Senator Bob Casey:Peace of Mind for Parents of Children With Disabilities

Each year, Dan and Jenn are able to save for Carina's college education by putting away money tax-free in a 529 education savings account. But the tax code restricts them from saving tax-free for Carina's younger brother Sean, who was born with Down Syndrome. Dan and Jenn work hard every day to provide everything they possibly can for their children but they were distressed when they realized saving for Sean's long-term health care, housing and educational needs was nearly impossible under current law. They found it ironic that the child in their family that might need the most financial assistance during his lifetime was the one they could not save for.

Dan and Jenn thought that was wrong and so do we. That's why we have introduced legislation to help Dan and Jenn, and millions of other parents with disabled children, access the same financial tools that children without a disability have.

Families currently can save for their children's education through tax-advantaged 529 education savings accounts. Our Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act would expand the use of 529 accounts to help cover disability related expenses, enabling parents of children with disabilities as well as older individuals with disabilities to put aside money to help cover anticipated long-term costs.

Here's how it works. The ABLE Act creates a new type of 529 savings plan that would allow individuals with disabilities and their families to save money to be used for education, medical and dental care, job training, housing, transportation and other expenses. Contributions to the account would grow tax-free and withdrawals for disability expenses would also be tax-free.

Our starting point is simple: Individuals with disabilities and their parents who care for them should have access to the same kinds of savings tools as the broader population.

The federal government encourages Americans to save for their retirements through 401(k) plans and for education through education savings accounts or 529 plans. These tax-deferred saving plans are now such a fundamental part of how families prepare for the future we barely think of them as public policy. But of course they are. Our legislation applies this successful model to help people with disabilities and their families save for costs they will likely encounter down the road.

In the past two decades, people with disabilities have made significant progress. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law by President Bush more than 20 years ago, opened new doors and solidified a change in attitude in this country. Barriers to employment have been knocked over. Buildings are more accessible. Equal opportunity in our schools is no longer a dream for children with disabilities.

However, adults with disabilities continue to confront significant economic challenges, facing unemployment and poverty rates far higher than the overall population. In 2010, the poverty rate for people with a disability was more than double that of those with no disability and workers with a disability experienced an unemployment rate more than 5 percentage points higher than those without one.

Parents of children with disabilities also face significant financial challenges. The average cost of raising a child with a significant medical disability is more than $1 million over the course of the child's lifetime.

The tax-free saving accounts authorized by the ABLE Act would help families plan for and meet future needs. Creating an ABLE account is as easy as opening an account at your local bank. Because it builds on the 529 college savings program people already know about and use, it would be simple to get started. ABLE accounts could be managed online. And anyone would be able to contribute.

The money saved in the ABLE account would supplement rather than replace benefits from core government programs, such as Medicaid. These additional funds would support individuals as they encounter a range of expenses related to their disability -- expenses such as tutoring, home and vehicle modification, and job training.

Nearly one in five Americans has a disability. Many are children who have long, productive lives ahead of them. Under current law, these young people cannot save more than $2,000 in assets without losing health care and other federal benefits. The ABLE Act would change that, ensuring that a person with a disability or his parents would be able to save for the future without jeopardizing the benefits they count on.

With a small change to the 529 savings program, we can make a big improvement in the lives of millions of Americans living with a disability.

And Dan and Jenn, and millions of parents like them, will finally be able to save for the futures of all of their children.

Parenting Teens on the Spectrum

But, most important: “Don't think that there's a different, better child ‘hiding’ behind the autism,” she warns. “This IS your child. Love the child in front of you. Encourage his strengths, celebrate his quirks, and improve his weaknesses, the way you would with any child. You may have to work harder on some of this, but that's the goal.”

http://www.boston.com/community/moms/blogs/in_the_parenthood/2010/05/autism_awareness_parenting_teenagers_on_the_spectrum.html

MTV JENKS with Chad a 20yr old with Autism

MTV JENKS

 Can't Make Me Be

While living with Chad, a 20-year-old with autism, Jenks experiences not only the challenges of this condition, but discovers a smart, hilarious, and heroic young man.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/world-of-jenks-ep-2-cant-make-me-be/1647734/playlist.jhtml#series=2211&seriesId=535&channelId=1

Children with Autism Improve Key Thinking Skills Over Time

Health US News. Com

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-parenting/2010/09/17/children-with-autism-improve-key-thinking-skills-over-time

