special needs disability parenting BLOOM: Half of Canadian kids with disabilities friendless: ""The problem is most serious for boys – who tend to have far more developmental disabilities and fewer social skills – and it gets worse with age," Picard writes. In childhood, efforts are made, but by the time kids hit age 10 or so, when cliques and social circles form outside of parental control, ostracization and isolation is near complete.""

'via Blog this'

Carol Sarler - Having a child with autism wrecks your life, abort them if we can ever test for it ...

2012-01-25T08:38:00.000-08:00

Easily the most ignorant and condescending article on autism that I have seen in a LONG time. (It's not new, just resurrected on Facebook this week.) There may finally be someone that all facets of the autism community can reach common ground on ... Carol Sarler.

Wisely, the Daily Mail and Carol Sarler are not allowing comments on her article, Why can't we face the truth? Having an autistic child wrecks your life ... | Mail Online. If they were they would surely hear the opinions of some actual autism parents.

Last year, I gave them Charlotte Moore's book, thinking, foolishly, that it might afford comfort.

It actually meant nothing; they simply could not see Tom in George and Sam. Autistic children, like any other children, presumably reserve the right not all to be the same.
But if there's a chance of a Tom, and a chance of a test to indicate his condition, then - with the obvious proviso that it never be mandatory - I would urge its opponents to think less of Mozart and Einstein and more of otherwise everyday people: Cath, John, Helen, Bill. And Tom.

I would not be impertinent enough to ask Cath if she wishes she'd had such a chance.
In any case, that is a difficult question after the event: it is hard for a mother retrospectively to wish away a living child who, come what may, she loves.

But looking on, as a relatively dispassionate observer; looking at the damage done, the absence of hope and the anguish of the poor child himself, do I think that everyone concerned would have been better off if Tom's had been a life unlived?
Unequivocally, yes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1116602/Why-face-truth-Having-autistic-child-wrecks-life-.html#ixzz1kUMzr7dh

Teacher's assistant , Maureen Coello, Charged with slapping special needs student

2012-01-22T17:16:00.000-08:00

Teacher's assistant charged with slapping special-needs student - News Story - WSOC Charlotte

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- A CMS teaching assistant was arrested Friday on charges she slapped a special-needs student across the face.Maureen Coello has been a CMS employee for three years. She has worked at Bradley Middle School in Huntersville for two years.Police said she slapped an autistic boy after class on Thursday. Officers said around 4:30 pm, Coello was in charge of a group of special-needs students in the cafeteria as they waited to board a school bus.Huntersville police said one of the students kept touching or moving a book bag on the table, even though Coello told him to stop.That's when, they said, she slapped him across the face.

More @ http://www.wsoctv.com/news/30265626/detail.html

Missing autistic teenager found in good spirits - Alamogordo Daily News

2012-01-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

Missing autistic teenager found in good spirits - Alamogordo Daily News

An autistic 15-year-old El Paso boy is back home safe Monday with his family after he went missing from his family members at White Sands National Monument while they were sledding on the sand dunes Sunday.
Monument spokeswoman Becky Wiles said Angelo Baca was found walking around 10:15 a.m. in the sand dune field carrying his round pink sled by an Air Force Black Hawk helicopter out of Kirtland Air Force Base. Baca had been missing for about 19 hours.
"He was found in good health and spirits," Wiles said. "He was walking in the dunes approximately six miles from the point he was last seen. He was flown to the command post and reunited with his family. He was waving friendly to the helicopter. He was hungry and thirsty."

The Autism Retort Recap Wed 1/18/2012

2012-01-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

The Autism Retort 2010® Autism Spectrum Disorders in the News (Drudge Style);

Mother killed autistic son 'to get rest', court hears - Telegraph

2012-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

Mother killed autistic son 'to get rest', court hears - Telegraph

Yvonne Freaney, 49, who had marital difficulties, was found in a hotel room with multiple knife wounds, but survived. She told police that her son, Glen, was in heaven, adding: “He’ll be happy now.”
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Freaney and her son, who needed one-to-one care, had a “loving and devoted relationship”.
But there had been a “general build-up of pressure” on Freaney as she felt her marriage was at its end, and she had been unable to find anywhere for herself and her son to live. Freaney, who has three other children aged 14 to 23, had moved out of the home she shared with her husband Richard, 48, a former RAF officer, and had been living in hotels for about a month before her son’s death.
She told police that she used a belt to strangle her son in her room at the Sky Plaza hotel in Rhoose, Cardiff.
Officers found her sitting on the bed with knife wounds to her wrists, arms, shoulder, chest and feet. She had laid out her son’s body, having dressed him in smart clothes and surrounded him with his favourite cuddly toys.
She told the officers: “I killed him about 36 hours ago. I tried to join him.
More @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8503800/Mother-killed-autistic-son-to-get-rest-court-hears.html

Mother remembers autistic child killed after running into traffic - Bakersfield.com

2012-01-13T10:57:00.000-08:00

Mother remembers autistic child killed after running into traffic - Bakersfield.com

There was a time about eight years ago when doctors weren't sure if David DeSantiago would ever learn how to communicate with others or perform simple functions after he was diagnosed as autistic.

But David thrived under therapy and ended up interacting well with family, played sports and even made a couple of friends -- something that is often difficult for autistic children to do.

"He was so full of love," said David's mother, Lorie Stewart.

David, 11, was killed Jan. 6 after he was struck by a pickup while crossing Brundage Lane. He was hit in the No. 2 westbound lane, Bakersfield police reported. The case remains under investigation.

Stewart said at her south Bakersfield home Thursday that she and David had just parked at the Society for Disabled Children and she was getting two of her other kids out of her vehicle. She thought David, as usual, had run inside the building.

She said she had no idea he had instead run across Brundage. David was crossing back over when he was hit, she said.

Stewart heard the impact. She heard a man yell "It's a kid, it's a kid!" and she called 911, not knowing it was her own child lying in the street.

She walked over to see if she could help.

"The worst frickin' nightmare of my life," Stewart said. "It was David."

more @ http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x1275887702/Mother-remembers-autistic-child-killed-after-running-into-traffic

Peter Bell of Autism Speaks to serve on President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities | City Brights: Laura Shumaker | an SFGate.com blog

2012-01-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

Peter Bell of Autism Speaks to serve on President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities | City Brights: Laura Shumaker | an SFGate.com blog

The White House has announced that the President intends to appoint Autism Speaks Executive Vice President of Programs and Services Peter Bell to serve on the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, which advises the President and Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues that impact people with intellectual disabilities and their quality of life.

The Big List of S*%# Linked to Autism: Winter Conception

2012-01-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

FROM ... AutismParents.NET! » The Big List of S*%# Linked to Autism: Winter Conception

A new one for the “might cause Autism” list … Winter Conception.

