The Autism News

The Autism News | English

By SHARON ASCHAIEK| The Observer | SPECIAL TO SUN MEDIA

Finishing homework, making friends and dealing with bullying are what typically preoccupy parents as help their children succeed at school.

But when it comes to special needs kids, there’s much more to handle: ensuring customized instruction, securing access to appropriate learning tools, ensuring sufficient supervision, and more.

“Parents really need to understand the school system, and they have to know what their children are entitled to,” says special education advocate Lindsay Moir.

Moir is a former Ministry of Education special education specialist who now runs Comhnadh Consulting, which helps parents, agencies and associations obtain appropriate special education for exceptional pupils in Ontario. He offers parents of schoolchildren with special needs such as autism, ADD, ADHD or fetal alcohol syndrome the following tips:

Focus on needs, not services When meeting with school administrators and teachers, Moir says, parents should focus on their children’s needs, and let the school worry about how to meet them.

“Parents will often say, my child needs an EA (educational assistant). You need to say, my child needs close adult supervision to keep him safe, or needs to be taught social skills on a one-to-one basis, and your child is entitled to have their needs met,” Moir says.

“If you say you need an EA, they start talking money and budget. When you say, they need adult supervision to ensure their safety, their thinking goes in a different direction.”

Talk about the how

Once you’ve established your child’s needs, he says, discuss the steps involved to best meet them. Explain to them the strategies you’re using to help your child function and achieve success, and how they could be implemented in the classroom.

“You’re going to show them what needs to be done. You’re not moving your child’s therapy into school and asking the teachers to be therapists, so much as making them better observers of your child and facilitators of strategies,” he says.

Be cooperative

Having a collaborative approach will help you achieve better services for your child, he says, even, in some cases, ones typically not typically accepted in school settings.

Many kids with autism, for instance, require a certain amount of one-on-one instruction and support of an applied behaviour analyst (ABA) therapist to help them perform in and integrate into a classroom of typical children.

While schools won’t allow these therapists into schools–a controversial matter in many provinces–parents may be able to work out their own arrangements with their school principals.

“This is happening in individual cases, and those success stories spawn other people to other try it,” he says.

Write it down

When discussing your child’s special education needs and services with school personnel, be sure to get everything in writing, Moir says. The more detailed your notes, he says, the better you’ll be able to access the services that were promised to your child.

“I can always say I misunderstood you, but if you give me something in writing, it’s less open to misunderstanding,” he says.

Be persistent and well informed

You are your child’s best advocate who most fully understands their needs, Moir says, so it’s up to you to educate yourself about what the school system owes your child, and to be dogged in your pursuit of sufficient and personalized services for him or her.

“No is just a barrier to get around. You need to say to them, if you have helped me as much as you can, who do I need to go to next,” he says. “The ability to be well informed and persistent is the key to success.”

Source: http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1707936

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English aba, add, ADHD, autism, autistic, Bullying, fetal alcohol syndrome, homework, special-needs students

The Autism News | English

By Tara Parker-Pope | The New York Times

Raising a child with any developmental disability or behavior problem is difficult. But is there something uniquely stressful about autism? That is the question researchers at the University of Washington Autism Center tried to answer in a study of mothers of children with developmental disabilities.

I spoke with Annette Estes, associate director of the center, about the research and how it might make a difference for parents of children with autism. Here’s our conversation.

Q
Isn’t it obvious that having a child with autism would be stressful for parents?

A
What we were interested in is the evidence that is starting to come out that parents of children with autism were reporting higher levels of stress than parents of children with developmental delays. We know parents who have children with any kind of disability have more requirements and more demands on them than parents of typically developing children. We wanted to better understand what was making the added difference for parents of children with autism.

Q
Can you tell me a little more about what you were trying to learn from this study?

A
It’s a study of mothers of children with developmental disabilities, including a group that had autism. In this sample, we had 51 children with autism disorder and 22 who had developmental delays without autism. The children were all three to four years of age We looked at problem behaviors and daily living skills. Things like irritability, agitation, crying, hyperactivity — these are difficult behaviors that are elevated with a range of disabilities and a little more elevated in our kids with autism. And we looked at daily living skills — things like feeding, dressing, toileting, bathing and, for pre-school kids, simple chores like starting to help put away toys. We evaluated the overall contribution these issues were making to parents’ overall stress.

