Autism Information

Monday, September 29, 2008

Autism Conference At Florida Tech, Oct. 3-4, 2008

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of children diagnosed with autism is rising, creating concern and greater interest in the disorder. Addressing this need for information, the Florida Institute of Technology School of Psychology will host the second annual Autism Conference, "The Many Faces of Autism," on Oct. 3 and a series of workshops on Oct. 4. The conference will present comprehensive, evidence-based information and feature noted autism experts speaking on a variety of related topics. Educators, providers and families will find support in developing effective educational and therapeutic programs for all individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

The conference starts Friday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 a.m. in the Gleason Performing Arts Center on the Florida Tech campus. Featured speakers include Brian Iwata, Juli Liske and Robert and Lynn Koegel.

Iwata focuses on the functional or experimental analysis of severe behavior disorders. He is former editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and former president of the Association for Behavioral Analysis, the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and Division 33 of the American Psychological Association.

Liske is author of the book "The Eye of the Hurricane: Finding Peace within the Storm of Autism". She is mother to an eight-year-old son diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two. She works full-time as a family consultant.

Robert Koegel focuses his career in autism on language intervention, family support and school integration and has published more than 200 articles related to autism treatment. Lynn is the clinical director of autism services in the University of California, Santa Barbara, Autism Research Center. Recently, she appeared on the ABC network's hit show "Supernanny," working with a child with autism.

Conference registration fees are $50 for parent or student preregistration and $125 for a professional to preregister; the fees are $75 for a parent or student registering on-site and $150 for a professional who registers on-site.

Saturday Workshops

On Saturday, Oct. 4, workshops will meet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Skurla Hall (College of Aeronautics) auditorium on campus. The cost is $125, full day; $100, half day.

Workshops will include "An Overview of Pivotal Response Treatment" by the Koegels and "Regulation of Behavior Analysis as a Profession and Ethical Considerations" by Jose Martinez-Diaz, program chair, Florida Tech Applied Behavior Analysis Program. Patrick McGreevy will conduct two half-day workshops on "Running an ABA-Verbal Behavior Home Program on a Tight Budget" and "Problems Often Encountered in an ABA-Verbal Behavior Program."

For the past 25 years McGreevy has consulted with school districts, residential programs and private schools in North America and Western Europe. He is an assistant professor at Florida Tech's Orlando Extended Studies site, author of Teaching and Learning in Plain English and founder of the Journal of Precision Teaching.

Presentations this day include "An Overview of Pivotal Response Treatment" by the Koegels and "Regulation of Behavior Analysis as a Profession and Ethical Considerations" by Jose Martinez-Diaz, program chair, Florida Tech Applied Behavior Analysis Program.


  • Article adapted by Autism Information from original press release.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Program Launched to Educate Teachers About Importance of Early Intervention

A groundbreaking educational tool kit called, Talking to Parents About Autism, designed to promote early intervention and encourage educators to speak to a child's parents if they suspect a developmental delay. This is the first program to provide teachers with tools to prepare to begin this critical dialogue.

This kit includes a training DVD with information and advice about how educators can best broach the topic of a potential developmental delay. Also included in the tool kit is an Early Childhood Milestone Map, which can be printed and distributed to parents so that they can more easily track their child's progress against the typical, age-specific developmental milestones.

Research has shown that early detection and intervention can make a significant difference in the life of a child with autism. In fact, with appropriate early intervention services, from ages 3-5, between 20% and 50% of children diagnosed with autism will be able to attend mainstream kindergarten. Educators, who interact with and observe children on a daily basis, are in the ideal position to know if a child's development seems delayed.

"It is critical that teachers feel comfortable approaching parents and speaking frankly about any concerns they have about their young students," said Alison Singer, Executive Vice President of Autism Speaks. "This important new tool will facilitate those conversations and ensure that kids who may have a developmental delay get the services they need as early as possible."

This is a first of it's kind venture and it looks very promising. If this works, we may see the early or fast recovery of autistic kids.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Brain Overgrowth In One-year-olds Linked To Development Of Autism

According to a new research, brain overgrowth in the latter part of an infant's first year may contribute to the onset of autistic characteristics. These findings support concurrent research which has found brain overgrowth in autistic children as young as two years old.


