Autism support center plans to open this fall

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Children with Autism will soon have a new place to receive services in Siouxland.

The PierCenter for Autism, a non-profit organization, plans to open a center sometime this fall at 709 Iowa Street, according to founder Josh Cobbs.

Cobbs, whose 12-year-old son Noah has autism, said he formed the non-profit in hopes of filling a great and growing need in Sioux City.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey released in March, 1 in 88 children in the United States has autism. The prevalence of the condition has risen nearly 80 percent over the last decade, according to the CDC.

At the PierCenter, board certified behavior analysts will offer applied behavior analysis therapy to school-age children and certified teachers will also be on hand to provide tutoring support. From there, Cobbs said he only expects services to slowly grow.

"We really want to try to connect the spans as they go through life, so if an individual needs something at age 7, we want to provide that service for them," Cobbs said. "If they need something at age 17, because those needs are different, we want to be able to provide that service."

Many Sioux City area families, including his, Cobbs said, have driven long distances in order for their children to receive services.

"That's common to a lot of families in this area. They drive to maybe Des Moines or Omaha or Sioux Falls or Iowa City," he said. "We're not going to be able to replace all of those services that families go out of town for, but we're hoping to certainly supplement and cover some of those services."

Although Cobbs said his group has talked about opening a center for children with autism for years, he said the idea took off in January. A seven-person board was formed and an agreement was reached to lease space from St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

The center's name, Cobbs said, plays off of the meaning of the word "pier" - a support for a bridge.

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Autism support center plans to open this fall

Autism link to aging dads won't change vaccine debate

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By Art Caplan, Ph.D.

A new study in the prestigious scientific journal Nature has shown a link between the risk of having a child with autism or schizophrenia and the age of the father. The older the dad, the greater the risk that changes in the genes of his sperm will produce the behavioral disorder.

The older a man gets, the greater the chance for random changes or mutations in his sperm. A similar problem was well understood for women, who at age 35 and older are more likely to have a child with Down syndrome or other hereditary disorders.

Its long been known that autism is in part a genetic disease. This newest study adding to that evidence is important, somewhat frustrating and heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, this study is unlikely to convince the noisy and influential few who would still link vaccines with autism.

There have been far too many Congressional hearings inspired by fringe science that have ended in pressure on the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study vaccines as the culprit behind autism.

How many celebrities have gone on TV or led demonstrations demanding money for more studies of the alleged vaccine-autism link even though the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, has twice dismissed any connection to vaccination. Why has it taken so long to discover the link to older dads and their genes as one possible contributor to rising autism rates?Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Rob Schneider, Donald Trump turn out to be about as reliable guides to medical facts as Missouri Rep. Todd Akin and his distortions about how womens bodies respond to rape.

The discovery of the role paternal age plays is frustrating because there are too many factors leading to decisions to delay having children. Women get the frequent message in the media that they can have children whenever they want that technology makes parenting possible at any age. Young men and women find too little support from government or business for child-rearing.

The study is heartbreaking because it does not bode well for finding a cure for those already impacting by autism, schizophrenia and other age-related genetic disorders. The impact of genetic mutations is huge and it is systemic. These genes are going to interact with the environment is complex ways that are not likely to be easily reversed by a drug or any other quick fix.

Its not news that sperm can carry genetic mutations with serious consequences. Just last month a study showed little changes in the DNA of sperm can make men more likely to be infertile. Other studies have linked age-related sperm mutations to diseases such as Apert syndrome, a rare disease that causes webbed fingers and deformities of the skull, and achondoplasia, which is a type of dwarfism.

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Autism link to aging dads won't change vaccine debate

Restaurant's T-shirt design contest to raise money for autism research

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Its almost time to design a T-shirt for autism research and dine at a Culvers restaurant in the East Valley.

From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23, the Culvers restaurant at 3155 W. Ray Road in Chandler, is hosting its inaugural Eat, Dine and T-shirt Design Contest for the 8th Annual ZooWalk for Autism Research. The restaurant will be donate 10 percent of its proceeds from

The ZooWalk for Autism and Aspergers Research, which partners with Arizona State Universitys Autism and Aspergers Research Program, is scheduled for Oct. 6 at the Phoenix Zoo in Papago Park. But Culvers is encouraging artists both adults and children to come into the eatery now with ideas for their artwork. Two categories of the artwork (child and adult), which usually is animal-themed, will be chosen to be placed on the back of a T-shirt for the walk, in which about 5,000 people participate.