A new study has revealed that those conceived in winter have up to a16 per cent greater risk of autism than those conceived in July.
The Big List of S*%# Linked to Autism

Air Pollution (Mercury in air pollution = more autism)
Anti-Depressants (Mom on autism = more autism)
Birth Weight HIGH (more weight = more autism. Related, see big head.)
Birth Weight LOW (less weight = more autism)
Brain size (Bigger brains = more autism)
Brain Cells (Too many neurons = more autism)
Cell phones (More cell phones = more autism)
Clever Parents (Smart parents = more autism)
Clomid (Clomid = more autism, see IVF)
Closely Spaced Births (Born soon after sibling = more autism)
Complications at Birth (Catch all, any complication = more autism)
Father’s age (older dad = more autism)
Genetic (squirrely genes = more autism)
Highways (Mom lives near freeway = autism twice as likely)
Internet (Increased Internet usage = more autism)
IVF (Invitro Fertilization) - (IVF = More autism)
Lead (More lead exposure = more autism)
Lyme Disease (linked to autism)
Metabolism (Poor metabolism = more autism)
Missing DNA (missing DNA in boys = more autism)
Mother’s age (older mom = more autism)
Neanderthals (Evolution vaguely linked to autism)
Pasteurized Milk (Pasteurization = more autism)
Pesticides (More pesticides = more autism)
Premature birth (Premature baby = more autism)
Rainfall (higher precipitation areas = more autism)
Smoking (Mom smoking during pregnancy = more autism)
Television (More TV watching = more autism)
Tylenol (More Tylenol = more autism)
Vinyl Flooring (House with vinyl flooring = more autism)
Winter Conception (Mom and Dad get busy in the Winter = more autism)

School Locks Special Needs Kids In ‘Scream Rooms’ To Calm Them Down – ‘Had To Clean Blood Off Walls’

2012-01-12T03:55:00.000-08:00

School Locks Special Needs Kids In ‘Scream Rooms’ To Calm Them Down – ‘Had To Clean Blood Off Walls’

Other children at Farm Hill Elementary told their parents they could hear screaming from the two windowless rooms, once used as book cupboards.
The school district claims the cupboards, which they call ‘timeout rooms’, are used to separate disruptive students from the rest of the class.
The child is led to the concrete-walled room and staff stand outside the until the child has calmed down, they say.
But parents lashed out at the school – attended by children both with and without special needs – for the practice during a Board of Education meeting held on Tuesday.
‘The so-called “scream rooms” are just closets,’ Jeff Daniels, a local union member, said. ‘These are book closets turned into rooms for the children.
‘The building custodians had to go in and clean blood off the walls and clean urination off the floors.’
More @ http://widk.com/2012/01/11/school-locks-special-needs-kids-in-scream-rooms-to-calm-them-down-had-to-clean-blood-off-walls/

Bacteria in the gut of autistic children different from non-autistic children

2012-01-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

Bacteria in the gut of autistic children different from non-autistic children

Bacteria belonging to the group Sutterella represented a relatively large proportion of the microorganisms found in 12 of 23 tissue samples from the guts of autistic children, but these organisms were not detected in any samples from non-autistic children. Why this organism is present only in autistic kids with gastrointestinal problems and not in unaffected kids is unclear. More @ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120109211825.htm

Speech Therapist Kathy Roupe files felony battery charges against STUDENT WITH AUTISM

2012-01-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

This is a tad ridiculous. The kid obviously didn't have control. I wonder if there was a behavior plan in place, etc.

Autistic student faces felony battery charges | Pensacola News Journal | pnj.com

A speech therapist at Ferry Pass Middle School is pressing charges against a 13-year-old autistic student who hit her in the head with a set of headphones.

Kathy Roupe, 57, of Pensacola filed felony battery charges against Conner Brown, whom she told deputies hit her in the head “with so much force, it felt like my skull cracked.”

Conner was booked and fingerprinted Jan. 2 at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office on a charge of battery on a public or private education employee, a third-degree felony. His arraignment is scheduled for today at the Escambia Regional Juvenile Justice Center.

A message left for Roupe was not returned.

More @ http://www.pnj.com/article/20120110/NEWS01/120110028/Autistic-student-faces-felony-battery-charges

Forever Changed by Autism

2012-01-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Forever Changed by Autism blog has been added to The Autism Retort!

Where do Autistic Adults Go After Special Education Ends? - YouTube

2012-01-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

Where do Autistic Adults Go After Special Education Ends? - YouTube

WHAT IS AUTISM? Some Experts Worried Over Revised Autism Guidelines

2012-01-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

Some Experts Worried Over Revised Autism Guidelines | Fox News

The New Year hasn’t even started yet, but some parents are already looking ahead to 2013.

In May 2013, the American Psychiatric Association will release a new, revised set of guidelines for diagnosing someone with autism spectrum disorder.
And some experts don’t think this is a good idea.
Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and Fox News contributor, said rather than having separate disorders in the autistic “arena,” the association is proposing one name for all such disorders, which include repetitive behavior (autism spectrum disorder, pervasive development disorder-not otherwise specified and Asperger’s).
“They are monkeying with the definition of how severe symptoms must be to fit into a new and broad category called autism spectrum disorder, rather than autism and Asperger’s, et cetera,” Ablow said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/28/some-experts-worried-over-revised-autism-guidelines/#ixzz1iRGx0xmQ

Preparing for Your Special Needs Child’s Future By Planning for Your Departure - Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)

2012-01-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

Preparing for Your Special Needs Child’s Future By Planning for Your Departure - Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)

This article is about death. This is not a pleasant topic for anyone. This is not something that should not be avoided and carefully planned for anyone with children – especially children with special needs.
In the past year, five local autism families have had a parent die suddenly. Any death can rock a family but an unexpected death can shatter the world of a child with autism, as even a simple change can be difficult.
In our community, we joke that parents of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) kids are never allowed to die. We must live as long, or longer, than our children with autism to safeguard them. But we have to be realistic, that wish is just not going to happen.
Consider this – if you were hit by a bus tomorrow, what would people need to know about your child to care for him? What scares him? What comforts him? Whoever is going to take care of your child in your absence is going to need some information so they don’t have to guess and get it wrong.

SIGN PETITION: End abuse of Autistic students in Mercer County, Kentucky | Change.org

2011-12-23T07:24:00.000-08:00

Human Rights Petition: End abuse of Autistic students in Mercer County, Kentucky | Change.org

Why This Is Important

In Mercer County, Kentucky, nine year old Chris Baker, an Autistic student, was told by his special education aide to climb inside a gym ball bag for punishment to "control his autistic behavior" in mid-December 2011. He was placed in the bag with the drawstring tightened and left in the hallway in the school. When his mother, Sandra Baker, was called to the school to get her son, she demanded that he be removed from the bag right away. The teacher struggled to undo the drawstring, and Chris emerged sweaty and non-communicative. According to the teacher, this had been done several times over the last year, but Sandra didn't know until this latest incident. While she met with state officials on Monday 19 December 2011 before a possible meeting with school officials, there is no guarantee that those meetings will prevent this kind of abuse from happening again -- either to Chris or to other students.

If you think it's wrong to tell an Autistic child to climb inside a bag intended for gym balls and tighten it with a drawstring, which could potentially have led to serious injury or death, as punishment, then please sign this petition. This is wrong. This is abuse. It needs to stop.

