Score one for our side: A tactic used by insurance companies to deny expensive behavioral therapy to autistic children has been deemed illegal by a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge, who has found that Kaiser Permanente’s refusal to pay for a child’s autism treatment because the provider was not licensed by the state runs counter to California’s Mental Health Parity Act.
That act requires insurers to cover care for mental and behavioral problems at the same levels they do for physical illnesses. The ruling came as part of a lawsuit filed by Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica advocacy organization, against …read more

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have uncovered a new genetic signature that correlates strongly with autism and which doesn’t involve changes to the DNA sequence itself, a finding that may suggest new approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Researchers found higher-than-usual numbers of gene-regulating molecules called methyl groups in a region of the genome that regulates oxytocin receptor expression in people with autism. Previous studies have shown that giving oxytocin can improve social engagement behavior and it’s being explored as a potential treatment, and although the methylation status of the OXTR gene is not a definitive diagnosis of autism by …read more

Noted business publisher John Wiley and Sons has released the new book A Practical Guide to Autism: What Every Parent, Family Member, and Teacher Needs to Know, by Fred Volkmar and Lisa Wiesner. Pretty exhaustive topic, and indeed this book provides comprehensive information about recent scientific developments with a guide for how they’re being implemented. Issues are presented with charts, Q.-and-A., and chapters that vary from describing diagnostic issues to stating very specifically how to expand and evaluate the services one is receiving. Topics include definition and causes of autism, diagnoses and services, and overview of educational programs, teaching specific …read more

The online version of The Jerusalem Post has run a great essay on autism and special needs in the Jewish community. Essentially positive, the piece doesn’t gloss over the friction religious institutions seem to occasionally spark with special needs families (”One family told us about being asked by their rabbi not to return to the synagogue anymore … Their child liked to be too close to the Torah!”).
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“I wonder if our pediatrician would give us  a prescription for a mild sedative for Alex to go to the dentist?” Jill wonders. Good idea. Now we just need to find …read more

Image by Photo by Me-Liss-A (flickr.com)
This question posted to the forums: “What’s the smartest thing anyone ever said to you about your autistic child?”
Said one respondent who’s 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed two years ago, “She is progessing well and although she still shows signs of autism on a daily basis, my wife and I sometimes question the early diagnoses.  With that said, someone once told us that whether it is autism or not, she still has some developemental issues which need to be addressed.  ‘Concentrate on those things as opposed to getting all hung up on the bigger autism diagnoses.’  …read more

I picked up some great homework tips after my talk earlier this week at the YAI Conference in New York, (my topic: “Educating the Educators,” or how teachers can work with special-needs parents):
- When writing, let the student use bright-colored paper, such as yellow, pink, or orange. It improves concentration.
- Also when writing, let the student listen to music they’re well familiar with “and have listened to a thousand times.” In Alex’s case, this would be anything from “Elmo.” Also, it  improves the concentration, apparently, and helps makes writing come more naturally and fluidly.
- For math, use props student is …read more

I was speaking last night to the director of the new YAI Autism Center, for which I’ve written two blogs. “Beautifully written,” the good doctor said of them, so naturally I thought he was a pretty sharp guy.
“I’m curious to see how the blog will develop,” he continued. “It seems that often when a center like ours has a blog, it finds itself having to take some stand. I was wondering what your views are?”

Oh. In the whole cause-of-autism thing? Yes.
I have no stand.  I usually answer that better minds than mine are working on this. Premature …read more

Yesterday, January 7th, was the first day in the trial of Karen McCarron, who is accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter, Katherine, by suffocating her with a plastic bag on Mother’s Day weekend in May of 2006. WMBD/WYZZ TV reports that

McCarron’s husband Paul was the first to take the stand. He testified that McCarron never accepted their daughter’s condition. McCarron had even suggested several times that they give their daughter up for adoption. Paul also said he was aware McCarron suffered from “on again, off again” depression. Under examination by the defense, Paul McCarron admitted he …read more

Advocacy. Witness. Hope.
Why I’m mentioning those words to start this post off will be apparent by the end of this post. In the meantime, advocacy, witness, and hope seem good terms to bring up in regard to an article entitled, Ignorance of autism is ruining lives in the October 29th Scotsman, and to a new campaign in the UK, Think differently about autism. The Scotsman cites some figures from a survey in Scotland:
(1) 59 % Scots “wrongly believe there is a cure for autism.”
(2) One-third think that autism “affects only children.”
(3) Almost two-fifths “wrongly believe most autistic people …read more

Earlier today I noted that this is my idea of a nightmare. Some consider life with autism, and autism itself, as a “nightmare” (”Autism: Nightmare Without End” is the title of a 1981 book by Dorothy Beavers). I do not consider autism, life with autism, being the mother of an autistic child, and most certainly not my autistic child as a “nightmare.”
“Nightmare” is only one of many negative metaphors that are still used to describe autism. Another one is that of a prison: According to this metaphor, there is a normal person “imprisoned in a world constricted by autism” and …read more