Oxytocin – the love hormone – could cure shyness

The Telegraph.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8020464/Oxytocin-the-love-hormone-could-cure-shyness.html

High functioning versus low functioning autism - it's more complex than you think

American Chronicle.com

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/43650

Shifting Focus: Eight Facts About Autism the Media Is Not Covering

The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism

Article by Holly Robinson Peete

www.hollyrod.org

http://thinkingautismguide.blogspot.com/2010/10/shifting-focus-eight-facts-about-autism.html

Siblings of Autistic Children May Also Have Subtle Traits

 http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/644301.html

Businessweek.com

As many as one in five siblings of children with autism may have subtler problems with language and speech, according to new research involving nearly 3,000 children.

What isn't yet clear is if these problems indicate a milder form of an autism spectrum disorder, or exactly what type of intervention, if any, might be needed to help these youngsters.

"Smaller studies have reported that in families with children with autism, many children who don't have an autism diagnosis have had a language delay," said the study's lead author, Dr. John Constantino, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. "When we looked at this huge sample, we saw the same thing -- about 20 percent of children presumed to be non-autistic had language delays and autistic qualities in their speech. In the general population, the prevalence of these traits is only about 7 percent," he said.

Results of the study were published in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Although many siblings of children with autism are completely unaffected by the disorder, the disorder is far more likely to strike the brother or sister of someone with autism than someone without an affected sibling. In fact, the risk of a sibling of someone with autism having the disorder is 22-fold higher, according to background information in the article.

What the current study sought to further tease out was whether or not certain autistic traits -- conditions that might not trigger a diagnosis of autism, but nonetheless could still cause problems -- might be more prevalent in siblings of children with an autism diagnosis.

The researchers used data from an American, Internet-based family register compiled by the Interactive Autism Network, which includes more than 35,000 participants. In addition to providing information about the children in their families who had been diagnosed with autism, some parents also completed a Social Responsiveness Scale questionnaire on each of the children living in their home between the ages of 4 and 18 years old.

A total of 1,235 families, including almost 3,000 children, provided all of the information necessary for the current study.

The study found that 10.9 percent of families had more than one child with an autism diagnosis, and an additional 20 percent had children who weren't diagnosed with autism, but who had language delays. Half of the group with language delays also had autistic qualities in their speech patterns.

The study also found that girls were more likely to have these subtle traits of potential autism spectrum disorder. They suggest that if these were taken into account, the current notion that there is a wide preponderance of boys versus girls diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder might narrow to as low as three boys for every two girls affected.

This study's findings also provide further evidence that autism spectrum disorders have, at least in part, a genetic basis, according to Constantino.

Scott Hunter, director of pediatric neuropsychology at the University of Chicago Medical Center, agreed that this study adds to the evidence suggesting that genes are one likely cause of autism spectrum disorders.

Because parents completed the questionnaires, this study wasn't able to determine if the siblings were experiencing a mild form of autism, or if these were isolated language delays.

Both experts thought that it would be a good idea for families with one autistic child to have their other children screened, and Hunter said that you should definitely seek a thorough evaluation if you notice any trouble in language acquisition in children who don't have autism.

"If you are a parent of a child with autism, it's probably important to talk to your pediatrician about your other child's development," said Hunter.

"The likelihood of other children in the family potentially being affected by a language or social impairment is relatively high, so keep an appropriate level of vigilance. These less-severe symptoms may nevertheless be substantially impairing in school and friendships," explained Constantino.

Both experts agreed that if intervention is necessary, treatment that's started sooner generally leads to better outcomes. But, noted Hunter, "It's never too late to intervene."

Understanding Babble as a Key to Development

Understanding Babble

New York Times.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/health/12klass.html?adxnnl=1&ref=health&src=me&adxnnlx=1318953815-lTYbs2HyQH2FhruNz3W84Q

Autism, puberty and seizures

Together for Autism.org

http://www.togetherforautism.org/articles/autism_puberty_and_seizures.php

Can a pill increase learning ability post puberty?

Science Daily.com

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100318141540.htm

Dogs for Autistic children help stress and behavior

The Telegraph.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8075612/Dogs-for-autistic-children-help-stress-and-behaviour.html

The use of specially trained dogs has become commonplace to help blind and deaf people live independently and can also help disabled people with tasks such as getting money from a cash machine and emptying a washing machine.