We hereby affirm that

1.) Physical, mechanical, and chemical restraint or seclusion of Autistic students and students with other disabilities is abuse except in brief, temporary, and emergency interventions when there is imminent and immediate threat of harm to self or others, and that are carefully and completely documented and reviewed with a full debriefing including the student and parent(s) or guardian(s) afterward;

2.) All special education teachers ought to receive extensive education and training in appropriate interactions with and educational methods for Autistic students and students with other disabilities both before starting work with these students and throughout the duration of their careers in order to promote the best possible outcomes for all students;

3.) All non-special education teachers ought to receive at least basic awareness education and training in recognizing autism and other disabilities, particularly invisible disabilities, which can include intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as appropriate interactions with Autistic students and students with other disabilities either before beginning work as teachers or as continuing education credits in order to promote the best possible outcomes for all students;

4.) It is in the best interests of all educators, educational administrators, parents, and Autistic students and students with other disabilities to ensure the safety and well-being of all students, including Autistic students and students with other disabilities, and that a safe environment means one in which a student is free of fear of any kind of restraint or seclusion or punishment-based treatment rather than respectful, individualized education; and

5.) Appropriate continuing education professional training on interactions with Autistic students and students with other disabilities ought to include appropriate de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques that recognize significant differences in processing and communication in Autistic students and students with other disabilities, in order to prevent the use of restraints of any kind or seclusion on Autistic students and students with other disabilities.

And in accordance with our affirmations, we demand that the following actions be taken or started before the end of December 2012, with all due speed:

1.) That the teacher(s) responsible for placing Christopher Baker in a gym ball bag be dismissed from position for abusing a vulnerable person (a person with a disability) OR be required to successfully complete extensive continuing education professional training in interacting with and educating Autistic students and students with other disabilities, not to be fewer than at least the equivalent of a semester-long graduate level course developed using existing standards and best practices in model state systems, and which shall specifically include techniques for appropriate de-escalation and crisis intervention;

2.) That all current and future special education teachers in Mercer County be required to successfully complete extensive continuing education professional training in interacting with and educating Autistic students and students with other disabilities, not to be fewer than at least the equivalent of a semester-long graduate level course developed using existing standards and best practices in model state systems, and which shall specifically include techniques for appropriate de-escalation and crisis intervention;

3.) That all current and future non-special education teachers in Mercer County be required to successfully complete basic continuing education professional training in interacting with and educating Autistic students and students with other disabilities, not to be fewer than at least eight classroom hours of instruction developed using existing standards and best practices in model state systems; and

4.) That use of any type of restraint or seclusion on any student be explicitly prohibited except in brief, temporary, and emergency interventions when there is imminent and immediate threat of harm to self or others, that are carefully and completely documented and reviewed with a full debriefing including the student and parent(s) or guardian(s) afterward.
SIGN PETITION HERE

School accused of putting autistic student in bag - WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather and Sports |

2011-12-22T18:07:00.000-08:00

School accused of putting autistic student in bag - WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather and Sports |

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A 9-year-old autistic boy who misbehaved at school was stuffed into a duffel bag and the drawstring pulled tight, according to his mother, who said she found him wiggling inside as a teacher's aide stood by.

The mother of fourth-grader Christopher Baker said her son called out to her when she walked up to him in the bag Dec. 14. The case has spurred an online petition calling for the firing of school employees responsible.

"He was treated like trash and thrown in the hallway," Chris' mother, Sandra Baker, said Thursday. She did not know how exactly how long he had been in the bag, but probably not more than 20 minutes.

Autism-friendly Santas a hit at parties - USATODAY.com

2011-12-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

Autism-friendly Santas a hit at parties - USATODAY.com

HARTFORD, Connecticut – Visiting a shopping mall to share Christmas wishes with Santa had always been too much for 10-year-old Ben Borre, due to the autism that makes the noise, lights and crowds an unbearable torment.
But now a growing number of "sensitive" Santas in shopping centers, at community parties and elsewhere are giving Ben and others a chance to meet the big guy in autism-friendly settings — allowing their families to capture Christmas memories that other families may take for granted.

Blue Cross change concerns patient advocates for autistic children - TwinCities.com

2011-12-20T06:08:00.000-08:00

Blue Cross change concerns patient advocates for autistic children - TwinCities.com

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will begin dropping coverage in most cases for a costly therapy for autistic children as early as Jan. 1 - a change that has patient advocates worried about losing coverage through a key state program, too.

The Eagan-based health insurer said Monday that the coverage change will be phased in over next year and affect about 200 children who have been receiving a treatment known as early intensive behavioral intervention. The treatment cost averages about $80,000 per year.

Autism is one of four developmental disabilities grouped under the heading of Autism Spectrum Disorders, which can cause significant social, communication and behavioral changes. The federal government estimates that an average of one in 110 children in the United States have one of the disorders.

Blue Cross is changing its coverage policy to match that of other health plans as well as the state Department of Human Services, said Pam Lux, a spokeswoman for the insurer.

That's bad news, patient advocates said, because Blue Cross has been one of the few health plans to provide coverage of the intensive therapy, which in some cases involves 40 hours per week of treatment.

But the insurer's reference to the Department of Human Services also is concerning, advocates said, because the state has been a key source of coverage for families that don't have Blue Cross coverage.

"We're concerned that this is a harbinger of something on the horizon

Autism Service Dog murdered and dumped back in girl's yard?

2011-12-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Mother: Autistic girl's service dog was beaten to death - Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports

BERKELEY COUNTY, SC (WCSC) -
The mother of an autistic girl said she believes her daughter's service dog who went missing last week was beaten to death.
Kelly Nolan, said the family's service dog, Toby, was found dead in their front yard, days after it was taken from their home. Blood was seen coming out of the dog's mouth.
Nolan says she believes that Toby was beaten to death and dumped on their property.
More @ http://www.live5news.com/story/16350020/stolen

Special Needs School Bus Missing for 4 Hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

School bus missing for hours with special needs kids on board - www.ktnv.com

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- A school bus with special needs kids on board was missing for several hours Monday afternoon and parents say they couldn't get straight answers from the school district.
"I was so upset that nobody could be honest with me and tell me that it's time to worry," says Meg Directo, mother of a 4 year-old autistic girl on the bus. "Everybody I talked to says 'oh she's on her way, she's on her way, she's here, she's there.'"
The bus left Lummis Elementary School around 3 p.m. and over the course of several hours, parents feel like they were getting the runaround from the Clark County School District Transportation Department. (http://transportation.ccsd.net/)
"As parents we don't need to be lied to, especially when the Transportation Department knows the issues," says mom Michelle Zurowski. "We don't need to be lied to."
Action News pushed the school district for answers and learned the bus driver was a substitute and had been given the wrong maps.
...
"You know, most of them don't talk so we'll never know what happened for four hours on that bus," says Directo.
More @ http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/135560993.html

Autistic teen reunites with dog 5 years later | News - Home

2011-12-16T07:02:00.000-08:00

Autistic teen reunites with dog 5 years later | News - Home

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

Chance Morgan saw his dog Bleu on Thursday for the first time since the husky went missing five years ago.

Chance, 16, has a form of autism, and his dog was his best friend.
"Excited, it just overwhelms me, just amazed, just definitely amazed," Chance said.
Bleu had been put up for adoption earlier this week by a family in Macclenny who had taken the stray dog in. During a checkup, a veterinarian discovered the dog had an embedded microchip and learned Bleu was registered to Chance's family in Lake City.
"I am absolutely amazed," Chance's mom, Tracie Morgan, said. "When he went missing, we went horseback looking for him, we went by four wheeler, we went by truck."

