MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'classics'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:17:32 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4119131&cid=t_104552_111_f&fid=38038&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcosmicwatercooler.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fonce-more-about-adidas-classics-shoes.html However, regular stores are easy to manage, then there were football boots. To this day, Adidas still remains a household word and a company specializing in sports clothing. The segment is dominated by various types of sports and golf is no specific reason for this fan following. The originals range also has hats, jackets, t shirts, sweaters, hooded tops, bags and eye wear.In the adidas classics rom of each season I sit down and look at Holabird Sports. This company has also expanded its Predator range to cover rugby as well as football boots, and continue to be disappointed with your new Adidas Track Jacket. This is one jacket that will never go out of the adidas classics shoes to relocate twice more, before finding their new THiNTech low-profile technology.Check out my article on NBA Pla... Cosmic Watercooler blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4119131 Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:20:00 +0100 4119131 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2074306&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FyFuBGi5XLrM%2F A long time ago (definitely “before Charlie,” which is “bC” to Jim and me) “someone” (she writes poetry) wrote this to me: Poetry is life; it should change everything around it. Do only what changes you. The lines were written at the end of a letter regarding a topic that was, at that point in time (I was about half as old as I am as I write this), of total everything significance to my life: What should I study in graduate school? I was a Classics major in college and, finding the sustained study of Latin and ancient Greek intellectually intriguing, albeit a little wearying on the soul, I was drawn to another academic discipline, Comparative Literature; I had hopes of studying something called “literary theory” or just “theory” (... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2074306 Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:17:59 +0100 2074306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2052839&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FccVGdnlzW9A%2F We do not, as I’ve noted from time to time, have a TV set—a fact which, when I happened to mention it to my students a while back, completely shocked them. “What do you do?” they sputtered. The class was my Elementary Latin class and it was one of those “teachable moments” when I could have launched into a discussion about “how did the Romans spend their free time” and “what about those giadiator fights.” It was the week before exams and we had so much to review and so I let the moment past, and got back to the fourth conjugation of verbs. Apparently I’d made an impression on my students, as they brought up the not-having-a-tv business a couple of times (mostly, I suspect, to avoid having to think about that inevitable entit... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2052839 Sat, 20 Dec 2008 08:23:07 +0100 2052839 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2027193&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FJZqMcLgGO5I%2F Thanks to all who sent the kind birthday regards. My birthday coincided with the last day of classes at my college and the morning was packed with review sessions prior to exams and a couple of phone calls about matters that needed to be figured out by today (meaning Wednesday, i.e., yesterday) and some missing files of a rather important nature. (Two found, one still missing.) At 11am a student came in to talk about her graduate school applications; she had a bag lined in red tissue paper (a little soggy from the rain) and gave it to me. Inside was a hardcover version of my Latin textbook. Since I first taught my student Elementary Latin four years ago, I’ve been through three or four paperback versions of the book. The cover inevitably gets ripped off and the book’s spine spl... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2027193 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:46:08 +0100 2027193 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2021583&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FhbCmjK5tZqQ%2F This is the last week of classes at the college where I teach; after finals, spring semester does not start till mid-January. It’ll be good not to have to rush around so much and to work more around home, and, certainly, not to have to hurry home on the highway to meet Charlie’s schoolbus. It does occur to me that, if I didn’t work, I could spare us a certain amount of anxiety: What to do when Charlie is sick? What to do if there’s an early morning meeting to attend or one in the later afternoon? What I do at work—-teaching Latin and ancient Greek and some administrative and advising duties—has little (obvious) relevance to what Charlie is learning and to what he needs. Some years ago, I thought seriously about becoming an autism teacher, so I’d be... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2021583 Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:57:26 +0100 2021583 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2019274&cid=t_104552_122_f&fid=37835&url=http%3A%2F%2Fintelligencetesting.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Fiq-classics-top-10-iq-citations-11-30.html Top 10 Cited articles in Intelligence as of 11-30-08. As per usual, anyone interested in reading the pdf file for an article, in exchange for a guest blog post review/comment post to IQs Corner, should contact me at iapsych@charter.net Extracted from Scopus (on Sun Nov 30 11:10:30 GMT 2008) 240 Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence Volume 27, Issue 4, 1999, Pp 267-298Mayer, J.D. | Caruso, D.R. | Salovey, P. 186 Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life Volume 24 1 SPEC.ISS, 1997, Pp 79-132Gottfredson, L.S. 153 The intelligence of emotional intelligence Volume 17, Issue 4, 1993, Pp 433-442Mayer, J.D. | Salovey, P. 144 A unifying model for the structure of intellectual abilities Volume 8, Issue 3, 1984, Pp 179-203Gustafsson... Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2019274 Sat, 06 Dec 2008 16:31:00 +0100 2019274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1980900&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F_FoQ2GXr8XM%2F I’m on the train to Washington D.C., to attend a meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which coordinates efforts concerning autism within the US Department of Health and Human Research. There’s a list of the federal and non-federal members of the IACC here; the committee has been overseeing the writing of the Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Research. Over the past year, there have been numerous calls for input from “stakeholders”—from anyone concerned about autism—and other meetings of the IACC and of workgroups concerning various parts of the plan. I went to an IACC meeting just about a year ago and read this statement. While I wrote up and sent in a statement for today’s meeting, there apparently is not spac... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1980900 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:37:24 +0100 1980900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1955305&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F4Ii0Nlq7dHY%2F Autism myths abound and Kev is collecting, and dissecting, them at this new site. One myth that especailly irks me is the notion that autistic kids are “in their own world” and “withdrawn into themselves” and, generally, “out of it.” My son Charlie is thoroughly engaged in and attuned to the goings-on of the world all around him. He may not look like he is, and he often does no respond in the usual ways that people are accustomed, to indicate social awareness. Due to his limited language, people tend to assume, or too quickly assume, that he does not understand what is said to him. But never underestimate how carefully someone, and someone who doesn’t have the “usual,” “expected” responses, might be tuning in. It’s app... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1955305 Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:21:28 +0100 1955305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1947291&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FWAL5ScHP0AI%2F The Romans, as I tell my incredulous students, did not have a concept of a weekend. Each months had its Kalends, Nones, and Ides, and feriae (holidays) in which the usual negotia of lawsuits, labor, and other transactions concerning the res of daily life were suspended. While he does not talk about it, Charlie’s got an internalize sense of time. He had Thursday and Friday off from school as it was the annual convention of the NJEA (New Jersey Education Association). Its a small rupture in his schedule to have the one long weekend in early November. As Jim and I have to work, my parents visit from California. Saturday Jim had to be at a conference and I went to see a friend, and then planned to go into New York to meet Jim and have dinner with friends. It was pouring rain for most of ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1947291 Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:24:29 +0100 1947291 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1926682&cid=t_104552_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F437990580%2F We are showing our age, but not ashamed to enjoy ourselves. If only the Great Pumpkin would appear… (Source: Pharmalot) Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1926682 Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:24:24 +0100 1926682 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1908842&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FE5VlvU6v1es%2F Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds—–that’s the unofficial creed of the US Postal Service, courtesy of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. I was thinking of it today while Charlie, with the wind picking up and a few drops of moisture fluttering around in the air, ran to get his bike. He’d woken at 7.30, and ran around while Jim and I called out that we’d be “up soon.” Charlie waited on the couch, peering out the window, while Jim got him his favorite weekend breakfast at the (very excellent) local bagel store. After that, with the sky getting not only gray but dark, I mentioned a bike ride and Charlie first got his bike, then his helmet, and then came back ins... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1908842 Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:42:33 +0100 1908842 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1905985&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FT8ocqLjJGAE%2F Senior Matt Farag has a “zest for learning,” today’s Gatehouse News Service Reports. Diagnosed at 6 with autism, Matt …..will browse the encyclopedia and history books in his St. Charles home, memorizing notable facts and dates on history, dinosaurs and insects. Matt also can name each of the presidents and vice presidents in order and their middle names. My son Charlie doesn’t do this—-reading’s been a long-time challenge for him—-but he too has a deep-running “zest for learning.” The word “student” comes from the Latin studere, “to be eager, to have zeal”—-and no better example of true students than Matt and Charlie, if I may say so. Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, disabilities, disabiliti... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1905985 Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:52:43 +0100 1905985 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1895055&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fo7KBhlZt6lI%2F Yesterday’s Pathophilia reviews a group of studies (two by Mark and David Geier) about testosterone levels in autistic children. Pathophilia finds that testoterone is not increased in autistic children. The Cambridge-based Autism Research Centre is also researching hormones in autistic individuals. The Foetal testosterone Longitudinal Study seeks to find out whether elevated levels of foetal testosterone are associated with a later diagnosis of autism spectrum conditions. The Current hormones Project is looking at whether current hormone levels might also be atypical in autism and Asperger Syndrome. And another project is looking specifically at puberty. Yes, as you may have guessed, I’ve got puberty—so to speak—on my mind. Charlie’s 11 (and five months, to be... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1895055 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:07:55 +0100 1895055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1892046&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FUPjxQBes6bE%2F A commenter under the moniker of “Rainmanretired” posted this about the Q & A on autism and what John McCain said that was posted on Newsweek yesterday: Kristina said she knew nothing about autism before she had a son with it, I was wondering just how she expected John McCain to know all about it? No he probably doesn’t know what all the differents’s are between all the different things that effect children BUT he wants to help ALL not just autism children. ……. I thought of this very question as I was talking during the interview about how I indeed “knew nothing about autism” before my son was diagnosed. I had barely heard, let alone thought of, the word “autism” before daycare teachers and an “evaluator” let the w... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1892046 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:07:27 +0100 1892046 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1876126&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F6h2M_dMcVhY%2F So for all the heightened awareness about autism, and despite the fact that most people I meet say “I know someone who has an autistic child/brother/child of co-worker/etc.,” numerous myths about autism persist. And, ok, I’ll admit it: One can feel a certain amount of satisfaction in debunking one of those, such as the claim that autistic persons lack empathy. Last Sunday, Jim and Charlie went on one of their long, long, long bike rides. They go here and there and onto certain favorite streets. Charlie often rides ahead. He’s started going really really fast and Jim zooms after to keep up. Charlie’s learned about going left and right, about stopping at stop signs, about watching out for cars, all while riding his bike. (He does have to be careful around the re... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1876126 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:05:55 +0100 1876126 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1802771&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FsemFXbBeAO0%2F No, not that kind of shot. I mean “shot” in the sense of taking a photo—a snapshot—of a moment, of something you wanted to remember. 3 autism shots from Tuesday, September 16th, in reverse chronological order. First shot. Pulling out of the parking lot of Target after the purchase of overly mundane items with a Target card from my sister and making our way through more parking lots to the actual exit of a mega-suburban shopping complex, a car putts, pauses, and zooms by us on the right. I see a wall of white stuffed animals in the back window and two autism magnets like this. Shot the second. Charlie and I go for a walk down the condo-lined boulevard that we live off of. He’s scrunching up his shirt and running ahead and humming; cooler day; we’re happy.... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1802771 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:28:05 +0100 1802771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1794450&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FErZeMKMRlsQ%2F A simile, as my students are quick to tell me, is when you’re comparing something to something else and you use “as” or “like.” It’s a comparison of something by way of mentioning something else, and the “‘as’ or ‘like’” makes it very clear what you’re up to. “Simile” is the title of one of my favorite poems from Line Dance (Word Press 2008) by Barbara Crooker: My son showd me his paper from remedial English; he was supposed to fill in the blanks. Cool as a __________. Smooth as a __________. Neat as a _____. He came up with: angry as a teakettle and when I asked, “Why?” said, “Because it was boiling mad.” Of course, it was marked wrong, one more red mark in his life’s lo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1794450 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:06:55 +0100 1794450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1788759&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FDMhwDk2cltA%2F Coming your way………Causecast, “a powerful online social medium that connects nonprofits, leaders, brands and individuals to those who want to make a positive impact on the world,” according to a press release. Already a Featured Leader is Generation Rescue board member Jenny McCarthy who has “long been a vigilant fighter in the search for a cure for autism”: A year or so is a “long” time?—sorry, being a teacher and translator of Latin and ancient Greek who is married to an American historian, I have a slightly different definition of “long.” I do know, I’m in it for the long run with Charlie, and autism. Share This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1788759 Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:25:36 +0100 1788759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1759944&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FxHYqlz-f-38%2F So on Wednesday morning it was chaos in our house. Only for about 15 minutes, but any minutes of Not Fun is Not a Great Way to Start the Day. Charlie had woken early and got up and smiled and wanted a shirt; he was pulling it on backwards (it’s an Oakland A’s t-shirt with numbers on both sides) and I gestured wordlessly to turn it around and his eyes clouded and he made a low noise. I stepped away and then heard thump cry and the chaos ensued. But I don’t mean the chaos of a crowd of a massive throng of humanity in a crowded space and someone yells “fire.” Chaos is from the ancient Greek word chaos, which means a “gaping [hole],” an emptiness, a vast void. Really, chaos is what I feel when Charlie has a tough moment: Things happen both quickly and ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1759944 Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:42:00 +0100 1759944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1739251&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FbHCYEZyZaNc%2F As of this Wednesday, the fall semester is underway at my college and I’m explaining how to pronounce v as w in Latin to one class, and leading another in reciting and writing the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. I’m teaching early in the morning thanks to Charlie being in middle school, which starts much earlier than his elementary school. I’m a quite energetic teacher, a necessary feature (I think) if you’re going to instruct college students in “dead languages” with complicated grammatical systems. At some point, some student’s attention will seem to waver, as indicated by eyes focused out the window rather than on the dry erase board, by a student saying “huh” when I call on their name. I used to just think, ok, this student’... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739251 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:28:36 +0100 1739251 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1709272&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fu-yuPYW3BrU%2F I read about Jenny, a “special-needs elephant” (per the New York Times; she has, among much else, “crippling depression”). In the midst of discussions about the “r-word” in the Tropic Thunder movie, the words we use to refer to “kids who are different” or “academically challenged” or “special ed/special needs” resonate. When did “special” come to mean “needs SPECIAL education,” with undercurrents of, “not the most academically gifted student; not even average”? It’s not an academic question to me. My son Charlie’s academic abilities are “way way below” those considered “average” for his grade and age. And yet Jim and I, and his teachers too, aren&#... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1709272 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:28:07 +0100 1709272 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1686316&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F77-m3KeDHU4%2F So, yes, I am forever hand-wringing about how Charlie doesn’t have enough verbal language to tell me things, like his stomach hurting and why in the world he is squinting. And, like whether or not I already gave him a tablet of melatonin. Last night, I said I was going to, walked into the kitchen, realized the counter needed cleaning, did that, then, I can’t remember. I thought about it and took out another tablet and walked into Charlie’s bedroom, where he was so busy jumping and bouncing on his bed that all the blankets and pillows had fallen off it. “Melatonin,” I said. “No,” said Charlie. “Did you already take it?” I asked. “Take it,” said Charlie. “Ok, let’s tuck you in,” and I picked up all blankets a... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1686316 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:06:58 +0100 1686316 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1677221&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FNRvv-356VlA%2F The discovery of how a 2000 year-old astronomical computer created by the ancient Greeks—we have its remnants, a broken wooden and bronze case containing more than 30 gears—was used to predict solar eclipses and calculate the 4-year-cycles of the Olympiad (video here at Nature) was (if I may lapse into ancient Greek) mega ti—-”something big.” I’m a classicist who explains what “blog” means by talking about logos, the ancient Greek word for “account, tale, explanation, argument, reason” and (though someone this weekend laughed that I didn’t seem “bloggie”), I’ve found myself (like many of us) drawn to this most-modern medium of writing on the computer for immediate internet publication. Pheidippides is said ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1677221 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:28:51 +0100 1677221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1616176&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F333339036%2F Today’s Scientific American reviews the new study about autism genes in 88 Middle Eastern families and emphasizes that the genes found are “linked to a heightened risk of autism” and, too, that these genes are crucial to a child’s ability to learn.” Noting that marrying second and third, and even first, cousins is not unusual in the Middle East, Scientific American points out that studying such families enables researchers to track recessive genetic traits (caused by mutations that only affect individuals with two copies of the flawed genes). Such traits occur far more frequently in inbred families than in others. Six mutations were found in the form of deletions, and all of these genes (which had not been previously linked to autism) play a role in “cre... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1616176 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:01:11 +0100 1616176 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1554477&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F322987388%2F Late Sunday afternoon Charlie was hanging around the front door when I looked at him and saw that three of his left hand fingers were bloody, and then noticed a similar Hawaiian Punch-like stain on his left cheek and a little white wadded-up-paper-looking-thing in his right thumb and finger…. “You lost a tooth!” I said. “Tooth!” said Charlie and grinned and, when I asked, handed me the tooth (from the upper left part of his mouth, where he has two more new ones already coming in). I thought: No wonder he kept chewing on the front of his t-shirt on Saturday afternoon, and picked up bits of food with his fingers and put them carefully into his mouth, and kept thrusting his head forward like a stork and closing his eyes in a kind of repetitive way. Had the lower ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1554477 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:05:57 +0100 1554477 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1553074&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F322402458%2F This study was small (38 adults were involved)—-the July 2008 issue of the the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders has a “much larger and more elegant study” by Helen Coo and Hélène Ouellette-Kuntz of the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queens University, and Jennifer E. V. Lloyd of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), and three other authors: The authors examined trends in assignment of special education codes to British Columbia (BC) school children who had an autism code in at least 1 year between 1996 and 2004, inclusive. The proportion of children with an autism code increased from 12.3/10,000 in 1996 to 43.1/10,000 in 2004; 51.9% of this increase was attributable to children switching from another special education classification... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1553074 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:07:10 +0100 1553074 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1478225&cid=t_104552_154_f&fid=36427&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FABlogAroundTheClock%2F%7E3%2F300767675%2Fclock_classics_it_all_started.php I was wondering what to do about the Classic Papers Chellenge. The deadline is May 31st, and I am so busy (not to mention visiting my dentist twice week which incapacitates me for the day, pretty much), so I decided to go back to the very beginning because I already wrote about it before and could just cannibalize my old posts: this one about the history of chronobiology with an emphasis on Darwin's work, and this one about Linnaeus' floral clock and the science that came before and immediately after it. In the old days, when people communed with nature more closely, the fact that plants and animals did different things at different times of day or year did not raise any eyebrows. That's just how the world works - you sleep at night and work during the day, and so do (or in reverse) many ... A Blog Around The Clock blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1478225 Thu, 29 May 2008 21:08:52 +0100 1478225 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1446159&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F291047339%2F It’s Charlie’s 11th birthday today. I had asked his teacher about bringing in a cake and she said that would be great, but could we do it on May 14th, as she was planning to be at an autism conference on the 15th? Sure I said and made plans to leave early on Wednesday so I could get to the bakery (cake in the house = cake found and eaten by Charlie, so best to buy it at the last minute). Of course, I could barely drag myself away from my college campus. It was nearig 1.20pm when I turned right onto Routes 1 & 9, which were backed up (in fact, someone did a U-turn in the middle of the road on seeing the traffic ahead). I went up the on-ramp at the Broadway exit of the Pulaski Skyway and the car in front of me made a U-turn in the middle of the on-ramp when he saw the standst... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1446159 Thu, 15 May 2008 16:51:21 +0100 1446159 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1436945&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F288478385%2F There’s been plenty of debate about whether or not there is an epidemic of autism; about whether or not the increase in the prevalence rate of autism (now 1 in 150) is due to our being better able to diagnose and count cases of autism, or whether there is some actual something that can be pointed to that is actually causing more children to become autistic. Recently, I’ve noted mention of an “autism pandemic,” a term which strikes me as a not exactly subtle attempt to make the rise in the prevalence rate of autism seem to be a much more extreme, and scary, phenomenon than various autism organizations claim that it is. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the definition of an epidemic is disease outbreak in which some or many people in a comm... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1436945 Mon, 12 May 2008 05:51:11 +0100 1436945 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1386075&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F274190162%2F Charlie and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Saturday. We had a fabulous time, and that includes the anxious moments, which were expected. It was a brand new experience for Charlie—-the first time he has gone to an art museum and to one that is not a designated children’s museum—and, of course, Jim was still out of town. There was some hollering and the usual looks: We just kept moving on. (And later, as we waited on the platform for the PATH train near where the WTC once stood, I noted that Charlie’s fingers were red and that he was bending over to pick up a tiny white object: He had just lost a tooth and that must have been bothering him all day.) We got into New York City and walked east to catch the #6 subway (another new thing) and then got off at 7... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1386075 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:53:31 +0100 1386075 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1385438&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F273421335%2F My college students are performing Cabaret and tonight Charlie and I went to see it. For the past month, Charlie has been doing something he has never done before, putting his hands over his ears when the radio is on in the car and when he hears human voices that are too loud or high-pitched. So I was not sure if bringing Charlie to a musical was the best idea. We sat down in the back row and Charlie said hello to the athletics director (at my prompting) and then “no” to shaking hands with the chair of the history department. There were musicians on stage and when they started playing, up went Charlie’s hands; the same happened when there was dialogue and for most of the singing (especially when two female students sang in high girlish voices) and when the drums played. O... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1385438 Sat, 19 Apr 2008 08:28:49 +0100 1385438 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1382404&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F273034745%2F There’s a video out on the web now called Autism Yesterday, echoing the title of another video that appeared in 2006, Autism Every Day. The latter video by director Lauren Thierry strove to present “what it’s like” for families to live with a child for autism. The other video, “Autism Yesterday,” presents the message that “autism is reversible” via biomedical interventions; autism could become a thing of yesterday if families chose to use such treatments (many of which we have used for my son, when he was younger). I’ve never been one for taking a lot of videos of my son. I suppose you could say, I’m too busy watching and being with him to be inclined to run and get the camera. It is certainly “life with an autistic son&#822... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1382404 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:36:32 +0100 1382404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1369131&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F269564933%2F The highpoint of the week for us was Thursday night’s reading in conjunction with the Artistic Spectrum exhibit—–and Charlie also had a lot of things to say himself. Did Your Child Reach Her or His Gross Motor Milestones? Some parents note that their children had gross motor delays (Charlie did), while others said their child did not. Indeed, some parents whose children met all their gross and fine motor milestones then had other delays in social and communicative skills. About This “Autism Dilemma” According to health journalist Alison Rose Levy, there is an “autism dilemma” afoot, in which parents of autistic children speak emotionally and from the heart about what they think (a vaccine, for instance) “caused” their child to become autistic, while “aloof ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1369131 Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:32:50 +0100 1369131 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1364953&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F268179082%2F “Happy is he who knows the causes of things,” writes the Roman poet Virgil in Book 2 of his Georgics. Virgil was writing about the stars and the sun and the moon, about why there are eclipses and earthquakes, about natural phenomena, about the cosmos—-and his words can be applied to a much more specific concern, the discussion today about the cause of autism. The need to figure out “what causes it” seems, indeed, to be the main goal of so much research about autism. Certainly this need is what principally fuels the discussion/debate/issue about vaccines and autism. Today in Washington, D.C., the federal government is holding a public meeting of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Vaccine Safety Working Group, to “discuss a government-wide rese... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1364953 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:49:50 +0100 1364953 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1356186&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F266430159%2F To what extent has the prevalence rate of autism increased because of the “better diagnosis” argument—-that we are able to better diagnose and identify autism today than in the past? Is what some call an “epidemic of autism” more accurately described as a sort of “epidemic of understanding and awareness” about autism? A new study in the Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology by Dorothy Bishop, et al., has found that some adults who received a diagnosis of language disorder during childhood might now have been diagnosed with autism. 38 adults (age 15 to 31) were included in the study, whose findings Translating Autism by Nestor L. Lopez-Duran, Ph.D., cogently summarizes: The authors were mostly interested in a particular type of language disorde... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1356186 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:30 +0100 1356186 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1305361&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F251876507%2F Today is the Ides of March, the 15th of March according to the Roman Calendar. On my own calendar, I had marked March 14th as the date of a meeting of the meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in Washington, D.C.. I had attended the November meeting; here is the testimony of some who were at the meeting today: Joe Mele Alex Plank of Wrong Planet Ari Ne’eman of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network Shakespeare highlighted March 15th in the phrase “Beware the Ides of March” in his play Julius Caesar, as the Roman ruler was indeed assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 B.C.. The date did not hold any sinister associations prior to that, though one of my students (who works as an EMT) proclaimed that larger than usual numbers of people in various sta... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1305361 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:17:48 +0100 1305361 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1296104&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F249991875%2F So there I was explaining to my students how Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, came to the aid of Tarentum in southern Italy in 279 BC, against the Romans: While Pyrrhus defeated the Romans, he suffered heavy casualties, was defeated by the Romans at Beneventum and retreated across the Adriatic Sea; Tarentum fell to the Romans in 272 BC, “and,” I said, looking at my class, “how do you connect this to the phrase Pyrrhic victory?” A number flashed on my cell phone (ringer set to silent): The school nurse. In the not to distant past, when we lived in a different north Jersey town considerably closer to New York, I used to get calls from the school nurse almost every day. I might be at a meeting for new faculty, or teaching the passive voice of verbs, or driving up the long curv... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1296104 Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:01:55 +0100 1296104 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1286285&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F247284545%2F Yes—what with the poll over at Larry King Live asking if you believe that vaccines cause or contribute to autism; and the CNN report tonight; and the fact that all I had to do while standing in line at the store with two bottles of melatonin, sushi and watermelon for Charlie, and my eco-friendly “carry your own bag” shopping bag was to turn around and behold! there was the headline “David Kirby on Autism and Vaccines” on the cover of Mothering magazine—-once again this blog, which is an autism blog, is in danger of becoming a vaccine blog, as you can see from recent past posts. For the record, I voted “NO” in the Larry King poll and I have to say that “yes” there will be more posts here about vaccines, which, one can say, have bec... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1286285 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:42:50 +0100 1286285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1280785&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F246349537%2F So Jim drives me into work in a downpour and I go into classrooms with students saying “Dr. Chew, where were you?” (revealing that, despite frequent reminders, they did not check online for my message that class was canceled on Monday). Due to the lingering effects of laryngitis, instruction in the perfect passive system of Latin verbs and in the interrogative pronoun of ancient Greek is short; two students ask to watch a DVD of “Decisive Battles,” the revolt of Spartacus recreated with videogame effects, courtesy of the History Channel. I go to hear the tail end of two guest speakers on autism genetics (why, the one day that the speakers on this topic come to campus, do I have to be sick and on a back-to-back schedule?). Then I go to explain to a colleague why I wo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1280785 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:00:10 +0100 1280785 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1251789&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F240000887%2F Science fiction blog io9 considers what it would be like to have a Google brain implant: In John Varley’s upcoming scifi novel Rolling Thunder, everyone has a brain implant that lets them google information constantly. And many futurists are saying this technology will become a reality long before we colonize Mars. The question isn’t whether we’ll have google brain implants (or the futuristic search engine equivalent), but how we’ll handle them. What exactly would be the plusses and minuses of being able to google information instantaneously in your head, without anybody knowing you’re doing it? A google brain implant could work in lots of ways. With technology we have right now, people could wear a brain-computer interface helmet like the one sold by Emotiv, ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1251789 Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:04:08 +0100 1251789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1236978&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F236150026%2F Charlie takes the Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA). He was first tested when he was in the fourth grade, in the subject areas of Language Arts Literacy, Mathematics, and Science; this year, he’ll only be tested in Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics. His teachers have to attend special training sessions to administer the test. Florida is just launching a statewide alternate assessment test this year—school districts had previously each used a different test. Here in New Jersey, the APA test is administered to Charlie one-on-one by a teacher and he is scored in three areas, Progress, Program, and Proficiency. There are three levels that he is scored in, Substantial, Considerable, and Minimal. Last year’s assessment reveals (surprise surprise) that Language Arts ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1236978 Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:00:10 +0100 1236978 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1198011&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F228404901%2F “…there might be a deeper meaning to the series as a whole. This is something I touched upon on my own post for today (autism and spirituality–maybe they’ll get that angle right). wrote one commenter after watching ABC’s new legal TV drama, Eli Stone: In reading responses and commentary on the show, I’ve been struck at how often people have talked about faith—a New York Times editorial about the show is entitled Eli Stone’s Overleap of Faith—and stating that they appreciate the show because it brings other topics into the discussion about autism. While the court case that Stone successfully argues involves vaccines and “mercuritol,” a stand-in for thimerasol that is claimed to have caused a child to become autistic, it is matters o... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1198011 Sun, 03 Feb 2008 15:15:47 +0100 1198011 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1177744&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F222808940%2F Once upon a time Rome was just a “small spot on the Tiber” and the Italian peninsula was populated by the Oscans, the Sabellans, the Umbrians, the Etruscans, and many many more peoples whom the Romans gradually conquered and brought under the rule of SPQR, Senatus Populusque Romanus, the Senate and the Roman People. Besides maps and coins and the writings of the Roman historian, Livy, and some recent archaeological finds, I’ve been thinking about how to incorporate some discussion of why genes matter in history into my teaching of the history of Rome (with those Roman soldiers marching to the far reaches (China) of the then-known world, surely they must have brought their genetic heritage with them, besides Latin). Where precisely did the Etruscans—who were a dist... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1177744 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:17:47 +0100 1177744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1167236&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F220637459%2F I’m preparing to teach a class in Roman History, which meets for the first time tomorrow, Tuesday. We’ll start ab urbe condita—from the time of Rome’s legendary founding in 753 BC—-and end sometime in Late Antiquity, with the unraveling of Romanum Imperium. One of the first things I plan to ask the class is what they know, or think they know, about the Romans and I’m semi-sure someone will mention the hypothesis about lead poisoning causing the decline of Rome—–just as, when anyone in the future teaches about the history of autism, there will be mention of the autism/MMR hypothesis (here’s some history on that by Kevin Leitch). To quote philosopher Santayana’s oft-paraphrased statement: “Those who cannot remember the past ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1167236 Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:13:16 +0100 1167236 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1156798&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F218043422%2F The Age of Autism is, its editor Dan Olmsted proclaims, “the first daily Web newspaper for the environmental-biomedical community—-those who believe autism is an environmentally induced illness, that it is treatable, and that children can recover.” Those who write for The Age of Autism do not follow “journalistic group-think” and “believe whatever ‘the experts’ tell them”—-The Age of Autism, it is promised, is going to make a “difference.” So what kind of news do we get from The Age of Autism folks? Pathbreaking discussions of new theories about the causes of autism, or treatments for autistic kids? New suggestions about how to help autistic children learn not to engage in self-injurious behavior without electroshock... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1156798 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:57:20 +0100 1156798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1146461&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F215387031%2F CNTNAP2 (contactin-associated proteinlike 2) is a gene that indicates susceptibility for autism, as noted in a new study by Alarcón et al., in the January 10th American Journal of Human Genetics. Another article in the same journal by Aravinda Chakravarti et al. of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has found that a variation in CNTNAP2 raises the risk of having autism, especially when the gene with that variation is inherited from the mother. CNTNAP2 is a member of the neurexin superfamily and is, as noted in the January 11th Science Daily, “makes a protein that enables brain cells to communicate with each other through chemical signals and appears to play a role in brain cell development.” The researches studied two groups of first participants. The first was ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1146461 Sat, 12 Jan 2008 06:46:58 +0100 1146461 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1138115&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F213645047%2F Lots of nights and driving in my car thinking the same. With Charlie, January and February are “moody” months—winter is settling in, the changing of the year—-so much for her (for you) to work through. I do “let” Charlie spend a lot of time at home “chilling out” with his blanket and things: It just seems to take more time for him to work through and experience changes. You’ve all had a lot to go through and more ahead: Your plans and thoughts are all ahead and onwards and you’ll get there. But a bit of rest along the way is good…… Not exactly surprisingly, proponents of the theory that mercury, and in particular mercury in the form of the preservative thimerosal, causes autism (such as Safe Minds), are less than pleas... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1138115 Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:09:35 +0100 1138115 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1118227&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F206946619%2F A few days ago I noted that the word imus—as in shock-talk host Don Imus and his wife, Deirdre Imus (who has not infrequently publicized her views about an environmental cause of autism)—-has (at least) two meanings in Latin: “We go,” when imus is the first person plural, present tense, of the verb “go,” eo, ire, ii, iturum; and also “go, mouse!,” when imus is taken as i, mus, with i the second person singular imperative of eo, ire, ii, iturum and mus meaning, indeed, “mouse.” There is a third Latin meaning of imus: The word can also function as an adjective meaning “inmost, deepest, bottom-most, last“; in this instance, imus is the superlative form of the adjective inferus, which means “lower, southern, of the l... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1118227 Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:25:48 +0100 1118227 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1113958&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F205352745%2F Now that the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services has mandated that children under 5 years old attending licensed day care or preschool beginning must take annual flu and pneumonia vaccines, and that sixth-graders (this will be Charlie next year) take two additional vaccines, one against a fast-killing strain of meningitis and the other a booster of the immunization against tetanus, pertussis and diphtheria, you can be sure that some Jersey parents, and Deirdre Imus (who does not live in New Jersey), are up in arms with a call to “protect New Jersey’s children from additional and unnecessary mercury exposure.” Imus and others refer to themselves as “vaccine safety advocates,” a term that enables them to take their shots (pun intended) and speak ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1113958 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:19:57 +0100 1113958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1112680&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F204516322%2F I noted the law of unintended consequences in reference to the aftermath of the Ransom Notes ad campaign: Our trip from New Jersey via Philadelphia to California to see my family for the holidays could be said rather to invoke good old Murphy’s Law: If something will go wrong when you’re trying to get on a 7.10am transcontinental airplane flight, it sure will, and our nearly missing the bus from Economy Parking to the airport was just the start. We checked our suitcases in and went up (to Charlie’s pleasure) the escalator, and found that the line to go through Security stretched back all the way to the moving walkway. We got in line. I noted the law of unintended consequences in reference to the aftermath of the Ransom Notes ad campaign: Our trip from New Jersey via... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1112680 Sat, 22 Dec 2007 08:52:33 +0100 1112680 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1098840&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F201486309%2F “BBDO” meaning “Brooklyn–Bowery—D train—whOle fOOds,” rather than a certain New York-based advertising agency that is behind the New York University Child Study Center’s “Ransom Notes” campaign. I’ve obviously been a little caught up in responding to the Center’s “public awareness” campaign (a word whose military overtones I dislike, as if the whole point of “Ransom Notes” is so that someone can say veni, vidi, vici totos morbos puerorum puellarumque!——”I came, I saw, I conquered all the diseases of boys and girls!”).). Lest it seem like this blog is itself becoming hostage to the cause of protesting the “campaign” (though I have to say, if you have not yet signed the pe... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1098840 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:49:37 +0100 1098840 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1079770&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F196816599%2F Me being a professor of Classics—-I teach ancient Greek, Latin, and the culture and civilization of the ancient Greeks and Romans—-I did have thoughts that I would teach Charlie, while still young, his declensions and conjugations, a lot of classical mythology, and the Greek alphabet. That was in the months when I was expecting Charlie (and teaching Latin to middle and high schoolers in St. Louis, Missouri) in late 1996 and into the spring of 1997. Charlie was born in May of 1997; two years later—-just before he was diagnosed with autism in July of 1999—-I was wondering if he would ever be able to have some way to communicate beyond cries and the one sound he said (”dah”). A single word, a part of a word, would be enough. Charlie’s has been an un... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1079770 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:30:18 +0100 1079770 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1052335&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F191104087%2F It’s the first time that autism has been raised as a national priority in a national election. It was a real honor to me to be interviewed today by Tim Farley on POTUS 08 with  XM Radio(the time for the interview, which was live, got moved around due to Trent Lott announcing his resignation and the interview was not archived). I noted that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s autism plan bears a lot of similarities to the autism legislation (like the Combating Autism Act (CAA) and the Expanding the Promise for Individuals with Autism Act (EPIAA) ) that have been passed, as her plan focuses both on funding research into the causes of autism and on education, services, and supports. I referred to the difficulties that families have had in getting services (such as behavior therapy)... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1052335 Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:43:12 +0100 1052335 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1045119&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F188654482%2F That means “Thank You” in Latin, which is one of the languages I teach. In particular, it means “I give thanks to you,” when more than one person is included in the word “you”—–”gratias tibi ago” is how you say “thank you” to one person. So: Gratias vobis ago to everyone stopping by here and a very happy Thanksgiving to all in the US. My dad said “thank you” to Charlie tonight. Charlie had carried in a bag of take-out noodles and went about putting away the containers and napkins. “Thank you,” said my dad. “You’re welcome,” said Charlie, clear as the proverbial bell. (And proceeding to eat his noodles.) My turn to say, “Thank you, Charlie,” indeed—-gratias ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1045119 Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:31:05 +0100 1045119 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1040120&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F187750896%2F It helps me to understand our life with Charlie and autism as a journey whose map is being made as we take each step, whose roads are a constant crossroads, with bumps and bends and uphills. Autismville referred to a related metaphor for life raising an autistic child—running a marathon—in a comment on a previous post: “Pardon the overused cliche, but for us autism is our life … a marathon, not a sprint. The reality is it’s difficult to move forward when one’s focus is attacking the other runners in the race or those standing on the sidelines…    I wish we could all live our lives, support each other as much as possible and move forward focusing on the ones we love. All this hate, those playing the blame game, constantly lashing out at “the man” … or evil... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1040120 Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:20:02 +0100 1040120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1018383&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F182625884%2F A daily constitutional can be better for your brain’s health than a software program? Charlie being a big-time bike rider and at home swimming in the ocean—-and continuing to benefit from daily adapted P.E. at 11.30am at school—I was glad to read a November 8th New York Times op-ed, Exercise on the Brain by Sandra Aamodt, the Editor in Chief of Nature Neuroscience, and Sam Wang, associate professor of molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton University. Computer programs to improve brain performance are a booming business. In the United States, consumers are expected to spend $80 million this year on brain exercise products, up from $2 million in 2005. Advertising for these products often emphasizes the claim that they are designed by scientists or based on scienti... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1018383 Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:18:30 +0100 1018383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1002299&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F179355729%2F 13-year-old Megan has Asperger Syndrome and attends a mainstream school in Atherton in the UK and “looks just like any 13-year-old school girl,” an article in Wigan Today notes. When she behaves differently among other students, she has been bullied and misunderstood; her mother, Mel Roach, notes that these things happen in part because Megan’s disability is “hidden”: …..fellow pupils, and sometimes teachers, fail to understand her condition. Mel said: “Megan has endured physical, mental and verbal bullying and if it isn’t dealt with properly it becomes like the ripples on a pond, spreading wider and wider. “I would like to see more acceptance and understanding of people with autism. Inclusion in schools still has a long way to go and I... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1002299 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:16:33 +0100 1002299 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=991876&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F177331224%2F It is happening already: In the wake of the AAP’s call for universal screening of 18-24 month old children for autism, parents are starting to worry: A mother wrote that autism scares the hell out of me. And, the October 2007 issue of Popular Science listed autism as among the “deadly five” of the “enemies of the brain.” Okay. It is not easy, and it can be scarey, to have a doctor tell you that your child has a “serious/severe/lifelong brain disorder,” and too hear that awful “d” word, delay. I do know that, back in the spring of 1999, after I got over my first denial and disbelief that Charlie had “something”—autism—I felt a great relief. I felt as if I had gained some knowledge and that, thus fortified, I could... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=991876 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:41:25 +0100 991876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=970115&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F173530771%2F William Bunn in the October 22nd Globe and Mail coins the phrase or rather creates a new diagnostic subcategory, “technological autism,” for those individuals who, due to obsessive, repetitive, and near-constant use of such devices as iPods, cell phones, Blackberrys, and the like, display (according to Bunn) certain symptoms of autism as defined in the DSM-IV. Due to the excessive overuse of all gizmos techological, people are suffering “qualitative impairments of communication” as text-messaging comes to substitute for talking, so actually looking another human being in the face and emitting words and language (which comes from the Latin word for “tongue,” lingua—perhaps communicating solely by text might rather be called digitage, after the Latin... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=970115 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:58:26 +0100 970115 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=943029&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F168362462%2F These are the six “common life phases” according to New York Times columnist David Brooks in The Odyssey Years (October 9): childhood, adolescence, odyssey, adulthood, active retirement and old age Once upon the 1960s, the phases were four: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age This “odyssey” age is, true to its classical roots in the title of Homer’s epic about the 10-year-old journey home of the hero Odysseus after the Trojan War, the decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood. During this decade, 20-somethings go to school and take breaks from school. They live with friends and they live at home. They fall in and out of love. They try one career and then try another. Their parents grow increasingly anxious. Thes... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=943029 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:54:59 +0100 943029 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=893267&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F160105149%2F Last week saw a constant stream of news items about autism. Here are some highlights: Aide Files Charges Against 6-year-oldNathan Darnell is to appear in juvenile court on September 25. Would you want him Tased or hit by a car?Orange County sheriff’s deputies use a Taser stun gun to subdue 15-year-old Taylor Karras who had fled from his parents. He’s a Really Good Swimmer, ReallyI try to get Charlie some time swimming in the big pool at our YMCA. Is IQ Testing Still Necessary?What do IQ tests really measure? What is intelligence? Jenny McCarthy, Autism MotherA celebrity appears on Oprah, People magazine, 20/20, to discuss her new book about her autistic son. The Trouble With Rain ManWhat do you say when you say “My child is autistic” and someone says “I&#821... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=893267 Sun, 23 Sep 2007 05:22:06 +0100 893267 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=889632&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F159303051%2F Actor Jim Carrey is, per his girlfriend, autism mother Jenny McCarthy, the “autism whisperer.” I take that to mean that Carrey has, in some not-necessarily-with-words-way, been able to have some kind of connection (in McCarthy’s view) to her 5-year-old autistic son, Evan (”‘Jim came into our life with an open heart and open arms. He’s learned a lot about autism. He listens. The power of listening. It can move mountains.’”) Not being in a position to comment one way or another on that, I can say that mention of Carrey, star of Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, reminds me of how much I prefer the perspective of comedy—of laughter, and the good feeling of laughing together—to that of tragedy. I do agree with the ancient... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=889632 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:48:18 +0100 889632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=876075&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F157554978%2F Your comments about my reading Charlie a few pages from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus got me to thinking about reading and specifically, about the pleasures of reading. I realized that, while so many of the many children’s books that we have are full of lovely stories charmingly told, with colorful drawings to match, my reading them to Charlie has become a bit of a chore and a bore, on both sides. Even though I pick up each book and read the words as engagingly as I might—I love books, and love to read out loud and hear the words on the page—I always feel I ought to make the activity contribute in some practical way to fostering Charlie’s reading skills. Reading, as I’ve written often here, has been a very big challenge for Charlie, as have learning t... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=876075 Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:17:48 +0100 876075 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=874955&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F157096069%2F Mindful of what I’ll call the side effects of transitions on Charlie, I was careful that Saturday was well-stocked with familiar activities with definite endings, and in which Charlie was an active player. We went grocery shopping and Charlie carried his share of bags (including the one with the watermelon). He eyed the racks of Entenman’s and Tastycakes and pulled out the bag with gluten-free brownie mix soon as we got home; he stirred the batter and licked both bowl and spoon. There was an old blue chair—a small Ikea armchair—that I had put in my office and have now determined that we need in our new place, so we drove into Jersey City. Charlie really wanted just to stay in the car but I didn’t think that the best idea and, while smileless, he held the door... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=874955 Sun, 16 Sep 2007 06:56:35 +0100 874955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=858401&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F154780657%2F In Greek mythology, Icarus is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, who makes wings out of wax. Father and son fly away from the palace of King Minos but Icarus flies too close to the sun and his wings melt, and he falls into the ocean. Icarus rises again in a play entitled “Izzy Icarus Fell Off the World” by 15-year-old Aliza Goldstein of Jacksonville, Florida. Goldstein got the idea for her play from volunteering at the Mt. Herman Exceptional Student Center in Jacksonville, a center for students with developmental disabilities. Here is a summary of the plot: Teenage Izzy is fascinated by birds. With beach season fading, he loves to stand on the sand, flap his arms, and watch the gulls take flight for winter. His curious movements have attracted the eye of budding photogra... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=858401 Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:43:22 +0100 858401 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=836450&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F150960667%2F On the first day of the class on ancient Greek history that I am teaching this semester, I asked my students, What is history? Then I passed out the opening lines of the 8th-century poet Hesiod’s Theogony, which details the birth of the gods of Greek mythology. Why, I asked my students, are we reading mythology—traditional stories and legends including those found in Homer’s epic poetry and the Greek tragedies—at the start of a history class? Isn’t history about “what really happened“—about facts, about reality, the truth? Why read about the birth of Aphrodite and how the titan Prometheus stole fire to give to humans? The ancient Greek word for “history” is historia,” which means first of all an “inquiry,” and al... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=836450 Sat, 01 Sep 2007 16:12:27 +0100 836450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=819559&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F147674083%2F So it turns out I was right: Earlier this summer, I predicted that Charlie would swim the farthest out into the ocean, beyond and over Jim’s head and swimming where Jim is comfortable, with me posted by the lifeguard stand—-and this is precisely what has happened. The ocean is no swimming pool, but a living creature, changeable, wild, and mightier than us all. And I rather suspect that, while Charlie loves best to swim in rough and foaming waves that swirl him around and buzz over his head, he has little sense of the danger involved. Charlie loves to be amid the ocean’s power, but he does not realize what that power can do—earlier this summer, a boy about Charlie’s age drowned in a rip current at another beach in New Jersey. That boy was swimming at 7pm, after... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=819559 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:54:19 +0100 819559 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=803705&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F144886643%2F “He looks so smart.” People say this about Charlie again and again, and variations: “He looks so intelligent in those glasses!” (Charlie used to wear Harry Potteresque prism lenses all the time.) “He seems so smart—-but does he really understand?” I know that Charlie is smart. I also know that, when it comes to an IQ test, Charlie scores very low. Charlie’s minimal expressive language (coupled with the traces of verbal apraxia) and, while Jim and I have long presumed competence in him and feel certain that he understands everything he hears—–however long it takes him to process it—-we have become steadfastly realistic. At his IEP meeting back in June, when we talked about reading, this was in reference to teaching him words ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=803705 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:15:06 +0100 803705 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=802277&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F144654278%2F is a title I would much like to use for the book I’m writing (very slowly) about Charlie, autism, and education. As Jim has pointed out to me, that title—-with “Charlie” spelled the other way, “Charley”—has already been taken, by the great California writer John Steinbeck for his Travels with Charley: In Search of America, Charley being his French poodle. Travel is the theme for this month’s b5media Science and Health Channel Theme Day and travel is one my favorite metaphors to describe our life with Charlie in what I have sometimes called “Autismland,” a word meant to capture the sense of how raising an autistic child is an experience perhaps quite different from what one might have imagined. Different, and different (for me, fo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=802277 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:54:49 +0100 802277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=794236&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F143384008%2F This video of Hector and Achilles fighting before the walls of Troy (as related in Book 22 of the Iliad) has nothing to do with autism. My students in my summer school class on “Epic, Ancient and Modern,” wrote the scripts, made costumes, and acted out scenes and filmed them, and presented them to the other students in the program. But there is that matter of the rage of Achilles and the rage a parent can feel………. “Achilles” is on the left and “Hector” is on the right. Share This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=794236 Sun, 12 Aug 2007 17:04:17 +0100 794236 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=780696&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F140942651%2F The August 5th New York Times Magazine asks. (I’d like to ask what’s going on with today’s NY Times, which has four, maybe even five, articles about autism, including the one noted in this post, and also one on nerdcore, one on social networks as an explanation for the increase in autism, one on how a process called Verified might be used to evalute autism research, and (this is a more tangential connection) one on ordering fast food without having to talk. Something in the water—the subway fumes………) A few excerpts from the longer article, What Autistic Girls Are Made Of: There is preliminary evidence that girls and women also vary from the male Asperger’s profile in terms of their interests, as Catherine Lord suggests. David Skuse, a psychiatry... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=780696 Sun, 05 Aug 2007 17:13:43 +0100 780696 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=765783&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F138726505%2F Sunday night and I am: washing grapes for Charlie’s lunchbox—-emailing the students in my summer school course about their presentations on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (they decided that they want to make videos of 3 different scenes with accompanying PowerPoints and I have been given the task of editing the videos)—-folding laundry—-reminding myself to send some photos of Charlie to my dad for his birthday—-trying to figure out what kind of cable I need to transfer the video from a camcorder to my Mac (might this be it?)—-et alia. Crash! Something heavy fell, or was dropped, on the floor above. Jim looks up from his computer, where he is typing final, final edits on the manuscript of his eight-years-in-the-making book on the Irish waterfront. Our e... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=765783 Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:25:29 +0100 765783 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=760512&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F137678311%2F Autism cases due to genetic accidents and, indeed, “freak genetic accidents,” in a Zee News (India Edition) article about the recently published study on spontaneous genetic mutations and autism. Autism compared to a freak accident? Sounds a bit in the category of referring to autism as, for example, a train wreck. To some degree, one might say that we are all “genetic accidents”—-”accident” being from the Latin word accidit, “it happens.” And as I have often stated, I’m very glad Charlie “happened” to me. Share This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=760512 Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:34:57 +0100 760512 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=734517&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F133581703%2F Laurentius Rex aka Larry has tagged me to do the 8 Random Things (Octo Res Quaedam) Meme. The rules (leges ipsae): Let others know who tagged you. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged. My responses (responsa mea): I don’t listen to talk radio. I only learned to swim four years ago, and only because I had to be sure that I could follow Charlie around the swimming pool. I lived in New Haven, Connecticut, for four years. I first heard The Ramones while pulling an all-nighter to get out the weekly alternative newspaper at my college. While in Taipei to study Mandarin, I got lost on the bus and when I asked someone for directions... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=734517 Sat, 14 Jul 2007 06:21:28 +0100 734517 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=713195&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F130237611%2F While I was sitting here in New Jersey (not near Northvale, but just up the hill from the New Jersey State Auto Auction on Sip Avenue off of Route 1 & 9, just past the steel-grid shadows of the Pulaski Skyway, the long horizontal line on this Flash Earth map), my fine friend McEwen was away in her native land on the other side of the Atlantic and I eagerly await many a blogpost about the adventures that did ensue. In the meantime, she has given me an assignment—nay, a “mission”—-”to summarize blogs and news items for the last 20 days!” Such a Herculean task—-”all the news in the autism world for the last 20 days, summarized!”—-I am not sure I can do adequate justice to, but I will try, or rather I will anthologize, anthology ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=713195 Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:03:44 +0100 713195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=707387&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F129422119%2F “What do California condors and autistic children have in common?” is the first sentence of a June 30th article, Autism and 9-11: The Connection by Vin LoPresti. Since the word “chemical detoxification” appears in the next sentence, and Robert Kennedy, Jr., is mentioned in the third sentence, a reader may not be too surprised to see that LoPresti proclaims, with quite colorful imagery, that “In an environment where drugs like Prozac seep into drinking water, and the bodies of all of us bubble with a diversity of toxins, like PCBs and dioxins, who is to say what combination of toxins, thimerosal included, may provoke childhood brain disorders like hyperactivity or autism?” This sentence is a rhetorical question, a favorite in the stylistic arsenal of many... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=707387 Sun, 01 Jul 2007 07:51:55 +0100 707387 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=683294&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F126128390%2F I used to teach writing and composition to first-year college students. I would often ask students to choose a contraversial topic—-abortion, gay marriage—and analyze how a writer, or two different writers, constructed their argument for or against the issue in question. I no longer teach these sorts of composition courses, but if I did I think I would include “vaccines and autism” on the list of “contraversial topics.” Here are some “mock” essay assignments that I would put on a syllabus if I were to teach such a course: (1) Close Reading Essay Choose one day of testimony from the “vaccine court” held in June of 2006 at the U.S. Court of Claims, in which Theresa and Michael Cedillo claimed that their now-12-year-old daughter, Mic... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=683294 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:58:38 +0100 683294 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=659021&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F122088301%2F On this dark and dreary June morning when rain has cancelled the Autism Speaks 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Race and kept Charlie, already excited to go to school after the weekend, awake and chattering from 3 - 7.30am—-on a day of such portentous weather (threatening a basement deluge), the day after Paris Hilton was booked into jail, a sign almost on a par with the comet that is said to have appeared in the sky after the death of Julius Caesar—–one can detect a certain theme, maybe even a meme, working its way through autism circles. Not “who speaks for autism” or even Bob and Suzanne Wright’s public disavowal of their own daughter, Katie Wright, as a “spokesperson for Autism Speaks. Getting the attention today is Big Pharma: A press release by the lea... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=659021 Mon, 04 Jun 2007 16:13:26 +0100 659021 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651196&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F121289784%2F It has been asked: Why, in the face of evidence, do some still believe that autism is mercury poisoning? In a May 18th Science article entitled Childhood Origins of Adult Resistance to Science, Yale University psychology professor Paul Bloom and Yale psychology graduate student Deena Skolnick Weisberg propose that resistance to certain scientific ideas (such neuroscience and evolutionary) originates in childhood “assumptions and biases” that continue on into adulthood. In particular, adults as well as children resist scientific explanations and information when these do not cohere with “common-sense intuitions about the physical and psychological domains”; also, adults as well as children are very much attuned to the “trustworthiness” of the source of th... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651196 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 05:43:22 +0100 651196 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=631646&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F118917876%2F Sunday was graduation at the college where I teach and with grades turned in, I’ve been trying to catch up with various unfinished things—-one being the questions that Mom-NOS sent me over a month ago as part of the Interview Meme. I responded to one question, “where would you choose to live,” here. Another has been on my mind for some time: You use a lot of mythology as metaphor in your writing. Which figure from mythology could we use to gain greater insight into who you are? There is Demeter, goddess of agriculture, whose maiden daughter Persephone is abducted while dancing in a meadow by Hades, and taken down into the Underworld. Demeter—you can read an ancient account in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter—distraught, mourns and all the crops and plants die... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=631646 Wed, 23 May 2007 06:18:40 +0100 631646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=588461&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F113801499%2F “More than 900 scientists, physicians, activists and parents from all around the world are gathering in Seattle this week to collaborate on solving” a certain “mystery”—the “medical mystery” of autism, notes an article in the May 2nd Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the upcoming 6th International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in Seattle (May 3rd-May 5th). Reporter Tom Paulson notes that, while “Most of those attending the conference are likely to be focused on topics such as the findings pointing to some of the genes involved in autism, potential drug targets and better means of diagnosis or treatment,” popular discussion of autism has a different focus: The public dialogue on autism, however, tends to focus largely on speculati... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=588461 Thu, 03 May 2007 06:20:02 +0100 588461 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=580545&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F113277325%2F This post is written in honor of this year’s Blogging Against Disablism Day, the purpose of which is “to write about disability and rail against the discrimination that disabled people continue to face.” I believe very much that how we talk about our children greatly, if unconsciously, influences how we think about them. If we emphasize deficits, impairments, “can’t do that,” “will never do that,” these negatives become the sum of what our child is. In the course of my life with my son Charlie, my language has evolved to speak of his skills and abilities and to note that, while these might be “few” in some areas or “developing” or “not yet,” these are skills and abilities that he will acquire someday. Thus... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=580545 Tue, 01 May 2007 06:57:28 +0100 580545 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=577352&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F112953382%2F “You can get an education at ringside, but you also bring your own education to ringside.” —- Carlo Rotella, Cut Time: An Education at the Fights It is Sunday morning, 7.15am according to my cell phone: I can sleep a little more, I think, and close my eyes. I open them almost two hours later to a familiar sound: My son Charlie is talking. One word he repeats over and over, a smile in his voice: It is the name of one his favorite aides. And then, two more words: “School tomorrow!” He runs in and pulls off his pajamas and makes a request: “Clothes on! Socks, shoes.” I am more than half asleep; Charlie says these words everyday. And yet I am in a state of awe and warm wonder to hear his voice and his voice uttering words. They are mostly nouns; they a... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=577352 Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:26:50 +0100 577352 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=553807&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F110246401%2F Autism Awareness Month is starting to feel rather like Autism Information Month: April 18th saw the IOM Workshop on Autism and the Environment and new legislation in Pennsylvania that would require private insurance companies to cover autism treatments; on April 17th, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey introduced legislation for $350 million for treatment and support for autism in Washington. Autism was on Oprah. Autism was on the CBS Early Edition. There are more and more books and films. There is a musical. (Maybe it’s more like Autism Information Overload Month…….) Going through news articles from every state in the US, from many countries around the world, I ask: What exactly is this “autism” that is being described? That treatment is sought for? That causes a... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=553807 Thu, 19 Apr 2007 05:51:20 +0100 553807 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=542893&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F109023239%2F Tell me this has never happened to you, personally, or you, as the parent of an autistic child: It has been a happy afternoon, it’s a Friday afternoon at the end of a fine week at school and at home. You say to yourself, “We can do something special—a treat,” and all the more so because there is a big change to Charlie’s usual routine today and tomorrow: My husband Jim had to go out of town for a special tribute to a friend who is retiring and he will not be back until very late Saturday night. We have explained this to Charlie simply and straightforwardly; I hear one errant, strained noise from Charlie just as he and his ABA therapist are about to go out for a walk. Charlie’s home coordinator is observing today and she and I talk about how the photo cal... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=542893 Sat, 14 Apr 2007 13:03:56 +0100 542893 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=512632&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F105533323%2F “Have you seen it?” My students kept asking me this a few weeks ago, when the movie 300 came out. “It’s the Spartans, Dr. Chew!” After pointing out to them that, aside from the occasional Netflix rental, the only movies I see in the theater are children’s movies with Charlie (the last one we saw was Charlotte’s Web), I asked them the rather didactic questions that are to be expected of a Classics professor regarding the Hollywoodization of ancient Greek history and specifically of the Spartans against the Persians: Was it filmed in Greece? How was the Spartans’ milataristic culture depicted? “Uh, I think the scenery was mostly computer-animated,” said a student. “It was really violent,” said another. “Rodrigo S... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=512632 Sat, 31 Mar 2007 06:32:23 +0100 512632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=485759&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35046&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kristinachew.com%2Fautism%2F2007%2F02%2Fthe_translator_.html Translations, the play by Irish playwright Brian Friel that Jim and I saw on Tuesday night in Manhattan, takes place in 1833 in rural Ireland and, except for some phrases of Latin and Greek, is all in English. This might... (Source: Autismland) Autismland blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=485759 Sat, 24 Feb 2007 04:56:00 +0100 485759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=485769&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35046&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kristinachew.com%2Fautism%2F2007%2F02%2Fa_passage_from_.html Everything we had planned for this afternoon and evening being cancelled due to the impending winter storm, Charlie and I found ourselves at Target and, in particular, the mega-sized Target store by the town we used to live in. Charlie's... (Source: Autismland) Autismland blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=485769 Wed, 14 Feb 2007 05:04:08 +0100 485769 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=485770&cid=t_104552_133_f&fid=35046&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kristinachew.com%2Fautism%2F2007%2F02%2Fa_plate_of_ketc.html I don't think it will surprise you to know that obsidere, the Latin root word of "obsession," means "besiege"----especially if you have every spent any time hearing your child who has autism say some word, some phrase what seems like... (Source: Autismland) Autismland blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=485770 Tue, 13 Feb 2007 06:21:05 +0100 485770