Now researchers are exploring how dogs may help children with autism as ancedotal evidence over a number of years has suggested they are beneficial.

A study conducted in Canada measured stress hormones in saliva and questioned parents about their child's behaviour before the introduction of a dog into the home, while they had the dog and after the dog was removed.

At the end of the study all the families had the option of keeping the dog which was provided and trained by the MIRA Foundation, in Quebec, which specialises in dogs for the blind, deaf and physically disabled.

Autistic children in 42 families were involved in the study and it was found that stress levels were lower after the introduction of the dog and parents reported fewer problem behaviours such as tantrums, anxiety and better tolerance of household noises like appliances.

On average, parents counted 33 problematic behaviours prior to living with the dog, and only 25 while living with the animal.

The findings were published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Sonia Lupien, senior researcher and a professor at the Université de Montréal Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress at Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital said: "Our findings showed that the dogs had a clear impact on the children's stress hormone levels.

“I have have not seen such a dramatic effect before.

"Introducing service dogs to children with Autism Syndrome Disorders has received growing attention in recent decades.

"Until now, no study has measured the physiological impact. Our results lend support to the potential behavioural benefits of service dogs for autistic children."

The dogs had their behaviour assessed and were trained for three months to remain calm even when their environment became chaotic.

Mark Lever, chief executive of the National Autistic Society, said: “The results of this small scale study are encouraging and it is particularly interesting that it focuses on the physiological changes in the stress levels of children with autism.

"Whilst we know that some children with autism can be scared of dogs, we regularly hear from other families who report that their children respond well to the company of dogs or develop some sort of special connection, and we are keen understand this further.

"Pilot programmes with autism assistance dogs are at a early stage in the UK and there are presently very few trained dogs available, however the NAS is keen to see these projects extended.

"We are also interested to learn more about the potential benefits of owning a pet dog. As a result, we are embarking on a research project which aims to assess the impact a pet dog can have on a child's life.

"For this, we are currently looking for families to take part in this project, and people will be able to follow the progress of the research through our website."

Autism Risk Gene May Generate a Tangle of Wiring the Brain

Discover Magazine.com

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/11/04/autism-risk-gene-may-generate-a-tangle-of-wiring-the-brain/

Toys R Us - Differently Abled Toy Guide

What is the Toys"R"Us Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids?

As a company that loves all kids, Toys"R"Us, Inc. has a long history of supporting the special needs community. For nearly 20 years, we have published the annual Toys"R"Us Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids, an easy-to-use resource featuring specially selected toys that encourage play for children with physical, cognitive or developmental disabilities.

http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3261680

Autism and the Big Question

About.com (Autism)

Autism and the Big Question "Should Normalcy be our goal"

http://autism.about.com/b/2010/11/14/autism-and-the-big-questions-part-one-should-normalcy-be-our-goal.htm

IQ Scores and Autism

A new research has revealed that many children with autism spectrum disorders are academically more capable than their IQ scores would suggest.
In a study by researchers at the University of Washington, 90 percent of autistic children showed a discrepancy between their IQ score and their performance on reading, spelling and math tests.


"Academic achievement is a potential source of self-worth and source of feeling of mastery that people may not have realized is available to children with autism," said Annette Estes, research assistant professor at the UW's Autism Center.
Thirty students with autism spectrum disorders, aged 9, were considered for their study.


IQ scores in the general population reliably predict academic performance - as measured by standardized tests for word reading, spelling and basic number skills. But results of the study showed something else.


"What we found was astounding: 27 out of the 30 children - that's 90 percent - had discrepancies between their IQ score and scores on at least one of the academic achievement tests," Estes said.
"Some scored higher and some scored lower than what their IQ score would predict," she added.
The discrepancies were especially profound in spelling and word reading, the researchers report.
They also found a link between social skills and academic ability in school.

Specifically, children who had higher social skills at age 6, including introducing themselves to others and a willingness to compromise and cooperate, had better word reading skills at age 9.
Estes said that future study would concentrate on whether or not these trends hold true in the classroom.
The study is published online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

New Approach Finds Success in Teaching Youth with Autism

Infozine.com

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/44739/

Managing Meltdowns on the Autism Spectrum

Psychology Today

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/spectrum-solutions/201011/managing-meltdowns-the-autism-spectrum

Study Finds Bias Against Boys in Diagnosing Autism

A study in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology finds that boys are more likely to be given a diagnosis of autism, even when their symptoms are equal to those of their girl peers.

