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 'family parenting'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:33:36 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4512559&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=39137&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fot_9%2Farchive%2F2011%2F02%2F23%2Fquiet-but-still-here.aspx I think this may officially be the month in which I've posted the fewest entries since taking on the project of this blog. I most humbly apologize for being absent and quiet in the past few weeks. They have been difficult and stressful for me, and very...(read more) (Source: From Inside the Puzzle: Raising a Child with Autism) From Inside the Puzzle: Raising a Child with Autism blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4512559 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:13:00 +0100 4512559 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4139409&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=39137&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.advanceweb.com%2Fblogs%2Fot_9%2Farchive%2F2010%2F11%2F04%2Fsick-days-make-everything-hard.aspx Do you know what's harder than mothering an autistic child while working two jobs, trying to keep up with your writing, and attempting to continue a fitness regimen? Trying to do all of this when you're sick as a dog. As Thomas can attest, I tend to be...(read more) (Source: From Inside the Puzzle: Raising a Child with Autism) From Inside the Puzzle: Raising a Child with Autism blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4139409 Fri, 05 Nov 2010 02:13:00 +0100 4139409 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3061446&cid=t_273261_109_f&fid=35088&url=http%3A%2F%2Fqw88nb88.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F12%2F06%2Fmusic-to-bounce-by%2F My five-month old grandson, AKA Tigger or Mr BoingBoing, has loved to bounce from the get-go.  Even when he was in utero, my daugher remembers how the sonography technician ended up sighing when she visited, because the baby was so mobile that it was hard to get a measurement.  Later on, the mom-to-be said that [...] (Source: Andrea's Buzzing About:) Andrea's Buzzing About: blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3061446 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:14:02 +0100 3061446 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2931191&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FXhLi-GI_Lrg%2F While we were waiting for the bus, I said to Alex, “Say, ‘I like sports and fitness!’ ” “No!” Alex replied, shaking his head for emphasis. Photo courtesy of longhorndave (flickr.com) So much for going in with an enthusiastic beginning. Still, we thought it could be fun for Alex to do a little fitness and sports-type stuff in a supportive atmosphere. (Note: his new school is big on this, and we get occasional e-mails from the unit teacher saying how much he likes the gym routines and the therapy balls.) Unfortunately this event took place right near a playground Alex is very fond of, with a gigantic marble slide. As soon as we got there, Alex started asking to go in the playground and go on the slide, and we spent a fair amount of energy trying to persuad... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2931191 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:31:44 +0100 2931191 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2899136&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fb1fT6y4sBtU%2F In an essay in Sunday’s New York Times, Joe Blair writes about his son with autism, who spends hours flicking a leather belt along a dirt path, watching the sinuous wave he creates, perhaps in an attempt to summon up his own surf. Blair’s writing is honest and beautiful. He took his son to see Amma, the hugging saint. He admits he doesn’t talk to his son much. Perhaps, he says, he “asked” for autism by asking God for a challenge when he was 10. And maybe I too feel like I asked for autism by wanting so desperately, when I was young, not to be the same as everyone else. To live an ordinary life like millions of other people would be, I thought, a kind of death. Photo courtesy of Wonderlane (flickr.com) Living with autism — the kind of autism that makes comm... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2899136 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:03:59 +0100 2899136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2814626&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FbONgd2sPbOg%2F We’ve all but given up having parties for Alex. The last two years we’ve had a party that is all adults, all family to celebrate his birthday. We hold it in Central Park at a playground with an enormous marble slide that Alex loves. Festivities take place inside a little gazebo that we decorate with red-white-and-blue flags and bandanas: his birthday is Flag Day. Photo/D Sharon Pruitt (Pink Sherbet Photography, flickr.com) But this year I’d like to see some more social gatherings for Alex, and I think this video from Rethink Autism is filled with great ideas to teach children how to play social games. Because Alex is 11 and still watches “Barney” when we let him, I’m not concerned that the games they demonstrate are the typical preschool games of Musical... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2814626 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:27:26 +0100 2814626 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2812531&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F5LtwoSrUNNU%2F Something I don’t like talking about is how hard it can be to relate to Alex. It’s not hard being with him: he’s not that demanding. A few years ago, I needed a root canal but didn’t know it. The pain was excruciating. I was with Alex and some other kids who chattered constantly. Photo courtesy of dps (flickr.com) Because the come-and-go pain in my jaw was so slammingly sharp, I finally walked alone with Alex, who murmurs a word or comment now and then but is mostly, blessedly quiet. But he is hard to be with. He’s hard to understand. He’s taken to shouting out strings of sounds that are not quite words. He’s hard to engage. When he was younger I tried to play more things with him, but he was never interested and gradually I stopped. Last night, f... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2812531 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:45:09 +0100 2812531 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2800621&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F-ISYz0aKuH0%2F Fall is conference season, and Autism Conferences of America is holding its second New York City event Oct. 3rd and 4th. The theme is Educating and Healing Children with Autism, and featured speakers include Eustacia Cutler, mother of Temple Grandin. Cutler will speak about raising her extraordinary daughter at the opening talk on Saturday morning. Photo courtesy of Frenkieb (flickr.com) Other sessions will focus on special needs trusts, yoga for children with autism, evaluating communication skills in children with autistic spectrum disorders and biomedical treatments. Other speakers include David Kirby, author of “Evidence of Harm,” and Kim Stagliano, from the website Age of Autism, so there’s likely an anti-vaccine, pro-biomedical slant to the conference. Still, info o... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2800621 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:58:24 +0100 2800621 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2778631&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FG1dPtSIOYMo%2F We caught the last day of Ringling’s Boom-a-Ring performance at Coney Island yesterday, capped with a few hours of Coney Island entertainment. Alex is able to sit through live performances these days, so a couple of times a year we go to a circus, where he enjoys high-wire acrobatics and the spectacle of bodies literally flying through the air. He seems to enjoy more of the performance each time he goes. Yesterday he seemed to really pay attention to the superlative juggling (more things flying through the air, I guess) as well as the first appearance of the elephant, parading grandly around the ring. Photo/Jill Cornfield While we were waiting to get in, we saw a number of kids and people on the spectrum. It seems like the circus is a great place to go for people who can take the dar... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2778631 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:55:42 +0100 2778631 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2682086&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FF8odmfSvgKM%2F The latest Autism Spectrum Quarterly deals with growing into adulthood with autism. One of the cover stories is by Cecilia McCarton and Mary Jane Weiss of The McCarton Foundation, “Meeting the Needs of Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder,” in which they state that most parents of younger children on the spectrum recognize that “their children have access to far better services than any previous group of individuals with autism.” Image: Musclebomb.com It’s all anecdotal, but I agree. Here in New York the legend of Willowbrook still runs deep through the oldest — and often most active — of parents of autistic individuals. The agency that has always rolled up its sleeves highest to provide Alex with services was started years ago by parents fed up wi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2682086 Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:40:31 +0100 2682086 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2660881&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FK5AC17dzGdw%2F Jill: You type and I’ll speak. Jeff: Yes, dear. Jill: I know we said we were going to talk about bath and bedtime, but we have no plans for Saturday. Photo courtesy of Eddie~S (flickr.com) Jeff: Yes, dear. I do want to say that many many times when it’s the witching hour, when we have to get Alex into the bath or get his teeth brushed, that I ask you to do something to help and you’re reading the Times at the dining room table. But, since you’re doing that right now and paying no attention to what I’m typing, what do you want to say about Saturday plans? Jill: Farmers’ market? Jeff: What about grocery shopping and maybe the Aquarium? Why do we need a Saturday plan? Jill: Ned’s not here, we have no Saturday rec program for Alex, and we have nothing... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2660881 Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:17:09 +0100 2660881 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2657853&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FlRrBTfkb4dQ%2F Jeff: Tonight we thought we’d do a more direct version of the two versions of life with an autistic child: me typing and then Jill typing. What do you want to talk about, Jill? photo courtesy of dalehugo (flickr.com) Jill: How handsome I think you are? How I think you yell too much? Jeff: I like the first one, but I’m sure you’ll want to discuss the second. Jill: You’re right, dear. As usual. Jeff: All right. Tonight I yelled at Alex because he was up too late and chattering, and he knew he was disrupting the movie we had every right to watch after all the “Elmo” and “Sesame Street” we’ve let him watch without our sitting on the couch rocking our body and giggling. What do you think? Jill: I agree… sort of. Definitely we have th... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2657853 Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:54:37 +0100 2657853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2649214&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FwG3g2xGBFNM%2F This morning Jill and I had a spat that centered around control. Amid Alex’s dawning sexual awareness and continuing inscrutable behaviors, and our own beginnings of the health concerns common to our ages, Jill and I wage a battle to keep control. Or rather the illusion of control, since nobody has control, really. Image: Chinatradeonline.com But some people have at least more of an illusion of it, and a condition like autism does a lot to erode that illusion. Often even we, his parents and the people — aside from maybe Ned — who know him best, must ask ourselves: Why does he bolt? Why won’t he eat vegetables, even delicious buttered ones? Why does he line up his big metal letters across the middle of the living room floor, and arrange his toy plastic animals right... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2649214 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:46:15 +0100 2649214 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2637964&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FADT1jzkduZI%2F How will Alex react to the next weeks, which will be the longest time in all our lives that Ned, Alex’s only sibling, will be away from home. Ned’s going to a farm camp some three hours from here, right in what they call in my home state “the willywacks” because that’s the sound the branch makes when it snaps back on the deep forest trail and hits you on the cheek. I never did sleepaway camp but Jill did, and she’s estimating with fair accuracy, I think, the stages Ned will pass through: three days of rapture at the parent-free life, one or two days of crumbling feelings, three days of homesickness, then rapture again until he gets off the bus wanting to immediately return to sleepaway camp for the rest of the summer. Image: geekologie.com I’m gue... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2637964 Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:36:51 +0100 2637964 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2615454&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FLx5OpawiQoE%2F It’s hard to remember but Jeff and I did have quite a few fights before Alex came along. And we’ve had a few fights concerning Ned (”You yelled too loud at him!” “He has to learn not to do that!”). But it does seem that most of our arguments stem from autism. Photo courtesy of Elsie esq. (flickr.com) The other night, Alex was wilder than usual. Running around, screaming and laughing, chattering. After about 20 minutes I went to him to see if I could get him to calm down. I brought a scented candle, but just as I was about to bring it closer to his nose, I noticed a gap between teeth on the lower left side. He’s lost a tooth! I thought. A permanent tooth! Deep despair and misery followed instantly. I called to Jeff to come over right away, and he di... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2615454 Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:43:17 +0100 2615454 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2606171&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FrQYYVUfvF5g%2F Researchers at the University of Washington Autism Center set out to determine the answer to the question, is raising a child with autism especially stressful for parents (compared with raising a child with another developmental disability). Their answer? Yes. (Come to think of it, why didn’t they just ask me? The reader comments below the story are worth reading. They seem like a roundup of common feelings and fears.) Photo courtesy of freeparking (flickr.com) Tara Parker-Pope ran a Q&A with Annette Estes, the center’s associate director, to discuss the findings. No bolts of lightening here, at least for me.  What was interesting was their inability to track down the source of the stress. Estes said it was not the extra work itself of parenting a child with autism —... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2606171 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:47:38 +0100 2606171 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2591646&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FlK3iGS3FWoI%2F Image: jarcaj, Panoramio Today’s responses from the forums are to the question: “What trait of your autistic child would you most like to see more in yourself or in others?” “His genuine smile,” said one respondent. “His innocence,” said another. “Laugh, just because it feels good,” replied a third. “Spend the whole day playing, with no other cares in the world.  View people as strangers only as long as it takes to greet them with a hug, then they are instantly my friends.  Take everyone at face value, no assumption/concept of hidden agendas or ulterior motives. Courage to take people by the hand and show them what I want or need to be happy.” Another parent admired “his amazing ability to tell it like it is. I find ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2591646 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:44:26 +0100 2591646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2561498&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FBRO0JTYP7eg%2F Image world-war-2-airplane-model.com The 1/48th Corsair fighter plane was going to be my comeback piece, the plastic model kit (”hobby kit,” now that I’m almost 50 and can afford the good kids) to prove that my eyes were as sharp and my hands as steady as when I was 16 and building the bargain kits. I put it right up on top of the bookshelf, out of the way, with the now-empty boxes of the snap-together airplanes I did with the boys. “Airplane? Airplane?” Alex kept saying. I had some computer work in the afternoon while Ned built a model on his own, and as I’m making dinner now that pretty took us to about 7:30, when the dishes were put away and I decided that Alex was owed some airplane time. He didn’t help so much as watch: I felt a warmth to thin... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2561498 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:33:03 +0100 2561498 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2512506&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FJZ0ShW0GG44%2F An informal survey conducted this morning in our dining room revealed that nine out of 10 arguments between me and Jill begin over autism. Alex had been squatting on the floor last evening, flipping through a big hardcover about knitting. Fine, except he hadn’t picked up when asked (with him it generally takes about three requests, which to be fair is probably about what you’d have to fire at most kids), and I had tripped over this hardcover one too many times. So I tried to cram it back onto the bookshelf just as Jill grabbed her keys and we got ready to head out. Except there was another book jammed on top of the other books on the shelf, and I had to take it out to get the big knitting hardcover to fit. Image: paloaltosoftware, flickr.com “Jeff, what are you doing?&#82... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2512506 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:31:26 +0100 2512506 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2512509&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FgE_pXcUd9uM%2F Alex brought home the T shirt the other day, the shirt that his school issues every June. He goes to a special-needs fifth grade — “will have gone to a special-needs fifth grade” by a week from now — that sits in a school of typically developing kids.  All the graduates get their names on the back of the T shirt. Two of the names from Alex’s class this June, and one of the names is his. Image: msg.mercyhurst.edu I don’t know how to feel about these graduations, which this year even came with a school photo of him in a cap and gown. Nothing amiss with that, of course, except that the background of the photo was shelves and shelves of what appear to be law texts. By sixth grade, I’m afraid we have to admit the truth about law texts in Alex’s ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2512509 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:32:59 +0100 2512509 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473915&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FMmsknmq-HvE%2F Photo by Me-Liss-A (flickr.com) Replies continue to come in on the question posted on another forum, “If you could say one thing to your relatives about your autistic child, what would it be?” “Have empathy,” said one respondent. “”He’s still family. Don’t forget he exists,” said another. And still another: “Open your eyes!” “Do not be afraid,” one reply said. “Do not feel sorry for us or our child. He is the greatest gift/blessing we could ever have in our lives. We are happy we were chosen to care for this person.” “My wonderful Aspie is now 16 years old, and we have overcome so many hurdles,” one respondent said. “If I could turn back to yesterday, these are some of the things tha... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473915 Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:25:50 +0100 2473915 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2469830&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FWdcFvSITtkI%2F “A cat had a birthday, and all the cats came…” — From the video “Dance Party” from “Sesame Street” June already? Alex’s birthday looms. Number 11th. The other day, I watched Jill and Alex walk away hand in hand in the park and he’s almost up to her neck. Amazing, considering he started at about the size of a G.I. Joe. Image: Spudballo, flickr.com We hold his birthday in Central Park, in a playground with a cozy gazebo (”cozy” meaning one point of access, and only one point to protect from Alex bolting). We decorate it, relatives come, maybe even a few friends from school this year. Amazing. Amazing too that I’m stumped for a gift this year. Last year the boys and I were building plastic kits, so I got him a three... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2469830 Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:57:12 +0100 2469830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2458391&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fz74cUUdRp2Y%2F “Alex, get dressed!” Thank God he can do this himself now. “Pants, socks, shoes, a T shirt!” I call in the morning, and he vanishes into his room. A moment or two later he re-emerges in khakis, a T, with a mismatched pair of striped socks and his brown slip-ons in his hand. A moment after that, and another nit-picky task of parenting has been taken off my hands. Parenting — and I think parenting of the typically developing as well as parenting of the autistic — was always to me a matter of being plunged into more work than I could ever envision, and step by step, day by day, being relieved of the jobs one by one. Toilet training was one (and boy did we get lucky on that one, largely due to Jill’s efforts).  Tooth brushing has been another example... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2458391 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:14:44 +0100 2458391 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2448007&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FOmozEFLyU4Q%2F Here’s my list of Alex’s top favorite things, based on my experiences with him during our walks around New York. Running Away (”bolting”): Usually on the streets of Manhattan, and not as bad it sounds since I’ve taught him to stop at intersections and hold up his hand for me to take it before we cross the street. Gave me a heart attack until I got him used to obeying the call of “Alex, street! Hand!” He still likes to run as much as a half-block ahead of me and Ned when we go for a walk. I did find one way to check him on these jaunts is to call, “Alex, wait for Ned!” And he does, often coming back to give Ned a hug. Image: Rob511, Flickr.com Doorways: Alex has made more doormen smile than Britney Spears, usually by darting toward the o... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2448007 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:11:25 +0100 2448007 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2442375&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FoxY8t92GOLY%2F It’s 5 or so in the morning right now, and Alex has gotten me up with the sound of soft clattering in the living room. He’s digging through a box of plastic animals. Sometimes he wants to set them all up in rows, but often he just wants to dump them out on the floor to know they’re there. It works out good for me, too, as nothing wakes you up like driving the snout of a hard plastic big into the bottom of your foot at 5 in the morning. Three lions ranging in length from two inches to six; an elephant and a turtle about the same size; three pigs, including one that oinks and whose eyes flash bright blue when you press the button on his belly; an inch-eye chicken; a two-inch-tall tabby cat; two cows; and the five-inch plastic Charlie Brown (probably what I’d play wit... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2442375 Thu, 28 May 2009 14:40:10 +0100 2442375 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2382704&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F9A5x2KkaIDI%2F As I said before, I never yell at Alex. But I do find myself raising my voice slightly when he does something I really dislike. One thing I find myself saying is, Stop making that sound! Sweetie! PLEASE! STOP NOW! Usually the kind of sound he’s making is an echo of something he’s heard over and over from a video. Radio Tower Behind the Ward Four Cop House (Washington, DC), courtesy takomabibelot (flickr.com) There’s an episode of Arthur (that 4th- or 5th-grade anteater on PBS) where Arthur starts a pet business. (”I’m the kind of boy who should have a dog.” Then Arthur imagines his baby sister stuck in a tree, wailing, and his dog coming to the rescue. “Oh, Arthur, I don’t know what we would have done without you!” exclaims his mother.)... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2382704 Fri, 01 May 2009 21:57:01 +0100 2382704 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2381019&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F-E1KJaUbkck%2F “Only human,” Jill says?  