This years ZooWalk, which raises nearly $300,000 annually from private and corporate donations, is dedicated to a one-year multi-treatment study at ASU for children and adults with autism. The study will involve a combination of special vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, carnitine (to boost energy metabolism) and special diet that could help individuals who suffer from the disorder.

Autism, which affects one in 88 children, is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication and by restricted and repetitive behavior with symptoms becoming apparent before a child is 3 years old. Similar to Aspergers syndrome, autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize.

The number of children and adults who are affected by autism has greatly increased in Arizona and the Valley during the last 20 years which has risen from 600 to more than 6,000 people who receive services from the Arizona Department of Developmental Disabilities, according to Jim Adams, an engineering professor at Arizona State University. About 90 percent of people who suffer from autism cannot work and about 80 percent cannot live on their own.

Since Adams daughter was diagnosed with autism 18 years ago when she was 2 and a half years old, Adams now mostly researches and studies autism and is the director for ASUs Aspergers and Autism Research Program. Adams attributed the increase in part to better diagnosis methods and possibly increased exposure to toxic metals, changes in diet or nutritional intake.

Adams said that it is hard to gauge how many people will show up at Culvers to design a T-shirt, but so far, they have 30 applications to enter the contest, and thats from just one school Gateway Academy in Scottsdale.

The winning shirt designs will later be selected by a committee and produced on the T-shirts in time for the walk, Adams said.

The walk plays an important role in the fundraising efforts for autism and Aspergers research, Adams said. For those who have showed up and designed the T-shirts in the past, it is a great amount of fun for the kids and the families.

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Older fathers linked to autism and schizophrenia in children

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The Irish Times - Thursday, August 23, 2012

BENEDICT CAREY

OLDER MEN are more likely than young men to father a child who develops autism or schizophrenia, because of random mutations that become more numerous with advancing paternal age, scientists reported yesterday, in the first study to quantify the effect as it builds each year. The age of mothers had no bearing on the risk for these disorders, the study found.

Experts said the finding was hardly reason to forgo fatherhood later in life, though it may have some influence on reproductive decisions. The overall risk to a man in his 40s or older is in the range of 2 per cent at most, and there are other contributing biological factors that are unknown.

But the study, published online in the journal Nature, provides support for the argument that the surging rate of autism diagnoses over recent decades is attributable in part to the increasing average age of fathers, which could account for as many as 30 per cent of cases.

The findings also counter the long-standing assumption that the age of the mother is the most important factor in determining the odds of a child having developmental difficulties. The risk of chromosomal abnormalities such as Down syndrome increases for older mothers but when it comes to some complex developmental and psychiatric problems the lions share of the genetic risk originates in the sperm, not the egg, the study found.

Previous studies had strongly suggested as much but the new report quantifies that risk for the first time, calculating how much it accumulates each year.

The research team found the average child born to a 20-year-old father had 25 random mutations that could be traced to paternal genetic material. The number increased steadily by two mutations a year, reaching 65 mutations for offspring of 40-year-old men. The average number of mutations coming from the mothers side was 15, no matter her age, the study found.

This study provides some of the first solid scientific evidence for a true increase in the condition of autism, said Dr Fred Volkmar, director of the Child Study Centre at the Yale School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research. It is extremely well done and the sample meticulously characterised.

The new investigation, led by the Icelandic firm Decode Genetics, analysed genetic material taken from blood samples of 78 parent-child trios, focusing on families in which parents with no signs of a mental disorder gave birth to a child who developed autism or schizophrenia.

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Older fathers linked to autism and schizophrenia in children

Study: Father's age a likely factor in autism

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(CBS News) The cause of autism is one of the great mysteries of medicine, but we found out something new and important Wednesday.

A report in the medical journal "Nature" says it is the age of the father at the time of conception, not the age of the mother that can raise the risk of autism in a child.

With more men becoming fathers later in life, it could help explain the rise in autism.

The study's senior author - a scientist in Iceland - writes: "Conventional wisdom has been to blame the developmental disorders of children on the age of mothers"... but "it is the age of fathers that appears to be the real culprit."

Dr. Delores Maldespina, a psychiatrist at New York University, said she finds the research eye opening.

"This study shows that new mutations are frequent enough as men age that fathers aging alone can explain the increase for the risk of autism," Maldespina said.

The study says a father's age could account for 15 to 30 percent of cases of autism, and perhaps other disorders like schizophrenia as well.

"This study shows that when these diseases present without a family history, the origin is in the sperm of the man and that the risk goes up as the man ages," Maldespina said.

The latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control indicate the rate of autism has doubled in the last six years from 1 in 162, to 1 in 88.

