Last Week’s Top Posts

Up until last week, posts about “mercury” and “Jenny McCarthy” had the most comments—-after last week, the topic of religion and the restraining order filed against the parents of Adam Race generated a torrent of discussion that’s still going on).

• Priest Files Restraining Order Against Parents of Autistic 13-year-old
  Some 250-plus comments about Adam Race and the parish of St. Joseph’s in Bertha, Minnesota.
• A Mother and a Housewife
  Mothers and housewives can be pretty accomplished—-one whom I know (via the internet) is Kathleen Seidel, who writes the Neurodiversity weblog.
• Read with Care: New Study on Thimerosal and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  A new study published in the Journal of Neurological Sciences that reports an association between increased mercury (Hg) exposure from thimerosal-containing vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders; two of the co-authors are Mark and David Geier.
• 5-year-old girl drowns in bathtub
  5-year-old Carlee Bennett of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, apparently drowned in her bathtub on the evening of May 17th.
• So Is It Really Autism?: The search for medical signs
  According to Dr. Fernando Miranda of the Bright Mind Institute, maybe not. A report in the May 19th Good Morning America/ABC News describes some children who were initially diagnosed with autism, and later found to have Landau-Kleffner Syndrome. For some of the children, anti-seizure medication has produced dramatic results.
• Timeout Rooms and Physical Restraints
  Put in a timeout room more than 90 times?—coming home from school with cuts, bumps, and bruises?—-being held on the floor on his stomach by two adults?: All of these happened to 9-year-old Matthew Montgomery in Oldham County, Kentucky.
• Excluded?: On Keeping the Faith
  Does a fear of rejection, of being excluded, too often lead parents of autistic children and autistic individuals, and individuals who are “different,” not to seek out communities and experiences that they still feel drawn to?
• Insurance Doesn’t Pay For Groceries—What About Autism?
  Two comments by officials in two Utah insurance companies suggest how much is still not known about autism
• It’s Ok to be Disabled Until—-
  Oscar Pistorius, the runner from South Africa who is a double amputee, recently won a decision to be allowed to compete in the Olympic trials.