childhood autism

Surprising language abilities in children with autism

harminka — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:44:26 -0500

What began as an informal presentation by a clinical linguist to a group of philosophers, has led to some surprising discoveries about the communicative language abilities of people with autism.

Autistic mannerisms reduced by sensory treatment

harminka — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:28:07 -0500

Parents of children with autism are increasingly turning to sensory integration treatment to help their children deal with the disorder, and they’re seeing good results. In 2007, 71 percent of parents who pursued alternatives to traditional treatment used sensory integration methods, and 91 percent found these methods helpful.

Households with kids with autism likely to earn less

harminka — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:38:03 -0500

New research suggests that the average household with children with autism not only spends thousands of dollars toward educational, behavioral and health care expenses each year, but also suffers from a lesser-known cost that hits them up front – a sizeable chunk of missed household income, perhaps as much as $6,200 annually.

Children with autism may learn from virtual peers

harminka — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:29:44 -0600

Using “virtual peers” -- animated life-sized children that simulate the behaviors and conversation of typically developing children -- Northwestern University researchers are developing interventions designed to prepare children with autism for interactions with real-life children.

Financial struggles plague families of children with autism

harminka — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:21:14 -0600

The information that a child has been diagnosed with autism often throws parents into an emotional tailspin. A new study from a University of Missouri researcher says most people don't immediately consider the major financial struggles that follow.

Some cases of autism may be traced to immune system of mothers during pregnancy

harminka — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:57:23 -0600

New research from the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and Center for Children’s Environmental Health has found that antibodies in the blood of mothers of children with autism bind to fetal brain cells, potentially interrupting healthy brain development.

No link between MMR jab and autism spectrum disorders

harminka — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:48:37 -0600

There is no evidence for a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) jab and autism, finds research published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood .

Babies excrete vaccine-mercury quicker than originally thought

harminka — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:26:57 -0600

February’s issue of Pediatrics offers another reason to rethink blaming the spike in autism diagnoses on thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative routinely used in several childhood vaccines until the late ‘90s.

First autism prevention study launched

harminka — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:56:26 -0600

Autism researchers at the University of Washington will take the initial step in attempting to prevent the developmental disorder when they launch an $11.3 million study this week.

Children with autism don't adapt to unfamiliar faces

harminka — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:09:19 -0500

The findings, from a study conducted by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Florence, and Western Australia, might help to explain some of the core social deficits associated with the disorder.

Matrix of autism

harminka — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 07:09:49 -0500

Autistic children are doubly stigmatized. On the one hand, they are often dismissed as “low functioning” or mentally retarded, especially if they have poor speaking skills as many do. Yet when autistics do show exceptional abilities—uncanny visual discrimination and memory for detail, for example—their flashes of brilliance are marginalized as aberrations, mere symptoms of their higher order cognitive deficit.

Autistic children could learn through stereotypes

harminka — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:05:12 -0500

Autistic children have a capacity to understand other people through stereotypes, say scientists at UCL (University College London). The research shows that autistic children are just as able as others to predict people's behaviour when stereotypes, such as gender and race, are the only available guide.