The research looked at long-term data in the UK, assessing children’s symptoms, social factors, and official medical diagnoses. They found that even when girls had severe symptoms of autism, they were less likely to receive the right psychiatric diagnosis.

We know that boys are more than four times as likely to have a diagnosis of autism, and they are also more likely to have symptoms that put them on the “severe” end of the spectrum. But in this study, girls with equally severe symptoms were not acknowledged.

Why is this?

The researchers say the perception of autism as a “male” disorder, influences doctors in making a diagnosis. It’s true that autism symptoms are legitimately more likely in boys, but it clouds the picture for doctors, so that they’re more likely to miss real signs of autism in girls.

This is part of the difficulty with autism spectrum disorders: the diagnosis rests on symptoms that are grouped into categories, like difficulty with social skills, communication delays, and repetitive behaviors.

But at the end of the day — as with all psychiatric disorders – it’s a subjective call, especially when it comes to the higher-functioning end of the spectrum. That piece of subjectivity means room for error and bias on the part of mental health pros. It makes sense that the “male” stamp on the disorder weighs in here.

So are girls falling through the cracks and not getting the same support as their boy peers?

http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2010/11/18/children-with-autism-bias-in-diagnosing-boys-on-the-autism-spectrum/

Autistic children get trial run for air travel

 At 8 p.m. on a recent Saturday, Southwest Airlines Flight 2149 was poised to push back from the gate. Flight attendants gave fasten-seat belt instructions, and First Officer Peter Hayes announced, "There's 25 minutes of flight time until we touch down in Philadelphia." Capt. Todd Siems said the Boeing airliner was cruising at 37,000 feet. And after he turned off the seat belt sign, the young passengers were served complimentary Sprite, cranberry apple juice and airplane-shaped crackers.

Flight 2149 never left the gate at Philadelphia International Airport, though. It was a practice exercise for children with autism and their families to become familiar with air travel - carrying bags, getting boarding passes, going through security, waiting at the gate and sitting on the plane.
"I'm going to China, but we won't really," said an imaginative Gena Catanese, 5, of North Wales, Pa., accompanied by her parents and sisters Isabella, 6, and Emma, 3.

Just 18 months ago, Gena had a traumatic travel experience on vacation in Orlando. She expected to pre-board the plane with her family, but the protocol was she could pre-board only with one parent.

Gena became agitated and "over-stimulated," her mother, Melanie Catanese, said. "There was no way she was able to fly home that day." After receiving a frantic call, Gena's pediatrician, Wendy Ross at Albert Einstein Medical Center, phoned and faxed letters to the Orlando airport.
"I thought, 'This can never happen to one of my families again,' " Ross said. She contacted Philadelphia airport and Rick Dempsey, head of the airport's Americans With Disabilities Act review committee.

"She wanted to bring a simulated airport experience for children with autism and their families," Dempsey recalled. "The committee thought it was a great idea. The TSA bought into it. We even got an airline, Southwest, to buy into the idea." Since then, there have been three "mock" flights.
"We asked the crews if they would mind sticking around for 30 to 40 minutes and go through a mock turnaround on a flight, as if we were flying somewhere," said John Minor, Southwest's local station manager.

"We let them know that autistic children are very literal, so we don't want to say, 'We're flying to Disneyland,' " Minor said. "We just say, 'This is a test run.' " Frontier Airlines plans to host a simulated flight for autistic children Dec. 11, and US Airways Group has one planned for January. British Airways also has expressed interest, Dempsey said.

In the spring, Ross trained 130 airport and airline employees about autism, a condition diagnosed in one in 100 children annually.

"It's not something you outgrow, but if you get really good therapy you can cope better, compensate better," Ross said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111906347.html

Ballet Serves as Therapy for Those with Autism

As the holiday season approaches, it brings with it a beloved tradition that Tulsans have enjoyed for the past 40 years; Tulsa Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Running from Dec. 11 – 23 at Tulsa’s Performing Arts Center, this remarkable production will enchant young and old alike. The audience is drawn into a young girl’s heartwarming fantasy story filled with sugarplums, snowflakes, toy soldiers, adventure, heroism, and an epic battle between a Mouse King and the Nutcracker Prince. With magical choreography by Tulsa Ballet’s Artistic Director Marcello Angelini and Tchaikovsky’s musical masterpiece, it’s truly a mesmerizing holiday event that the whole family will enjoy and remember.