What a rot! This is a toughie, one of those that tiptoes between depicting the pressures of a special-needs family and depicting the kind of deep bickering that all couples/parents experience. “He’s only human?” Who in hell is she kidding? She despises me when I yell at the kids, pure and simple. Jill wants to kick me out of the house when I yell at the kids. The only reason she doesn’t is because it would leave her alone with Alex and Ned. Photo courtesy Piez (flickr.com) Jill’s family has this thing about yelling. They don’t yell at each other nearly enough, in my opinion. Or, maybe they’ve worked it out just right and their feelings simmer no more than do the feelings in families where everybody yells a lo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2381019 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:24:31 +0100 2381019 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376578&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FhgoEn0iQM-4%2F No, no, no, NO, NO! That’s Jeff, his ascending negative scale filling our house with misery. He’s yelling at Alex - of course I never yell at Alex. OK, I do. Sometimes. But when I do, I try not to repeat a word like NO over and over again. photo courtesy fotogail (flickr.com) The bathroom seems to be a big topic these days. There’s the occasional stream that doesn’t make it into the bowl, of course, but a few times recently there’s been a certain overuse of toilet paper. It’s ironic that too  much toilet paper can actually cause a toilet clog, but there you have it. (If you search Google - clogged toilet paper special needs, the second hit turns up a yahoo q&a from someone whose cousin did this very thing.) I’m sitting in the dining room when ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376578 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:39:56 +0100 2376578 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2365340&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FNtpQlAFUJNY%2F Next week Jeff and I are planning to catch a few movies at the Sprout Film Festival, an annual showing of movies portraying people with developmental disabilities. “People with developmental disabilities as subjects and performers remain marginalized in film and television,” the organizers believe. “This festival aims to raise their profile by showcasing works related to this population.” Last year I gave a talk about portrayals of people with developmental disabilities in mainstream Hollywood movies (”Rain Man,” “Pumpkin,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” “I am Sam” — I have a very long list) and how they mostly don’t get it. One movie I haven’t seen but which I think is smart and sensitive  is... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2365340 Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:34:31 +0100 2365340 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348483&cid=t_273261_109_f&fid=35088&url=http%3A%2F%2Fqw88nb88.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F20%2Fadd-ing-new-perspectives%2F My daughter is sailing rather gracefully through her pregnancy — well, as gracefully as one can when they have reached the “beached whale” stage that is the third trimester. And yet, as with many pregnant women, she is experiencing some “third trimester brain rot”, that intermittent or semi-chronic reduction in frontal-lobe functioning.  Meaning: forgetting important things you [...] (Source: Andrea's Buzzing About:) Andrea's Buzzing About: blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348483 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:53:11 +0100 2348483 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2349375&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FPx5XUjYytgc%2F We used to hate the school breaks. When Alex was in preschool (which was itself pretty great, once he stopped crying all day, since we didn’t have to run around nonstop after a toddler with endless amounts of energy and sparse communication ability) the breaks were rough. Suddenly there was no morning bus to ferry him off to a fun-filled day of activities we didn’t have to plan. While it was nice not setting the alarm for 6:30, those “vacations” translated into five shapeless, chaotic days. photo/spisharam Jeff used to say, “We’re not TRAINED to be special ed teachers!” and while no parent receives special training, there is a certain truth to his feeling. It takes special skill,and  extra amounts of patience and understanding to have a really goo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2349375 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:31:11 +0100 2349375 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2349380&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FxVh3a5A_sv0%2F Discussions are half the fun of LinkedIn groups, and when things are slow I like to pose a question. So I posted: “What’s the best and worst thing for educators when it comes to dealing with parents of kids with special needs?” Image: usgarchives.net I got two responses, both insightful. “The Best?” replied one group member, “Concerned parents who are honest with themselves about their child’s needs. They are generally better informed, and maintain a healthy collaboration with educators and related service providers. The Worst: An aggressive, uninformed parent who comes to school once a year to make unreasonable demands for academic results. They rarely even check their child’s bookbag for teacher communication. Parents who work two jobs, gro... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2349380 Sun, 12 Apr 2009 14:06:11 +0100 2349380 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2296858&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FbDvjlh_DeLs%2F All my life I’ve thought of cabling as impossible. Slip stitches onto a cable needle? And twist them or something so they seem to magically work themselves into a raised, entwined weave? That’s for magicians. Or brilliant knitters. Or people who are just so talented they can intuit this stuff the way the rest of us intuit swallowing. I never even bothered reading directions for cabling (what’s the use?) or letting anyone try to teach me (why waste time on something I won’t be able to learn?). Then one day (last Wednesday) I thought, I can do this. I have a big book of knitting, crochet and embroidery directions from the laundry room book exchange, and I decided to look at the cable directions. They seemed clear enough. I don’t have an actual cable needle but I h... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2296858 Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:28:11 +0100 2296858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2296866&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FQ2l5QrDjfX4%2F Along with reading goes writing. I started with a hand-over-hand method with Alex months ago, helping him fill lines of wide-ruled paper with words of things he loved: Mommy, Daddy, Ned, Toast (our cat, who he doesn’t love strictly speaking), grandpa, Aunt Julie, Uncle Rob, Elmo. Actually, we usually put “Elmo” first. I held his hand as lightly as possible in mine during these exercises, guiding him only when needed through the letters. I hoped eventually to work my way down to his wrist, then to his elbow, then to let go entirely. The job was filled with unexpected delights: Once when a cold was going around the house, I tried to get him to write “cough.” We got as far as the C and the O when Alex asked, “Cold?” The problem came when I tried to remove my hand. Alex was once... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2296866 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:37:38 +0100 2296866 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2296874&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fwybx1v7SMEM%2F Before anyone else wades in on how “negative” my introduction was, as I described superficially some of the stuff we go through in having an autistic son, consider: We took Alex to a wedding; he called up Satan. We took Alex to a family 50th anniversary party; the couple got divorced. We let Alex turn the light switches on and off repeatedly in our apartment; overuse of the switches eventually causes a fire and almost $1.5 million in damages. We got distracted having to cook a second dinner for Alex because he wouldn’t eat what we were having; resulting fire causes an additional $730,000 worth of damages. We took Alex for a walk; his behavior distracts nearby drivers and 10 cars pile up. We took Alex to the circus; SWAT teams have to shoot the elephant. We took Alex to a family Thank... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2296874 Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:15:27 +0100 2296874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2276211&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FddwGybinyEI%2F We get Alex up for school at 6:15. I do this four days a week, and Jill sleeps in a bit before she has to rise to get Ned ready for school. So I’m alone with Alex. I have stuff to do for my day, plus make sure he gets dressed and brushes his teeth and gets his stuff together. (First I have to make sure he stays awake, as he’s often up in the middle of the night, and 0615 comes early.) One thing I like to do is empty the clean dishwasher so Jill doesn’t have to do it. So I’m just about done with the previous night’s dinner plates and the spoons when I notice that I haven’t heard anything from Alex for a few moments. “Alex?” Nothing. “ALEX?!” Nothing. I hear water running from the bathroom. I go in. There is Alex. The toilet is overflowing. There’s almost an inch of wa... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2276211 Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:41:31 +0100 2276211 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2276213&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FgFzFL-QA-zo%2F We had a moment of amazing family happiness the other night. My younger son, Ned, has been a somewhat reluctant reader. I’m not sure why, because every time he actually sits down to read he has a pretty good time. Recently I invented something called “Family Reading Half-Hour” (Ned’s been told since first grade he’s supposed to read for 20 minutes a day, which he has always found burdensome. So I decided we’d do it with him. It’s no hardship for me and Jeff to sit on our butts and read. In fact, it’s a lot more pleasant than cleaning up after dinner or changing the cat box.) The three of us started it while Alex was in the bath (I guess because we didn’t think he’d want to do Family Reading) but on Sunday night he joined us. The living room was silent. All screens – T... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2276213 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:36:23 +0100 2276213 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2267623&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FTKTgV4I-_aE%2F Sometimes I’ve envied Jill her time at home, away from an office, much as I haven’t liked the job (see “insurance policy”) I had to take 11 years ago. To me she had much of the free time in the marriage, and I conveniently forgot what my mother used to tell me before Alex was born (“When you have a baby you’ll probably want to go to work!” – was that an insult? – just as I conveniently forgot much of what it must have been like for Jill at home alone while I was in some hotel on a business trip. (In the past six months I have, of course, learned to be out-and-out thankful for having any job.) Once the boys were old enough, I wanted Jill to return to work for, in equal parts, her own career advancement after Alex’s birth and hospitalization (a job in itself for Jill), an... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2267623 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:04:03 +0100 2267623 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2067673&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FIkDzNqZru7g%2F I read about plans for a new preschool for autistic children (in Brownsville, Texas, which—one upon a long while ago—-I briefly visited). An occupational therapist is hoping to start the school, which sounds as if it’ll have some emphasis on sensory sensitivities. I read about a new book on understanding autism written by a written by a 13-year-old whose best friend has a younger autistic brother. I think back ten years ago, to the winter of 1998. That December was the first time I didn’t make it home for Christmas in California since I went to college back east in 1986. Charlie had had a number of ear infections and colds and the like throughout September of 1998 and, with his latest raging infection, the pediatrician told us we couldn’t take him on an airpla... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2067673 Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:50:01 +0100 2067673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2056134&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FVlMp_Gb2gTo%2F Soon as December started, my students started asking me what we were getting Charlie for Christmas. I fumbled with an answer—what do you get for the child who doesn’t ask for anything?