Q
Why did your study just focus on moms? Don’t fathers also experience stress when their children have developmental problems?

A
We did try to study dads. When we started this study, the dads were not as likely to fill out the questionnaires. We just didn’t have enough of a sample. We kind of peeked at the data. The dads were really similar to the moms, but we couldn’t make any scientific conclusions.

Q
So what did you learn?

A
The parents in the autism group had higher levels of parenting stress and psychological distress compared to moms of children with disabilities without autism. They had higher levels of stress, but the relationship of the stress to problem behavior was different. Problem behavior accounted for more of the stress in moms of children with development delays without autism. For parents of children with autism, even though problem behavior was significantly related to stress, there was more to the story that we did not uncover.

Q
How did having a child who was behind in daily living skills like dressing himself or using the toilet influence stress levels?

A
What was really surprising, as a mom myself, I expected daily living skills and problem behaviors together would be related to stress. But that wasn’t increasing parenting-related stress. Even though the kids had difficulties compared to their same-age peers, that was not what was driving it.

Q
So you’re saying that having to work harder to take care of your child or having a child with problem behaviors doesn’t fully explain all of the stress these parents are under. What else is going on? Is it hopelessness, fear for the future, a lack of support that is causing the additional stress?

A
There are so many challenges that parents face. We could speculate about them, but in the end I think we might be surprised about what is the thing that’s making the difference for parents. I think we need to understand that. Parents are so crucial to providing early intervention and early identification of autism. There is a lot we still need to learn as professionals to know how to support parents in this increased role they have.

Q
So how is this information useful?

A
This finding was counterintuitive. If a child has more needs in getting dressed and in other daily living skills, that means the parents are working harder. But the hard work of parenting is not what is causing these parents stress. But some of it is coming from the behavior side. That’s a good thing for us to know. When we’re providing early intervention to children with autism, there are a lot of choices that the interventionists can make in terms of what to target first, how to prioritize the list of needs children present with. The study suggests that some of the difficult behavior problems should be a priority.

Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/for-mothers-the-stress-of-autism/?hp

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English add, ADHD, Annette Estes, autism, autistic, Raising a child, stress, University of Washington Autism Center

The Autism News | English

By The Super Allergy Girl

There is a growing interest in the relationship between food and health as more and more consumers reach for organic foods and foods made without chemicals, hormones and additives. Motivational speaker and specialty cookbook author Lisa A. Lundy makes available for the first time to the public a document aptly titled “Could Food Be Making You Sick and Tired?” which you can now download free from her website. The document is an excellent primer addressing why there is such an explosion in the gluten-free diet, the value that the Feingold Association (www.Feingold.org) offers to people who want to be healthy, as well as the prevalence of celiac disease and other health conditions that are often helped by a change in diet including autism, ADD, ADHD, gastrointestinal issues, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel, behavioral, emotional and learning issues in children, allergies, depression and anxiety for starters.

Once source for people feeling sick or tired can be undiagnosed celiac disease. According to the University of Chicago’s Celiac Disease Program, just over 3 million Americans have celiac disease, yet 97 percent of the people with celiac disease are undiagnosed. Celiac disease is more common than several other diseases that have become “household” words such as epilepsy, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that can affect both children and adults. In people with an active case of celiac disease, eating gluten, an amino acid sequence found in wheat, barley, rye, some oats and other grains containing gluten, triggers the body’s immune response and can damage or destroy the villi in the small intestine. While there is no cure for celiac disease, strict adherence to a gluten-free diet is the recommended treatment. Undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease increases the risk of cancer by 200-300% according to a fact sheet produced by the Celiac Sprue Association USA, Inc., a non-profit consumer organization dedicated to supporting individuals with celiac disease has a website with information and resources on the topic: www.CSACeliacs.org

“More and more Americans are reaching for organic foods and foods made without additives, preservatives and food dyes because consumers are realizing that food can have a big impact on how they feel. U.S. food manufacturers are reacting to consumer demand and preferences by removing additives,” Lundy stated. “It is an exciting time for consumers as we now see some of the major food producers on TV promoting the fact that their food is either organic or made without hormones, antibiotics, preservatives or additives” Lundy said.

