Inspiration

It's Autism Month, and I feel inundated with "movie of the week" type stories about the "tragedy" and "suffering" of autism. So for once, I decided to create a post that is not about autism at all. It's about keeping perspective. These sites have provided me with inspiration, empathy and understanding for the great variety of experiences we all have as humans on this tiny planet. We are incredibly fortunate to be here at all. These sites remind me to enjoy the ride:

My Daily Insights - Get a free motivational quote every Monday through Thursday and an inspirational story on Friday

Foundation For a Better Life - Free inspirational quote delivered to your Inbox each day.

Writer's Almanac - This is also National Poetry Month. Writer's Almanac sends a free poem every day, along with a few paragraphs celebrating literary and other interesting events, and sharing biographical sketches of writers.

Better Brushing

Via AutismVox, here is an oral hygiene game that might help kids brush their teeth more throroughly. Here's the article by Colin Barras.

Call for Panelists in NJ

Call for Panelists
Mini-Conference on Inclusion Benefits and Strategies for Middle and High School
Stockton State College, Pomona, NJ
Saturday, April 26, 2008
9:30 am -12:30 pm

As a part of the Mini-Conference on Inclusion, we are organizing a panel session to explore and reflect on experiences with Inclusion practices in grades 8-12. Parents of middle and high school students who are receiving special education services are invited to join this discussion and share their experiences with inclusion in middle and high school. The panel portion of the mini-conference will last from 45 minutes to an hour and include diverse points of view including parents, teachers, and school staff.

Panelists will receive a $75 stipend and an appreciation gift for their time. Self-Advocates are invited to participate in the panel with their parents. Both parents and students will receive the stipend and gift for their participation. Continental breakfast and lunch are included.

If you are interested, please send an email to scollguedes@spannj.org or call 609-442-4132 before Friday, April 18th. Please include a brief summary of your experience and tell us a little bit about yourself.Susan Coll-Guedes, Ed.M.Parent Group Specialist- START Project Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland & Salem Co.Statewide Parent Advocacy NetworkPhone: 609-442-4132 Email: scollguedes@spannj.org www.spannj.org

Lego Therapy

Marie McCullough of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes of pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. Dan Legoff's approach to social skills therapy using a common interest among some children on the spectrum - Legos.
"In Legoff's opinion, too many popular strategies involve "skillstreaming" - systematically explaining, modeling, and role-playing acceptable social skills to children.
"I found that approach to be, first, boring and painful to go through for the kids. And second, it didn't seem to work," said the psychologist, who has treated children with neurological disabilities for 20 years. "I needed to find something that they could practice but that they would enjoy and be motivated to do."
About 15 years ago, during post-doctoral training in Honolulu, Legoff noticed that his autistic patients, most of them boys, ignored a playroom full of toys - except for Legos.
A hallmark of autism is an obsessive dedication to one or two interests or activities - typically involving taxonomies, mechanical systems, hierarchies.
"A couple kids came with Lego creations they made at home," Legoff recalled. "In the waiting room, these kids started talking to one another, which surprised their parents. These are kids that don't have any friends because they're socially rejected or isolated."
Thus was born the Lego Club."

Autism Coverage on CNN

CNN.com has a page devoted to coverage of autism. It looks like CNN television will be covering autism in their programming all day on Wednesday April 2.

Three Films Documenting the Experience of Autism

Sam Adams in the Los Angeles Times reports on three upcoming and recent films chronicling the lives of families touched by autism: "Autism: The Musical" (airing 3/26 - 3/30 on HBO), "Autism Every Day" (on the Sundance Channel on April 2), and "Her Name Is Sabine" (recently released on DVD, but it might be hard to find).

Money Matters

This article by Richard J. Dalton, Jr. in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review describes a major difficulty parents of children with ASDs face as their children reach maturity: how to keep them from making bad financial decisions and/or prevent them from being taken advantage of by unscrupulous salespeople.
Consider these numbers:
"An estimated 85 percent of the autistic population is younger than 18, and those diagnosed in the beginning of the wave of autism during the 1990s are reaching adulthood. The number of cases of autistic children and students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act nearly doubled from 42,417 in 1997 to 79,586 in 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Education. "
The article explains:
"If autistic adults don't understand the nature of commerce, their parents face the prospect of seeking legal guardianship, taking away the very independence they've dreamed of for their son or daughter.
A guardian may have the legal right to make medical or financial decisions on behalf of the person under his care. Just as a minor cannot sign a contract, neither can a person, even an adult, whose financial affairs are handled by a guardian.
"A lot of times, that can be a really difficult decision for parents," said Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association, in Nixa, Mo. "
Here's an illuminating tale from the article:
"Linda Fulton, founder and president of the Fulton Foundation for Autism, said her 23-year-old son Dunlap, or D.J., has a tremendous ability to memorize numbers, including, she discovered, her credit card's.
Five years ago, said Fulton, of Huntington Bay, her son called a Chicago car dealer to buy a Lamborghini. The salesperson told him he needed a transport company. So he found one online, giving his mother's credit card number for the $25,000 fee. Fulton received a phone call to confirm the transaction and canceled the order.
A few years ago, her son ordered $10,000 worth of model planes, which were delivered to the house. She returned them but had to pay delivery and return shipping.
Lately, her son has been pushing to buy the Quiet Supersonic Transport airplane, the $80-million replacement for the Concorde that's to be launched in the next decade. He's told his mother he'd settle for a ride.
"He said, 'It's only $225,000 to be on the first flight,'" Fulton said. "I don't have to worry about that until 2014."

