Children With Autism Have Underdeveloped 'Social Brain'

Scientists discovered that parts of the brain linked to social behavior in children with autism are not as fully developed and networked as in normal brains. According to a study published in Brain and Behavior, children affected with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have their brains structured differently from other children, which influences their behavior and how they interact with others. To determine if patients with high-functioning ASD might have a physiologic anomaly in the "social" part of their brains, the team conducted a study on 17 children and young adults with ASD. They then compared the participants' data against 22 youths without ASD. They used magnetic resonance imaging scans to track cerebral blood flow that indicates the measure of energy use in the brain and examined neural networks to test their functional connectivity. The researchers found that there was a widespread increase of blood flow in the frontal areas of the brain of children and youths with ASD, compared to biologically normal brains that have a generally reduced blood flow to the area. The frontal areas of the brain are responsible for understanding social cues and interacting with others. An anomaly in the blood flow to this area implied that socio-emotional cognition development in children with ASD is stunted.

 Read more here. 

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Meds, Parent Coaching Quell Hyperactivity in Autism

A drug called atomoxetine eases hyperactivity in children who have both autism and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A parent-led therapy also improves symptoms, although to a lesser extent than either the drug alone or a combination of the two.

The standard treatment for children who have both disorders is the use of stimulants, which often either do not work or cause intolerable side effects. The new approaches point to more palatable alternatives, said lead investigator Benjamin Handen, PhD, professor of psychiatry, pediatrics, and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.


About one-third of children with autism also have ADHD. Stimulants such as methylphenidate (commonly marketed as Ritalin) work well in children who have ADHD alone, but tend to be less effective in children who have both disorders. They are also more likely to cause insomnia and a loss of appetite in those with autism than in those with ADHD alone.

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Why It's So Difficult to Diagnose Autism in Girls

Consistently recognizing autism in girls can be challenging, however. This is not only because girls with autism are as diverse as any other group of individuals with the disorder, but also because most autism screening and diagnostic tools were developed based primarily on observations of behaviors in boys.

As a result, we may still be missing girls whose symptoms do not match the prototypical boy presentation. These challenges in recognition may also help to explain why many parents say clinicians initially dismiss their concerns about autism in their daughters.

Some researchers theorize that girls are better than boys at camouflaging their symptoms, particularly during highly structured interactions such as a clinic visit. For instance, a colleague of mine described girls with autism as "caricatures" in social interactions. These girls may be motivated to interact, but their behaviors seem exaggerated.

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Training for Paraprofessionals - Havre - October 2015

Respectful, well-behaved students increase the time and opportunity for teaching and learning. This workshop will focus on a medley of simple behavioral practices which can be used by individual adults to make a huge difference in creating this climate. If these behavioral structures are used consistently within and across small group, class- room and school wide settings-and combined with effective instructional strategies (the focus of the afternoon session)-powerful learning environments can be established.Powerful Teaching: Dynamic and Effective Instructional Strategies Create classrooms and small group settings that maximize student learning using effec- tive instruction and planning. Powerful instructional teaching strategies can be used effectively for all ages. (Preschool to adult) These strategies, when combined with effective behavior man- agement (Behavior Management: Do’s and Don’ts) create a positive and powerful learning en- vironment for all students.
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Discover Inclusive Physical Education

A Guidebook for Educators The goal of inclusive physical education is not only to abide by the law, but also to provide and promote a successful learning environment that fosters a lifetime of healthy habits and sports participation for students with and without disability. Our goal is to provide you with a "playbook" to help you create such an environment for all of your students, regardless of ability level, by providing appropriate assessment tools, games, and inclusion strategies to help you improve your teaching methods and implementation processes. As with all good playbooks, this one provides the key elements for a winning performance as it provides clarity of laws, knowledge on specific disabilities, assessment tools, and sample classes and activities. We also hope that you will find practical solutions for everyday activities.

 Download this Guidebook 

 View Guidebook Online

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Resources - ADOLESCENTS AND ASD

Adolescence is a difficult period in any person's life. It is a time of great physical, cognitive, and emotional development. Adolescents must learn to deal with an ever increasing complexity of social experiences. Transitioning into adulthood can be intimidating; however, there are resources to help families, professionals, and the individual with ASD navigate the transition successfully!

 View the resources here. 

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ADHD symptoms may mask autism in young kids

Symptoms attributed to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may overshadow or mask autism spectrum disorder in very young children, a new study reveals.

This can create a significant delay in the diagnosis of autism. It took an average of three years longer to diagnose autism in children initially thought to have just ADHD, the researchers said.

That delay can make a big difference in the future of the child, said study author Dr. Amir Miodovnik, a developmental pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital.

"It's been shown the earlier that you implement these therapies for autism, the better children do in terms of outcomes," Miodovnik said. "Three years is a significant amount of time for the kids to not be receiving therapy."


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What Causes Autism? Half Of Autism Cases Likely Caused By SpontaneousGenetic Mutations, Not Vaccines

Working off the theory that roughly half of autism cases are caused by a chance combination of genetic mutations, their new



study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found more evidence for the genetics argument.

For their study, the researchers looked at how "de novo likely gene-disruptive mutations (LGDs)" ・mutations that develop at the beginning of a child痴 life ・occurred in genes deemed "vulnerable" and how they played a role in ASD development. They also looked at whether these gene-disruptions transferred between generations.

Iossifov explained that when these genetic mutations occur in a child, and give way to ASD, they often do not get passed on to another generation. According to Iossifovç—´ research, many diagnosed with severe autism will not reproduce, and therefore their genetic material is less likely to evolve and mutate.

With this information in mind, researchers were better able to understand which genes with LGDs could be categorized as "autism genes." Starting with 500 likely genes, researchers were able to narrow down the list to 200 of the most likely genes related to autism.

In addition to discovering which genes were likely involved, the researchers also looked into how parents could potentially carry these LGDs and pass them on to their children without their health being affected. For the study, researchers looked at families through the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) database. They found that in families with autistic children, parents could be carriers of the LGD mutations, and that these mutations were seen more frequently in their children with ASD rather than their children without the disorder. Along with this, they also found that mothers were most likely to carry the genetic mutations.This finding gives further credence to the theory that LGDs play a role in autism.

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Maternal Lupus Linked With Kid's Autism

Children born to mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have more than double the risk of being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, Canadian researchers reported. Among children whose mothers had lupus, 1.4% were given a diagnosis of autism compared with 0.6% of control children, according to Sasha Bernatsky, MD, PhD, of McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues. Read more here. 

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