Seizure Damage Reversed In Rats

2011-12-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Seizure Damage Reversed In Rats By Inhibitory Drug Targeting Neurologic Pathways

About half of newborns who have seizures go on to have long-term intellectual and memory deficits and cognitive disorders such as autism, but why this occurs has been unknown. In the December 14 Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston detail how early-life seizures disrupt normal brain development, and show in a rat model that it might be possible to reverse this pathology by giving certain drugs soon after the seizure.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239165.php

Attorney Claims Autism Parents Are Just In It for the SSI Gravytrain - I Speak of Dreams

2011-12-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

Attorney Claims Autism Parents Are Just In It for the SSI Gravytrain - I Speak of Dreams

Many parents today want a diagnosis of autism spectrum for their child, not only because there is a great deal of funding allocated for services for those children, as the news article explains, but also because this qualifies the child or family to collect a good SSI payment each month. If a family can get a few kids diagnosed with such things, the family can live off the payments. This was caused because welfare payments are so low, welfare is so hard to get, and intact families with both parents present do not qualify for welfare.

The real story would be to check out what percentage of families with child with an autism diagnose are collecting SSI. That is where you will find the real secret behind this "epidemic." Also, school districts that will receive extra funding for each child with autism will be far more likely to make such a diagnosis.

When I was a kid, there were kids who kept track of details, counted things, paid little attention to others, and seemed socially awkward. There were called future accountants.

I realize there are actual cases of autism, which seems to be a form of retardation. A lot of this spectrum stuff, I think, is based on wanting to collect available funds, without regard for the fact it stigmatizes the children for life to have such a diagnosis.

Anyone who writes a scathing reply should reveal if their family is collecting SSI or if they or their school is in any way collecting funds based on autism.

Hamilton, AL Superintendent Ryan Hollingsworth: Clueless or Malicious Cost Saver?

2011-12-09T07:39:00.000-08:00

Either this superintendent is clueless about autism and unable to perform his duties by providing an education to this child OR he is using this to get out of providing a full time aide per recent agreement. In either case, IT'S PATHETIC!

Ryan Hollingsworth - Superintendent of Schools
Email: ryanh@mcbe.net
Phone: 205.921.3191
Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Address: 188 Winchester Drive - Hamilton, AL
Web site: Marion County BOE
Alabama Department of Education Web site, featuring Marion County statistics and contacts:
Alabama Department of Edu

School accuses 14-year old non-verbal Autistic girl of felony - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports

HAMILTON - AL -
Jenny Holcomb says she couldn't believe it when Marion County sheriff deputies appeared out of nowhere to serve her court papers, charging her 14-year old autistic daughter, Emily with First-Degree felony assault on a teacher. An injunction was also obtained, barring Emily from returning the school indefinitely.
Holcomb says it all unfolded at Hamilton High School in October while she was there on a unrelated matter with her daughter. Little did she know, the system's superintendent, Ryan Hollingsworth had filed a First Degree Felony Assault complaint on Emily on behalf of her Special Education teacher.
During the alleged assault on October 26, the teacher reported Emily hit and pushed her resulting in a 'mild injury'. In the complaint, Superintendent Hollingsworth noted its happened on more than one occasion.
Emily's mother says it was a violent act but just Emily's way of expressing frustration. "You have think about it -- she's trapped inside that body. And when people can't understand her it gets frustrating."
Emily's mother and her attorney -- James Gallini question the timing of the charge. Gallini says they had just settled an agreement with the school system to provide Emily's teachers a professional aide "for training, dealing with her level of autism," said Gallini. He believes the charge was an effort to get out of and circumvent the costly agreement. "At that point, it took it out of the special ed into the juvenile system."
More @ http://www.abc3340.com/story/16203555/school-accuses-14-year-old-non-verbal-autistic-girl-of-felony-assault

10 Things my Autistic kids wished you knew

2011-12-08T17:30:00.000-08:00

Lost and Tired » 10 Things my Autistic kids wished you knew

Blame Game: When a Parent Kills and Autism is Involved in Some Way

2011-12-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

Blame Game: When a Parent Kills and Autism is Involved in Some Way

It's tempting when these horrifying stories about parents killing their children come out to play the blame game. Indeed, it's something we often can't resist. It's Age of Autism's fault because they present autism as so awful. It's Autism Speaks' fault because of that stupid sentence saying autism is more prevalent than three dreaded diseases. It's everybody who has ever complained about autism. It's everybody's fault but the woman who chose to kill her child. If only there wasn't negative things written about parenting a child with autism that woman wouldn't have done that. She was mentally ill. She chose, whether she was in her right mind or not, to take her child's life. That is not the fault of anyone on the internet, although it is comforting to think so.

‘Mother Warriors’ Scare the Heck Outta Me (And Other Tales of an Autism Dad)

2011-12-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

Autism Society - ‘Mother Warriors’ Scare the Heck Outta Me (And Other Tales of an Autism Dad)

The first time I ever heard the expression “Mother Warriors,” I half expected to see a pink tank rolling down the street or perhaps a platoon of women in designer fatigues with daisies sticking out of their gun barrels. But then, after I let my out-of-control imagination subside, I was able to see the true strength and power of these ferociously focused females.

Over the past few years since my son Mikey’s autism diagnosis, I’ve experienced the phenomenon of the mother warriorautism mom and the oftentimes ignored autism dad. Being an autism dad is one of the most challenging things a man can experience and requires a life-altering transformation.

The mother warriors I’ve come across transcend the traditional nurturing role of a mommy to seize the warrior spirit that lets them become relentless in the drive to get whatever their child needs to thrive. The ironic thing is that the autism dad needs to go beyond the traditional male trait of being warrior-minded. No, the autism dad requires much more patience, tenderness, and love than typical of a warrior. Our fight needs to be against our natural inclinations. Moms forming groups, battling school boards, etc. shows the natural female ability to be organized and come together as a group. Men don't organize. When men organize it usually turns into a political party...and we all know how successful they are. No, men just want to fix things. How can we fix autism? Is there a tool for it? How about a little WD-40 or some duct tape?

More @ http://www.autism-society.org/blog/mother-warriors-scare-the.html

Special needs disability parenting BLOOM: Costs, quality-of-life ratings put complex kids' care at risk

2011-12-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

Special needs disability parenting BLOOM: Costs, quality-of-life ratings put complex kids' care at risk

Pressure to contain health costs over the next decade will put the care of a small group of children with complex medical needs and severe disabilities at risk, says Dr. Chris Feudtner, pediatrician and director of the department of medical ethics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“About 20 per cent of the pediatric population generates about 80 per cent of our health-care bill,” said Dr. Feudtner at a Grand Rounds on ethics in the care of children with disabilities at Montreal Children’s Hospital last week.

“The rallying cry is that we need to cut down on the use of what are called marginal therapies – on drugs, therapies and procedures that cost a tremendous amount of money but offer little benefit. It’s a short manoeuvre from that mindset to take certain people with certain conditions and marginalize them.”

More @ http://bloom-parentingkidswithdisabilities.blogspot.com/2011/12/costs-quality-of-life-assumptions-put.html

Autism Dad 166

2011-12-08T08:48:00.001-08:00

Autism Dad 166 added to The Autism Retort!