The number of men 40 and older who father a child has increased by more than 30 percent since 1980. The study is the first to quantify the consequence of a father's age: For every 1-year of age, two genetic mutations were discovered in offspring that could be traced to the father, and up to 65 mutations in the offspring of 40-year-old men. The average number of mutations traced to the mother was 15, no matter what her age.

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Study: Father's age a likely factor in autism

Do men have biological clocks as new autism finding suggests?

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By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

After reading news reports linking a babys risk of having autism with the fathers -- not mothers -- biological age, Im guessing women felt a little vindicated; finally, researchers have acknowledged that were not the only ones with a biological clock thats ticking away.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, found that the number of DNA changes or mutations increase with age making it more likely for older fathers to pass along mutations involved in autism or schizophrenia. While a young 25-year-old father passes along an average of 25 new mutations to his child via his sperm, a 40-year-old transmits 65 mutations. Moms, on the other hand, transmit an average of 15 new mutations regardless of their age, the Icelandic researchers found.

And the solution seems so simple: Collecting the sperm of young adult men and cold-storing it for later use could be a wise individual decision, Alexey Kondrashov, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, wrote in an editorial that accompanied the study.

So, are moms really off the hook when it comes to determining autism risk, and should young men really think about banking their sperm just as women have been told to consider egg freezing to preserve their fertility?

Banking sperm doesnt sound like the worst idea, said Dr. Martha Herbert, a pediatric neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and author of The Autism Revolution. But theres also no reason to panic since these types of mutations probably play a minority role in the development of autism.

Age certainly can increase genetic mutations, but so can a variety of lifestyle factors including smoking and having a poor diet thats lacking in nutrient dense foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, and whole grains. A diet high in sugar, fast food, and packaged goods increases harmful inflammation, said Herbert. This same process thats thought to be involved in obesity, she added, also can damage a cells DNA.

Previous research has shown that any sort of stress on the body -- from a strenuous job to lack of sleep -- can also increase genetic damage, and they, too, could play a role in determining autism risk.

Intense exercise might be another good thing to avoid, said Herbert, since it can overtax the body leading to DNA damage that might also increase autism risk in babies conceived by strenuous fitness buffs. Men, in particular, have been drawn to extreme workout videos and boot-camp classes that extol the benefits of getting the heart to pump at or near its maximum rate for an extended period of time.

Researchers are starting to explore whether this extreme form of exercise causes more harm than benefits, according to Herbert, especially following the sudden death in May of 58-year-old ultramarathon runner Micah True from heart failure.

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Walking for autism awareness in Hanover

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The 3rd annual “Walk for Autism” on Saturday at the Hanover Area YMCA, sponsored by Friends of Amazing Kids, created a safe space for parents and kids with autism.

In many ways, going out in public with autistic kids can be a “spectacle,” said Steve Brown, executive director of Friends of Amazing Kids. Community events, like the walk, help get the kids out and about, interacting with others and raising awareness in the community.

Friends of Amazing Kids is a local non-profit organization for people with autism and special needs run by parent volunteers. The event catered to all ages with music, bounce castles, vendors, raffles and food. But for families, the walk symbolized their support for finding

Participants walk in Hanover during Saturday s Walk for Autism, sponsored by the local group Friends of Amazing Kids. (THE EVENING SUN CLARE BECKER)

“Autism is so different from every other disease,” Kelly Pascoe, the organization’s director of merchandise said. The spectrum of autism is so big and each case is different, she said. As a mother of an autistic daughter, she hopes to raise awareness to the uniqueness of the disease.

Paul and Monica Reiner have two autistic sons. Although there are good days and bad days, they find strength in the group.

“It’s like a big family,” Monica said.

Like many other parents, Andy Coradi walked for his son. Cory, who turns 18 next week, was diagnosed at 3-years-old. At the time, doctors knew little about autism, which made the diagnosis difficult. The family looked through books and pamphlets, searching out his

Ann Stair’s son Brandon, now 13, was diagnosed with autism right before his third birthday. “The diagnosis isn’t a death sentence,” Ann Stair said. “They are just normal kids like everyone else.

Brown, a founding father of Friends of Amazing Kids, is also a father to three autistic sons, 12-year-old twins and a 5-year-old. But being dad, the organization’s executive director, and holding down a day job at the Army Corp of Engineers in Baltimore can be overwhelming.

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Controversial auditory therapy may be beneficial for kids with autism

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Any parent or teacher of a child with autism will tell you the heartbreak they feel when they call a child's name and he or she doesn't respond. This most basic social interaction is often a challenge for children on the autism spectrum and in turn, more complex social exchanges seem insurmountable.

