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Monday, April 30, 2012

Desperately Seeking Autism Genes

Autism is incredibly frustrating from a genetic point of view. Every study clearly shows that genetics plays an important role in this disease. But when these studies try to find a cause, they keep coming up short. And this isn’t because scientists aren’t trying hard. They are. In most of the recent studies they are comparing thousands of people’s DNA at millions of different spots. If there was a simple explanation, they would have found it. One thing they have managed to find from all of these studies is that a minority of cases result frombrand new mutations that most likely happen in either the sperm or the egg before fertilization. While these are not going to be that useful as a diagnostic test, they may prove useful as a way of figuring out which genes to focus on. And maybe even for coming up with new ways to treat autism.

 Click here to read more. 

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Two Day Basic PECS Workshop at the MSUB Summer Institute June 2012

CSPD?

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Why Autistic Children Are Bullied More -- And Bully In Return

Almost two-thirds of autistic children had been bullied at some point in their lives, and they were three times more likely than neurotypical kids to be bullied in the past three months. This was even true for home-schooled autistic children, who were sometimes educated at home precisely because of the bullying issue. “After a horrible year in 3rd grade,” said one mother, “where he was clinically diagnosed as depressed (he has always been anxious), I pulled my son out of public school and am homeschooling him this year. He is doing much, much better without the constant name calling and being singled out for his ‘weird’ behaviors!” The three most common types of bullying were verbal, or, in other words, psychological in nature: “being teased, picked on, or made fun of” (73%); “being ignored or left out of things on purpose” (51%), and “being called bad names” (47%). But almost a third of autistic children also experienced physical bullying – being shoved, pushed, slapped, hit, or kicked.

 Click here to read more.

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Monday, April 23, 2012

Children With Autism Are Often Targeted By Bullies

Lots of kids get bullied. But kids with autism are especially vulnerable. A new survey by the Interactive Autism Network found that nearly two-thirds of children with autism spectrum disorders have been bullied at some point. And it found that these kids are three times as likely as typical kids to have been bullied in the past month. The survey of parents of more than 1,100 children with autism found that bullies often pick on kids like Abby Mahoney, who is 13 and has Asperger's syndrome. Click here to listen to the story. 

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Friday, April 20, 2012

CDC Releases Flawed Study on ASD Incidence

Two weeks ago the Center for Disease Control published what I know to be an extremely flawed survey suggesting that Utah has the highest incidence of childhood Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the country. No explanation was provided for this incidence report. Incidence was reported for surveyed states only and ranged from 1 in about 50 children in Utah to 1 in about 250 children in Alabama. However, if you carefully read the CDC's report, consider the number of errors in their survey and the methodology used to create these estimates, it is quickly apparent that this expensive survey adds very little to our knowledge of the true incidence and prevalence of ASD in America.

 Click here to read more. 

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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

First PAK Meeting - Butte - May 5, 2012

What is Parents Advocating for Kids (PAK):The purpose of Montana PAK is to develop a monthly forum for parents to collaborate and receive information about special education advocacy and the federal/state laws that protect their children. In addition, PAK aims to provide a public medium to discuss educational concerns and to raise awareness about the scope of services, as well as local resources, which are available for children. The meeting is open and free to the public. The two hours will be divided into portions dedicated to open discussion and a presentation on legal rights in special education. RSVPs are not required to attend the meeting, but mandatory if child care is needed. 

Who are PAK Meetings for: Parents, guardians or family members of a child who is receiving special education services; Parents of a child who is struggling in school due to behavioral or emotional issues or who just seems to have a hard time learning; Parents, guardians or family members who suspect their child might have a learning disability or other condition that is causing him or her to have difficulty in school; Parents, guardians or family members who wish to improve their understanding of special education so they may better advocate at IEP meetings. 

For more information or to RSVP:Contact PLUK at 406-255-0540 or email info@pluk.org.

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Coffee Night/Parent Support Group for Parents of Children with Autism -Billings - April 18, 2012

What:Join us for this informal monthly gathering where parents can meet, learn from and support one another and participate in discussions or presentations of interest to the group. When:Wednesday, April 18, 20126:30 - 7:30 p.m. Where:Off the Leaf (in the conference room)819 Grand AveBillings, MT Contact:If you have any questions about our parent support group, please contact Kelly Melius at 657-9728

More here:

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What you need to know about Echolalia

One day I was hanging out with some friends and we were all swapping funny autism stories. I shared my story with the punchline, “And that’s why delayed echolalia is a mom’s best friend!” But there was one person who didn’t laugh. She looked confused. She asked, “What’s Echolalia?”