In addition to seeing The Nutcracker during the holiday season, many enjoy attending the ballet throughout the year. Ballet offers much more than year-round cultural entertainment and enjoyment. In fact, ballet with its wide range of dance movements can be used as a form of therapy for developmental delays, behavioral problems and autism. The Mayo Clinic describes autism as a group of serious developmental problems called autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The onset of autism generally occurs before the age of three. Though it varies in symptoms and severity, all autism disorders affect a child’s ability to communicate and interact with others.

Dance is therapeutic because it’s both a stimulating and calming activity, it’s an effective form of communication, and improves coordination and self-confidence.

New York-based Suzi Tortora, Ed.D, a certified movement analyst and dance therapist, utilizes dance therapy for children with autism, adhd, developmental delays and behavioral problems.

Through mirroring gestures and emotions, according to Tortora’s website, she uses the movement of dance to stay connected non-verbally to her autistic patients.

Additionally, Joanne Lara, M.A. Special Ed. Moderate/Severe & Multiple Disabilities, and adjunct professor at National University in the department of special education in Los Angeles, Cali. has developed an autism therapy program called Autism Movement Therapy (ATM), which incorporates music and the joy of movement to help autistic children develop skills and enjoy the fun and benefits offered by dance.

When asked what benefits ballet would have for autistic children Jennifer Sollars Miller, co-founder and resource director, The Autism Center of Tulsa, says, “The music would engage the children and I feel the movement and rhythm of ballet would have a calming effect. Many children with autism are highly anxious,” adding, “A class setting would provide an opportunity for the children to socialize doing something they enjoy.” Melinda Gable, director of marketing and PR, Tulsa Ballet, says, “Ballet offers so many benefits. It’s tremendous exercise, it develops coordination and rhythm, it builds confidence, it develops one’s musicality, and it’s fun.”

When one explores ballet, it’s easy to discover that it has something to offer for just about everyone; from bringing enjoyment during the holiday season with spectacular productions like The Nutcracker, to providing a way for autistic children to learn to engage, and experience the joy of music, movement and dance.
For information about Tulsa Ballet visit www.tulsaballet.org.

http://www.gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/8381/ballet-serves-as-therapy-for-those-with-autism

Holly Rod Foundation

Offering Help and Hope Through Compassion Care
To Families Living with Autism and Parkinson's Disease

http://www.hollyrod.org/

This Little Light of Mine by Susan Senator

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE
By Susan Senator

The diminishing daylight signifies a different thing to me than just the approach of early winter.  This seasonal change has always made me extremely anxious, because it made my son so anxious.  Nat has severe autism, and so something like inconsistent daylight and faulty timing in streetlights has had the power to upset him to the point of screaming and biting himself.  My winter days would start with those four dreaded words: “Streetlights will go off!”  — Nat’s wintertime cri de coeur – and end with my futile bedtime prayer, that the power company would change the timing of the lights so that they corresponded with the new timing of dawn.  For so many years I felt mystified and chokingly frustrated by this: why did it matter so much to him? Why couldn’t I help him understand that it was O.K. if the lights stayed on an hour or two into daylight? And more importantly: that it was not in my power to control them?

Because to Nat, it was in my power.  Everything was up to me or because of me.  But I didn’t know he felt that way.  For so long, I made the mistake of believing, like so many people, that someone with autism could not connect with other people.  That because Nat did not show how he felt about me in all the familiar social ways, that he did not care about me.  But the streetlights panic eventually showed me I was wrong.  Nat watched me like a hawk during those times – he who couldn’t sustain eye contact – hungering for me to say something, do something about the lights.  It dawned on me that this could only mean one thing:  perhaps the experts had it wrong.  Perhaps it was actually his profound attachment to me that made him believe I was all-powerful, responsible for the lights and everything else around him. Perhaps it meant that Nat – though profoundly autistic – was deeply connected to me, after all.

From the very moment I started to feel the almost unbearable joy of this truth, Nat’s behavior improved. My openheartedness caused him to relax.  Nat being relaxed buoyed me and kept my head clear. I could then explain things to him, and he could take it in.  The symbiosis was real.  The streetlights will go on, Nat, you’ll see.  It’s still too light out, that’s all.  Now you have to stop talking about it. Now, at 21, although he still mentions the lights with a quavering voice, I have faith that I can get him to understand quickly with just a little authoritative reassurance.  O.K., he says, still peering worriedly out the window – but I know he can move on from the obsessive worry.

