Clinical Trials

I may have posted this before but it seemed worth revisiting. If you are looking for clinical trials related to ASDs, check out

www.clinicialtrials.gov

Here is a sampling on a search "autistic disorder".

Smart is not an Endgame

Penelope Trunk reminds us to pay attention to social skills - our own and our children's.

"And when you think about someone finding his way to success in the real world, consider the Wall Street Journal's list of traits that recruiters look for in business school candidates:
• Communication and interpersonal skills
• Original and visionary thinking
• Leadership potential
• Ability to work well on a team
• Analytical and problem-solving skills"

Test

Just testing out a change made nervously to my template. I am such a blog design coward!

Article on RDI

This article by Mary Jiminez from the Shreveport Times (Louisiana) describes one family's experience with RDI - Relationship Development Therapy. The price tag is $500-$800 per month, and it is not covered by insurance.

Autistic Brain Structure & Development

Wrongplanet posts an interesting article from the journal Neuron about the size of portions of brains in autistic children and autistic adults.

"Surprisingly, current research is showing different results in the brains of autistic children compared to data collected in adults. The very same structures that appear smaller in adult autistic brains appear much larger and overgrown in autistic children. "

This paragraph is kind of shocking:
"Considerations for developmental aspects of autism are becoming ever more important. Even gene-association studies may be inconsistent because the genes that cause and regulate differential development may not be the same as those genes that respond to these differences later in life, making it hard to define a clear set of “autism” genes. This means, that genes found in autism studies may be identifying genes involved with secondary issues and are not finding genes that have to do with developing autism directly. Indeed, many genes identified thus far in autistic patients have to do with regulating cell death in the brain and may only be expressed secondarily in response to the overgrowth of particular brain structures."

Contestant with AS on "America's Top Model"

Aspiring model Heather Kuzmich made it to the Top 5 on the current edition of "America's Top Model." Heather, has Asperger's Syndrome, and her experience is described in this article. I'm sorry I missed this. If anyone did watch it, please comment with your thoughts.