Straight From The Headlines: "Digging Furiously For Autism Answers." Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 9, 2011.
"Most of the local talent is at the Center for Autism Research at Children's Hospital (in Philadelphia), which in less than four years has grown into a powerhouse with more than 100 researches and staff running two dozen studies..."
"Drexel {University} is jumping in with a much smaller but ambitious Autism Public Health Research Institute, which is poised to lead in some other areas, beginning with environmental exposure. The long neglected field has suddenly become a priority as evidence builds that genes alone do not explain the disorder..."
"The goal is to figure out what flips the genetic switch that puts some infants on a path to autism. Only then can scientists begin to understand how the brain changes and what can prevent it, discover treatments, and devise cost-effective ways to teach hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren..."
"'Autism is like a snowflake,'" said Robert Schultz, director of the center at Children's. It's core attributes---mainly an inability to engage in normal interaction---are enough to define it. But the severity, symptoms, and timing of each case are different. So huge research samples are needed to discover what they have in common...'"
"'Autism was definitely something that we felt CHOP should be leading the world in" said Tom Curran, deputy scientific director.'"
The Center's goal is to have 10,000 volunteers take part in the research. To date, 1,500 have already signed up.
Facebook Redux
In my last post, I wrote about the positive impact Facebook has on autism advocacy. The information and resources available are immeasurable. I thought I'd take a few moments to list some of the news and information readers might be interested in learning. These include, but are by no means limited to, the following:
- From the San Francisco Chronicle a story about individuals with autism going to the hospital, and the challenges faced by hospital staff in treating people with autism. In short, physicians and nurses just do not get enough training in medical school about autism and developmental disabilities. One staff person admitted she had only 4 hours devoted to developmental disabilities at school. There are now several national programs devoted to reconciling this deficiency.
- California became the 28th state to enact autism insurance reform.
- I discovered "My Autism Team," a resource of parents of teens with autism.
- Great YouTube video entitled, "Through Autistic Eyes, 2008."
- Another good You Tube video entitled, "Fragile X-Hitting the Mark."
- From the Autism Support Network a wonderful piece entitled, "My Teenage Son's Journey To Understanding His Little Brother's Autism" by Rowena Entwistle.
- Very informative blog entitled, "My Account as an Aspie." The personal stories of Gary Burge, an adult with Asperger Syndrome. You can visit http://garysaspieblog.blogspot.com/
- And finally great website called, "Autism News Wire."
And most of the above is information I received in one day!!!
Conference News:
6th Annual US Autism and Asperger Association World Conference. Oct. 27-30, 2011. Seattle, WA. Contact Pat at: 1.866.208.0207.
4 Your Bookshelf:
"Point to Happy: A Book for Kids on the Autism Spectrum" by Miriam Smith and Afton Fraser.
"How to Talk to an Autistic Kid" by Dan Stefanski, a boy with autism.
