I’m guessing that lots of toddlers, even neurotypical ones, exhibit occasional “hand flapping”, especially when faced with something exciting or overstimulating. It’s that quick little, almost compulsive-looking waving motion of contracting their fingers quickly into their palms (usually both hands at once and often raised up over their heads). But, repeated hand flapping, or other compulsive hand movements, can indicate something else is the culprit.

But what?

Here’s a list of disorders that are associated with hand flapping:

Angleman... more

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine, all reported that boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had higher levels of growth hormones than their non-autistic peers. This may help to explain why children... more

An exciting story in HealthDay News by Krisha McCoy on Monday, June 25, 2007 caught my eye immediately. Scientists have actually found a way to reverse the symptoms of autism and mental retardation. Ok, it was only in mice, but isn’t that usually the first step. It didn’t even involve any radical surgery, just inhibiting a certain enzyme.

The enzyme that was inhibited affects the number, size, and shape of the connections between neurons and the brain and... more

If you know someone parenting an autistic child, or a child with any neurological impairment, take the time to read The Chronicles of Ben from yesterday’s (June 10) Chicago Tribune.

This article is written by David Royko, son of the late columnist Mike Royko), and parent to a 12-year-old autistic boy. I was profoundly moved by David’s in-depth, accurate and heart-wrenching description of what it was like to raise this special child and then have to make the difficult decision to send him to a residential treatment center in order to allow the family to survive.

There... more

In the early 1990s, along with the influx of Romanian adoptees into the U.S. came the term “institutional autism.” Dr. Ron Federici, a neuropsychologist was instrumental in using this term to describe children from Romanian orphanages who exhibited autistic-like behaviors that seem to have resulted from the deprivation and isolation associated with living in an institution.

For some in the world of international adoption, institutional autism was a welcome way of describing the phenomenon they were observing... more

Do you remember the mirror in the first Harry Potter book, the Mirror of Erised? The mirror showed Harry what he wanted to see. It was an enchanted mirror that showed the person looking at it what that person most desired (erised is desire spelled backward).

I feel like we have a similar situation with LuLu every time she’s evaluated. She is like this mirror that psychologists and therapists peer into and see whatever they want to see as her diagnosis and problems. And because these folks are human, and have expertise in certain areas and not... more

Dr. Lawrence Gray of the University of Chicago is among a growing group of doctors and scientists in the field of infant mental health. They are looking for early signs in babies of autism ADHD and other mental problems that traditionally our medical profession has thought doesn’t show up until closer to age three.

Dr. Gray says that “we used to say ‘nature versus nurture’, but now people really think it’s ‘nature through nurture’.”

These doctors have identified certain behaviors that healthy infants exhibit as early as days after their birth. If... more

Our family was looking for a special needs toddler to adopt a few years ago. We applied for a beautiful set of twins that were nearly two years old, a boy and a girl. The twins were born three months premature and exposed to illegal drugs while in the uterus. We were told the children were very delayed and while they continued to make steady progress, it was slow and they still couldn’t walk or talk. They were involved in physical therapy and early intervention services and seeing an ophthalmologist regularly. They had also been in the same foster home since their release from the hospital, which lessened their chances for attachment problems.

We were very comfortable with the... more

I can’t think of a better way to end April, Autism Awareness Month than by checking out this video.

This creation from Autism Speaks combines the music of Five for Fighting with images of autistic children. It is a moving testament to the thousands of families and children affected by this disorder.

The band is generously donating $0.49 to AUTISM SPEAKS each time the video is viewed.

Also, with Kleenex in hand, check out... more

By pure accident, LuLu and I tuned into this show, Private Worlds: Kids and Autism, Sunday night. We were both captivated. LuLu, with her quintessential OCD, immediately insisted, “Mom, put the remote down, please. I don’t want you changing channels, even during the commercial.”

She was immediately covered with the feeling of watching kindred spirits on TV. Oddly enough there are many who would say she’s not autistic. But darn if LuLu doesn’t clearly identify with these kids. “He’s flopping like I do,” she commented. “He is making more nonsense noises than I usually do,” she observed.

I... more