Autism

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.

A Danish scientist involved in two major studies that debunked any linkage of vaccines to autism is suspected of misappropriating $2 million in U.S. grants at his university in Denmark. Poul Thorsen, a medical doctor and Ph.D., was an adjunct professor at the Drexel University School of Public Health for several months before resigning Tuesday. On Jan. 22, Aarhus University said that it had uncovered a "considerable shortfall" in grant money from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a research program that Thorsen had directed.

HARRISBURG - State welfare officials have put on hold a plan to force thousands of parents of children with autism and other disabilities to begin paying part of the cost of services that had been provided via Medicaid. Instead of the planned co-pays, the agency said it would pursue federal approval to charge families a monthly premium on a sliding scale. "The department has always preferred the option of applying a premium to this program, and will be working with stakeholders who have come to us in support of a premium as opposed to the co-payment," Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander said in a statement.

Nursery school administrator Daria LeRoy took a chance and broke down a barrier two years ago when she admitted 3-year-old Dominic Montecchio to the Mount Hope Children's Center. Dominic has autism, a condition that affects the ability to socialize and communicate. His mother, Maureen Montecchio, working with LeRoy and Mount Hope teachers, came up with a program that nursery schools can use to include autistic children. The program has caught the attention of the Delaware County Early Childhood Education Association, an organization of nursery school and child-care providers.

For all the tough losses he has endured on the golf course the last few years, Ernie Els found perspective at home in the blue eyes of 5-year-old Ben. His son was diagnosed with autism, which Els and his wife coped with privately until the Big Easy showed up on the PGA Tour this week with an "Autism Speaks" logo on his golf bag and a message he wanted to get out. "I feel comfortable talking about it now," Els told the Associated Press after...

The Temple University Ambler infant lab will begin a study of autistic children this month. Children ages 3 through 7 are needed for the study, which will try to identify teaching strategies that elicit responses from autistic children. "In a sense, we become detectives who are working with children who can't communicate very well, but are thinking in certain ways," said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, codirector of the infant lab. Hirsh-Pasek said that the study would benefit from the lab's research with healthy infants and toddlers.

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.

Autism affects about 1 in every 110 American children, a 57 percent increase over the last estimate in 2002, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disturbing trend reflects greater awareness and diagnosis of "autism spectrum disorders," but may also mean more children are being exposed to the still-mysterious causes, said Catherine Rice, lead author of the CDC report. "These new numbers are concerning," she said.

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.

NEW YORK - A government survey of parents says 1 in 50 U.S. schoolchildren has autism, surpassing another federal estimate for the disorder. Health officials say the new number does not mean autism is occurring more often. But it does suggest that doctors are diagnosing autism more often, especially in children with milder problems. The earlier government estimate of 1 in 88 comes from a study that many consider more rigorous. It looks at medical and school records instead of relying on parents.