"I'm less worried about his academic skills. I want him to be able to be in a room with people and like being there," said one parent of a child with autism that I know. "I want people to like having him there."

Related: Doctors announce FDA-approved trial to cure autism with cord blood

This desire for engagement is common for families raising children with autism, whose social and attention deficits often account for a significant amount of their challenges.

Parents have been seeking therapies to increase attention and interaction for years. One treatment continues to remain a part of the conversation today.

Auditory integration training, or AIT, was developed in the 1950s by Dr. Guy Berard, an otolaryngologist, in Annecy, France. Originally designed to improve hearing loss or other hearing impairments, Berard considered hearing imbalances and poor auditory processing skills a contributing factor to academic, social, and behavioral challenges such as learning disabilities, autism and attention deficit disorder. He felt the disorders could be improved using AIT.

Other models of AIT exist, but the Berard method remains the most popular. Berard developed the AudioKinetron and the Earducator, devices that deliver music at specific frequencies through headphones. The regimen includes two, 30-minute sessions, three hours apart each day over the course of 10 days. A one- or two-day break may be taken after the first five days. Candidates must be at least 3 years of age and may have a diagnosis of autism, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), ADHD, central auditory processing disorder, or other learning disabilities or processing disorders.

Audio tests are administered before, during and after the treatment to monitor and assess progress and make necessary adjustments as needed.

The goal of AIT in individuals with autism is to improve auditory distortions, delays or sensitivities. The theory is if processing functions better, an individual will be able to sustain increased attention, which in turn allows greater opportunity for awareness, comprehension and engagement.

Like many treatments for autism, there are both supporters and critics of AIT. A 1994 study by Bernard Rimland and Stephen Edelson assessed the affect of AIT on 445 adults and children with autism. Though the researchers noted no difference in the results of auditory tests between subjects, many parents reported a decrease in problem behaviors after AIT intervention.

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Controversial auditory therapy may be beneficial for kids with autism

Autism advocate Temple Grandin in Arkansas

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(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - A national autism advocate is speaking in Little Rock about autism, what it is, and how to address it in your family.

Temple Grandin, is a source of inspiration for those with autism and their families. Grandin is an autism activist who was diagnosed with the disorder at age 2. She's also one of the nation's foremost experts on the treatment of livestock and says she remembers what it was like to grow up autistic.

"When I was little kid I couldn't talk. I can remember the frustrations of not being able to talk. I had extremely good early education and early intervention. I can't emphasize enough develop the child's strength," says Grandin.

Grandin, who designed curved chutes and other systems for cattle handling, worries other autistic children won't get those opportunities. That's the message she spoke about Monday in Little Rock.

"If you have a 2 or 3 year old child who's not talking worst thing you can do is do nothing. Then you got the kids who are quirky and different and I'm very upset that these schools have taken the hands-on classes out. All the art and woodshop and cooking and sewing and welding, because those classes teach practical problem solving," Grandin says.

Clarke Delp knows all too well how autism can affect families. She says Grandin has offered her help with her own autistic child.

"At the age of 6 he was diagnosed with autism. Part of me was a little relieved because I knew what I was dealing with then. Because for 6 years not knowing what I was dealing with was a struggle," says Delp.

Now, her autistic son Warren is 10-years old. She says Grandinhelped her cope with his disorder.

"She has made sure that her life has not been defined by autism. She has accomplished such incredible things. Autism certainly comes with great challenges, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you cannot live a fulfilling life, a successful independent life," says Delp. "She gives me hope, she gives most of the parents, all the parents I know hope that their child can be successful as she is."

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Autism advocate Temple Grandin in Arkansas

Father's Age Linked to Autism

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Latest Mental Health News

Risk of Genetic Mutations Tied to Autism May Increase With Each Year of Father's Age

By Jennifer Warner WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Aug. 22, 2012 -- The father's age may matter more than the mother's when it comes to the risk of some disorders like autism in children.

A new study shows the number of "de novo" or new genetic mutations passed to children increases with every year of the father's age at the time of conception. And fathers pass along a greater number of these to their children than do mothers.

Researchers found the number of de novo mutations in children increases by two for every year of the father's age. The whole amount doubles every 16.5 years.

That means a 36-year-old man passes along twice as many mutations in his sperm to his children, compared to a 20-year-old.

Previous studies have already linked these mutations to autism and schizophrenia and a variety of other developmental disorders. This study helps to quantify the potential risk.

Researchers say the findings have important implications for family planning as well as the recent rise of developmental disorders, especially autism.