Lundy is the author of The Super Allergy Girl™ Allergy & Celiac Cookbook (From A Mother Who Knows™), a gluten-free, casein-free, dairy-free, egg-free, peanut and tree-nut free and other allergen-free resource for both the beginner and experienced baker. She has more than a decade of experience with food allergies and celiac disease and has taught gluten-free baking classes in the Western New York community for many years.

Her cookbook, with more than 225 excellent recipes and over 100 pages of essential information has received extraordinary reviews from other mothers as well as from internationally known physicians like Doris J. Rapp, M.D. www.DrRapp.com. Order now to receive 10% off the list price of this exceptional book from www.TheSuperAllergyCookbook.com using the promotional code SICKandTIRED on the order. The 10% discount expires on July 31, 2009, and has a limit of one per customer.

Baking Videos for Allergy-Free Foods:

One Gluten-free, Allergy-free Recipe Multiple Uses: Part I

A terrific, versatile recipe used to make gluten-free and allergy-free rolls, French bread, Danish, waffles, coffee rolls, pizza crust, and bread sticks! Preheat oven to 350˚F.

One Gluten-free, Allergy-free Recipe Multiple Uses: Part II

Part II of the versatile recipe used to make gluten-free and allergy-free rolls, French bread, Danish, waffles, coffee rolls, pizza crust, and bread sticks!

Tips for Gluten-Free and Allergy-Free Baking

Suggestions include using an oven thermometer, measurement equivalents, rolls vs. bread, and proofing yeast.

Special Pans for Special Effects in Gluten-Free Baking

Get a look at some of the various specialty baking pans that will give your gluten-free, casein-free, and allergy-free foods a great look

Save Time and Money on Gluten-Free and Allergy Diets

Great time-saving and money-saving suggestions for those on special allergy-free and gluten-free diets.

Ready-Made Gluten-Free, GFCF, and Allergen-Free Foods

See some of the commercially available gluten-free and GFCF foods for consumers on special diets.

Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Candy Making–Getting Started

Chocolates that are gluten-free, casein-free and allergy free are easy to make at home with your children.

Coloring Eggs for the Egg-Allergic

Here’s an alternative to dyeing eggs for those who are allergic to real eggs. See how you can have just as much fun with wooden eggs and paints!

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English, English add, ADHD, allergies, anxiety, autism, behavioral, cookbook, Crohn's disease, depression, emotional and learning issues in children, food, gastrointestinal issues, health, Help for People Who Are Sick and Tired, irritable bowel, Lisa A. Lundy, organic foods, The Super Allergy Girl

The Autism News | English

By WHAS11 | Local News | Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) – Doctors at the University of Louisville are using magnets to help lessen autism symptoms.

With the help of a grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers will conduct a 4-year clinical trial combining magnetic therapy with behavioral therapy.

A pilot study at U of L shows that using a particular type of magnetic field near the brain can lessen the symptoms of autism.

The researchers are looking for autistic children to take part in the clinical trial.

Parents who want more information can call 502-852-0404.

Source: http://www.whas11.com/news/local/stories/whas11-topstory-090622-autism-magnets-study.1676a60f.html

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English, English add, ADHD, ASD, asperger, autistic, behavioral therapy, doctors, lesson autism symptoms, magnets, National Institutes of Health, U of L, University of Louisville

The Autism News | English

Without a Pa. tax increase, he said in Bryn Mawr, years of progress will be reversed. The GOP disputed that.

By Chris Mondics | Philadelphia Inquirer

With Pennsylvania’s budget deadline rapidly approaching, Gov. Rendell warned yesterday that proposed Republican budget cuts would reverse years of progress in autism treatment, and he urged parents of autistic children to pressure lawmakers to vote for an increase in the income tax to preserve the programs.

Rendell, a Democrat, said that his proposal for an income tax increase lasting three years had encountered stiff opposition and that the antitax sentiment had intimidated some lawmakers.

