Folks - I would really appreciate some blogger support on a project that needs PR. I too am a proud mama of a young man living with autism and I'm an equally proud mom of a young woman who veers more toward NT level of functioning. She is the "Sib Champion" in my world. Her needs must come to equal standing as those of her brother - she is his champion afterall. I started a nonprofit years ago to help care for the global needs of economically challenged families living with Autism (which includes an entire program dedicated to the academic, emotional, and recreational needs of Sibs) and I'm always looking for ways to keep the services going there (http://ihcenter.org/groups/bigskyfarm) - so here is one way I have decided to do it - write a fiction series for  folks who enjoy a good adventure. I have the sales going to our programs at "Big Sky" to hopefully beef up our ability to pay our valued intern therapists who stay on with us despite the non-payment due to horrific slashes in nonprofit funding this last year. I do NOT get paid - I am 100% volunteer at this point - and happy to be so. Would you encourage folks to hop over to this link to read a free chapter and then hopefully purchase full access to the entire first book of Wilder Nights at ( http://www.myebook.com/ksainz/ ) - there is a parental advisory sticker on the material due to a few mild words such as !@SS said in jest, but the book is very mild in nature - intended for the young adult to adults in their forties - readers who enjoy adventure, love stories, comedy, and family. Many thanks in advance to you for voicing your world as you know it.Our collective voices matter - most of all - to each other!  read more »

My son with autism has 3 sisters.  D is 21, T is 18, and MH is 11.  They all live at home with us, and sometimes (well, who am I kidding?  Most of the time) the dynamics can be downright crazy.  The 2 eldest bicker and in-fight alot, and the youngest is usually embarrassed by her older brother and his disability.  The most I ever had hoped for was that somehow, magically, they would all love each other and show kindness toward one another, but I wasn't sure how to bring that about.  I grew up the eldest of 3, with 2 younger brothers, and we all fought and bickered, but we were never given any guidance about our relationships by my parents.  It was either "Get along, or else!!" or my mother would be sad that we were fighting.  We grew apart as we got older, and only now as middle-aged adults with families of our own are we getting to know each other, and yes, I'm happy to report, really love each other.  Wow, I want this for my kids!  But I don't want them to have to wait until they are grown to be close to each other.

I want to say that what followed was my idea.  That it was part of a brilliant plan I came up with, and that it solved the entire sibling issue.  Well, I can't claim any of these things.  But what did happen was practical, and subtle, and beautiful.  Here's how it went:  read more »

Just wondering how helpful it is to send your autistic child to school with your typical kids?  Anybody have experience with that or keeping their kids in separate schools.

My son is 6 years old is moderately mentally retarded and has autism.  He is verbal, toilet trained, goes to ABA school that we are happy with.  We have 2 typical children one of which will be ready for kindergarten in 2011.  We'd like all our kids to go to the same school.  There is a school district that might do a good job with him and would be good for our girls.  However, the school does not have as many ABA trained folks and merely contracts from time to time to help out with certain issues.  We would have to move into that school district because our current district had limited options for him. 

A Marietta College student and Warren High School graduate is attempting to cover new ground in autism research, exploring an area of the disorder mostly ignored until now.

Heather Haught, 20, of Tunnel, a junior at the college, is entering the second phase of a research project aimed to form a better picture of what foods those with autism spectrum disorders prefer and how a diet can be made to cater to their needs and address eating problems associated with autism.

Often, children with autism are underweight, while many adults with autism are overweight or obese.

"I want to try to determine how we can get these people into a healthy weight range and have it be based in science," Haught said.

Haught had little background on autism when she learned a bit about it in a developmental psychology course at the college. She took that interest to assistant psychology professor Alicia Doerflinger, who had a background in the research of development of feeding behaviors, and the study was born.

The two found they would be virtual pioneers in their experiment, titled "The Effect of Food Preferences, Food Intake and Taster Status on Body Weight in Children with Autism."

"When we started to look at the literature, there was obviously not a lot of work done in that area," said Doerflinger. "Even though it's pretty well known that parents of children with autism have feeding issues on a daily basis, there didn't seem to be investigation into that in any depth. It was a little niche we could move into."

