Autism

When you have a child with special needs who attends public school, you usually negotiate an IEP for your student with the school. The IEP, Individual Education Plan, outlines the special services your child will receive during the school year. For example, some children go to another class for reading, math, and spelling. Some children receive speech therapy, occupational therapy, or physical therapy during the school day. Some children even have a one-on-one aid who goes through the school day helping a single student. There are children who have so much difficulty with typical education that the school focuses more on teaching these students life skills. Special education students require additional assistance from teachers and support staff to be successful in school. They may also require… [more]

New research indicates there is a relationship between mitochondrial disease and autism. Although at this point, researchers are not sure if mitochondrial disease plays a role in the development of autism, or if the muscle weakness in a child with autism points to a genetic defect that causes mitochondrial disease. Mitochondrial disease results in muscles not getting the energy they need. This is because the mitochondria convert energy of food molecules into the ATP, which powers most cell functions. Every cell of the body, with the exception of red blood cells, contains mitochondria. Researchers have even suggested that mitochondrial disease may prevent the brain from getting the energy it needs to function properly. Large studies have shown that approximately 20 percent of children with autism… [more]

Parents of children with autism earn 14% less than parents of children without autism says an article in this month’s Pediatrics magazine. This statistic is based on surveying the parents of 11, 000 children with autism whose ages are between kindergarten and 8th grade. Comparing the parents with other parents of comparable careers, the survey found that on average a household with a child with autism makes $6200 per year less. Remember these are averaged statistics. The researchers believe this income discrepancy (income, not outlay for treatments) is due to parents altering their work arrangements or choosing to stay in jobs and locations for less pay due to the child’s needs. I believe that parents deciding to cut back work… [more]

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 2 is the first World Autism Awareness Day. Falling in what has become Autism Awareness Month, this day was declared by the United Nations last November as an annual day to “encourage Member States to take measures to raise awareness about children with autism throughout society.” It’s estimated that 35 million people worldwide have autism and face discrimination and an extreme lack of resources. CNN will devote unprecedented coverage to autism tomorrow throughout the entire day on CNN/U.S., CNN International, CNN en Español and Headline News, as well as their website. The reports will cover medical insights, information on treatments and interventions and interviews with families and professionals who work with children who have autism. Paging Dr. Gupta is CNN’s blog by… [more]

“Wait and see,” the ______ said. (You can fill in the blank with teacher, doctor, therapist, adoption worker.) But regardless of who says it, it’s just plain wrong! This point was driven home for me as I watched LuLu work through a computer-based program that tests her on some academic basics in math and language. LuLu is currently working slightly behind grade level in math, but further behind in language. In the last two years her language abilities, including speech, reading, auditory processing, etc., have been tested and retested. And regardless of who summarizes the reports, the truth is that she has language problems. And her inability to comprehend the written word and apply this knowledge is highly frustrating… [more]

A fellow adoptive mom asked me this question this week. Her son has been diagnosed with ADHD, and has seen some improvements through medications and the removal of food coloring and casein from his diet. But she’s seeing signs that he’s struggling academically, and there are still many more “little” things going on. Initially the professionals they were consulting dismissed the idea of the autism spectrum because her son has language, and very assertively uses it. She knows LuLu, and knows that we’ve had the diagnosis of PDD-NOS for several years. “He reminds me of LuLu,” she commented (and I think she thought she hurt my feelings; she did not; I see the similarities, too.) Both of our children are sensory seeking and social… [more]

Meet Hannah. The picture in this online article is small, but Hannah’s face is blazoned on the top fold of the front page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution today with the headline “How Hannah Made History”. Hannah’s case is being dubbed the first autism-vaccine link case. What will happen next is anyone’s guess. I first blogged on the Federal court’s decision to pay Hannah’s parents out of the federal vaccine injury fund last week, having no idea that Hannah was from Georgia, or that a week later, Hannah’s parents, Jon and Terry Poling of Athens, Georgia, would be holding a press conference to discuss her case. In fact, I wondered if mainstream media would even cover this or see it as significant… [more]

As I was looking for information on the “different” brain movement among some adults with autism, I came across yet another opinion about autism…that it is a disease. This definition implies more of a possibility of “curing” it than if autism is labeled a disorder. Of course there are those out there who believe that autism is only a difference. But as LuLu grows and is better able to express herself, I’m not buying that she believes that she’s only different. The physical side effects of GI pain, tics and other symptoms can’t be ignored as things she wishes she didn’t have. Yet, curing her is something I long ago gave up on, regardless of the label that was slapped on her. In… [more]

I’ve blogged about Amanda Baggs before. Her YouTube video is legendary, and well worth the viewing, if you know anyone who has autism (and who doesn’t know someone at this point?) But this article in Wired, The Truth about Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know, brings up a whole slew of points and counterpoints. One of the main ones is that there is a movement out there to view autism as “different brained” not as a disability. While I get their point, and think I understand the perspective that Amanda is bringing to the table, I have to say that I don’t believe for one nanosecond that autism is not a disability. It is a huge disability!… [more]

A sad story out of Illinois last week as the mother of a 3-year-old with autism who killed the child in May 2006 testified on her confession. The story is a tragic one – horrendous to many readers. But I suspect that many parents of children with challenging special needs, such as autism, have a tinge of understanding for where the mother was coming from. This mother suffocated her daughter with a plastic bag. It is the ultimate of horrific acts. Yet, she then attempted to kill herself as well, and was hospitalized. Her sanity, both now and at the time of the murder, is a subject for strong debate by all the attorneys. Yet, what haunts me most is this quote… [more]