New research finds children with autism have mercury levels similar to those of other children. University of California, Davis scientists said that the study was the “most rigorous examination to date of blood-mercury levels in children with autism,” and cautioned that the study did not disprove or prove whether mercury plays a role in causing the disorder. The study looked at the mercury levels in 452 participants – 249 with autism, 143 without it and 60 who had other developmental delays – and found levels “essentially the same” in all the children. More is here.
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Massachusetts state Rep. Barbara …read more

Britain’s National Autistic Society is calling for a national strategy to help people with autism get work. the NAS “Don’t Write Me Off” campaign began in light of most of the more than 300,000 working age adults with autism in the U.K. going without work. Only 15% are employed full-time, and the NAS says a key problem is a lack of understanding of autism among agency staff who determine eligibility for benefits and provide employment support. NAS wants the British government to introduce autism coordinators who would work with frontline staff, local employers and employment support services, including services to …read more

More on Sylvia Tagle, the special ed teacher convicted of putting hot sauce in soda and allowing a child to drink it: Did she do it? Tagle has defenders who describe her as a caring and committed teacher. Was she? I am having a hard time getting a complete picture because the coverage of this story was so skimpy. I can understand why there wasn’t much space devoted to it. It just doesn’t seem like that big a story.
Unless it’s your kid, of course, or like us you are interested in stories of abuse in the world of special needs.
I …read more

A Miami special education teacher, Sylvia Tagle, will be sentenced Oct. 7 for spiking an autistic student’s soda with hot sauce. I read several reports in an attempt to untangle what happened; best as I can figure out, the soda was on Tagle’s desk and the student took it.

This week we’re highlighting images that illustrate the concept of spectrum with puzzle pieces. I like the idea of the puzzle piece, but not that computer-generated clip art that is often used as a shorthand to say “autism.” Today’s image, from a photographer named Jared on flickr.com, seems even more appropriate to the spectrum because the pieces are from a sky-patterned puzzle, and I often view the sky, with its sense of the unfathomable and limitlessness, as an image that feels so right to describe autism.

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It seems like a pretty clear-cut case. Sixteen-year-old high …read more

A new study on the siblings of children with autism is showing that signs associated with the behavioral disorder appear in babies in their first weeks of life. Preliminary research, at Australia-based Flinders University, studied the
behavior of infants who have an increased risk of developing autism from as young as 10 days, and preliminary results show children in an at-risk group (with an older sibling with an ASD, including Asperger’s) were developing different behavioral patterns from children from families with no history of autism. Autism affects up to 16 children per 10,000 in Australia. More is here.
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The University of …read more

An autistic 18-year-old has been judged not competent to stand trial in the fatal beating of his mother in Ravena, Ohio. The judge said he probably would rule next week on whether the young man will stand trial and, if not, whether to send him to a treatment facility; less than two weeks after the mental evaluations were completed in March, the man was moved from jail to a state-run center in Toledo. The defense had argued that Walker cannot carry on a conversation and would be unable to assist in his defense. He was disruptive at his first court appearance …read more

We continue our week of spectrum artwork today!
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A Book for Our Times: Understanding Jason (AuthorHouse) is a new book written by Marsha Rae Osborn and illustrated by DeOnna Mills, and it tells the story of a group of typical students who learn from their teacher how to accept and help an autistic student, Jason, fit in with their class. (Osborn is an RN and the mother of twin boys, one
of whom has autism.) Told in rhymes, Jason seems typical of the kinds of titles we need to see more of. (”We don’t understand,” kids say, “Why does Jason act …read more

Bow Wow oh Wow: Thieves broke into a home late last week in Prospect, N.Y. The homeowners said the crooks didn’t take jewelry or electronics, but only the five-month-old golden retriever puppy trained as a service dog for children with autism.
Both young boys in the home have autism, and the mom says finding the right dog for her boys took two years, and paid quick dividends: the dog recently broke his chain to get to one boy who headed for the road. The dog cost $800, so you can’t really blame the crooks: Look how many canes, wheelchairs, and walkers …read more

We’re starting to explore more avenues of autism research for Alex. (Jill favors worms, which I like for bass but would have to learn more about before I o.k. them for Alex.) But if you have a child diagnosed with ASD who in turn has a younger infant sibling, the Infant Brain Imaging Study at the Center for Autism Research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is looking for participants. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is painless, is being used to examine the brains of children younger than 12 months.
Autism Speaks has kicked in $5 million to expand and link …read more