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Father's Age Linked to Autism

'Treating the whole person with autism' sets direction for parent-clinician collaboration

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Public release date: 9-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jane E. Rubinstein jrubinstein@rubenstein.com 212-843-8287 Autism Speaks

NEW YORK, N.Y. (August 9, 2012) Over 400 attendees from across the U.S. and around the world participated in the first national conference for families and professionals, "Treating the Whole Person with Autism: Comprehensive Care for Children and Adolescents with ASD."

Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, organized and hosted the conference in collaboration with educational partners at Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH), The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

"Autism Speaks' Autism Treatment Network (ATN) is a key initiative aimed at improving the health and well-being of individuals with ASD," remarked Daniel Coury, M.D., ATN medical director and chief of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "It provides "whole person," family-centered medical care which aims to address the individual's and the family's unique set of needs and challenges. We're excited to build upon these efforts through this national conference with Autism Speaks and our other conference partners."

The conference provided a forum for both families and professionals to learn about current guidance for addressing associated medical issues, and developing approaches to care that integrate behavioral and medical approaches across the lifespan.

"The theme of this conference, treating the whole person, reflects our ultimate goal of helping individuals with ASD to have healthy and successful lives," stated Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., chief science officer at Autism Speaks. These themes were highlighted by the two conference keynote speakers. Ricki Robinson, M.D., M.P.H., co-director of the Descanso Medical Center for Development and Learning, who served as the first speaker, encouraged practitioners to view individuals with ASD through a wide array of "lenses" that together paint a total picture of the child's life. These lenses include the child's physical and mental health, behaviors, intellectual interests and creative pursuits. By seeing the whole child, treatment and care plans can be tailored to address the individuals' needs.

Peter Gerhardt, Ed.D., director of the McCarton Upper School and chair of the Scientific Council for the Organization for Autism Research, emphasized the need to continually think of the changing care needs across the lifespan. Dr. Gerhardt stressed the importance of making optimizing adult outcomes a much higher research priority. In particular, he noted the need to identify and focus on meaningful knowledge and skills vital for independence and fulfillment. This emphasis on care across the lifespan was further supported in the presentation by Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Ph.D., professor and director of the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin. A key point was the importance for researchers, clinicians, and advocates to expand their view of autism beyond childhood and to consider individuals with ASD within the context of their families. Her team's research on adolescents and adults with ASD looks at how ASD symptoms change across the lifespan. They observed in their data that overall there is stability or some improvement in symptoms and behavior problems over time. However, they noted that there can be stage-related changes, a critical one being the exit from high school, after which improvement in symptoms slows. Moreover, after high school, income level becomes a risk factor in the worsening of problem behaviors with those in low income groups at greatest risk regardless of intellectual ability.

The conference included general science sessions providing recent developments on health-related issues for individuals with ASD, and concurrent sessions tailored to families and professionals, respectively, that provided practical examples and discussion on the identification, management and treatment of medical conditions often associated with ASD. The sessions addressed immune dysfunction in autism, metabolic dysfunction, gastrointestinal dysfunction including the GI microenvironment and impaired carbohydrate digestion, nutrition, sleep disorders, the prevalence and management of psychiatric disorders and challenging behaviors, an overview of cognitive behavioral therapies, and the trajectories of development during adolescence and adulthood. The meeting concluded with family perspectives on how to coordinate and provide care both at home and in the clinical setting.

Some highlights include the presentation by Alessio Fasano, M.D. which was focused on the relationship between genes and environment in the GI problems in individuals with ASD. Dr. Fasano, professor of pediatrics, medicine and physiology, and director of the Mucosal Biology Research Center and the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, noted that progress is being made in the field to better understand the biology of the gut environment but that to be effective in leading to treatments, it is going to be important to integrate the findings across these areas to "connect the dots" in building a full picture of the nature of GI disorders in ASD. Brent Williams, Ph.D., associate research scientist at Columbia University reported on his on-going research looking at impaired carbohydrate metabolism in individuals with ASD, which highlights that GI dysfunction may be attributable to distinct molecular and microbial mechanisms in individuals with ASD.

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'Treating the whole person with autism' sets direction for parent-clinician collaboration

Autism research foundation looks to expand

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Autism research foundation looks to expand

It began as a movement started by a 10-year-old girl to fight autism. Now, Michala Riggle is impacting the world of autism research yet again.

In 2007, Michala got national attention for selling homemade beaded bracelets for $3 each.

She wanted to raise $200,000 for an autism study her younger brother, Evan, was in, along with other autistic children at Kosair Children's Hospital.

Within six months, her Beading to Beat Autism campaign exceeded her goal.

"What we're here to announce today, we're going to kick off Campaign 7," said Riggle.