Lead researcher Joseph Piven, M.D., Director of the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and an ACNP member, says that behavioral studies of infants at high risk for autism suggest that the onset of most behavioral symptoms which define the disorder, such as problems with and social interaction, also occur at about age one. "One reason these findings are important is because early post-natal onset raises the possibility that there may be a window for early treatment and prevention that could be identified by future studies," Piven says.

In normal brain development, neuronal connections are eliminated through a process called "pruning." This process refines normal brain connections and increases the efficiency of remaining connections in the brain. Piven says one possibility is that there is less pruning in children with autism and therefore, their brains become larger than in children without autism.

The researchers are not yet sure though and are still going to put more time into the study.


Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Mental Disorders in Parents may be Linked to Autism in Children

According to a recent study, parents of children with autism were roughly twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, than parents of other children.

"We are trying to determine whether autism is more common among families with other psychiatric disorders. Establishing an association between autism and other psychiatric disorders might enable future investigators to better focus on genetic and environmental factors that might be shared among these disorders," said study author Julie Daniels, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UNC School of Public Health's epidemiology and maternal and child health departments.

"Earlier studies have shown a higher rate of psychiatric disorders in families of autistic children than in the general population," she said. "We wanted to see if the parents of autistic children were more likely to be diagnosed with mental disorders.

"Our research shows that mothers and fathers diagnosed with schizophrenia were about twice as likely to have a child diagnosed with autism. We also saw higher rates of depression and personality disorders among mothers, but not fathers," Daniels said.

The study examined 1,237 children born between 1977 and 2003 who were diagnosed with autism before age 10, and compared them with 30,925 control subjects matched for gender, year of birth and hospital. The large sample size enabled researchers to distinguish between psychiatric histories of mothers versus fathers in relation to autism. The association was present regardless of the timing of the parent's diagnosis relative to the child's diagnosis.

This is another step closer to finding where the disorder is coming from and why. Maybe someday, scientists will be able to block the disorder even before it comes out.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Fever May Temporarily Alleviate the Symptoms of Autism

In a first-of-it's-kind study, it has been noted that the behavior of autistic children improve during a fever. It has been hypothesized by researchers that a fever may possibly restore nerve cell communication in regions of an autistic brain. This restoration may help improve the child's socialization skill during a fever.

The study was based on 30 autistic children between ages 2 and 18 who were observed during and after a fever of at least 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. More than 80 percent of the children showed some improvement in behavior during a fever and 30 percent showed significant improvement, researchers said. Behavior changes included longer concentration span, increased amount of talking and improved eye contact.

Although data suggests that behavior changes may not solely be the byproduct of sickness and, consequently, could be the byproduct of a biologic response to fever. More research, however, is needed to prove fever-specific effects, researchers say.

Even if this is not yet a proven case, any leads that suggest new biologic mechanisms that could be acted on through treatment are welcomed and this has been a very positive addition in the quest to cure the autistic mind.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Autistic Kids May Have Gene that Causes Muscle Weakness

A study has revealed that some autistic kids may have a genetic defect that affects the muscles. The study looked at 37 children with autism spectrum disorders who were evaluated for mitochondrial disease, which causes muscle weakness and prevents a child from being able to participate in physical activities and sports. Mitochondrial disease occurs when genetic mutations affect the mitochondria, or the part of the cell that releases energy.

A total of 24 of the children, or 65 percent, had defects in the process by which cells produce and synthesize energy in the muscles, or oxidative phosphorylation defects in the skeletal muscles.

"Most children with autism spectrum disorders do not have recognizable abnormalities when you look at genetic tests, imaging, and metabolic tests," said study author John Shoffner, MD, owner of Medical Neurogenetics, LLC in Atlanta, GA, and member of the American Academy of Neurology. "But a subset of these children does have significant defects in this area. Identifying this defect is important for understanding how genes that produce autism spectrum disorders impact the function of the mitochondria."

