ASD

ASD Treatment Options
Dr. Johnson details different treatment options that are available for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The World Needs More Ralph Hanahans

I caught a pleasant surprise this morning as I quietly worked from my home office while the rest of the family, all on vacation, slept in. I happened to tune into Good Morning America and caught a heartwarming holiday story about Ralph Hanahan and his kindness to a friend and his family in need.

Read the story, and check out the video

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Mon, 12/22/2008 - 16:09

A Little Less Christmas Magic

SPOILER ALERT: This blog discusses the topic of Santa Claus. Not approved for children.
Mason believes what he sees. Literally.
Oreo Cookies exist because he sees them. Milk exists because he sees it AND they taste great with his oreo cookies.
He’s observed Santa Claus from a safe 50 foot distance at the mall. Getting him to sit in a strange fat man’s lap wasn’t going to happen. It’s those untrusting issues with persons he doesn’t know, plus I strongly suspect that the beard freaks him out.

States Cracking Down On Use of Isolation Tactics

An appalling story appearing on the front page of CNN.com today noting that many schools are still using or have recently used "seclusion" rooms as a means to isolate students with disabilities, inluding autism, when the need to calm them arises.

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Wed, 12/17/2008 - 15:23

Autism and Schizophrenia May Share Common Denominator

Annemie Ploeger, developmental psychologist, hypothesizes that Autism and Schizophrenia may both develop during the first month of pregnancy. There are physical traits that both may share at times, such as protruding ears or peculiar toes. She believes that her research reveals that the embryo is susceptible to disruptions between 20-40 days after fertilization.

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Tue, 12/16/2008 - 14:16

Decreased Levels of Binding Gene Affect Memory and Behavior

Researchers hope that medicines may soon be able to reduce activity in the gene known as FKBP12. When they reduced the activity in this gene in mice, they noted that there was an increase in neuron to neuron activity and an increase in fearful memory and obsessive behavior. This lends to the theory that this gene may be controlled by medicine.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 10:21

Advanced Parental Age Equals Increased Risks

New research seems to back up previous research studies where advanced paternal age increases the risk of having a child with autism.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 10:09

24 Hour Pass

On November 4th 2004 our lives were forever changed. It was our D-Day…Diagnosis Day.
Rashele and I were clueless as to what the world of autism would bring us. Some lessons were learned quickly, others we’re still learning. One thing that was apparent, our marriage would suffer. Like most couples, any time we had to ourselves fell to the wayside.
The stress of the constant shuttle of doctor and therapy appointments, denials by the insurance company, a quickly dwindling savings account took its toll. Pressure mounted and we many times took the troubles out on each other.

Canadian Government Refusing To Listen

The Supreme Court of Canada declined an invitation Thursday to get involved in a plea from parents of children with autism who are seeking damages in a class-action lawsuit against the Ontario government and several school boards for failing to offer intensive therapy in public schools.

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Fri, 12/05/2008 - 14:42

Epilepsy Drug and Autism Linked

Prelimary findings are showing that children born to women that took a drug called Epilim during pregnancy are seven times more likely to develop autism. Epilim is a Sanofi-Aventis drug to treat epilepsy, and it's generic counterpart is known as Valporate.

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Thu, 12/04/2008 - 11:01
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