This shift, this growth for both of us has changed everything.  I feel a new confidence, as if now it’s O.K. for me to hope for things – because he can manage his feelings, And it’s not just me anymore:  Nat is learning to communicate – before his panic sets in – with minimal spoken language with others, too.  In recent years his teachers report a new maturity in him, where he can indicate what’s bothering him – a computer that is slow to load, a school van that has arrived too early.  I note their relaxed assuredness talking about him and I wonder, did they have the same discovery I had, that his obsessive demands were actually an expression of his need for connection and feedback?

Recently I realized that with all this positive development, I was even enjoying the task of planning for his adulthood – a milestone that is universally feared among parents of children with disabilities. Even reworking our will, creating his guardianship, actually thinking about his life after we’re dead has not had the power to pull me down. Nat’s transition to adulthood feels like a chance to dream in a way I have not experienced since he was a baby, before I knew about autism.  Nat today can calm himself by timorously reaching out to others, asking the same question three times or more and stopping when I answer him firmly.  One connection builds on another, at home and at school, and his sense of safety spreads. I now let myself imagine his future mornings, how he’ll feel waking up, full of purpose as he dresses for his day program, where, I hope, he will work some of the time.  I see him maybe carrying meals in to elderly people who will smile when they see him, my eager, handsome, competent son.  I know that he will feel those smiles, even if he never really looks at them.  He will feel the attachment that he has learned is there in others, and he will relax and be one of their best workers.  Because that particular light is on – for good.

Human fetal immune system arises from entirely different source than adult immune system

Science Daily.Com

‎"The finding could lead to a better understanding of how newborns respond to both infections and vaccines"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101216165519.htm

B-Calm Device finding use for Autistic Children

Ken Budke created a noise-canceling head gear called B-Calm

   for autistic children with sensory issues

‎"My goal is not to find the cause or cure for autism, but to find a better quality of life for those with it," said Budke
 who also started a non-profit, Champions of Autism, to promote awareness. "We know this will not work on every child,
 but for those that it does help, it can be a blessing."

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- Mornings in the Hooper house are getting better.

Melissa Hooper, an Ankeny mother, used to spend hours getting her son Jaxon, 7, to fall asleep at night. The late nights translated to early morning battles and long days. The nail tech brought up her problem during a salon appointment and was pleased to hear of a potential solution.

Jo Aukes, an Ankeny special education teacher, had seen great success using an audio sedation system with her students, namely those on the autism spectrum or with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. While using the device, designed by retired Cedar Falls dentist Ken Budke and built by Curtis Carroll, an Ankeny mechanical engineer, Aukes's students were able to concentrate on school work or simply enjoy activities, like eating lunch, with their classmates.

Aukes offered to loan Hooper a set of the b-Calm headphones and soundtrack. Most nights, her son now falls asleep within 10 minutes of his head hitting the pillow.

"It is amazing. I was absolutely skeptical. We've tried everything and you will try anything when you are fighting with a kid to get him to sleep for two hours," said Hooper, whose son has ADHD. The handheld audio sedation device blends noise masking signals with live recording of natural environments. A similar device was first released in January 2008 for Budke's dental patients. He realized the device might have further reaching potential when an autistic patient found comfort in the chair and at home while wearing the headset.

"My goal is not to find the cause or cure for autism, but to find a better quality of life for those with it," said Budke, who also started a non-profit, Champions of Autism, to promote awareness. "We know this will not work on every child, but for those that it does help, it can be a blessing."

An area foundation recently contacted Budke and offered to pay for up to 50 units that could be donated to local families who might benefit from the headgear. Budke said the units are most likely to help those with noise sensory issues.

"We want to give them these headsets with the hope of reuniting the child with the family," Budke said, adding that many children with noise sensory sensitivities are unable to participate in family outings, like eating at a restaurant.

Budke said if the units work at home he hopes parents also will try to get them included in their child's individualized education plan. Aukes does progress monitoring for her students who use the devices and has seen positive results when the headgear is used.

