Autism

Autism is an extremely frustrating disorder. There is no known cause, no known cure, and no precise treatment once it's diagnosed. That's why the national symbol of autism is a puzzle piece: It truly is a puzzle. As a mother of three - two typical boys, who are 6 and 9 years old, and a daughter with autism, who is 8 - I live with autism's torturous puzzle every day. Not that there aren't as many rewards as there are frustrations, but when you live with autism, you live with the unknown and the uncontrollable.

MY HEART goes out to letter-writer Charlene Wilsey, the woman with an autistic child. I have a beautiful 8-year-old grandson who is autistic. And you're right. There isn't enough education on autism. My daughter went to a march in Washington to try to make a difference in the lives of so many children with this growing affliction. It hurts me to see other children who can talk and do other things my grandson can't. There is still ignorance about autism. Sometimes when I have my grandson at the store or restaurant, he shouts or he might jump up and down, and the reaction from some people is unreal.

Five-year-old Kyshawn has been diagnosed with autism, like one of every 500 children in this country. Fortunately, he has received services that have allowed him to blossom. Kyshawn attends a special-education program where, since there are just three students in the classroom, he receives a lot of individual attention. His school day includes physical, occupational and speech therapy. Although he still doesn't speak much, his verbal skills are improving. "He is able to let you know what he needs," his social worker says.

Many parents feel that the most beautiful thing about their child is a wide imagination. Whether he or she is pretending to be a cowboy, firefighter or superhero, when parents watch their child at play they realize that the potential is unlimited. Just imagine how you would feel if your child were suddenly shut off from that vast land of dreams and possibilities and simply retreated into his own world of solitary confinement. That's not imagination; that's the reality for parents of children with autism.

The successes and failures of several drugs used to treat autism in children were described to parents, researchers and teachers at a conference sponsored by the Devon-based Devereux Foundation. "We don't believe in anything, except in God, but we have to study drugs," Dr. Magda Campbell told about 200 people assembled Friday at the American College in Bryn Mawr. Campbell was among several speakers at the day- long conference on autism. Campbell, who works with autistic children at Bellvue Hospital in New York, discussed the test results of three drugs given to young children who have been diagnosed with the disorder.

San Jose Mercury News (MCT) SAN JOSE, Calif. - As a commercial software expert for the financial services industry, Ted Conley was frustrated with the technology that a speech therapist recommended to help his developmentally disabled son. So he decided to build his own application. In place of an unwieldy and expensive device with buttons that his son struggled to press, Conley developed a series of apps that allow the now 3-year-old Pierce to signal words and sentences by lightly touching a series of familiar pictures on an iPad screen, which prompts an audio program to play the words out loud.

At 8 p.m. 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.

Parents in a community next door to Toms River think they have found another cluster - this time of autism, a childhood developmental problem with no clear cause. Federal agencies are investigating what parents say is an extremely high rate of autistic children in Brick Township - and whether the cases might have environmental roots. But the "autism cluster" theory faces some problems going in. First, federal health officials say environmental exposures have never been linked to autism.

Jewish Family and Children's Service of Southern New Jersey and the Katz Jewish Community Center will sponsor their third annual community conference on autism and the lesser known Asperger's syndrome from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 18 at the center in Cherry Hill. The conference, open to the public, is in response to the growing number of requests for more information from individuals and families in South Jersey who are affected by these relatively unfamiliar disorders. Nearly six decades after autism was formally recognized, doctors still really don't know what causes it, how to prevent it, or how to cure it. We do know that autism is a developmental disability.

Autistic children live in a world of their own, disconnected, unable to read the language of the eyes. Simon Baron-Cohen, a British psychologist who has studied gender differences and autism for 20 years, has a controversial explanation. This puzzling neurological disorder, he believes, is a manifestation of the "extreme male brain. " That, he thinks, may explain why four times as many boys as girls fall into the spectrum of mild to severe disorders that make up autism. For Asperger syndrome, a milder form, the ratio is 9-1. Baron-Cohen outlined his theory last week at a conference in Philadelphia.