 Click here to read more. 

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Monday, April 16, 2012

Study Links Autism to High Fructose Corn Syrup

A new study released this past week has once again linked the consumption of processed foods to health complications, giving food safety advocates even more cause for concern. The April 10th publication of the Clinical Epigenetics Journal reported a link between high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and autism in the United States. According to the study, the rise in autism rates "is not related to mercury exposure from fish, coal-fired power plants, thimerosal, or dental amalgam but instead to the consumption of HFCS.” The study, led by former FDA toxicologist and whistleblower Renee Dufault, found that a deficiency of zinc, triggered by the consumption of HFCS and other processed foods, interferes with the body’s ability to eliminate toxins such as mercury and pesticides.

 Click here to read more. 

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

Can Autism Really Be Diagnosed in Minutes?

A Harvard researcher says he's achieved exceptional accuracy in identifying autism by using just seven online questions and an evaluation of a short home video of the child, instead of conventional, face-to-face exams that can take hours

.Read more:

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

A summary of the CDC autism prevalence report

Some qoutes from the article: Overall, the prevalence was 1 in 88 (11.3 per 1,000). This continues the upward trend in prevalence estimates from the CDC. This varied a great deal state-to-state. Alabama had the lowest estimated prevalence at 4.1 per 1,000. Utah the highest at 21.2 per 1,000. Or, there is about a five fold variation in autism prevalence estimates, state-to-state. As with previous CDC reports, a large fraction of the children identified were not classified as autistic previously. In 2002, as many as 40% in some states were not classified as autistic before their records were reviewed. In general, over time the fraction previously unidentified has gone down. This would be consistent with schools and medical personnel getting better over time with identification of autism. In Utah, for an extreme example, over 70% of those identified as autistic have IQ scores above 85. The CDC report reads: When data from these seven sites were combined, 38% of children with ASDs were classified in the range of intellectual disability (i.e., IQ >70 or an examiner’s statement of intellectual disability), 24% in the borderline range (IQ 71–85), and 38% had IQ scores >85 or an examiner’s statement of average or above-average intellectual ability.

 Click here to read the full article. 

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Autistic kids born preterm, post-term have more severe symptoms

Additionally, autistic children who were born either preterm or post-term are more likely to self-injure themselves compared with autistic children born on time, revealed the study by Tammy Movsas of MSU's Department of Epidemiology. Though the study did not uncover why there is an increase in autistic symptoms, the reasons may be tied to some of the underlying causes of why a child is born preterm (prior to 37 weeks) or post-term (after 42 weeks) in the first place. The research appears online in the Journal of Autism and Development Disorders. Movsas, a postdoctoral epidemiology fellow in MSU's College of Human Medicine, said the study reveals there are many different manifestations of autism spectrum disorder, a collection of developmental disorders including both autism and Asperger syndrome. It also shows the length of the mother's pregnancy is one factor affecting the severity of the disorder. While previous research has linked premature birth to higher rates of autism, this is one of the first studies to look at the severity of the disease among autistic children who had been born early, on time and late.

 Click here to read more. 

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Monday, April 2, 2012

Utah shows highest rate of autism in new study

In Utah, 1 in 47 children has autism, the highest rate among 14 communities nationwide, according to a newly released study. The results from 2008 data, released Thursday, found autism rates jumped 157 percent in Utah from 2002 to 2008. Meanwhile, the prevalence of autism increased 78 percent nationwide over the same time period, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. Nationally, an estimated 1 in 88 U.S. children has autism, an all-time high, the study found. The findings were released Thursday during a briefing at Valley Mental Health's Carmen B. Pingree Center. According to the study, the disorder occurs in Utah boys at a rate of nearly three times that of Utah girls. The study also found significantly higher autism rates among white Utah children when compared to non-white children, among whom the rate is 1 in 154. For white children, the rate is 1 in 25.

 Click here to read more. 

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The financial toll of autism

Raising an autistic child can take a tremendous financial toll, even when insurance helps cover some of the costs. Kim and David Picciano's three-year old son, Colton, was diagnosed with autism eight months ago and they pay roughly $1,000 out of pocket each month for all of his therapies. "It's not all covered... we have co-pays," said Kim. "Right now, I've been fighting with insurance since August to get him occupational therapy." The cost of providing care for a person with autism in the U.S. is an estimated $1.4 million over their lifetime, according to a study funded by advocacy group Autism Speaks. For those with autism who are impacted with intellectual disabilities (with an IQ of 70 or less) -- nearly half of the autistic population -- the cost jumps to $2.3 million.

 Click here to read more. 

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