Autism & Oughtisms

2011-12-07T10:13:00.001-08:00

Autism & Oughtisms added to The Autism Retort!

Autism After 16

2011-12-07T10:11:00.001-08:00

Autism After 16 blog added to The Autism Retort!

SERVICE DOG: Autistic boy's service dog falls ill to poison - KSTU

2011-12-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

SERVICE DOG: Autistic boy's service dog falls ill to poison - KSTU

Possible Cause of Autism #782,392,412: Mom's Penis Envy

2011-12-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

Chantal Sicile-Kira: French Psychoanalysts Take Legal Action to Ban Film 'The Wall' About Autism - AGE OF AUTISM

Lacan described psychotic and autistic children as victims of the alienation of a psychogenic mother who is unable to separate from a child who is a substitute for the penis she was born without.

More @ http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/12/chantal-sicile-kira-french-psychoanalysts-take-legal-action-to-ban-film-the-wall-about-autism-.html

Sensory Friendly Movie and Santa: The Star Center JACKSON, TN

2011-12-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

Sensory Friendly Movie: Elf (with special guest SANTA CLAUS!) | The Star Center Blog

This Friday, December the 9th, the STAR Center will be hosting another Sensory Friendly movie! This month we will be featuring the movie Elf. We will also be having a special appearance from a Sensory Friendly Santa! We will also be having a snowflake making station. This event is free to the community and starts at 6! We hope to see you there!

More @ http://blog.starcenter.tn.org/?p=301

Autism and the Holidays

2011-12-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

How to Prepare Autistic Children for the Holiday Season - East Providence, RI Patch

From last minute shopping trips to holiday parties and family gatherings, the holiday season is often a stressful time for parents. But for children with autism spectrum disorder who rely on structure and routine, the hustle and bustle of the holidays can be extremely unsettling, according to experts from Bradley Hospital.
This is particularly true for children who also have sensory processing issues and may be overwhelmed by the overabundance of lights, sights, sounds and smells during the holidays. This distress can often impact the entire family.
More @ http://eastprovidence.patch.com/articles/preparing-autistic-children-for-the-holiday-season

Mama Be Good Autism Blog

2011-12-02T08:06:00.001-08:00

The Mama Be Good blog has been added to The Autism Retort!

LOW: Woman Steals Therapy Dog from Kid with Autism

2011-12-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

Antioch woman admits to stealing dog used to help boy with autism - chicagotribune.com

An Antioch woman has admitted stealing a therapy dog used to help a child with autism.

Betty Peltier pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge as part of a plea agreement. She was ordered to perform 100 hours of public service and serve one year of court supervision.

Authorities say the 58-year-old woman took a Chihuahua named "Peanut" when it wandered away from a family's home, then called the family several times and asked about a reward, police said.

More @ http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-antioch-woman-admits-to-stealing-dog-used-to-help-boy-with-autism-20111202,0,2779218.story

AUTISM DADDY: AUTISM NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS -- A Poem By Cindy Waeltermann

2011-12-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

AUTISM DADDY: AUTISM NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS -- A Poem By Cindy Waeltermann

Trained Peers Better at Aiding Autistic Kids with Social Skills

2011-12-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Trained Peers Better at Aiding Autistic Kids with Social Skills | Psych Central News

A new study suggests training peers can help children with autism spectrum disorder improve their social skills, even more than a direct adult-led intervention.
Researchers led by Connie Kasari, Ph.D., discovered children with ASD who attend regular education classes are more likely to improve their social skills if their typically developing peers are taught how to interact with them.
Notably, the indirect educational method appears to improve skills better than if the ASD children are directly taught such skills. The National Institutes of Health-funded study suggests a shift away from more commonly used interventions that focus on training children with ASD directly may provide greater social benefits for children with ASD.
The study was published online ahead of print in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
More @ http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/12/01/trained-peers-better-at-aiding-autistic-kids-with-social-skills/32062.html

Autism and the Holidays… « Lisa Ackerman – Real Help Now

2011-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

Autism and the Holidays… « Lisa Ackerman – Real Help Now

Autism is isolating by its very nature. Autism isolates children from their families, their siblings, their peers and their world. Autism isolates siblings from friends, communities. Autism isolates parents from their children, their work, their friends and their money. Autism isolates. Perhaps at no other time in the year is it felt as severely as during the holidays. Nostalgia is brutal.

Ramblings of a Stone Age Queen: Taboos, of autism and parenting

2011-11-30T07:48:00.000-08:00

Ramblings of a Stone Age Queen: Taboos, of autism and parenting

I have had a particularly difficult weekend with my autistic daughter, and it occurred to me that there are some things that only other parents of children with autism understand properly. But even then, there are things which are left unsaid, because we are too scared that we will end up facing criticism, or worse, social services involvement. But if we aren't honest about what is going on, we carry on suffering in silence, convinced that we are the worst parents and that we will be hated and reviled if we dared to speak of our deepest fears.

On Saturday night, daughter had a major meltdown. She became so upset and confused that she attacked me, lunging forward and clawing at me, and she spent over and hour screaming blue murder. I have no idea what the neighbours must have thought, she sounded like she was being brutally tortured. The fact is, this hideous scenario occurred because she wouldn't go in the bath, then when I said it was time for bed, she wanted to go in the bath, but it was too late. Perhaps I should have given in and bathed her anyway, but it's all part of her needing to learn flexibility, that she can't always have her way, and besides, I was exhausted already and needed to go to bed myself.

More @ http://ramblingsofastoneagequeen.blogspot.com/2011/11/taboos-of-autism-and-parenting.html

Autistic versus Person with Autism, etc.

2011-11-30T07:44:00.000-08:00

The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism: Person-First Language: Why It Matters (The Significance of Semantics)

Residential Opportunities Inc. to begin work on new autism center | MLive.com

2011-11-29T11:29:00.000-08:00

Residential Opportunities Inc. to begin work on new autism center | MLive.com

KALAMAZOO — Parents in America today face a number of challenges in raising the nation’s next generation, having to balance increasingly demanding work schedules with children who, in the age of smartphones and iPads, are both perpetually connected and distracted.

However, these concerns pale in the face of families who have children affected with severe autism, said Scott Schrum, a longtime expert in special education and mental health.

“You take a child with a disability and you plop them in the middle of a family structure, those families literally get destroyed. That child with a disability is so time consuming for a mom and dad that their other kids get ignored, out of necessity,” he said. “Parents get divorced because the stress. Families break up because of the stress.”

Schrum and his colleagues are looking to provide a helping hand for both autistic children and their families. Help will soon arrive in Kalamazoo, in the form of the Great Lakes Center for Autism Treatment and Research. The center is due to be opened in July 2012 at the former Moose Lodge on Portage Road.