“We have the power to change things,” Rendell said of his administration and the legislature. “Take a little risk. Do the right thing.”

Republicans responded that cuts to autism services had been limited to public awareness and other information programs and would not affect treatment.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman of Centre County said there was “zero” chance that an increase in the income tax would pass the Republican-controlled Senate.

“I understand that the governor is well-intentioned,” he said, “but this is not the time to ask the people of Pennsylvania for more money. People are hurting.”

Rendell spoke at a rally at Bryn Mawr College in support of expanded autism services. Saying he needed six more votes in the Senate, he urged the more than 100 people in attendance to contact lawmakers and urge them to vote for the tax increase.

Otherwise, years of hard-won advances would be reversed, he said.

“All cuts are not the same,” Rendell said. “We rejected these cuts because the programs are so important.”

Of his proposed tax increase, he said: “We can do this if we can convince the Senate Republicans to do those things that we think are the right thing to do.”

Rendell’s remarks echoed his warnings last week as he traveled the state, where he said economic-development programs would be reduced if the legislature failed to raise taxes and the state’s $3.5 billion budget gap was not closed.

Under the state constitution, the governor and legislature have until June 30 to adopt a new budget, but Corman and others say it is highly unlikely that they will make that deadline. For one thing, Corman predicted, Democrats would have a hard time finding votes for a tax increase in their own caucus.

Though it faces a deadline, the state will likely be able to function for at least a few weeks while Rendell and the legislature try to find common ground.

The rally at Bryn Mawr’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research was attended by autistic children, their parents, and other relatives.

One theme emerged: Services for autistic children, though expanded in recent years, virtually disappear once the children turn 21. As the disorder is diagnosed in more and more people, the need for state programs to back up hard-pressed parents will only grow.

“For parents with autistic children, the single most important number is 21, when educational services end,” said David Fine, a Harrisburg lawyer at the rally whose son, Kenneth, is autistic. “We know our efforts will not be enough.”

Rendell contended that his proposal for a temporary income tax increase was a modest initiative. At 3.07 percent, the state’s personal income tax is among the lowest in the nation, far below those in New York and New Jersey.

Rendell is proposing a 16.3 percent increase to 3.57 percent that would end after three years. Even the higher rate would be the third-lowest in the nation, he said.

He estimated that the tax increase would add $5 a week to the tax bill of a family with an annual income of $50,000, the average in Pennsylvania.

Source: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090621_Rendell__Autism_services_at_stake.html

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English add, ADHD, ASD, autism, autistic children, Bryn Mawr, budget, Governor Ed Rendell, Jake Corman, Pennsylvania

The Autism News | English

By Lynn and Randy Gaston | Baltimore Autism Examiner

Happy Fathers Day to the great group of dads that also happen to be a father to a child or adult with autism.

These men are extra special people who work harder than any other father you can imagine. Not only do they work full-time jobs or run businesses they also are actively involved in the raising of their son or daughter with autism. They are their voice when no one will listen. They schedule their own daily life around their sons and daughters needs.

They are involved in their loved ones education, their day to day activities, their countless hours of speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, Floortime therapy, and Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy (ABA).   Most-of-all, they are there every day when it matters most.

These men try to teach their son or daughter with autism simple things like throwing a baseball, riding a bicycle or kicking a soccer ball. These feats might take months to accomplish for their son or daughter which doesn’t come naturally for a child with autism like it does for a neurotypical child. These dads don’t throw in the towel no matter how tough life gets. They keep going. They don’t quit. They don’t give up. They love their son or daughter with autism unconditionally and it shows.

Whether the parents of the child or adult with autism are married, separated or divorced, they are still active participants in their daily lives. At the end of the day, when everything is said and done, they put their child’s needs above their own. It is all about their loved one. You are truly an inspiration to other dads.

Happy Father’s Day!!!