Five years and $500,000 later, Michala's mission has grown just like she has. Evan, now 12 years old, is doing well with his treatment. With their success, Michala and her family have set another goal, called Campaign 7.

"We're going to kick that off and we're going to try and get people to commit donating $7 a month for one year so we can raise the money to buy the land we want the center in and hire staff and kick off our national campaign to raise the money," said Riggle.

The center will be a world-class autism research and treatment facility built in Louisville. It will include an autism school and a bigger warehouse for the beading operation.

The facility, named the We Believe International Autism and Research Treatment Center, will be built on 40 acres in eastern Jefferson County.

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Autism research foundation looks to expand

Local teen looks to take autism campaign national, make Lou. first in research

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by Joe Arnold

WHAS11.com

Posted on August 9, 2012 at 6:47 PM

Updated yesterday at 7:01 PM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- A local teenager who has spent years raising money and awareness for autism said she has a big dream - to make Louisville the home of autism research.

We first introduced you to Michaela Riggle eight years ago, then just 7-years-old and already battling to find a cure for her 4-year-old brother who was diagnosed with autism.

She started the Beading to Beat Autism campaign where she, along with help from others, sold hand-made beaded bracelets to raise money for autism research.

Michala is now 15-years-old and is still looking out for Evan. Evan has come a long way, but despite progress his family said autism still dominates their lives.

She started the Beading to Beat Autism campaign where she, along with help from others, sold hand-made beaded bracelets to raise money for autism research. After five years of selling bracelets, Michala is now taking her effort to the next level, a local campaign to raise $5 million to buy land and hire staff for a Louisville autism and research facility.

She's asking 60,000 of her Kentuckiana neighbors to pledge $7 per month for one year. But that's just the start. Michala hopes to take Campaign 7 national raise hundreds of millions of dollars and make Louisville the home of autism hope.

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Local teen looks to take autism campaign national, make Lou. first in research

Rethink Autism Wins Prestigious 2012 CODiE™ Award for Best Instructional Solution for Special Needs Students for …

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NEW YORK, May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Rethink Autism, the first and only autism curriculum aligned with the Common Core State Standards, is an honored recipient of the 2012 SIIA CODiE Award for Best Instructional Solution for Special Needs Students, the second consecutive year it has won this award. The Software and Information Industry Association's (SIIA) CODiE Awards recognize excellence in digital content and educational technology.

"We recognize the tremendous challenges faced by families, school districts and organizations serving children on the autism spectrum. In developing the Rethink Autism platform, we wanted to make clinical best practices accessible, affordable and easy to use for anyone, anywhere in the world," said Daniel Etra, Co-founder and CEO. "With this award, and with thousands of users in schools, organizations, universities and homes in all 50 states, as well as 27 countries around the world, we really feel like we have achieved our goal."

Rethink Autism's unique web-based program provides parents and educators with a comprehensive evidence-based curriculum through 1,200+ video-based teaching steps, parent and staff training modules, an assessment tool, and progress tracking features. The curriculum, developed and endorsed by leaders in the field of autism treatment and research, spans the entire autism spectrum and covers a broad range of skills, including academics, language, social, motor, daily living, and behavior managements.

The CODiE Awards are the industry's only peer-reviewed awards program and provide member companies with a unique opportunity to earn praise from their competitors. From a wide range of nationally and internationally nominated products and services, third-party judges narrowed the field down to 128 finalists. From these finalists, SIIA members reviewed these finalists and voted to select 29 winners.

"This year's winners reflect excellence and vision," noted SIIA Vice President for the Education Division, Karen Billings. "I'm proud to congratulate them on the success of their applications, platforms, and products."

To learn more about Rethink Autism, visit the company's home page: http://www.rethinkautism.com/

To learn more about the SIIA CODiE Awards, visit the organization's home page: http://www.siia.net/codies/2012/

To learn more about the Common Core State Standards, visit the organization's home page: http://www.corestandards.org/

About Rethink Autism (http://www.rethinkautism.com)

Rethink Autism, Inc. seeks to ensure that every child on the autism spectrum has access to effective and affordable evidence-based treatment options by providing professionals, parents, and family members with the tools and information necessary to teach children with autism in a way that is easy to understand and apply. Rethink Autism was founded in 2007 and has its headquarters at 19 West 21st Street in New York City.

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Rethink Autism Wins Prestigious 2012 CODiE™ Award for Best Instructional Solution for Special Needs Students for ...