More @ http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/11/residential_opportunities_unli.html

Find an App for Autism (SNApps4Kids.com)

2011-11-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

Find an App - Special Needs Apps for Kids (SNApps4Kids.com)

Operating System
Device
Device Type
(646)
Android
(126)
Apple (iPad or iPod)
(573)
SNApps4Kids
Assistive Apps
Assistive Apps
(74)
Accessibility
(1)
Assistive Communication
(5)
Social Interaction
(2)
Language
(3)
Assistive Reading
(1)
Assistive Self Help
(1)
Articulation
(1)
Language & Literacy
(1)
Independent Apps
Independent Apps
(575)
Independent Communication
(7)
Problem Solving
(3)
Social Skills
(3)
School-age Games
(1)
Preschool Games
(3)
Creative
(1)
Early Learning
(21)
Math
(4)
Books and Stories
(14)
Reading and Phonics
(1)
Organization
(2)
Self Help
(1)
Animal Sounds
(1)
Education
(4)
Fine Motor
(1)
MORE @ http://www.snapps4kids.com/find-an-app/

Skin Cell Research and Autism

2011-11-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

Using Skin-Cell Research to Probe Cellular Basis of Autism | Psych Central News

Emerging research has advanced knowledge of autism by studying brainlike spheres grown in an elaborate process from skin cells.
Neuroscientists at Stanford University School of Medicine studied cells from patients with Timothy syndrome, a rare genetic condition that is associated with one of the most penetrant forms of autism: In other words, most people with the Timothy syndrome mutation have autism as a symptom, among other problems.

Autism and Sign language

2011-11-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Sign language benefits hearing children and those with autism. | The Asbury Park Press | APP.com

More than two decades ago, Marilyn Daniels began researching the benefits of sign language — not just for deaf people, but for hearing children and babies and those with learning disabilities and autism.

Several books and many seminars and classes for parents and educators later, the studies by Daniels and others have proven true. Today, ASL (American Sign Language) is taught in colleges, universities, preschool and elementary schools and is the third most used language in the United States.

“It's more popular than ever,” partly because learning the manual language creates anatomical changes in the brain, Daniels told a group of parents and teachers during an October presentation called “Sign to Speak” at the Spring Lake Library.

Introducing a new language promotes the growth of synapses that connect to memory, she said. “We have separate stores for each language in the brain's left hemisphere (in right-handed people). We know this from observing PET (positron emission tomography) scans.”

Teaching sign language, which is visual, manual and spacial, along with the spoken word to a hearing child, multiplies their sensory memories. Another memory, the kinesthetic or muscle memory, also kicks in, she said.

“Your hand remembers how to do it,” Daniels said. “So if you know the sign for a word, all kinds of other things are going on.”

And all of it good, she said. “There is no downside to this.”

Erica Lozinski, a special-education teacher at Wall Primary School, agrees. She said she signs to her students, whose disabilities range from speech delays and autism to cognitive disabilities and Down syndrome.

More @@ http://www.app.com/article/20111122/NJLIFE04/311220005/Sign-language-benefits-hearing-children-those-autism

The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism

2011-11-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism added to The Autism Retort!

WTF of the Day: Autism linked to clever parents

2011-11-22T04:41:00.000-08:00

Autism linked to clever parents: Are high-achieving parents behind rise in autistic children? | Mail Online

Engineers, scientists and computer programmers who meet their partners at work may be fuelling an increase in cases of autism.
Researchers at Cambridge University are working on the first ‘clear test’ of whether the occupation and university choices of high-achieving parents affect the chances of their child developing the condition.
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the university’s Autism Research Centre, said there are currently several clues that parents who work in the fields of maths, science and engineering might have a higher risk of having an autistic child.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2064478/Autism-linked-clever-parents-Are-high-achieving-parents-rise-autistic-children.html#ixzz1eRBYN0DQ

S-O-S Research - Reaching Your Child's Potential!

2011-11-21T07:23:00.000-08:00

Help! S-O-S for Parents

S-O-S Research Blog Added to The Autism Retort.

AUTISM DADDY's kid booted from school for breath holding issue

2011-11-18T05:43:00.000-08:00

AUTISM DADDY: A Frantic Email To Kyle's School re: Breath Holding -- "Don't Kick Him Out!"

Dear ____,

We were absolutely BLINDSIDED by Kyle being discharged yesterday. If the meeting even began with "Kyle is going to be discharged because..." we would have had a chance to ask questions and discuss other possible options / solutions. We would have appreciated being given a warning. Even better, it would have been great if we could have seen the data and heard from the folks at the ____ clinic first hand. It would have been great to be on your phone calls with Dr. ___ so we could have talked about a solution TOGETHER. Instead, we thought we were walking into a meeting where we would finally get to the nittty gritty of how to integrate a behavior plan, and were blown away by the discharge. We are devastated and outraged, but mostly just sad for Kyle.

We are writing this email to set up another meeting right away. We would like the opportunity to discuss solutions to keep Kyle in his classroom while we work on his breathing issues, or at least until he has a chance to be evaluated and a plan is put into place. We understand the bottom line is that Kyle needs to be safe in the classroom and that you are concerned for his health. We also understand that he is a liability. We would just like to work with you on how he can be safe in your classroom while we quickly work out his medical plans.

Here are some possible ideas:

---We could get a nurse's aide in the classroom. (or whatever medical practioner is necessary. ___the sub in his classroom is an EMT)

---Mom can volunteer to be in the classroom

---We could sign a medical waiver relieving the school of liability if something happens

We could do all of this while seeing Dr. ___ on our own, as an out-patient that we would pay for out of pocket or thru insurance while out home district continues to pay for his schooling.

While we know this is a grave situation, we feel the administration has overreacted. We are sure that the nurse has frightened you with what COULD happen to Kyle. This decision was rushed. Kyle has not lost consciousness... and although he may be in danger of doing so, so would a child with a seizure disorder. What would you do in that situation? Would the child be discharged without benefit of a warning if they had a seizure disorder? … Or a child that severely bangs his head… Would they be discharged? Nothing has happened to Kyle. This is all based on fear, projected outcomes, and assumption. But NOTHING has happened to him in the classroom as a result of his breathing. Furthermore we feel somehow his breathing issues, meltdowns, blue fingertips, and weight issues have all been lumped together as part of the breath holding issue without the chance for us to explain. His fingers have always been prone to be blue in the cold weather, he has recently gained weight despite a 4 day stomach virus, putting educational demands on him will not worsen his breathing issues, his breathing issue is a constant. It is separate from his other behavior issues. He holds his breath happy, sad, relaxed or stressed.

We must remind you that we told you about Kyle's breathing issues during Kyle's intake. We gave you his previous school's behavior analysis and were assured that your school could handle this type of behavior. So we waited and followed up with his new teacher for a behavior plan to be put in place.
Again, of course we recognize the medical urgency of Kyle's issues. As you know, we have been working on it and this Friday we are seeing a neurologist who specializes in children with Retts Syndrome who are known to hold their breath. That was the next step in our pediatrician's plan. That neurologist was going to work with our psychophamacologist to tweak Kyle's meds. After that we were going to revisit possible digestive issues and keep looking for a solution.