Enjoy your day – you deserve it.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-12894-Baltimore-Autism-Examiner~y2009m6d21-Fathers-Day-for-Dads-with-children-or-adults-with-autism

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English add, ADHD, ASD, autism, autistic, father to a child, father's day

The Autism News | English

By Anne Hart | Sacramento Nutrition Examiner

Scientists say it’s still not conclusive, but baffling as it is, a recent Swedish study published in March 2009 has linked vinyl flooring to autism. See the March 31, 2009, Scientific American article, “Scientists Find ‘Baffling’ Link between Autism and Vinyl Flooring.” The link between homes or apartments with vinyl flooring and autism is the phthalates in the vinyl that creep out. Homes with wooden or linoleum floors aren’t affected.

Swedish scientists began by first studying indoor air pollutants causing allergies and asthma, when the results turned up about the phthalates in the vinyl linked to autism. You can read a growing body of scientific studies showing evidence that autism and asthma are connected to phthalates that turn up in vinyl flooring, vinyl shower curtains, and other similar plastics.

It’s not food allergies or mercury in vaccines this time. It’s the phthalates in vinyl flooring and vinyl shower curtains. Phthalates are one of the ingredients put in soft plastic that have been studied due to the connection between phthalates and allergies, including asthma.

Contact the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice if you need more information to understand the technical issues and questions you have about chemical exposures. A co-author of the study is Bernard Weiss, a professor of environmental medicine at University of Rochester. The researchers found vinyl flooring associated with autism.

Also involved in the study were the mother’s smoking, family economic problems, and condensation on windows. Scientists looked also for poor ventilation. But why pick on plastics rather than smoking and poor ventilation? The answer is that babies and toddlers sleeping and playing in bedrooms with vinyl, or PVC, floors were twice as likely to have autism five years later, in 2005, than those with wood or linoleum flooring.  You can read the study in the Journal of Neurotoxicology.

Also see the study, Autism Spectrum Disorders in Relation to Distribution of Hazardous Air Pollutants in the San Francisco Bay Area. See another study, Predicting residential exposure to phthalate plasticizer emitted from vinyl flooring: a mechanistic analysis.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials have been linked to asthma in several epidemiologic studies, but the possible causal factors remain unknown. See Experimental PVC material challenge in subjects with occupational PVC exposure.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) seems to be the culprit along with vinyl flooring. “A greater proportion of children with autism spectrum disorder were reported to have PVC as flooring material in the child’s and the parent’s bedroom in 2000 compared to children without autism spectrum disorder,” the scientists wrote in the Journal Neurotoxicology. “Furthermore, children with autism spectrum disorder were reported to live in homes with more condensation on the inside of the windows, which…may be seen as an indicator for deficient ventilation.”

Children in the Swedish study also were twice as likely to have autism if their mothers smoked cigarettes. The autistic children also were more likely to have asthma. You can read more on this topic in the Journal Neurotoxicology.

Research the lead investigator’s publication. Carl-Gustav Bornehag of Karlstad University in Sweden is the lead investigator on this study. He found in 2004 a high rate of asthma and allergies among children living in households with dust containing phthalates.

Read Dr. Bornehag’s article, Modern Chemicals and Indoor Environment. Indoor air researchers are studying phthalates, chemicals added to plastics (PVC) to make them soft, pliable, and useful that are found in indoor air and dust.

Dr. Bornehag’s article also notes, “One plasticizer, DEHP has been measured by Swedish, Danish, and American researchers in indoor air at concentrations that might typically result in daily human intake approaching the daily dose of the estrogenic compounds in widely-used birth control pills. So, it is suggested, that as a result of the widespread use of plastics containing these hormone-like chemicals, in some indoor environments, occupants may be inhaling the mass-equivalent of the estrogenic component of a birth control pill every day.”

It’s not only the vinyl flooring or the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials. It’s also the dust in the house, dust so small you can’t see it that contain phthalates and continuously float in the air where the family breathes it constantly in the bedroom or any other room where people spend long hours.

Global phthalate ester production has increased from very low levels at the end of World War II to approximately 3.5 million metric tons/year. See the article, The Association between Asthma and Allergic Symptoms in Children and Phthalates in House Dust: A Nested Case-Control Study.

At this time, scientists have found a link between vinyl flooring and autism and PVCs and autism with links to asthma and allergies. The direct link is not conclusive as yet, but the evidence is accumulating fast. According to Dr. Bonehag’s article, “Chemical exposure historically has been dominated by occupational exposure, but today we know that chemical exposures are dominated by products widely used in the home environment and in daily life.”