The lack of previous studies may be due to the difficulty of working with young children who are autistic or simply because with all the functionality issues related to the disorder, it may not have been a high priority, she said.  read more »

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - Research on a new device - a version of which is now available to consumers -  that measures young children's language-learning environment and holds promise for use in the screening, assessment and treatment of  young children with autism, will be the topic of the first 2009-2010 UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute Distinguished Lecturer address on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The address will be presented by Steven Warren, a senior scientist, professor of applied behavioral science and vice provost for research and graduate studies at the University of Kansas, at 4:30 p.m. in the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute auditorium, 2850 50th St., Sacramento.

Warren is internationally recognized for his contributions to understanding language development in children and his leadership in the field of developmental disabilities. He has conducted extensive research on early communication and language-intervention approaches and has published more than 120 papers, chapters, and books on these and related topics.

Warren’s major research interests are early communication and language development and intervention and the prevention of mental retardation. His Distinguished Lecturer address focuses on his research using a new device that is an extension of the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) system, which Warren calls a “breakthrough technology.”  read more »

(NaturalNews) According to a U.S. government survey just published, rates of autism in children have doubled since 2003. Today, an estimated 1 in 91 children are being diagnosed with autism, making this the highest rate in any population in the history of human civilization. Meanwhile, the vaccination push in America continues, specifically targeting children with not just seasonal flu vaccines (which may contain thimerosal), but also the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

It all begs the question: Is there a link between vaccines and autism?

In defending vaccines, many doctors have blamed autism on a genetic cause. But if it's genetic, why are rates skyrocketing so quickly? The gene pool obviously isn't changing that dramatically. There's no such thing as a "genetic epidemic." If genes caused autism, the rate of autism diagnosis should be holding steady year after year. Clearly, something else is at work, causing the sharp increase in autism.  read more »

HI MY NAME IS DOROTHY AND MY SISTER HAS TWO BOYS AGES SIX AND SEVEN WHO HAVE AUTISM .AND THE THIRD CHILD IS GETTING TESTED NEXT WEEK MY SISTER THINKS THE THIRD CHILD HAS AUTISM BECAUSE HE IS ACTING THE SAME WAY AT THREE YEARS OLD THE WAY MY OTHER TWO NEPHEWS WERE WHEN SHE FOUND OUT THEY HAD AUTISM WHAT DO I SAY TO HER IF THE THIRD CHILD WHO IS A BOY TWO YES SHE HAS THREE BOYS TWO WITH AUTISM AND NOW MAYBE THE THIRD CHILD .I WISH I HAD A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ON AUTISM BECAUSE I CAN HELP MY SISTER THE FATHER LEFT THEM WHEN HE FOUND OUT THEY HAVE AUTISM. I KNOW MY SISTER WILL HAVE A JOB ON HER HANDS WITH THREE AUTISM SHE ALL READY HAS HER HANDS FULL WITH THE TWO OLDEST ONE IS SIX ONE IS SEVEN AND THE YOUNGEST IS THREEE THANK YOU IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO GIVE ME SOME HELP FUL IDEAS THAT WOULD BE GREAT HERE IS MY EMAIL dodie_eberhart@yahoo.com

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 This poem was written by my 14 year old daughter  read more »

My husband finally convinced me to go with him and the kids camping. Being from New York I did not find the word camping pleasant to say the least. The thought of bugs and sleeping on the floor just doesn't seem fun or adventerous to me. Anyway, I agreed and so my husband told me he would take it easy on me and take me to a place where camping would be very easy. I felt that taking 7 children camping, 3 of them under the age of 4 is not fun. To make a long story short I went. We went for the weekend and at first I was very apprehensive. My husband took me to a place called Spruce Run it's in New Jersey. It is a great place to take the kids, I was very pleased. Our tent was next to the restrooms and showers, and the workers cleaned the facilities every couple of hours. So the bathrooms were always clean. We were also next to a playground and the babies loved this fact. Across from us was the water and if you wanted you could rent a boat or just go fishing. I was worried that Izzy wasn't going to like it and I was concerned about how he was going to act. You never know what to expect with kids but kids with Autism its always a guessing game. He loved it. The ability to run around,  sit in front of the fire,  and the fact that you park yor car right where you camp helped him because I told him if he really got scared he could sleep in the car. He never even asked once we got there it was like he was a different person. Now that we are home Izzy actually sleeps through the night and doesn't drink a bottle anymore. I think it was worth it and I think everyone should try to campout at least once.