More letter and backstory @ http://autism-daddy.blogspot.com/2011/11/frantic-email-to-kyles-school-re-breath.html

Schools, Teachers, Autism: Working with the Specialists

2011-11-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

Schools, Teachers, Autism: Working with the Specialists - Technorati Technorati Women

This week we had our second (and my first) parent-teacher conference with my son's first grade teacher. She just started, has a Master's degree in Special Education, and is very excited to be working with her group of students. But this year, so far, she has been struggling with my son. That struggle has not been because of his inability to learn, but rather her struggle is trying to find ways to connect with him and teach him.
We discussed how we work with him at home, and what they see as a barrier in my son's development. It seems that he is highly visual and tactile, and needs a lot of deep pressure stimulation to calm down enough to perform in class. We talked about strategies for working with him, ideas that would be tried over the next couple of days, and what we can do at home to help him focus and work on learning.
In the past I had talked about how I get defensive about my son and the work we do with him at home. But it took a good talk with his Kindergarten teacher and the school psychologist (who tested his IQ and was frustrated, because there was no way to more accurately test him until he is more verbal) to understand that they were there to help us help them. They were the experts in special education, behavior techniques, and tools necessary to teach him, but needed us as parents to use their methods to reinforce the lessons. It seems odd to say this, as I teach for a living, but we as parents always want to "know what's best" for our children. And sometimes, we don't.
Read more: http://technorati.com/women/article/schools-teachers-autism-working-with-the/#ixzz1e01x2Dsv

Autism Dad kills self and son after touring group home

2011-11-17T06:42:00.000-08:00

'Cruel' to transfer autistic boy, Edmonton inquiry told - Edmonton - CBC News

Forcing an 11-year-old autistic boy to be moved suddenly out of a private-care facility was "cruel," a fatality inquiry into his and his father's death was told Wednesday.
Bruce Uditsky, the head of the Alberta Association for Community Living, testified that yanking Jeremy Bostick out from the care centre and placing him into a lockdown facility would have been jarring and emotionally crushing for his family.
The transfer was particularly hard on Jeremy's father, Jeffrey Bostick, the hearing was told. Bostick killed both himself and his son shortly after touring the group home where Jeremy was transferred to.
More @ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2011/11/16/edmonton-bostick-inquiry.html

Autism Dad used son with autism to bilk school district out of $400k

2011-11-16T13:01:00.000-08:00

S.F. lawyer gets year in jail on fraud charges

A San Francisco judge on Tuesday sentenced a once-prominent attorney to one year in jail for fraudulently billing the school district, his former law firm and health insurance company for nearly $400,000 related to care of his autistic son.
Jonathan S. Dickstein, 44, and his wife, Barclay J. Lynn, also 44, had pleaded guilty to 31 fraud and other charges for creating a phony company as a way to fraudulently bill for special education, care and services for their autistic son.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/15/BAOL1LVK8K.DTL#ixzz1du8An2Q7

What happens when autistic kids grow up?

2011-11-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

What happens when autistic kids grow up? - The Naperville Sun

Like most teenagers, 18-year-old Ryan Wall enjoys playing sports, attending high school football games and dances, and socializing with friends. But as Ryan nears the end of his senior year at Naperville Central, his parents face an unsettling question … now what?
Theirs is not the usual anxiety of parents whose children must choose between college and work. Ryan is autistic. Although Naperville has a transitional program after high school to help prepare him for adulthood, those services will end the day before he turns 22.
More @ http://napervillesun.suntimes.com/lifestyles/8669566-423/what-happens-when-autistic-kids-grow-up.html

Mother of dead autistic boy hopes fatality inquiry saves lives

2011-11-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Mother of dead autistic boy hopes fatality inquiry saves lives

EDMONTON — The mother of an autistic boy who died from carbon monoxide poisoning alongside his suicidal father hopes this week’s fatality inquiry prevents similar deaths in the future.
Jackie McKean, who lives in Ontario with her younger 10-year-old son, will be testifying at the five-day inquiry scheduled to begin Monday.
It will review the murder-suicide of 11-year-old Jeremy Bostick and his 39-year-old father Jeffrey, who were found barricaded in a sealed bedroom in an Edmonton home with a cylinder of carbon monoxide gas Sept. 27, 2009, according to Alberta Justice.
“There are many people with blood on their hands in my mind. There were red flags that were ignored,” McKean said in email messages to the Edmonton Journal.

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Mother+dead+autistic+hopes+fatality+inquiry+saves+lives/5704340/story.html#ixzz1diImzBJd

Coming soon: Unwanted Leg Hair Vaccine

2011-11-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Permanently End Unwanted Leg Hair with Upcoming Vaccine. | Gaia Health

For most of the twentieth century, the only way women could treat hairy legs and armpits was through painful waxing or potentially harmful razors. But what if unsightly hair never formed to begin with, thanks to a vaccine painfully injected into the armpits and Achilles heel in the first few years of a child’s life? More @ http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2011-11-08/permanently-end-unwanted-leg-hair-with-upcoming-vaccine/

Ariane Zurcher: What They Didn't Tell Me About My Child's Autism

2011-11-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

Ariane Zurcher: What They Didn't Tell Me About My Child's Autism

Here are some things you will not find in your research on autism:
You will not learn how this diagnosis will affect your marriage or other members of your family. You will not be told how it may fundamentally alter your perceptions of what is "normal," how it may change your view of human beings, how it can force you to question small talk and why we behave the way we do, how it will transform your outlook on life, how it will change you, how your life and everything you assumed to be true, is no longer what you thought.
Having a child with autism may cause you to feel things you never dreamed possible. You may know moments of joy and moments of despair you could not have imagined. You may find yourself going to untold lengths in the hope of helping your child. You may feel distracted, unable to concentrate. Your work and career may suffer. You may learn what it is to be sleep deprived. You will come to know what it means to feel desperation. You will know sorrow in a way no one can prepare you for. You will know happiness in a way no one can prepare you for. Sometimes you may feel both sorrow and happiness within the same day, within the same hour, within the same minute.
More @ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariane-zurcher/children-with-autism_b_1080076.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

Reprieve for boy with autism facing deportation - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

2011-11-10T06:16:00.000-08:00

Reprieve for boy with autism facing deportation - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The Peruvian family facing deportation with their nine-year-old autistic son has been given five days to lodge an application to stay in Australia.

Autism Big Brain with Excess Neurons

2011-11-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Medical News: Autism Linked to Excess Neurons - in Neurology, Autism from MedPage Today

Children with autism appear to have bigger brains with more neurons than normal for their age, a small preliminary study affirmed.
Postmortem examinations of seven boys with autism showed 67% more neurons in the prefrontal cortex (1.94 billion), which controls social and emotional development as well as communication, compared with six controls (1.16 billion, P=0.002), Eric Courchesne, PhD, of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues found.
Autistic brains also weighed 17.6% above normal for age (P=0.001), the group reported in the Nov. 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Neuron counts in the autistic children should have been accompanied by brain weights of 29.4% versus the observed 17.6% enlargement, they said. "Thus, the size of the autistic brain, overlarge though it is, might actually underestimate the pathology of excess neuron numbers," the group explained.
Researchers have long documented abnormal enlargement of the brain during childhood that persists for about 20% of individuals with autism.
More @ http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/Autism/29531

When a Dad Speaks, Does His Son Ever Hear Him? - Northbrook, IL Patch

2011-11-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

When a Dad Speaks, Does His Son Ever Hear Him? - Northbrook, IL Patch

Over the past several weeks, my son has wanted to quit soccer, karate and piano lessons, among other things. Going back further, you could throw swim lessons in there, too.
And when he wants to quit, it is not like Kai comes to us and calmly tells us that he is getting tired of the activity or that he’d rather do something else. Instead he often makes a public spectacle.
At one of his first soccer games earlier in the fall, he became frustrated and started shouting that he wanted to go home, that he hates soccer, and that he never was going to play it again.
More @ http://northbrook.patch.com/articles/when-a-dad-speaks-does-his-son-hear-him

Autistic Teen Rape

2011-11-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

Autistic teen victim of rape | The Daily News Journal | dnj.com

MURFREESBORO — Three rape charges were filed against a Clarksville man accused of having sexual relations with a 14-year-old autistic girl after he picked her up outside a Rutherford County high school Oct. 28, according to a sheriff's office news release.