Read More: http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/article_1cc9a911-7b9d-5a73-b823-9e01c54c62c1.html#ixzz1b926Cr1v

Autism on the Seas

http://www.alumnicruises.org/Autism/Autism_Home.htm

Autism therapy plummets post high school

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41463913/ns/health-mental_health/#.Tp1Wjt4g_UA

Many teenagers with autism stop receiving speech therapy and other needed mental and physical health care services once they leave high school, according to a new study. Graduating seniors lose access to the services they obtained through their school-based special education programs.

The loss is problematic because the need for those programs doesn't go away, said study researcher Paul Shattuck, of Washington University in St. Louis.

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And access to care as students leave high school is critical because this transition period "sets the stage for what happens in the rest of adulthood," Shattuck said.

Federal, state and local policies that were established decades ago to help adults who have developmental disabilities need to be revisited, Shattuck said. The number of children diagnosed with autism has rapidly increased in recent years, and this diverse group of patients is now entering adulthood.

"We have to recognize that the population of people who have developmental disabilities has changed," Shattuck said.

"The good news is, if we provide support and assistance, a lot of people with autism can function very well" and contribute to society, Shattuck said.

Between 1998 and 2007, the number of children ages 12-17 with autism who were enrolled in special education increased by about 15,500, to nearly 100,000, the researchers said. Children and young adults with autism often have a high need for mental and physical health services because the disorder is associated with other conditions such as attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy.


Shattuck and his colleagues analyzed data from questionnaires given to parents and guardians of young adults (ages 19 to 23) with autism. More than 400 parents and guardians answered questions about their children's use of four types of services after high school — mental healthservices, medical services, speech therapy and case management — or about the coordination of the patients' care.

The researchers found the rates of use of these services all had fallen since the students were surveyed six years earlier. Most notably, the number of students receiving speech therapy dropped from close to 75 percent to 9.1 percent. While these two estimates are not directly comparable because some of the participants discontinued the study during those six years, the results still showed a steep decline in use of services, the researchers said.

About 39 percent of the young adults did not receive any special services after high school. Teens in this group were more likely to be black and from families with low incomes.

The drop in speech therapy use may be due to cost — after students graduate, health insurance disability programs usually don't cover it, Shattuck said.

"One of the services they need the most is the one service that is essentially excluded by way of eligibility and reimbursement policies," Shattuck said.

The results are published in February issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Pass it on:There is a steep drop in use of health care services, particularly speech therapy, by young adults with autism after high school.

Testosterone may bump autism rates in males

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41671269/ns/health-mental_health/#.Tp1VOd4g_UA

Scientists Link 'Sets' of Genetic Abnormalities to Autism Risk

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/650465.html

(HealthDay News) -- While the genetic underpinnings of autism are enormously complex, new DNA research is honing in on sets of abnormal genes that may play a role in the disorder.

Researchers from the Center for Biomedical Informatics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) said that, while other scientists have theorized about a connection between gene mutations, impaired brain development, and the onset of autism, their work is the first to establish the link.

The medical problem, the CHOP researchers said, has to do with genetically driven disturbances in the way nerve cells communicate (via synapses) as well as the manner in which these communications are handled by key neural "messengers," or neurotransmitters.

"This large study is the first to demonstrate a statistically significant connection between genomic variants in autism and both [nerve cell] synaptic function and neurotransmission," senior author Peter S. White, a molecular geneticist and director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics, said in a hospital news release.

White and his colleagues report their findings in the March 1 online issue of Molecular Psychiatry.

The study authors pointed out that while prior research has implicated individual gene abnormalities with an increased risk of autism, each particular abnormality that has been identified to date has been linked to very small percentage of autism cases.

What's new about the current effort, the team said, is the uncovering of entire collections of genes with similar neural roles which, taken as a group, seem to be associated with a greater proportion of autism risk.

The finding stems from a DNA analysis involving about 1,000 autistic children and their families, as well as parallel research with mice.

Searching for links between genetic irregularities and abnormal motor control and/or learning disabilities, the study authors focused on so-called CNVs -- "copy number variations" -- that occur when the number of copies of a particular gene varies from one individual to the next. These CNVs accounted for relatively big chunks of the genetic mutations, the researchers said.

The gene sets of CNVs, they noted, are comprised of more DNA structure than simple individual "snips" of DNA. These CNV gene sets have previously been associated with a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In all, about 800 CNVs were identified as exclusive to autistic children. In addition, the CNVs in question tended to be found in genes central to the impaired biological functions that show up in autistic behavior, such as those involving synapse function, nerve cell communication, and brain development, the CHOP researchers said.