French Autism Therapy Criticized

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By Joe Rios

CREATED May. 20, 2012

(AP) In most developed countries, children with autism usually are sent to school, where they get special education classes. But in France, they are more often sent to a psychiatrist, where they get talk therapy meant for people with psychological or emotional problems.

Things are slowly changing, but not without resistance. Last month, a report by France's top health authority concluded there was no agreement among scientists about whether psychotherapy works for autism, and it was not included in the list of recommended treatments.

That provoked an outcry from psychiatrists. Groups including Freudian societies, the World Association of Psychoanalysis and France's Child Institute started a petition calling on the French government to recognize their clinical approach, focused on psychotherapy.

"The situation in France is sort of like the U.S. in the 1950s," said Fred Volkmar, a U.S. expert who directs the Child Study Center at Yale University. "The French have a very idiosyncratic view of autism, and for some reason, they are not convinced by the evidence."

Behavioral methods, which focus on helping autistic children communicate with others and develop social skills, are the norm in Britain, Canada, Japan, the United States and elsewhere in Europe. But they're seldom used in France.

France has long been criticized for its approach to treating autism. In 2002, the charity Autism Europe lodged a complaint against France with the Council of Europe, charging the country was refusing to educate autistic children, as required under the European Social Charter.

The charge was upheld, and the European Committee of Social Rights declared, "France has failed to achieve sufficient progress" in educating autistic children. The committee also slammed France for making autistic people "an excluded group" and said there was a chronic shortage of care.

Volkmar said some forms of psychotherapy might be helpful for high-functioning autistic children to handle specific problems such as anxiety but should not be considered a first-line treatment. He said the vast majority of autistic children in the United States more than 95 percent attend school.

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French Autism Therapy Criticized

Autism, ADHD, and children's learning — insights from Psychological Science

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Public release date: 3-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Anna Mikulak amikulak@psychologicalscience.org 202-293-9300 Association for Psychological Science

Critical issues in learning, ADHD and autism will be explored during the Association for Psychological Science annual convention in Chicago, from May 23 to the 27th. Leaders in the field studying attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, learning, and childhood development will present the latest in psychological science research that will shed light on treatment options, disorder management, memory and school performance.

There will be two major offerings in ADHD research.

Four experts on ADHD will present current research, and discuss future directions for treating and assessing the disorder. Howard Berenbaum from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Arnaud Rey from Aix-Marseille University, France will moderate the session. Friday, May 25, 2012 10:30 AM 11:50 AM Chicago Ballroom X

Children with ADHD typically have great difficulty in both following and creating linear narratives. What does this reveal about the disorder and how can the creation of narratives actually address some of the problems that these children encounter in school? Richard S. Milich from the University of Kentucky has focused on this subject and will discuss the academic difficulties of children with ADHD and how they are connected to the difficulty that they have in creating coherent narratives.

Richard S. Milich, Professor of Psychology, University of Kentucky millich@email.uky.edu

The brain chemistry of children with ADHD will be discussed by Tiago V. Maia from Columbia University. What neurotransmitters are involved in producing the cognitive and behavioral symptoms that characterize this disorder? No one knows for sure, but by using a computer simulation of the role of norepinephrine in attention, these researchers found that low levels of norepinephrine produce many of ADHD's symptoms.

Tiago V. Maia, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurobiology, Columbia University MaiaT@columbia.edu

The part of our brain that keeps us organized, that helps us prioritize various situations with order and agility is known as executive function. One characteristic of children with ADHD is that the part of their brain responsible for executive functioning is compromised. As a result, when they should react with speed and clarity, they respond slowly and with uncertainty. But executive function is not simply a single process. By isolating response times into different components, Cynthia Huang-Pollock from Pennsylvania State University teases out the connections between poor executive function performance and the response times. This connection can lead to new understanding about ADHD and may lead to new strategies for treating the disorder.

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Autism, ADHD, and children's learning -- insights from Psychological Science

It might not be autism

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With autism constantly in the headlines the Centers for Diseases Control & Prevention estimates that 1 in 88 children has the disorder its crucial to help parents determine if their child should be screened. One of the first indicators of autism is a speech delay. However, that does not automatically mean the child has the disorder. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), more than five million children in the United States have a speech, language and/or hearing disorder and, often, parents are uninformed and unsure about what to do.

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM), an ideal opportunity for schools and the community to educate parents about communication disorders so that their childrens ability to socialize, learn and succeed academically is not impaired.

Here are some communication red flags that parents and teachers should be aware of: A child does not follow directions, imitate or respond when name is called; poor eye contact; delayed speech and language development; loss of words the child could previously speak; and problems answering questions or finding objects named.

