Top Posts from the Past Two Weeks

Made it through Thanksgiving; did some holiday shopping from the comfort of home (and here’s some gift suggestions); time to get back on the school bus!

• Autism and Schizophrenia: The Same “Disease”?
  According to the latest theory, “an evolutionary tug of war between genes from the father’s sperm and the mother’s egg can, in effect, tip brain development in one of two ways.”
• Girls and Getting a Diagnosis
  Are girls and women sometimes not diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum because they do not have the same symptoms as boys and men do?
• Denis Leary Tries (Tries) to Defend Himself
  Contrary to what he said a few weeks ago, Denis Leary doesn’t seem to be so sorry after all about what he said
• Nicotine Addiction and Autism
  While studying drug abuse and addiction, researchers at the Ohio State University College of Medicine have found a link between nicotine addiction and autism.
• Mandatory Autism Registry in NJ Proposed
  NJ health care professionals will be required to report those diagnosed with autism at any time from the day they were born through their 21st birthday.
• Increased Use of Antipsychotics in Children (and Young Children) Criticized
  More than 389,000 children and teenagers were treated with Risperdal—an atypical antipsychotic—last year. And, 240,000 of them were 12 years old or younger.
• Teacher Suspended For Letting Students Vote Alex Barton Out of Her Class
  Florida teacher Wendy Portillo—who allowed her kindergarten class to vote on whether or not their classmate Alex Barton could remain in class—-has been suspended without pay for a year.
• Off to the IACC
  I attend a meeting of attend a meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which coordinates efforts concerning autism within the US Department of Health and Human Research.
• A Wish To Be in the Brownies
  In Wisconsin, after one visit to Girl Scout Brownie troop for girls with special needs in Oconomowoc, the troop’s leaders told 8-year-old Magi Klages’ parents not to bring her back.
• Looking For Autism’s Causes At Home
  MARBLES stands for Markers of Autism Risk in Babies—Learning Early Signs and investigates “biological and environmental triggers that children are exposed to prenatally and post-partum.”
• Refrigerator Mothers, Warrior Mothers: One and the Same?
  Is the “warrior mother” not—as proclaimed in the Warrior Mothers book put together by Jenny McCarthy—the opposite of the “refrigerator mother” of the previous generation, but rather her “distorted mirror image”?
• 28-year-old woman’s death under investigation
  The pressing, pressing, pressing need for staff with appropriate training, for facilities, and for much much more was more than made apparent at the IACC—the November 10th death of 28-year-old Tara O’Leary highlights just how pressing these needs are.
• Something Else to Be Thankful For
  I’m thankful everyday to be Charlie’s mother.
• What’s In Your Library?
  What books about autism are in your library?
• Measles Aren’t Going Away, They’re On the Rise
  1049 cases of measles have been reported in England and Wales so far this year, the highest number in 13 years and exceeding the number on 2007, when there were 990 case