—and they seemed quite incredulous that he’d no desire for any electronic devices or a football jersey with X player’s last name emblazoned on it. I’ve been used to telling people that things are different with Charlie but, on further reflection, the thought occurred to me: Charlie, at 11 1/2, is getting closer and closer in age to my college-students. Certainly there’s more than a few similarities between him and the tall guys with really big sneakers or Timberlands with legs too long to fit in the desks and always fishing around in a beyond dog-eared notebook for th... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2056134 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:47:58 +0100 2056134 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2035853&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FK2fLwbKGN0w%2F My son Charlie is, as I’ve noted here, 11 1/2 years old. He’s been attending middle school since September and it hasn’t been easy, and we’ve started to get the feeling that it’s not going to get easier. Charlie is in a self-contained classroom, located in a large middle school in our school district. There are three other boys—all older than him by a year or two, and all shorter than him—a teacher, and four aides in the room. He starts the day with Adapted Physical Education (APE) around 8.30am) and has speech therapy briefly with a speech therapist most days of the week. An occupational therapist sets up programs on specific skills, like writing and washing his face, that he works on throughout the day. He has a really good teacher and behavior c... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2035853 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:03:48 +0100 2035853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2033260&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FZsTTvmqgD64%2F In her Domestic Disturbances column today, Judith Warner writes about “emotional enmeshment,” which she defines as “the boundary collapsing” that, she thinks, is the “signature characteristic of motherhood (and parenthood) in our time.” Warner scrutinizes her relationship with her two daughters, aged 11 and 8. While she notes that she’s sought to establish boundaries between herself and them: I despised the cliché “you can only be as happy as your least happy child.” What drivel this was, I thought. What self-indulgence. Wasn’t it a parent’s responsibility to remain whole in the face of a child’s unhappiness, the better to buoy him or her through difficult times? As the years passed, I refused to be a good Suzuki mother and sit in on my ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2033260 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:00:15 +0100 2033260 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2027197&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2Fn1WgatgCdvs%2F I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. I write fairly frequently here about Charlie growing up. Of course, he’s not the only one around here getting older: It’s my birthday today, and I’m 40. Fout-ohmygod, as one my mom-blog-friend puts it. Like the narrator in T.S. Eliot’s poem, I grow old, I do grow old, and I actually do roll the bottoms of my trousers (ok, pants), because I’m too lazy to get out a needle and thread and hem them. My mother did teach me to hem, years ago, and it really is years ago, due to this birthday thing. She taught us the basics; I think my first “creation” was a pocket made of fabric from the scraps of the Halloween costumes and jumpers and curtains and pillows she used to mak... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2027197 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:08:38 +0100 2027197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1918055&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F1U4pHPbHlVo%2F Do we really need a “crusade against autism”?  Autism Speaks co-founder Bob Wright, grandfather of an autistic child, spoke of just such a “crusade” in the inaugural Annual TreeHouse Lecture. Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick (who’s the parent of an autistic child) writes about how such a “crusade” does more harm than good in the October 29th Spiked. Here’s his conclusion: Many families affected by autism welcome the higher public profile of autism, as reflected in the US election campaign. If this leads to greater resources to enable children with autism to get appropriate schooling and for affected families to get the support that they need, then that will be progress. If, however, resources are diverted into the pursuit of phantom environmental cau... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1918055 Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:32:35 +0100 1918055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1853660&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FxYeZdo4D8RU%2F Yesterday I asked on the ScienceBlogs Book Club about how we can frame vaccines to combat what seems to be widespread public ignorance, or at least uncertainty, about what causes autism and what autism is. So how about this for a message for what autism is? Yes, that’s my son Charlie off on a bike ride. Jim was standing behind me as I took the photo: Jim’s quite able to pedal really fast and catch up to Charlie (who’s able to pedal really really fast himself). We’re not trying to push our luck with Charlie riding his bike in the street but one thing has becoming more and more apparent: Riding the bike has taught Charlie about stop signs and stopping at them, about cars and stopping for them, about looking both ways before you dive into an intersection, about traffi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1853660 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:30:16 +0100 1853660 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1847988&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FpUrn5X2I4Jo%2F (HR3690) will provide retired military families with autistic children the same health care benefits as active duty services members, today’s Mount Vernon Gazette reports. Some 8,784 retiree families stand to benefit, according to Department of Defense statistics. The legislation was introduced by Virginia Congressman James P. Moran (D-8) and Florida Congressman Jeff Miller (R). Currently, active duty service members who have an autistic child receive benefits through TRICARE, which provides $2,500 a month (a max of $30,000 per year) for Applied Behavioral Analysis; these dependents end when an active duty military person retires. Congressman Miller’s description of autism suggests that a lot more understanding about autism needs to occur: “This bipartisan bill to extend... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1847988 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:00:44 +0100 1847988 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1833266&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F9mgvvLlXQ0k%2F Just extremely really tired. A phrase like this has often come to mind about Charlie in the past few weeks and it’s been used on and off by Charlie’s teacher in her emails home. Thursday he was groggy all day. When he comes home from school he walks straight to the refrigerator, eats a plentiful snack, and then just curls up on his couch chair with some fleece blankets and all but falls asleep. He’s been accommodating himself really well to having to get up much earlier to get on the bus by 7.30am and sometimes earlier. I’ve been trying to get him to go to bed earlier, but 9.30 is pretty much the earliest that Charlie seems able to go to sleep (and maybe I’ve still some very strong memories of when Charlie used to fall asleep at midnight regularly—-9.30 ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1833266 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:18:46 +0100 1833266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1779310&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FtXBijDT507A%2F We’ve been through a lot of challenges with Charlie over the past several years but the one thing we’ve never had to argue about is his diagnosis. While the St. Paul Public School District initially wrote down “communication disorder” as Charlie’s diagnosis on his first Individual Family Services Plan (IFSP; we were living in Minnesota at the time), it was soon evident that Charlie had autism, and that’s been his diagnosis ever since. I think it’s been Charlie’s limited language—-when he was two, the only thing he said was “dah”—that especially stood out (he also had some “challenging behaviors”—some bouts of hitting himself on the head). But once we got the report saying that he had autism, there&#82... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1779310 Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:17:06 +0100 1779310 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1770623&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F_yPKt4LO14w%2F It’s late late Friday night (/early early Monday morning) as I’m writing this and feeling. I think we made it through another summer. Monday will be Charlie’s first day back to school, after an extra-long summer vacation: Due to school construction in our school district, summer vacation started extra early and is ending extra late. “That’s his world,” someone at work said to me when I noted how chaotically Wednesday started in our house. Looking back, I’ve realized that Charlie may have woken up early because he sensed that, Labor Day having passed, it was time for him to be back in the classroom—-and then he realized that he wasn’t going and panicked. Now there’s only a weekend to get through. Charlie is starting middle school. ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1770623 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:53:46 +0100 1770623 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1730718&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2FoF0kedvJ_vs%2F Has lugging loads of (soaking wet) laundry led to your developing the muscles in your arms (though not as much as this Olympian mom)? Imagine if you had an iBasket, a combination laundry basket/washing machine, rendering the lugging-laundry-basket step unnecessary—-now, how about automating the next step, hoisting the cleaned but still wet items into the dryer……… Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, clothes, disabilities blog, disability, Family, family blog, Health, housework, ibasket, invention, laundry, melanie roach, olympics, Parenting, pdd-nos, Technology, washing machineShare This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1730718 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:17:04 +0100 1730718 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1726414&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F6MPo5NYM0VE%2F Should physical and recreational activity be part of an “overall treatment theme” for autistic children? Dr. Joachim Hallmayer asks this in a San Jose Mercury News article about “Autism Nights” at Pump It Up, an “inflatable private party franchise.” Unscientifically, I would have to say, oh yes. We always make sure Charlie gets some sort of exercise—walking, swimming, biking—every day. One reason we try to vacation at the beach because it’s a vacation with a very heavy dose of (very fun) physical activity, ocean swimming, walking and running on the sand, and surfing. (Just my “mommy instinct” at work here.) Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, disability, exercise disabilities blog, Family, family blog, Health, inflatab... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1726414 Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:20:18 +0100 1726414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1709268&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F0-S1Mrt1w2M%2F A pilot daycare program for special needs children is being launched at the Kalamazoo Autism Center, under Professor Richard Malott, a psychology professor at Western Michigan University, the August 15th MLive reports. It will offer daycare services from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, as well as supplemental behavioral-based instruction will be offered to children from age 18 months to 12 years; tutors and tutor supervisors will be Malott’s WMU students. Standard full-day tuition for day care will be $189 per week for infants and $157 per week for older students, and half-day care is also available. All I can say is: I think I’ve been needing such a center for the past, oh, 8 or (to tell the truth) 11 years. Charlie was in a daycare when he was 16 months old an... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1709268 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:27:38 +0100 1709268 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1649086&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F344302335%2F July 22nd is a date that stands out to me. It’s the birthday of someone very special, and it’s the day, nine years ago, that we received Charlie’s formal diagnosis of autism. Slate has a recent Explainer column on how do you diagnose autism (prompted in part by Michael Savage’s claim that autism is widely overdiagnosed). Now Jim and I are convinced that Charlie could have been, and would have been, diagnosed in his first year and this had nothing to do with him being aloof or withdrawn or not wanting to be held or not “bonding.” Charlie was always affectionate, loved to be held, laughed and grinned big when trying to show my parents that he could hold the crib rail and not fall. But he did seem to be able to keep himself amused with a stack of board book... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1649086 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:15:47 +0100 1649086 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1637831&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F339737095%2F The report from Charlie’s teacher about me being away: Tough ride on the bus after Jim put him on and then crying, described with the adjective “plaintive.” They worked on having him say “I’m sad.” In the afternoon, it took awhile for him to settle to do speech therapy though he’d been looking forward to seeing his speech therapist since last week when she had to cancel at the last minute. (Unbeknownst to her, she’d been exposed to an illness a child had at the school she was working at and she didn’t know until someone told her; she is okay.) He and Jim biked to Charlie’s favorite hamburger stand. No, said Charlie. They went to McDonald’s. Another no. They went home and got into the car which must, like Frosty’s hat, ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1637831 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:10:41 +0100 1637831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1582050&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F327451278%2F Daycare. And, afterschool care. The very idea of these have long seemed a luxury to me. There’s basically five people on this planet who’ve provided these for Charlie: My parents, our speech therapist who we’ve known since she was in college, Jim, and me. As my parents live in California (they’re retired and can visit a couple of times a year, for extended periods), and the speech therapist has a full-time job, does Early Intervention, and much else, basically our daycare/afterschool care team has consisted of a total of two people: Jim and me. This is not for lack of trying to have Charlie in such programs. In fact, it was because Charlie was in daycare (an on-site facility at the St. Paul university I was then teaching at) that his developmental delays were noted ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1582050 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:01:07 +0100 1582050 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1463859&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F296050694%2F The bouncy castle. How often have we beheld one rising in its multicolored puffy glory, tethered to the tramped-on grass with cords and a machine with a fan running loud and hot to keep the bounce in the castle? Charlie would stare wide-eyed and he’d walk over quickly, his hand in Jim’s. This being a couple of years ago, he was still learning the concept of “waiting” and walked right to the front of the line—-at the entrance of the castle—-and would not budge. (So we had some explaining to do.) When it was finally his turn, Charlie was ecstatic for maybe a minute after he climbed into the castle, and then lines of puzzlement crept into his face: Charlie would inevitably lose his balance quickly and end up on his knees, and the workers would call out to h... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1463859 Thu, 22 May 2008 19:40:44 +0100 1463859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1426522&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F285385689%2F Last fall, I wrote about our difficulties getting swimtime in for Charlie at our YMCA pool in the later afternoon/early evenings, the time when he’s most ready to go. Our YMCA has three pools, two of which seem to be perpetually in use for the swim teams’ practices, adult lap swimming, or lessons. The third pool is the “family pool” and consists of a wading pool with a slide and spouting water toys, a 3-4 feet deep rectangular pool, and two water slides. This is a fine set-up if you want to splash around, shoot baskets into the hoop at one end of the pool, wade, or do a few brief partial laps and Charlie’s always been glad to do this. Charlie is a very capable swimmer—in particular in the ocean—and there’s not too much swimming anyone can d... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1426522 Wed, 07 May 2008 14:00:50 +0100 1426522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1329102&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F258446953%2F Eat your breakfast and (if you’re an adolescent) you’re less likely to become overweight, according to a recent study in Pediatrics (March 2008) of adolescents from Minneapolis-St. Paul public schools (here’s a write-up in the New York Times, too.) Charlie definitely eats, and definitely needs, his breakfast—but he’s never ready to eat it before getting on the bus. He just does not seem inclined to eat on first waking up (well, I’m not either, though I need my coffee). I used to struggle to get him to eat something, and found myself picking up lots of waffle pieces and bits of cereal from the floor of my kitchen or car. Just over a year ago, Charlie’s then-teacher—noting that he had started to ask for lunch around 10 o’clock and ate rav... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1329102 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:30:32 +0100 1329102 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1289310&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F248276491%2F There’s one thing that determines when I sleep: When Charlie goes to bed. (So, in his pre-melatonin days, when he fell asleep at midnight at the earliest, “bedtime” for me took on all the aura of some kind of promised land.) According to a new study in the Journal of Labor Economics, the schedule for TV shows, rather than natural circadian rhythms, determine the times when most Americans sleep: In their forthcoming article for the Journal of Labor Economics, “Cues for Timing and Coordination: Latitude, Letterman, and Longitude,” authors Daniel S. Hamermesh, Caitlin Knowles Myers, and Mark L. Pocock look at the brief fight between American’s natural timing cues — the circadian rhythms determined by the sun — and the man-made cues brought on wi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1289310 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:50:03 +0100 1289310 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1274895&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F244975205%2F Embracing Autism: Connecting and Communicating with Children in the Autism Spectrum is a new book edited by Robert Parish, whose autistic son Jack is now a teenager. Parish has also made a number of DVDs about autism including Come Back Jack and ASD 101; he is one of many parents of autistic children whom I have met over the Internet. (And while he now lives in Ohio, I was pleased to find out that Parish is originally from New Jersey, where we now live.) Contributors to Embracing Autism are a diverse group, with differing views about autism; they include autistic adults, parents of autistic children, and professionals, including Stephen Shore, co-author of Understanding Autism for Dummies and a frequent speaker about being on the autism spectrum; writer Cammie McGovern, one of the founders... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1274895 Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:30:09 +0100 1274895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1187181&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F225757247%2F Researchers are “confident” that it will become “routine to diagnose autism for children just 18 months old and sometimes even younger” after a five-year study to be conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, the University of California-Davis and the University of Washington. A total of 108 children between the ages of 12-24 months who have “symptoms of autism” will be enrolled in the study, the University of Michigan notes. The researchers in the study include Catherine Lord, University of Michigan professor of psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics, and director of the U-M Autism and Communication Disorders Center, and UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute researcher Sally J. Rogers and University of Washington Autism Center researchers: Lord is c... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1187181 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:22:57 +0100 1187181 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1179701&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F223533512%2F Are you a “therapy mom”? What, perhaps you ask, is a “therapy mom”? Martha R. Herbert, M.D., Ph.D., of the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, uses the phrase to describe mothers of autistic children in an article on WebMD (CBS News) about why psychoanalysis should be part of the treatment for autistic children. I rather doubt that my own son, who can talk a little but not well enough to explain his emotions or fears or to tell me what he did at school today, would be a good candidate for this sort of treatment. New York city psychoanalyst Susan P. Sherkow, MD, says that psychoanalysis can help parents understand the “‘meaning of what these children are trying to convey’”: Psychoanalysts see autistic children four tim... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1179701 Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:23:48 +0100 1179701 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1174943&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F222376306%2F A Real Boy: How Autism Shattered Our Lives - and Made a Family from the Pieces is the title of a new book by Christopher Stevens and his wife, Nicola, about their 11-year-old son, David. In an interview on Keep the Doctor Away, Christopher Stevens talks about finding out that David was autistic, what surprised him and his wife most about autism (the “sheer prevalence of it”), David’s awareness of the world (”David’s completely aware of everything… he just interprets the world differently”), some “negative experiences” with those who do not understand autism, and “the biggest misconception about autism.” I have to quote one of those negative experiences as it’s quite negative and in contrast to the Stevens’ loving... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1174943 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:26:38 +0100 1174943 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=852559&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F153992551%2F Well of course, we all know that, you think……while people cannot agree on what causes autism, autism is not something a child “catches” like the common cold. You don’t “get” autism through contact with an autistic person: We know this. But sometimes one feels a bit otherwise, as Lisa Dowler writes today in Newsday. Dowler’s 10-year-old son, Jeffrey, is autistic and “plays baseball, loves to go bowling, and is a happy child.” Dowler describes a recent attempt to set up a play date for her son with another boy who “seemed to be very kind to my son and always acknowledged him, even around his peers.” A phone call to the other boy’s mother gives Dowler the sense that she ought not to have tried: I gathered up my cou... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=852559 Sat, 08 Sep 2007 22:16:16 +0100 852559 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=771648&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F139395210%2F New advances in studying the eye tracking patterns of infants may lead to a new way–yet another new way?