While some of these might be warning signs for autism, the child may have other developmental delays. If parents notice any of these symptoms, they should speak with the childs pediatrician and request a referral to an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist.

Treatment is crucial because it can improve the quality of life for a child who may have problems speaking, understanding or hearing. If autism is diagnosed, there is hope. While there is no known cure, early intervention (before age 3) can effectively treat speech, language, social and behavioral problems.

Millie Martinez Suarez, M.S., founder and director, Speech Pathology Educational Center, Miami

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It might not be autism

Experimental drug curbs autism symptoms in mice

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(CBS News) Autism affects one out of every 88 American children and while there are available treatments for early intervention, there is no cure. A new government-funded study has found an experimental treatment is effective at reversing symptoms of autism in mice.

VIDEO: Service dogs improving lives of autistic children 10 early warning signs of autism Complete coverage: Latest developments in autism

For the study, published in the April 25 issue of Science and Translational Medicine, researchers from the National Institutes of Health bred a strain of mice to display autism-like behaviors. Similar to how children with autism have social deficits and engage in repetitive behaviors, these mice did not interact and communicate with each other and spent an inordinate amount of time engaging in repetitive behavior - in this case self-grooming.

Cue the experimental drug called GRN-529. The drug was designed to inhibit a type of brain cell receptor that receives the neurotransmitter glutamate. Glutamate is typically involved in learning and memory processes and stimulates other areas of the brain and nervous system.

When mice with the autism-like behaviors were injected with the experimental compound, they reduced the frequency of their repetitive self-grooming and spent more time around strange mice, even sniffing them nose to nose. When tested on a different strain of mice, the experimental compound stopped all repetitive jumping behavior.

"These new results in mice support NIMH-funded research in humans to create treatments for the core symptoms of autism," Dr. Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said in a statement. "While autism has been often considered only as a disability in need of rehabilitation, we can now address autism as a disorder responding to biomedical treatments."

The researchers said although most mouse brain findings often don't translate to humans, the fact that these compounds are already being tested for an overlapping condition strengthens the case for the drug's effectiveness. This class of compounds is currently being studied in patients with the genetic disease Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability. About one third of patients with Fragile X syndrome also meet criteria for autism.

"These inbred strains of mice are similar, behaviorally, to individuals with autism for whom the responsible genetic factors are unknown, which accounts for about three fourths of people with the disorders," noted study author Dr. Jacqueline Crawley of the NIMH. "Given the high costs - monetary and emotional - to families, schools, and health care systems, we are hopeful that this line of studies may help meet the need for medications that treat core symptoms."

Some experts exercised caution with the new findings. In an accompanying editorial in the same journal issue, Baltazar Gomez-Mancilla, executive director of translational medicine neuroscience at Novartis, wrote, "It is too early to speculate as to whether or not autism spectrum disorders can be reversed by small molecules."

Dr. Uta Frith, a professor of cognitive development at University College London, told BBC News that neurotransmitter problems have long been suspected as an origin of autism, "However, it will be a long time until these findings can be translated for human patients. Tampering with the synapse may well result in undesirable side effects," he said.

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Experimental drug curbs autism symptoms in mice

Experimental Drug Improves Autism-Like Symptoms in Mice

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Experimental Drug Improves Autism-Like Symptoms in Mice

An Autistic's Response: "Teacher/Bully: How My Son Was Humiliated and Tormented by his Teacher" – Video

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25-04-2012 16:38 This is my response to the video "Teacher/Bully: How My Son Was Humiliated and Tormented by his Teacher and Aide." To learn more check out the link here: My name is Kerry Magro and I was diagnosed with Autism at 4 and feel a great deal of compassion for Stuart and his 10 year old autistic son, Akian and there situation with The Cherry Hill School System. Please sign his petition here to help start a zero tolerance policy for teachers who bully their students: Join the Facebook Page "No More Teacher Bullies" here: Thanks to Stuart so much for making this public and sharing his voice with us! If you want to learn more about how I'm sharing my voice with others please check out my Blog here: my Homepage here: liking my Facebook Fan Page here: or following me on Twitter @kerrymagro Below I'm leaving you the description of what Stuart mentioned under his video description based on the situation with him and his son. For more information about the video please see below along with checking his Homepage here: "My name is Stuart Chaifetz, and my son, Akian, is a ten-year old boy who has Autism. Akian has always been a sweet and non-violent child, and that is why it was so distressing when notes started coming home from his school, Horace Mann Elementary in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, saying that he was having violent outbursts, including him hitting his teacher ...

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An Autistic's Response: "Teacher/Bully: How My Son Was Humiliated and Tormented by his Teacher" - Video