ATLANTA - Autism cases are on the rise again, largely due to wider screening and better diagnosis, federal health officials said Thursday. The rate of U.S. cases of autism and related disorders rose to about 1 in 88 children. The previous estimate was 1 in 110. This new number means autism is nearly twice as common as officials said it was only five years ago, and likely affects roughly one million U.S. children and teens. Health officials attribute the increase largely to better recognition of cases, through wide screening and better diagnosis.

When you have a child with autism, you try not to dwell on a couple of heart-wrenching topics. But there is no place to hide when your child brings them up on his own. My son Clay, who is 16, doesn't communicate through speech, but over the past two years, he has been learning to type with support. It has been a revelation. His typing has confirmed that he can read and do math, and it has released his silly sense of humor. It has also allowed him to request the garlic naan when we get takeout from our favorite Indian restaurant, and to suggest that we rescue a puppy-mill golden retriever last Christmas - the only gift he wanted.

Getting old doesn't necessarily mean you'll have sleep issues New research suggests that getting older may not necessarily mean getting less sleep. Scientists suspect that sleep problems in many older Americans may be a symptom of underlying illness, not simply aging. In a study published this month in the journal Sleep, University of Pennsylvania researchers looked at nearly 156,000 people. They found that poor general health and depression were linked to sleep disturbances and tiredness.

Once, Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer tried bringing her son, George, to the annual Purim carnival at Mishkan Shalom. He lasted 10 minutes. For George, a 9-year-old who has autism, the scene was overwhelming: 100 kids tearing around the Roxborough synagogue's social hall; noisemakers clacking and beanbags flying; the smells of lollipops, licorice, and freshly baked hamantaschen cookies wafting through the room. Kaplan-Mayer, who for the last two years has directed a program at Mishkan Shalom for kids and families with special needs, believed there had to be a way to make Purim - a holiday that celebrates survival, courage, and reversals of fortune - work for kids like George.

The behavioral symptoms that define disorders on the autism spectrum sometimes start to emerge as early as 12 months of age. But often, a firm diagnosis is not made until a child is 2 or older. What if you could predict autism when a child was just 6 months old? New research using sophisticated brain scans suggests this may one day be possible, enabling high-risk infants to be targeted for early intervention and treatment. The research, conducted by scientists at seven institutions, including Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, was published online last week in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Autism is far more common in low-birth-weight babies than the general population, researchers are reporting Monday, a significant finding that nevertheless raises more questions than it answers and illustrates how little is known about a group of disorders that affect nearly 1 percent of American children. The study found that 5 percent of newborns weighing less than 4 pounds, 7 ounces were later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, as were nearly 11 percent of a subgroup born below 3 pounds, 5 ounces.

Shortly after their 18-month-old daughter was diagnosed with autism in 2009, Beth and John Yocum enrolled her in a language-learning study at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She got a comprehensive evaluation - a full day of examining, questioning, playing - from a team of experts, all of it free. "They were amazing," Beth said. "We got a lot of very good advice from the doctors about where Amanda stood development-wise from their tests, and what types of therapies we should seek to help her progress.

The Lurie Family Foundation on Wednesday announced a $2.5 million gift to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for autism research. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has an autistic brother, and the family has given nearly $4.5 million to the hospital's Center for Autism Research in recent years. Part of the donation will fund a study of 1,000 people with autism spectrum disorders to look for new genetic variants that might be related to autism. The hospital said it would include an unusual service: Families that participate will be given the results of the genetic tests involving autism risk factors, as well as free consultations with a genetic counselor to help them understand the findings.

CHICAGO - A new study suggests nearly one in five children with a sibling on the autism spectrum will also develop the disorder, a higher rate than previously thought. Researchers followed 664 infants who had at least one older brother or sister with autism. Overall, 132 infants, or about 19 percent, ended up with an autism diagnosis, too, by their third birthdays. Previous smaller or less diverse studies reported a prevalence of from 3 percent to 14 percent - already far higher than the overall rate of about 1 percent of the population.

San Jose Mercury News (MCT) SAN JOSE, Calif. - As a commercial software expert for the financial services industry, Ted Conley was frustrated with the technology that a speech therapist recommended to help his developmentally disabled son. So he decided to build his own application. In place of an unwieldy and expensive device with buttons that his son struggled to press, Conley developed a series of apps that allow the now 3-year-old Pierce to signal words and sentences by lightly touching a series of familiar pictures on an iPad screen, which prompts an audio program to play the words out loud.