From The Columbian - Honor, duty, fairness for Cub Scouts with autism: Vancouver parents form pack for their sons, others like them. This news story takes a look at a scout pack formed entirely of boy with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The parents interviewed for the piece share about why it was difficult for their children to find success in typical Boy Scout troops and how this group offers solutions. Read more HERE.
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Talk of changes to the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-V criterion for diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders has a lot of people fired up recently. In this clip from CNN, Nancy Grace feels making the APA's proposed changes, "...will limit special education and services to children in need." Nancy goes on to question the role of future government funding in these proposed changes and how American children will be affected. She boldly states, "This is wrong!" We know that many of you - the families and professionals who live and/or work with children and young adults currently classified as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder - must have an opinion...how do YOU feel about the proposed changes?

Philadelphia - A young girl with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome was denied a life-saving kidney transplant [at least in part] due to her intellectual disability last week. Read more HERE. What are your thoughts?

Via PRNewswire - Last Friday Senator Bill Harkin (D-IA) introduced a new federal bill - The Keeping All Students Safe Act - to protect school children from dangerous, sometimes deadly, restraint and seclusion practices and techniques. From the press release issued by the National Autism Association: "It's estimated that over the last five years, more than 200 students, many with disabilities, have died due to seclusion and restraints being used in schools."

From this long but interesting piece in National Geographic regarding twins, the genes vs. environment debate and the New Kid on the Block in the debate - epigenetics: "Scientists are only beginning to understand how epige­netic processes relate to complex disorders like autism. The good news is that some of these processes, unlike our DNA sequences, can be altered. Genes muted by methylation, for example, sometimes can be switched back on again relatively easily. And though it may not happen soon, the hope is that someday epigenetic mistakes will be as simple to repair as a piano that's out of tune."

From 10/25/2011 press release: "Documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show that CDC officials were aware of Danish data indicating a connection between removing Thimerosal (49.55% mercury) and a decline in autism rates.

From the UC Davis MIND Institute earlier this week: "A study...has found that pregnant women with a particular gene variation are more likely to produce autoantibodies to the brains of their developing fetuses and that the children of these mothers are at greater risk of later being diagnosed with autism." Also mentioned: "...