See the article, Asthma and Allergic Symptoms in Children and Phthalates in House: Discussion. Phthalate dust concentrations in the home, especially in the bedrooms have been studied. It’s notable that increases in autism, asthma, and allergies have occurred during a period when plasticized products have become ubiquitous in the homes, schools, and workplaces of the developed world. Phthalates as well as PVCs are showing up in people’s urine and in the blood of newborns.

Although inconclusive currently, it’s only a matter of time when scientists will be able to tell parents whether their children’s autism has anything to do with the vinyl floors and shower curtains in the home, especially in the bedrooms. But the evidence looks promising.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-7160-Sacramento-Nutrition-Examiner~y2009m6d19-How-vinyl-flooring-is-linked-to-autism

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English add, ADHD, ASD, autism, Autism Spectrum Disorders, autistic, Bernard Weiss, Distribution of Hazardous Air Pollutants, Dr. Bornehag, Journal Neurotoxicology, phthalates, PVC, Swedish study, University of Rochester, vinyl flooring

The Autism News | English

Dear friends,

We are calling on you for your support.

We are on the verge of launching Zac Browser v1.5 which includes a brand new website.

We would require your testimonial (parents, youth workers, specialized centers, therapists, etc.)  Could you be kind enough to send us a short account along with a picture of your child and/or family and/or organization.

Zac Browser was originally designed for a family challenge however it has spread out across the world and is now being used by close to a million people.

The exact causes for Autism has never been clearly identified to date and yet millions of people are affected throughout the world.

While researchers and specialists concentrate on identifying the cause, Zac Browser will specialize in supplying tools for children, teenagers and adults that have been touched by the spectrum of autism.

We are committed to reach out to the populations of the world in all languages, to have people better understand autism and how to deal with it. The only thing that we require of you to make our job easier and continue in our endeavours, is your own testimonial.

Our Internet site contains kind stories heaped on us by the media and it’s thanks to them that we are enjoying the success that we are.

On our next Internet site, we wish to put emphasis on users that have experienced positive results using Zac Browser.

We find it very important for the end-user and want you to be in the forefront on our new website to be launched shortly.

Please forward your testimonial and picture to: zac@peoplecd.com before June 26, 2009.

We thank you for your kind support.

Yours sincerely,
John LeSieur
www.zacbrowser.com

The Autism News English add, ADHD, ASD, asperger, autism, autistic, digg, Facebook, John LeSieur, my space, People CD, Zac Browser

The Autism News | English

In new research in mice, scientists have discovered that the mother’s fetal brain antibodies are circulated back to the fetus through the placenta, possibly triggering inflammation in the brain that could eventually result in autism.

By The Vancouver Sun | Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – While a mother of an autistic child is pregnant, she develops an immune response to her fetus’s brain. As part of that immune response, her body develops antibodies that can attack the fetal brain. Now, in new research in mice, scientists have discovered that the mother’s fetal brain antibodies are circulated back to the fetus through the placenta, possibly triggering inflammation in the brain that could eventually result in autism.

At the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Harvey Singer and colleagues took antibodies from human mothers of autistic children and injected them into pregnant mice, exposing the unborn mice pups to the antibodies as they circulated through the placenta. A second group of pregnant mice was injected with antibodies from mothers of non-autistic children. A third group of pregnant mice got no injections at all.

According to the researchers, autistic-like symptoms developed in the mice exposed before birth to the antibodies from the mothers of autistic children. For example, the affected mice behaved more anxiously, spent less time in open spaces, and were more hyperactive. They were also more easily startled by loud noises and were less social.

The differences between these mice and the pups that were not exposed prenatally to antibodies from mothers of autistic children became more pronounced as the animals moved from infancy to adulthood. As they aged, their autistic-like symptoms became more apparent. This pattern is also seen in humans with autism, who tend to develop new or more pronounced autistic symptoms over time.

“Comparing mice to humans is tricky,” Singer cautioned in a prepared statement, “and we should be cautious anytime we do so, but our findings strongly suggest that the behaviors we observed in the offspring of mice injected with fetal brain antibodies from human mothers did behave in a manner that mimics some behaviors seen in people with autism.”