Watch the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – McPhail Family | The Autism News

2011-11-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

Watch the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition – McPhail Family | The Autism News

Autism = Superior In Multiple Areas???

2011-11-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

This is sure to spark some heated debates in the autism community. While this may be the case, many of us would like to see our kids use the potty,form 3 word phrases consistently and not have seizures.

Autistic Individuals Are Superior In Multiple Areas

We must stop considering the different brain structure of autistic individuals to be a deficiency, as research reveals that many autistics - not just "savants" - have qualities and abilities that may exceed those of people who do not have the condition, according to a provocative article published today in Nature by Dr. Laurent Mottron at the University of Montreal's Centre for Excellence in Pervasive Development Disorders. "Recent data and my own personal experience suggest it's time to start thinking of autism as an advantage in some spheres, not a cross to bear," Mottron said.

Gov. Cuomo signs New York autism treatment insurance bill

2011-11-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

Cuomo signs NY autism treatment insurance bill - NEWS10 ABC: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports

ALBANY, N.Y.--It's a major breakthrough for families of children with autism spectrum disorders, taking away some of the financial burden that the diagnosis brings.
Starting next November, New York will require insurance companies to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.
For many families Governor Cuomo's signature on the law means a little bit of an easier road when it comes to being able to provide the treatment their children desperately need.

XBox Kinect for Autism

2011-10-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

Business & Technology | As people experiment, they find Kinect is much more than a game | Seattle Times Newspaper

At the Lakeside Center for Autism in Issaquah, three 5-year-olds stand in front of a big screen displaying a river-rafting game. They laugh as they jump or wave their arms, making their on-screen avatars do the same through the use of Kinect motion-sensing technology.
Across the globe, hospitals in Cantabria, Spain, are testing a Kinect application allowing doctors and nurses to wave their arms to pull up patient charts or X-rays.
And Razorfish, a marketing agency that started in Seattle, is experimenting with a retail application using Kinect that would allow shoppers to project their image on a screen to see how various purses they're considering look as they hold them.

Praise be ... Robbie Wood FOUND ALIVE after 6 Days

2011-10-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

This just goes to show never give up hope. Amazing that Robbie survived 6 days in these conditions. I don't want to hear those wimps on Survivor whining anymore if Robbie can survive this situation. Also, another case of the child being found within 1 mile of where he was last seen. These seems very common. I would still like to have stats on how far these kids are found from last known location.

UPDATE: Robert Wood Jr. found alive in Hanover | Richmond Times-Dispatch

DOSWELL, Va. --

A Martin Marietta quarry worker found Robert Wood Jr. about 2 p.m. lying down in a creek bed or gully west of the Martin Marietta quarry property, about three-quarters to a mile from where he was last seen, Hanover Sheriff David Hines said during an afternoon news briefing.

Hines said Robert was alert and described his condition as “serious but in good shape.” He was fully clothed.

“There is a God, he listens to prayer and the prayers were answered,” said Hines, adding, “no one on the team ever gave up” looking for him.

Robert, an 8-year-old severely autistic child who cannot speak, disappeared Sunday during a family walk in North Anna Battlefield park.

The worker found Robert in a fetal position but alert about 50 yards from the edge of the quarry.

Hines said the area where Robert was found had been searched before. “It’s been a challenge dealing with a child with special needs who is lost. I can’t tell you he was there (earlier). I don’t think we walked past him.”

“We have 6,000 volunteers to thank – and not just from Hanover County – but from the entire region,” said Hines, who also praised the support the department received from numerous public safety agencies, the military, search and rescue groups and local businesses.

The search, Hines said, was “an effort by an entire region – and possibly a state.”

“Whenever a child goes missing, everyone wants to step up,” he said.

“We’ve spoken with the experts that have been involved in these searches, and they have never been involved a search that had this many volunteers consistently, everyday, and grow everyday,” the chief said.

The investigation into how Robert became separated from his father continues, Hines said.

-- Mark Bowes and Bill McKelway

Apology FAIL: 9-Year-Old Girl With Autism, And Service Dog Denied Store Entrance TWICE

2011-10-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Emily Ainsworth, 9-Year-Old Girl With Autism, And Service Dog Denied Store Entrance Twice

After an Edmonton store apologized for turning away a 9-year-old with autism and her service dog, it kicked her out of the shop when she returned a second time, CBC News reports.
Winners issued a formal apology and a $25 gift certificate to Emily Ainsworth after her mom complained about the store's refusal to let her daughter in. But, when Emily came back to redeem the certificate, she was told that dogs are not welcome, according to the news outlet.

More @ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/emily-ainsworth-turned-away-from-store_n_1033318.html

Face It: Study links facial features to Autism

2011-10-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

MU study links facial features to autism | The Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, Missouri

A new University of Missouri study shows that children with autism have slight differences in facial characteristics — a finding that indicates the disorder develops in the womb.
Kristina Aldridge, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences in MU’s School of Medicine, worked with other researchers at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders to analyze 64 boys with autism and 41 typically developing boys ages 8 to 12.
They used a camera to capture 3-D images of each child’s head and then mapped 17 points on the faces. When Aldridge compared the two groups, she found statistically significant differences in facial features.
Children with autism have a broader upper face and wider eyes than children without the disability, researchers found. Autistic children also have a shorter middle region of the face, including the cheeks and nose, and a wider mouth.
“What’s important about studying the face in autism is that the brain and face develop in close contact,” Aldridge said.
If something in the brain is changing that will ultimately result in autism, she said, that also should be reflected in facial features.
More @ http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/oct/26/mu-study-links-facial-features-to-autism/

UPDATE: Hundreds answer call to help search for missing autistic boy | The News & Advance

2011-10-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Hundreds answer call to help search for missing autistic boy | The News & Advance

DOSWELL --
At 10:30 a.m., three school buses filled with volunteers left to conduct a search that would start on Verdon Road.
Hanover Sheriff's Office Lt. Kenny B. Epling said the team of 150 searchers would be lined up to walk a 1 1/2-mile-deep area from Verdon Road to the North Anna River. Searchers were told they might be working into the evening.
Canine officers with dogs were also preparing to head out from Kings Dominion.
Earlier in the morning, 250 professional searchers were deployed.
The total number of volunteers was estimated at 2,000, and coordinators hoped to use as many of them as possible. Epling said anyone not trained by 2 p.m. would likely be turned away because there wouldn't be time to get them out in the woods and back before dark.
http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2011/oct/25/22/tdmain01-search-for-autistic-boy-entering-third-da-ar-1407465/