Other Articles
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Education and advocacy. Education and advocacy and legislation, and how to make these happen in order to make a real and practical impact on the lives of autistic persons and of their families in New Jersey, and how COSAC—–the New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community—might best achieve this: This was [...]
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Until two years ago, Karem Awad, the former chief of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang, was “one of Adelaide’s most feared men—even by police. Today he’s a “churchgoer with a job earning an honest living helping others battle their demons.” The Advertiser reports that Naomi, who is now ten years old and who is autistic, [...]
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Financial struggles plague families of children with autism, according to a study by Deanna Sharpe, associate professor of personal financial planning in the University of Missouri’s College of Human Environmental Sciences and the mother of an autistic son. Science Daily quotes Sharpe, who says
“It is important for us to hear the voices of [...]
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Not just me saying this: No, vaccines aren’t behind the rise in autism is the title of a February 29th Huffington Post piece by Harold Pollack, Associate Professor at the School of Social Service Administration, and faculty chair of the Center for Health Administration Studies at the University of Chicago.
I’ll simply say that the [...]
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Study Objectives:
This study compared actigraphy with videosomnography in preschool-aged children, with special emphasis on the accuracy of detection of nighttime awakenings.
Design:
Fifty-eight participants wore an actigraph for 1 week and were videotaped for 2 nights while wearing the actigraph.
Setting:
Participants were solitary sleepers, studied in their homes.
Participants:
One group (n = 22) was diagnosed with autism, another group (n = 11) had developmental delays without autism, and a third group (n = 25) were typically developing children; age ranged from 28 to 73 mont
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Home to one of the largest intensive intervention and diagnostic centers for autism, Nationwide Children's Hospital has long been recognized as a leader in autism intervention efforts. Now the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Nationwide Children's Hospital is also setting the standard for the care of brothers and sisters of children with autism. (Source: Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today)
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So it seems that Senator John McCain has made his entrance into autism politics: At a town meeting in Texas today, McCain said that “‘there’s strong evidence’” that thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative, is responsible for the rising numbers of autistic children in the US. Writes Jake Tapper on Political Punch on ABC News:
McCain was [...]
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Yesterday I noted two musicals about autism—-here’s two more movies with autistic characters. Today’s New York Times has a round-up of 15 films in the 13th annual Rendez-Vous With French Cinema 2008 series. One is a documentary by Sandrine Bonnaire about her autistic sister, Her Name is Sabine / Elle s?appelle Sabine:
…..throughout her acting career, [...]
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Children with special health care needs—-including autism, ADHD, asthma—are not consistently getting the care recommended by the government, and the care and services they receive varies from state to state. Go here to see state-by-state details of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. From the February 28th Science Daily:
The survey is [...]
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The Data Resource Center, keeper of this data, is a project of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative housed in the Oregon Health & Science University Department of PediatricsA new government survey reveals children with special health care needs, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma, don't consistently get the care that is federally recommended and that there are vast state-to-state differences. (Source: IT / Internet / E-mail News From Medical News Today)
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I was talking to two of my students yesterday about classes for next year, their majors, scholarships and fellowships. Both had looked at websites for scholarships, and read the biographies of the winners, of college students who, while maintaining the highest GPAs, playing varsity sports, and conducting research in molecular biology, create medical [...]
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A new government survey reveals children with special health care needs, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma, don't consistently get the care that is federally recommended and that there are vast state-to-state differences. (Source: News-Medical News Feed)
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Researchers are developing an intervention using "virtual peers" -- technology driven, animated life-size children -- to help develop communication and social skills in children with autism. Preliminary findings suggest children with autism produce more and more "contingent" (conversationally relevant) sentences when interacting with virtual peers than with real-life children. What's more, virtual peers are endlessly patient, never tire and can be programmed to elicit socially-skilled behavior.
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The information that a child has been diagnosed with autism often throws parents into an emotional tailspin. Most people don't immediately consider the major financial struggles that follow. She suggests more outreach is needed to help families plan and cope with the profound financial life changes they may face.
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OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to provide national estimates of psychotropic medication use among Medicaid-enrolled children with autism spectrum disorders and to examine child and health system characteristics associated with psychotropic medication use.
METHODS. This cross-sectional study used Medicaid claims for calendar year 2001 from all 50 states and Washington, DC, to examine 60641 children with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Logistic regression with random effects was used to examine the child, county, and state factors associated with psychotropic medication use.
R
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OBJECTIVE. The goal was to estimate the prevalence of cerebral palsy and cerebral palsy subtypes among children in 3 areas of the United States by using a population-based surveillance system.
METHODS. Using methods developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Surveillance Program, investigators from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network conducted surveillance of cerebral palsy among 8-year-old children living in northern Alabama, metropolitan Atlanta, and southeastern Wisconsin in 2002 (N = 114897). Cross-se
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Northwestern University researchers are developing an intervention using "virtual peers" -- technology driven, animated life-size children -- to help develop communication and social skills in children with autism. Preliminary findings suggest children with autism produce more and more "contingent" (conversationally relevant) sentences when interacting with virtual peers than with real-life children. What's more, virtual peers are endlessly patient, never tire and can be programmed to elicit socially-skilled behavior. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)
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The information that a child has been diagnosed with autism often throws parents into an emotional tailspin. A new study from a University of Missouri researcher says most people don't immediately consider the major financial struggles that follow. She suggests more outreach is needed to help families plan and cope with the profound financial life changes they may face. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)
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Mutations in the human X-linked cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) gene have been shown to cause infantile spasms as well as Rett syndrome-like phenotype. To date, fewer than 20 different mutations have been reported. So far, no clear genotype–phenotype correlation has been established. We screened the entire coding region of CDKL5 in 151 affected girls with a clinically heterogeneous phenotype ranging from encephalopathy with epilepsy to atypical Rett syndrome by denaturing high liquid performance chromatography and direct sequencing, and we identified three novel missense mutations
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(Source: Pediatrics in Review)
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Are people with autism trapped in their own world? Or are the rest of us just trapped in ours?
asks Tara Parker-Pope on the New York Times, regarding the the Wired magazine article on autism featuring Amanda Baggs and Michelle Dawson.
Parker-Pope asks a chicken and egg kind of question about autism: Is it a [...]
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This kind of meaningless bloviation comes from the ideologically-driven disinformation machine so often that it's hardly worth highlighting here, except that this is a particularly egregious example of it.(And those of you who think I'm unfairly picking on the political right need only examine our coverage of the Thimerosal = Autism controversy and Genetically Modified Food issue to realize that the left is just as susceptible to this sort of nonsense, and just as wont to be called out by this publication.)Yesterday both Rush Limbaugh and Fox News reported that last year was so much cooler
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Kothur Kavitha, Ray Munni, Malhi PrahbhjotNeurology India 2008 56(1):74-76 (Source: Neurology India)
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Research on autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) shows that neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback) can remediate anomalies in brain activation, leading to symptom reduction and functional improvement. This evidence raises the hopes for a behavioral, psychophysiological intervention moderating the severity of ASD. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a lack of appropriate eye contact, facial expression, social interaction, communication, and restricted repetitive behavior. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
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Some interesting reviews from Toronto of Autism: The Musical which (EyeWeekly notes) offers a “real life alternative to Rain Man.” And, while I’m on the subject, two more musicals: In Brick Township, NJ, a “rock opera,” Day After Day, that is about “the daily struggles the families of autistic children face”; it’s being [...]
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