—to diagnose autism and language delays in young children, according to the July 31st New York Times. The Times reports on research from the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute: Researchers found that babies who look at their mothers’ mouths “have stronger language abilities” by the time they are three. Also noted is research by Professor Ami Klin director of the autism program of the Yale Child Study Center; he and Warren Jones have published an online paper in Developmental Science about a 15-month-old autistic girl whose “viewing patterns showed her to be driven by the physical attributes of what she was seeing rather than the social context.” Tiny vi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=771648 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:52:43 +0100 771648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=769003&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F139075016%2F “I just love it when they’re at this point when they understand everything you say but they haven’t learned all the words themselves yet,” said a mother at the pool today to me. She was talking about her younger daughter, who was not quite two, with curls and highly attentive to all around her. Charlie was humming while splashing and kicking his way round the pool. I thought about how long it has been, and very likely will be, that he will understand so much more—everything, even—than he has words to respond with. The other mother’s elder daughter, aged 5, was having a swimming lesson. I had mentioned a few minutes before that my son has autism; I had also noted, in the course of chatting, that I had grown up with only an older sister and that, whi... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=769003 Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:29:44 +0100 769003 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=765014&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F138643781%2F In February of 2006, 17-year-old Tim Whattler hung himself from a doorknob in his room in a psychatric unit Beech Court in Bridgwater, in England, just six hours after he had been admitted. Whattler had Asperger’s syndrome and had a history of difficulty with both educational and psychiatric placements; he had attempted suicide before and had several self-inflicted cuts on his arms. The coroner, Michael Rose, ruled that staff were not guilty of neglect but needed more training in Asperger’s Syndrome, as reported by the May 10 BBC News. The July 30th Telegraph chronicles Whattler’s life. He was ten years old, his parents, Dean and Elizabeth Whattler note, when “his life started to go badly wrong.” The Whattlers behave with extraordinary control, but there is no... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=765014 Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:34:27 +0100 765014 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=763047&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F138037241%2F Craegmoor Healthcare reports on a new study commissioned by The National Autistic Society (NAS) according to which it was found that watching the Thomas the Tank Train television show had a positive effect on autistic children. Moreover, as many as 99 percent of the children surveyed said that Thomas & Friends characters were their favorite toy (Bob the Builder came in second) (who might be third?). The bright colors and simple story lines were particularly noted: An improved concept of colours was learnt by 48 per cent of autistics while 49 per cent has a better grasp of numbers due to Thomas & Friends. Some 34 per cent also improved their language skills due to the programme. Over half of parents said that clear facial expressions and simple story lines had been very important ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=763047 Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:13:43 +0100 763047 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=752881&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F136717462%2F , if there’s no autism epidemic? Read this from USA Today. Kathy Marshack, a psychologist in Vancouver, Washington, has Asperger’s and says that her late mother and her adopted daughter also have it. William Loughman of Berkeley, California, is a retired director of a hospital cytogenetics lab and has six grandchild. Three years ago—at the age of 71—-he found out that he has Asperger’s syndrome. Those adults with autism are right here, working and living among us. Share This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=752881 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:42:09 +0100 752881 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=747195&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F135796304%2F Ritalin use in young children may cause long-term changes in the still-developing brain, a study of very young rats has found. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City found that rats who received Ritalin (methylphenidate), a stimulant, had changes in their brain “‘areas strongly linked to higher executive functioning, addiction and appetite, social relationships and stress. These alterations gradually disappeared over time once the rats no longer received the drug,’” according to Dr. Teresa Milner, professor of neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College and the main author of the study. Today’s Science Daily notes that “[b]etween 2 to18 percent of American children are thought to be affected by ADHD, and Ritalin, a stimulant si... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=747195 Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:41 +0100 747195 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=719430&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F131454496%2F Educational assistants in the Stamford, Connecticut, school district are bargaining for a new three-year contract. As reported in today’s Stamford Advocate, more than pay and benefits are at stake: Under dispute is whether or not the district—which decided to cut ten positions—-has enough assistants. We’re just not going to have the bodies,’ said Cathy Coppola, the union’s president. [The aides belong to the the Educational Assistants of Stamford Association.] District officials dispute that, saying the posts were vacant because students served by the assistants have left the district or don’t need help anymore. And, after a $5 million cut to the proposed school board budget, the district has no funds to hire more assistants, officials said. &#8216... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=719430 Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:00:48 +0100 719430 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=716639&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F130743158%2F “Being healthy” was one response to yesterday’s query about “the important thing……” we hope for. In a July 4th post in Aetiology entitled What is “health”, Tara C. Smith recalls this definition from a mural on a wall at the University of Michigan School of Public Health: Health is more than the absence of disease: it is a state of complete physical and mental well-being. Professor Smith also notes, with a reference to the Fourth of July, “a similar sentiment in the public health corridor here in Iowa,” namely that “Health isn’t simply the default state when one is disease-free; it’s also being emotionally well, and of having rights and liberties in a free society.” When I consider of all this in rega... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=716639 Thu, 05 Jul 2007 12:07:46 +0100 716639 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=714044&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F130486017%2F “The important thing, experts say, is early, intense and individualized intervention” notes an article today in the Traverse City Record-Eagle about the P.L.A.Y. Project, which provides in-home and center-based services for autistic children, and about the Autism Resource Network of Northwest Michigan. It’s a statement that would be hard to disagree with, and I have said it many times before—-nonetheless, as my son Charlie has gotten older, my thoughts have evolved. The important thing is early acceptance, lifelong education individualized to a child’s learning, communicative, and sensory needs, and……… What is “the important thing” to you? Share This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=714044 Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:04:58 +0100 714044 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=692678&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F127426717%2F Northvale is a town in New Jersey’s highly populated Bergen County; Northvale is just over the border from New York state (see map). Northvale is where the PIE/Valley program for autistic children has been located at St. Anthony’s school; children with “varying degrees of autism” have been educated at the school for thirty years. Last week, on June 19th, Northvale’s environmental engineer made recommendations for environmental testing to be done at the school; 14 out of 39 children born since 1997 to teachers at St. Anthony’s have “disabilities ranging from autism to muscular degeneration,” the June 21st Bergen Record reports. As noted in the June 20th Bergen Record about 100 special education students attend the school, which is administered... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=692678 Sun, 24 Jun 2007 05:02:54 +0100 692678 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=688940&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F126911966%2F We may have (according to some) plenty of pollution here in New Jersey; as of Thursday evening, we also have a package of five autism bills on detection, teacher training, and the needs of autistic adults that have been approved by both the state Senate and Assembly and are headed to the desk of Goveror Joe Corzine. (Though I hope these bills will ultimately be for and in the best interests of autistic persons, rather than being seen as “anti-autism measures.”) Politics NJ refers to the five bills as a “landmark autism awareness package.” The Star-Ledger’s blog states that the package of bills was approved “in the wake of a national study that found New Jersey had the highest rate of autism in the nation” (a reference to the CDC’s study on au... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=688940 Fri, 22 Jun 2007 04:48:18 +0100 688940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=688641&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F126817264%2F A 6-year-old boy in the UK is the youngest person to be treated for anorexia. MetroDad at Babble writes: According to an article from the UK’s Evening Standard, a study released today reveals that a six-year-old is the youngest boy to be treated for anorexia. The NHS study shows that in 2003, UK hospitals made 93 admissions of boys under 10 with eating problems, compared with 21 admissions of girls. While most of the girls were treated for eating disorders that were similar to those encountered by their older counterparts, the young boys were more likely to be suffering from selective eating, where they will only eat a very narrow range of foods. From the time he was two years old, six-year-old Nicholas Pilcher ate nothing but cheese spread (Daieylea) for four years. While “suc... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=688641 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:04:16 +0100 688641 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=687735&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F126726724%2F Back in February when the CDC announced its statistics for the prevalence rate for autism being 1 in 94 in New Jersey, I immediately thought that people would make connections between the rate being the highest in the nation and environmental pollution in Jersey. So, I wrote Autism Is An Epidemic, New Jersey Is Toxic, and Other Urban Myths. And, more recently, Autism in NJ: Is it the environment or the education?. I am noting these earlier posts upon reading Autism in Room 5 by David Kirby today in the Huffington Post. Kirby writes: “(This is, after all, Northern New Jersey, the brunt of every poisonous pollution joke you can think of).” I am writing from my office in Jersey City, which is just across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan in northern New Jersey. I am not a n... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=687735 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:32:28 +0100 687735 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=683292&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F126267862%2F “Autism victims.” “Adult victims of autisms.” To me, this is puzzling wording; the phrases come from an article published in our local paper, the Star Ledger, over the weekend. Both phrases are used in the context of a public hearing about the New Jersey state budget; a father of 9-year-old autistic twins is mentioned as speaking on behalf of a “$350,000 appropriation to fund programs for adult victims of autism.” Victims—not. My son Charlie is an autistic person, boy, student, child. I am glad that my state is concerned about the needs of autistic adults but calling them “victims” suggests a deep misunderstanding about what autism is—another autism stereotype (like this one); enough already. Share This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=683292 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:36:46 +0100 683292 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=676207&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F124983514%2F I’ve been nominated for two Bloggers Choice Awards, for best health blog and for best parenting blog—–thanks to Hsien Hsien Lei of Eye on DNA for nominating me and for Taylor for enjoining me to tell you about it! In truth, all awards go to one other person, a certain boy I know named Charlie Fisher. Charlie’s IEP meeting was today and this was the opening line I delivered: “This has been Charlie’s best-ever year in school and we want to be sure to keep it that way.” Back in April 2005 when a trusted friend and autism therapist told us “You’ve got to get him out of there” regarding one of Charlie’s former classrooms, and when a few days later the glass on the front door got broken with his forehead; back a year ago when,... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=676207 Fri, 15 Jun 2007 04:36:17 +0100 676207 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=676209&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F124875346%2F Charlie can focus on a single object, or set of objects—like one of those 48 piece jigsaw puzzles—for a long, long time. When he is a big space, whether wide and open or crampt and full of things (as the New York subway last weekend), I’ve noted that his eyes flit all over the place, as if he is trying to settle on something as an anchor in so much stimuli. A study published in the journal Nature suggests that jumpy eye movements can help people process detail much more details in what they see even more efficiently. From a June 14th Science Daily article: About 50 years ago scientists discovered the small, jittery eye movements keep the retinal image in constant motion and, if that retinal motion ceases, vision fades. But researchers have since debated whether those move... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=676209 Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:30:22 +0100 676209 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=659020&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Fkaspar.feis.herts.ac.uk%2Fvideo%2FKaspar.mpg KASPAR is—-not the friendly ghost; not a mysterious boy found in 19th century Germany with a mysterious story (who is sometimes described in the context of feral children)—but a child-sized humanoid robot developed by the Adaptive Systems Research Group at the University of Hertfordshire. (KASPAR stands for “Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robotics.”) As noted in the weblog of the American Association for Technology in Psychiatry, KASPAR is being developed as part of the European Robot Cup Project with the intent to “build an open-source robot platform for cognitive development research. The Adaptive Systems Research Group is investigating the use of gestures, expressions, synchronisation and imitation.” The plan is also to use KASPAR ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=659020 Mon, 04 Jun 2007 22:15:52 +0100 659020 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=655544&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F121902301%2F I’m not a NASCAR fan and so have not had much to say about this weekend’s Autism Speaks 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race which has been postponed due to rain. When I think about autism and race cars, my thoughts turn to the 50 or so Hot Wheels many relatives and friends bought for Charlie and that I put into the special collector’s case my parents bought Charlie. Charlie played with maybe two of the cars (this was when he was 4 - 6 years old) usually by lining them up bumper to bumper and looking at them while I tried to simulate race, crashes, etc.. When it comes to cars, Charlie’s preferences has always been for The Real Thing—-the green or black cars in the driveway that can take him somewhere. I look back on those days with hindsight and think, there’s mor... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=655544 Sun, 03 Jun 2007 23:13:32 +0100 655544 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651192&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F121614170%2F Go here to see the cartoons (6 in all) and very special thanks to Leila for telling me about them and for translating the dialogue! The cartoons are aimed at children and the characters are all children. The cartoonist, Mauricio de Souza, is very well-known in Brazil. As Leila emailed me: “Monica is a strong, smart, bossy girl, and Cebolinha (who has a speech impediment — [he] trades r for l) is always teasing her because of her big teeth, calls her “chubby” and hides her stuffed bunny.” Monica stands up for André and (as you can see) prevails. Filme 1 MONICA - Hi, I want you to know André, my new friend. He’s autistic. Autistics don’t make eye contact.(giving the bunny to him): Here you go. CEBOLINHA - Let me see. Oh. MONICA - They don’t... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651192 Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:16:56 +0100 651192 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651197&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F121198820%2F Sometime in March, something clicked and Charlie, after years of hand-over-hand prompting and getting nowhere efforts, learned to use the computer mouse. While I acknowledge that, even in this 21st century day and age, life goes on without the computer (these two gentlemen’s companies to the contrary), Charlie’s recently acquired ability to point ‘n’ click has made it possible to consider more and new ways to help him learn to read, comminicate (via typing, one hopes), and much more. Two years ago, we purchased a touchscreen and Charlie had some very occasional successful moments of pointing and dragging (it was particularly difficult for him to figure out the right amount of pressure with which to press on the screen). He has now been beating the clock while doing ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651197 Thu, 31 May 2007 21:30:10 +0100 651197 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651199&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F121038300%2F My fellow b5media blogger Laura at CFS Squared has a series of posts about brain fog. In Brain Fog Episode 1.6 she describes a brain fog story of Erik Eggerston (who blogs at Common Sense PR). His brain fog is brought on by ADD; something like brain fog could be said (I think) to occur in my son Charlie from the moment when some verbal instruction (”Where’s the word ‘dog’?”) and his responding. Writes Laura: Here is what Eric had to say, when asked if he suffers from brain fog: My ADD kicks in some days, and I do things like head down to the basement, but once I get there I can’t remember what I was supposed to do. So I go back upstairs, remember what it was, and head back downstairs again. Can you spot a recurring theme? As I stand in the basement the seco... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651199 Thu, 31 May 2007 10:17:12 +0100 651199 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651201&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F120873070%2F How children move around in space—their “spatial behavior”—changes based on who they are with (in particular, their parents), where they are, and what they are doing: This conclusion from research conducted jointly by different departments at University College London might seem a bit more than obvious at first. For some parents of autistic children, though, this finding from a project called “Children’s Activities, Perception and Behaviour in the Local Environment” (CAPABLE) may be of particular interest: My son Charlie responds in varying ways to the spaces he is in. He smiles when I say we are going to somewhere like Target but, once inside such “big box” stores—also Toys ‘R’ Us or Best Buy (not his favorite, and visite... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651201 Wed, 30 May 2007 19:55:15 +0100 651201 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=645213&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F120524385%2F “Autism-induced ‘excited delirium syndrome’ ” is what the Riverside County sheriff’s deputies say 21-year-old Raymond Lee Mitchell died from. Mitchell died on July 19, 2006, in a hospital following a struggle with deputies at the Perris house where he lived. His mother, Wanda Mitchell, had called 911 “saying she needed authorities to pick up her son.” Mitchell is reported to have said “‘No police. I’m ok‘”; he died in his own bedroom. As reported in the May 28th SF Gate.com, Mitchell’s mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the sheriff’s deputies; the sheriff’s officials claim that “autism-induced ‘excited delirium syndrome’” can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. His mo... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=645213 Tue, 29 May 2007 15:00:48 +0100 645213 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=638265&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F119391439%2F The Interactive Autism Network Community (IAN) was launched on April 2nd by the Kennedy Krieger Institute and is the first national autism registry. Its intent is to help families of autistic children to: - Understand the research process - Keep up with the latest research findings, news, and events - Understand the value of participating in autism research - Influence the direction of research The IAN issued its first IAN research report on May 21st. Information has been collected from some 14,000 individuals, among whom are autistic children (aged 18 and under; autistic persons aged 18 and older will be able to participate after 2008). Over 3000 mothers participated and 500 fathers and 1030 different treatments for autism were noted (speech therapy and OT were at the top of the list, and... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=638265 Thu, 24 May 2007 20:14:42 +0100 638265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=629300&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F118604133%2F The New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Services Committee approved a package of three autism bills today. Back in early March, a package of nine autism bills was voted on by the State Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee ; seven of the bills were voted on and passed on March 15th. As reported in the May 21st NJPols.com, the three bills that passed are: S-2559, sponsored by Senators Loretta Weinberg and Ellen Karcher, which would establish the New Jersey Adults with Autism Task Force in the Department of Human Services. S-2568, also sponsored by Senators Weinberg and Karcher, which would require the Early Intervention Program in the Department of Health and Senior Services to address the specific needs of children with autism and their families, as well as to beg... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=629300 Tue, 22 May 2007 03:53:29 +0100 629300 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=620235&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F117488211%2F As Charlie has gotten older, and as I have gotten to know more and more parents of older children and of adults, one topic that has come up a lot is bullying: A child who is “different,” “geeky,” “quirky,” who does not know what to do in social situations and forget about being with the “in” crowd……our kids are ready targets and too often are unsure about how to respond, or who to turn to for help, especially in situations like lunch time in the cafeteria (where do you sit if no one will sit with you?). My own son is never without a teacher or aide when he is at school (and with us or a therapist when at home) and, in view of his severe speech disability—-both understanding what is said to him and being able to respond clear... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=620235 Thu, 17 May 2007 17:00:47 +0100 620235 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=590265&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F114174945%2F The 7 year old that this happened to does not have autism but so many other details of this story echo things that happened to Charlie. From the May 4th New York Times: MANCHESTER, Mo. (AP) — A music teacher who twice ordered a seven-year-old pupil to hit himself in the head with drum mallets will not return to the Parkway School District next year. The incident happened on February Ninth in teacher Paul Provencio’s music class at Carman Trails Elementary School in suburban St. Louis. State officials say the 36-year-old teacher intended the head-banging as a lesson to Justin Barricklow about hitting the drums too hard. Head-banging as a lesson? This story especially troubled me because suburban St. Louis is where Charlie was born and I have had St Louis on my mind because Char... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=590265 Fri, 04 May 2007 16:14:34 +0100 590265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=588460&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F113917666%2F Says Mark Stuhmer, a parent of an autistic child, about a program at the Community Coaching Center in Hillcrest (CA) to teach autistic children social skills in the community: “These kids are right here, right now. They need the help and this is the piece that is allowing them to meet in the middle of the bridge, if you will, with the rest of the world at large.” About a trip to the Corvette Diner, program founder Tina Waters notes that “This is one of the most challenging times in a restaurant with kids with autism, it’s the time between ordering and getting the food…….My coaches right now are working on talking about things that might interest the kids so they can actually build on their own conversation.” One young man shared his secret for wait... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=588460 Thu, 03 May 2007 16:40:54 +0100 588460 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=580548&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F113093236%2F One more day to go for Autism Awareness Month 2007 which has seen more than its share of stories on autism—let us hope that, once the “official” month for autism is past, we will still be hearing regularly about autism in the news. One hopes. An article in the Kent County News today notes that as the incidence in autism grows, so have calls for educational initiatives nationwide. The Stamford Advocate (CT) reports on a family who has moved from California to the New York metro area in the search for the best for their autistic child; they are part of of the autism migration. Still out on the West Coast, 5-year old Elliot James Sylvester lives in California and expresses himself through art (greeting cards with his paintings—I’ve been curious about his choices... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=580548 Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:51:26 +0100 580548 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=575571&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F112593670%2F I’m an advocate for education, first and foremost. I always have been, long before my son Charlie was diagnosed with autism, long before he was born. While the subjects of the classes I teach are the languages of Latin and classical Greek, and of the ancient culture of the Greeks and Romans, at the core of my teaching efforts is to teach students to think, to use their minds, to figure things out, to draw on what they have learned to learn more. However “severe” or “high” or “low” functioning a child is, she or he needs to be taught and—though the process can be slow, and progress measure in small gains (a child can zip up his own sweatshirt; a child knows how to find the front and back of a t-shirt)—learning can and does happen. Howeve... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=575571 Sat, 28 Apr 2007 05:56:13 +0100 575571 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=570273&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F111948004%2F Due to the attention being paid to the environment and autism, it is not surprising to read about a study linking PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, to autism. The study is to be published this week in his week’s online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; its senior author is neuroscientist Michael M. Merzenich of UCSF’s W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience. Under study were not humans but newborn rats. It is abnormalities in the brain’s response to sounds in particular that connects this study to autism (that is to say, the rats in the study are said to have an “autism-like condition”—they are not autistic rat pups): The scientists compared the auditory cortex and nerve signals of unexposed rat pups to pups exposed to one ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=570273 Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:55:06 +0100 570273 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=570275&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F111884602%2F Autism conference to look at link to mercury poisoning, mirror neurons, genetics reads a headline announcing next week’s 6th International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in Seattle (May 3rd-May5th). While mercury, and mercury poisoning, are often mentioned in connection with autism in the media, many, many other topics in autism research will be considered: Here is the full full schedule of abstracts. In particular, I highlighted research on prosody, language, and autism in China in an earlier post. I’d like to be in Seattle to learn about all this—-next week is the last day of classes at my college (and my students were slumping in their seats today with what one referred to as “spring drowsiness”). If you are attending, I’d much like to learn what... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=570275 Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:56:40 +0100 570275 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=559966&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F110912768%2F There has been a lot of discussion here about what happened at VTech. If you are the parent of an autistic child, what have you not said, or not said, about this to your child? Another autism mother writes about Is There an Easy Way to Explain V-Tech to a Child on the Spectrum?, while an autism father writes about finding joy in troubling times. I have not spoken directly to Charlie about what happened last Monday but—given his ability to pick up non-verbal cues and on emotions—I would wager that he knows a lot is going on. And I hope Charlie knows that it is thanks to him, I always find joy, in troubling and in the best of times. (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=559966 Sat, 21 Apr 2007 21:10:27 +0100 559966 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=541841&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F108849370%2F Many people note that the only time they have ever heard of autism—-prior to their child’s being diagnosed with it—-is in an Intro to Psychology class. Autism, they learn, is a psychological disorder—-and then they hear about their child having a developmental disorder (i.e., autism). Adding to the confusion are more and more references to autism as a neurological–neurodevelopmental—neurobiological disorder. A parent finds herself reading research in a number of scientific disciplines including psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and much more, in addition to articles about education. A parent finds herself seeking appointments for her child with a developmental pediatrician, a pediatric neurologist, a neuropsychologist, a psychologist, a child psychiatr... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=541841 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:25:20 +0100 541841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=528517&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F107342888%2F This post is, as the title indicates, not so much about how to teach something as how to choose the methodology—the type of therapy—-with which to teach. Applied Behavior Analysis of ABA—–and “what kind” of ABA—-verbal behavior (VB) or a more highly structured program? Relationship Development Intervention (RDI)? Or the Floortime therapy (also referred to as DIR for “Developmental, Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based”)? How do you choose? How do you know what will work? An April 6th article on “honing autism treatments” considers some autism professionals’ suggestions for determining if a therapy will be effective. A study of 91 autistic children, most boys of preschool or elementary-school age, by researchers fr... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=528517 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 16:41:35 +0100 528517 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=509404&cid=t_273261_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F105144113%2F The News Hour with Jim Lehrer has a tear jerker about how DNA testing is reuniting adopted children with their families. They feature Angela Fillingim, who was adopted from El Salvador in 1980’s when civil war raging. While Angela was not one of the children who was kidnapped and sold for adoption, she was given up for adoption because her mother feared for her safety. As part of the Pro Busqueda association, families are giving blood samples to aid in DNA matching of missing children and parents. Approximately 800 samples are currently stored and almost 70 families have been reunited using DNA. Other countries where DNA has been used to reunite families include North and South Korea (including Olympic skier Toby Dawson), Vietnam, Rwanda, Chile and Argentina. Some siblings adopted f... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=509404 Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:51:45 +0100 509404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=501837&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F104474619%2F Words do wound, as Beverly Beckham writes in the March 25th Boston Globe. Globe, whose 3 year old granddaughter Lucy has Down Syndrome, calls on the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation to change its name, “and soon”: The word “retard” has “gone mainstream,” Beckham notes: It’s on TV. In movies. On the radio. In books. In music. It was the title of a Black Eyed Peas hit song, “Let’s Get Retarded,” which was changed (because the ARC of the United States, formerly known as the Association for Retarded Citizens, wrote and objected?) to “Let’s Get It Started.” But it played to sell-out crowds as “Let’s Get Retarded” because retarded is a popular West Coast term that, according to Songfacts... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=501837 Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:57:37 +0100 501837 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=497829&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F103952174%2F Inheritance was the topic for my class today on Roman law, politics and society—not that wills, legacies, trusts, and the notion of the factio testamenti are the most appealing subjects to 18 to 22 year olds on one of the first days of spring. Throughout the chapter in our textbook, I kept reading this proviso regarding “capacity” for making and witnessing a will, and being an heir: Labeo, Posthumous Works, Epitomized by Javolenus, book 1: In the case of someone who is making his will, at the time when he makes the will, soundness of mind [integritas mentis] is required. (D.28.1.2) By those lacking “soundness of mind,” the Roman jurist Labeo is referring to insanity which is, I cannot underline enough, something entirely different from autism. Nonetheless, ... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=497829 Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:27:42 +0100 497829 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=493982&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F103851368%2F Brandon Williams was 5 years old and autistic. He died on Wednesday night, March 21st; his mother, Diane L. Marsh, had given him 12 Tylenol PMs. When medics tried to revive him, they noticed signs of abuse on his wrists, ankles, and feet. As reported in today’s Arizona Star, Marsh told detectives that she gave him 4 or 5 sleeping twice a day, tied him up “to control him,” and beat him. Peter Earhart, the president of the Autism Society of America’s Pima County chapter, said he understands that raising an autistic child can at times be frustrating. His autistic daughter sometimes presented him with challenges, he said. But never, he said, could he understand how someone could drug or bind a child. I’m not sure if I would wish to understand. (Source: Autism Vox... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=493982 Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:19:21 +0100 493982 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=487725&cid=t_273261_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F103231650%2F Autism as represented in “Autism: It’s Not Just in the Head,” an April 2007 Discover Magazine article by Jill Neimark is a strictly biomedical disorder: The condition, traditionally seen as genetic and originating in the brain, is starting to be viewed in a broader and verydifferent light, as a possible immune and neuroinflammatory disorder. As a result, autism is beginning to look like a condition that can, in some and perhaps many cases, be successfully treated. The treatments mentioned in the course of the article include chelation, supplements such as trimethylglycine, “unconventional nutritional therapies” and “drugs to fight viruses and quell inflammation.” Aside from some brief references to speech and occupational therapy, barely any mentio... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=487725 Wed, 21 Mar 2007 05:21:04 +0100 487725