Discussing Autism

“If a child cannot learn in the way we teach … we must teach in a way the child can learn.”

Parents of children with have fought with insurance companies for years to get coverage of simple things like sensory integration therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and so forth. However, insurance companies won’t pay because autism is not curable and is a developmental disorder.

The most controversial coverage is ABA, a therapy used to help teach children with autism social and daily living skills like looking someone in the eye, brushing their teeth, or waving goodbye. ABA is controversial because of its heavy price tag. (more…)

Every state allows exemptions for religious preferences, but states are now allowing exemptions for personal beliefs. According to Johns Hopkins University, twenty states, including California, Ohio, and Texas allow personal exemptions. (more…)

Wait, so Autism is not the end of the world?

Since we adopted our son from Russia in the summer of 2005 we have struggled with him. From his fingertips to his toenails the child is a medical mystery and developmental mess. (more…)

The AAP, the American Academy of Pediatrics, has released a statement (finally) on the recent government court case involving autism and vaccines. (more…)

Six years ago the U.S. passed the No Child Left Behind law, sending states and school districts into an uproar. It required parents needed to be included in education, that schools needed “Highly Qualified Teachers” , scientifically based reading instruction, tutoring and supplemental educational services, research-based teaching methods, and school and school district report cards. (more…)

José Ortega Gasset (Spanish philosopher and statesman 1883 - 1955)
He who wishes to teach us a truth should not tell it to us, but simply suggest it with a brief gesture which starts an ideal trajectory in the air along which we glide until we find . . . the new truth.

Easter is just around the corner and activities are in abundance, even if it is STILL snowing outside in mid-March. Here are a variety of Holiday options whether or not you celebrate the Easter season (some are just fun spring ideas) and don’t forget to check out the Gluten Free Easter Candy options that I posted earlier in the week!

One of my favorite writers and designers, Randa Clay, has 13 Creative Ways to Dye and Decorate Easter Eggs. She also has Two Easter Coloring Pages, an Easter Word Search, and an Easter Egg Maze, all of which can be printed for table activities. (more…)

Easter is right around the corner and society says that your child’s Easter basket should be filled to the brim with candy. There are Gluten Free/Casein Free solutions for our children if you want to include candy. Make sure to check this post for the most comprehensive Gluten and Casein Free Candies that I have seen. Remember to check all the labels before eating anything because manufacturers can change anything at anytime. (more…)

You have all heard the news; that a monetary compensation is imminent for the Poling family, a Georgia family who filed, and won, a claim against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services because their daughter, Hannah developed autism after the 9 vaccines she received when she was 19 months old. However, it seems that Hannah Poling actually has a mitochondrial disorder that was exasperated by the vaccines, not autism. Ironically, the courts did not make a clear cut link between the vaccines and autism.
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Jerry Garicia of the Grateful Dead
Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.

Finally speaking out by wearing an Autism Speaks logo on his golf bag, South African PGA golfer, Ernie Els, revealed last week at the PODS Championship in Florida that his five year old son has autism.

Like many celebrity families, the Els’ dealt with their son’s autism in private for several years before finally deciding to “speak out” and contact Autism Speaks to help raise money and awareness for autism. Similar to Holly Robinson Peete and her family, Ernie and his wife Leizl have found their lives “profoundly affected by autism”. (more…)

Back in April of 2007 Reuters Health released a study indicating that mothers of autistic children may be prone to depression because they felt responsible for the cause or the outcome of their children’s disorder.

Most of the women I know are well educated women who know that they are certainly NOT the cause for their child’s disabilities, or at least not the direct cause. There certainly could be some sort of “genetic” component that ties in somewhere but it is my understanding that my friends don’t all feel that “mommy guilt” that the media makes us all believe we are supposed to feel. We all know that bad parenting is not the cause of autism and that refrigerator mothers don’t exist. (more…)

“It’s indisputable that autism is on the rise among children,” Senator John McCain said while campaigning recently in Texas. “The question is, What’s causing it? And we go back and forth, and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.” (more…)

Researchers state that the number of children with autism is up to three to six in every 1,000 children and that males are 4 times as likely to have autism as females. HOWEVER, it is estimated that one in every 750 children in the United States is born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and one in every 40,000 is born with Fetal Alcohol Effects. Unfortunately, FAS and FAE are entirely preventable. (more…)