Hopefully these tests will find solutions and cures. For now, all we can do is continue to shower our kids with love, care and attention as well as pray.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Virtual Reality Can Teach Autistic Children Street Crossing

It has always been hard to teach autistic children a lot of everyday things and there are the dangers of practicing live. Now, with the use of virtual reality, autistic children are able to practice crossing the street away from the street and away from danger.

The independence of children with autism depends on their receiving treatment in natural settings. One of the main problems they face is their inability to learn how to safely cross the street, a necessary skill for independent living. While acquiring this skill could greatly improve these children's independence, most of the methods for teaching street-crossing have been designed for use within the classroom, and they have been shown as insufficiently effective among autistic children until this innovation came out.

This is a very big step in the right direction for autistic children in gaining more independence and adjusting to everyday life as they grow up.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

U.S. researchers call off controversial autism study

This is very refreshing news for natural cure advocates like us. This can be considered a moral victory. This controversial study has been called off because critics have called it an unethical experiment on children.

The National Institute of Mental Health said in a statement Wednesday that the study of the treatment — called chelation — has been abandoned. The agency decided the money would be better used testing other potential therapies for autism and related disorders, the statement said. Hopefully, these so called "other potential therapies" are more on the natural side.

The study had been on hold because of safety concerns after another study published last year linked a drug used in the treatment to lasting brain problems in rats.

Chelation removes heavy metals from the body and is used to treat lead poisoning. Its use as an autism treatment is based on the fringe theory that mercury in vaccines triggers autism. This theory has never been proved and has been rejected by mainstream science.

This is a very wise decision for the sake of our children. I hope that they would spend more time, money and effort in studying the effects of natural treatments in autism. You never know, the cure just might be right under our noses.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Detecting Autism at 9 months of Age

A new tool currently being developed has the ability to detect autism in children as young as 9 months.

The Early Autism Study, led by Mel Rutherford, associate professor of psychology in the Faculty of Science, has been using eye tracker technology that measures eye direction while the babies look at faces, eyes, and bouncing balls on a computer screen.

"What's important about this study is that now we can distinguish between a group of siblings with autism from a group with no autism -- at nine months and 12 months," says Rutherford. "I can do this in 10 minutes, and it is objective, meaning that the only measure is eye direction; it's not influenced by a clinician's report or by intuition. Nobody's been able to distinguish between these groups at so early an age."

The current technology for autism detection is reliable around the age of two making the recent development very remarkable.

"There is an urgent need for a quick, reliable and objective screening tool to aid in diagnosing autism much earlier than is presently possible," she says. "Developing a tool for the early detection of autism would have profound effects on people with autism, their parents, family members, and future generations of those at risk of developing autism."

This is a wonderful development in helping children with autism. Now, we can start helping them much earlier than we've previously had.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Special Diet May Help Autistic Children

Good news for parents of autistic children. A simple diet may actually help your child.

The diet restricts gluten, a protein found in wheat, and casein, a protein in milk and milk by-products. The theory is, that because of an intestinal defect, autistic kids can't completely digest the proteins. And what ends up in the blood stream are substances that interfere with brain activity.

This diet is controversial so far but has many parents backing it up with claims of improvements from their children.

One major question: does the diet help because it reduces intestinal symptoms or because brain functioning really improves? For families of autistic children, it's more than just food for thought.

If you do decide to try this diet, make sure to ask your doctor about it and also make sure to get the exact guidelines so you can get the benefits without the dangers.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Therapeutic Healing Vest

Everybody needs a hug, especially kids with autism, ADHD and sensory processing disorders. That's where a wonderful invention called a "deep-pressure" vest came from. Invented by Brian Mullen, it is able to deliver a "portable hug" called a deep pressure touch stimulation or DPTS.

This vest has been proven to increase attention to tasks and reduce anxiety and harmful behaviors by providing different sensory stimuli as well as providing a discreet treatment for patients to function in mainstream society.

Another nice thing about the vest is that it can be placed inside virtually any jacket with a lining. Other weighted or elastic garments and toys currently used provide limited control over the amount of pressure applied and require some oversight by a caregiver and Their use is also limited because of the lack of literature documenting their safety, and their tendency to make the user stand out in a crowd.

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