"This suggested to us that there may be many different -- possibly even hundreds -- of genetic paths to autism, with only a few gene alterations relevant to each individual patient," White said. "But if those hundreds of genes have similar roles in the nervous system, the end result may lead to the same diagnosis: an autism spectrum disorder."

"Because the gene alterations that we found influence brain development, our hope is that they may eventually provide clues to developing diagnostic tests as well as treatments for children with autism," study co-author and CHOP child psychiatrist Dr. Josephine Elia also noted in the news release.

Ashley Scott-Van Zeeland, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Scripps Translational Science Institute in San Diego, suggested that the new findings may ultimately enable researchers to approach the question of autism treatment with a broader brush.

"What this study found is that there are perhaps many autisms," she said. "There may be a number of unique or very rare genetic mutations associated with the disorder. But this suggests that they follow a common pathway that leads to autism.

"So that could mean that instead of the old paradigm of finding one mutated gene or protein and then developing a drug targeting just for that, now we could look for entire pathways involved in autism. And then potentially we could intervene with those processes with new therapeutics," she added.

David's Mother

http://www.amazon.com/Davids-Mother-Kirstie-Alley/dp/B0001WTVCK

Entertainment Weekly Movie Review

If my candor approaches rudeness, you'll have to forgive me,'' says Kirstie Alley in the midst of being David's Mother. David is a 17-year-old with autism; Alley is Sally Goodson, whose devotion to her son is so intense, it has ruined just about everything else in her life. Sally's husband (Chris Sarandon) has left her because she makes time for no one except David. And David, played by Michael Goorjian (Life Goes On), never responds to his mother, never even makes eye contact, and so Sally's incessant remarks to him — gentle instructions, blunt jokes, spat-out criticisms — are an unending monologue.

Unmindful of her own appearance, so busy trying to teach David to use silverware that she neglects to brush her own hair (''I am not playing Miracle Worker here, David — use the spoon!''), Sally is well aware that she strikes other people as a hostile frump. So she talks and talks, narrating her life with David with a glowingly bitter sarcasm. After trying in vain to get David to tell her whether he'd prefer a frozen TV dinner with lasagna or cabbage rolls, she crows with self-disgust, ''Now, this is living!''

It's this sharply unsentimental tone that immediately distinguishes David's Mother from the general run of TV movies dealing with physical or mental illness. Alley plays Sally as a ferociously angry, intelligent woman who long ago discarded her pride and her dignity. It's a fearless performance — Alley isn't afraid to make herself seem mean or pathetic. Or wrong: After a while, it becomes clear that no matter how much she loves her son, Sally's obsessive attention is probably not the only sort of care that David needs. Alley uses all the comic skills she developed on Cheers to make Sally's alienation from the rest of the world frequently hilarious; David's Mother is one of those laugh-to-keep-from-crying melodramas that, thanks to Alley, actually taps into deeper emotions.

Alley receives strong support from Stockard Channing (Six Degrees of Separation) as Sally's rueful, witty sister, and from Sam Waterston as an innocent sap of a wallpaper-store owner who meets Sally on a blind date and is foolish enough to fall in love with her. Waterston's role is particularly tricky to pull off — he must be charming and commanding enough to compel Sally to share her life with him, yet also naive enough to be comically appalled by Sally's tough-love methods with David. Waterston makes this ungainly fellow believable.

David's Mother, directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, is based on a play by Bob Randall (Kate & Allie); his television adaptation verges on the hokey — some of the lines seek pity for Sally. Then too, there's a weak subplot about a social worker (The Cosby Show's Phylicia Rashad) who threatens to take David away from Sally if she refuses to enroll him in a school for autistic children. The purpose of Rashad's character is to provide some outside tension, but the jangling nerves in Sally's dingy apartment provide quite enough, thank you. Besides, from Rashad's first appearance, it is obvious that she is much too smart and understanding a person to carry through on the patently foolish idea of separating David from Sally.

By refusing to idealize the difficulty of Sally's situation, the movie ends up giving the character of David a complexity and dignity he wouldn't otherwise have. When, in a supermarket, Sally says to a little girl who's gawking at David, ''Stop staring — you're not so pretty yourself,'' you might find yourself applauding.A-