Night of Too Many Stars

Jon Stewart will host "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education", broadcast live on Comedy Central on April 13th. According to this Associated Press article by Jake Coyle,
"The night will feature standup routines, sketches and short films from a gluttony of comic talent, including Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman and Amy Poehler.
It's the second such benefit and was organized in part due to Robert Smigel, whose son, Daniel, is autistic. Smigel's most famous character, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, will also be attendance."

Autism: The Musical

"Autism: The Musical" is a documentary film that follows five Los Angeles children over five months as they write, rehearse, and perform their own full-length musical. It airs on HBO on March 25th, with a DVD to follow.

Google Scholar

I just helped a customer by letting her know about Google Scholar. It offers free access to articles from academic journals. A lot of hits only show abstracts, but there is quite a bit of free full-text contet there, if you poke around a little. And it's free! If you go to google.com, click on the "More" link - you should see "Scholar" listed as one of the choices.

Local News Relating to Autism

My local newspaper, The Asbury Park Press, was chock full of stories related to autism this morning. First, Shannon Mullen reports on a local composer named Steven Allen, who has written a rock opera called "Day After Day" about a family dealing with autism.

Michael Rispoli also reports on a package of six bills that recently passed through the Health Committee of the New Jersey Assembly. He states, "The package, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, would require health insurance coverage of therapies for those on the autism spectrum, create the Office of the Advocate for Persons with Autism in the Department of the Public Advocate, establish an state-sponsored autism Web site, create voluntary identification cards for autistics, allow guardians to have better choice in what support services are given to those with autism and urge the state Board of Education to create a student peer program for students with autism." (With all of the state's budget troubles, I wonder if this will get funded.)

There is also an article by Michael Amsel about a local doctor who realized as an adult that he has Asperger's Syndrome. Dr. Henry Kong wrote a book about his experiences called "More Self Than Self: At Autism's Edge".

Finally, there was also a brief USA Today item by Steve Sternberg (Gannett, who owns the Asbury Park Press, also publishes USA Today) article on research into genetic mutations that boost one's probability of having autism.

Genius Genes

This article in the United Kingdom's Telegraph by Colin Blakemore reviews a new book by Irish psychiatrist Michael Fitzgerald. Called Genius Genes: How Asperger Talents Changed the World, it poses the following conundrum:

"As both our knowledge of human genetics and our ability to modify genetic function advance, we shall have to face up to the question of what constitutes normality and what defines a disease.
The richness of humanity and the power of our culture are, in no small way, attributable to the diversity of our minds. Do we want a world in which the creativity linked to the oddness at the fringes of normality is medicated away?"

People with Autism Sought by Microsoft

Cliff Saran posts at ComputerWeekly.com that Microsoft has hired people with autism through a Danish consultant as software checkers.

Larry King

The Thursday, February 14th episode of Larry King Live will feature Jason MacElwain ("J-Mac"), Holly Robinson Peete, Doug Flutie, and Toni Braxton to "bust the myths and present breakthroughs" about autism.

Social Skills Site

A 27 year old Canadian man named Chris, who describes himself as a "(mostly) recovered shy, awkward guy" has created a website filled with practical advice for young adults seeking to improve their social skills. It includes a whole page devoted to high school. Also includes a blog noting recent updates.

Study Links Autism to Immune System

Carrie Peyton Dahlberg reports in the Sacramento Bee about a UC Davis study that found "11 genes, all governing "natural killer" immune cells, that are more active in autistic children than in other youngsters."

Researchers Frank Sharp and Jeff Gregg are part of the M.I.N.D. Institute, which is currently doing a lot of research on autism.

Autism in Girls

ABC's Nightline did a special report on autism in girls, reported by John Donovan.

Series: Our Children's Brains

Here is an interesting series of articles mostly put together by reporter Robbie Woliver of the Long Island Press. Includes topics like Auditory Processing Disorder, autism, and Asperger's, along with other issues like depression in children.

Summary of Research

This article by in Ashley Pettus Harvard Magazine provides a nice overview of research on possible causes of autism spectrum disorders. This sounds intriguing:
"The researchers are paying particular attention to networks of genetic activity that affect 12 genes already known to play a role in autism. These are genes that regulate the brain’s response to environmental stimuli, affecting learning and memory by regulating the plasticity of connections between neurons. Here, the work of Michael Greenberg, professor of neurology and neuroscience and director of neurobiology at Children’s Hospital, has been critical. Greenberg looks at animals to examine how experience shapes the formation and refinement of synapses during brain development. He believes that autism-spectrum disorders may result from flaws in synapse development that affect the brain’s ability to process incoming signals. During the first years of postnatal development, trillions of synapses form in the brain as a child interacts with his or her surroundings; many synapses that aren’t needed naturally fall away, while others are strengthened. One possibility, Greenberg suggests, is that this pruning process doesn’t happen effectively in people with autism."

Using Second Life

Ashley Phillips at ABC News reports on researchers using Second Life to aid in the improvement of social skils for people with Asperger's Syndrome.
"As a treatment, professionals that include occupational therapists and psychiatrists take patients through a series of exercises, in groups and individually, designed to help them learn social skills. In the center's new therapy, patients may have a job interview with a "boss" character or learn to ask another avatar out on a date. "