“Autism is a complex disorder and it would be naïve to assume there’s a single mechanism that can cause it,” he said. “It’s most likely the cumulative effect of several factors, including genes, metabolism, and the environment. We believe we have identified one of those factors.”

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/Health/Mother+antibodies+contribute+autism/1531451/story.html

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English add, ASD, autism, autistic, Baltimore, contribute to autism, Harvey Singer, Johns Hopkins Hospital, mice, Mother's antibodies, pregnant, pups, triggering inflammation

The Autism News | English

By ESPN | Associated Press

TULSA, Okla. — When Drew Brees signed with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent, he knew he had to provide the promise of hope to the hurricane-ravaged city.

But more importantly, he wanted to actually deliver it.

Just telling children in New Orleans that he wanted to help raise money to overhaul schools, parks and athletic fields wouldn’t do. He wanted to make sure “Operation Kids: Rebuilding Dreams” became a reality.

“To put yourself on the line and say you’re going to raise $1.8 million, that’s kind of a gutsy deal especially when, I think, there had been a lot of broken promises down there,” Brees said Monday night before the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards.

“We wanted to make sure that people knew that we were accountable to what we said we were going to do, we would follow through with it and we were able to do that.”

Brees was the male honoree at the annual ceremony that recognizes athletes for being good citizens and helping others. Former Olympic weightlifter Melanie Roach, an advocate for autism research, was the female honoree.

Brees was chosen for his work with his “Brees Dream Foundation,” which started out as a way to raise funds for children’s cancer research. When Brees signed with the Saints months after Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005, he found a new cause that needed his aid — but still keeping with the mission of his foundation, which has “always been about kids.”

“In seven years, we’ve been able to either raise or commit $4.5 million. It’s been tough,” Brees said. “It’s been tough at times, especially in this economy. To raise money, you continue to have to find creative ways to do it.

“It’s challenging, but then when it’s all said and done you see the result of it all and you see the impact that it makes and it makes it all worth it.”

Brees talked about an edible schoolyard that was built at a charter school in New Orleans, where children grow food in a garden that is later used for their meals. The idea is to foster learning of both gardening and culinary skills.

The project was a part of the “Operation Kids” program that recently reached its fundraising goal for its first phase. Brees said he’s working to identify more schools and parks to that need help during a planned second phase.

“I think that there’s a sense of pride about the city and this passion for just living,” Brees said. “That’s one thing I can say about the people of New Orleans: There’s a passion for living and it’s infectious.”

Brees recalled attending a football camp hosted by Warren Moon and a basketball camp with Avery Johnson when he was growing up in Texas, and figured he had to do his part when he became a high-profile athlete.

“I can remember specifically all these camps and these guys and what they said. When I got to college and was a college athlete and then into the NFL, I realized if these kids are looking up to me as much as I looked up to professional athletes when I was a kid, I understand the importance of being a good role model and giving back to the community,” Brees said.

Roach got involved after her son, Drew, was diagnosed with autism at age 2, as she was working to overcome a serious back injury that kept her out of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

“It was kind of a steep learning curve. It was a rough year and there was truly a mourning process when my child was diagnosed with autism,” Roach said.

“For me, I really didn’t know where to turn and there wasn’t a lot available at the time.”

Since then, she has worked with Athletes Against Autism, hoping to raise awareness of the disorder and try to find a cure. She has also been advocating for insurance coverage of autism treatment, a hot issue in the Oklahoma Legislature this past year. Gov. Brad Henry’s call for an autism mandate and proposals for the coverage by legislators were defeated in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

“Every chance that I get to talk to youth, I tell them to find their talents that they can use to help impact the lives of others, and that’s what your blessing is,” Roach said.

“To receive an award for my work with autism, I would do it no matter what. It’s just such an honor.”

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4261720

Please share this news with friends, family and also with your contact list on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

The Autism News English add, ASD, autism, autistic, child, Drew Brees, Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards, hurricane-ravaged city, New Orleans, New Orleans Saints, Operation Kids, Operation Kids: Rebuilding Dreams