Archived News Entries
San Francisco-based writer, Laura Shumaker, addresses some of the health issues facing adults with developmental disabilities in an interview with the Arc of San Francisco's Alan Fox, Shumaker is the mother of a 25-year-old man with autism.
The Los Angeles Times today examines the incidence of ASD in the current adult population. Many hypothesize that the percentage of the adult population with ASD is much higher than we think, due to the previous rate of misdiagnosis.
The New York Times today exposed questionable billing practices on the part of providers serving people with developmental disabilities. The article is part of a NYT series, "Abused and Used," which focuses on the treatment of those with developmental disabilities in the state of New York.
Autism Speaks has updated its Autism Safety Project with new sections focusing on safety in the home and community. Resources are included for teens and adults with ASD, their families, and first reponders.
A study to be published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, indicates that the use of the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) may decrease the rate of repetitive behaviors in adults with autism. According to AJP in Advance, the publication's website previewing upcoming articles, "fluoxetine treatment, compared to placebo, resulted in significantly greater improvement in repetitive behaviors."
Bridging research and practice, a Canadian organization has announced plans to build a center that will house both researchers and young adults on the autism center learning independent living skills. The Spectrum of Hope Autism Foundation is currently raising funds for the project, to be called the Kae Martin Campus.
Adolescents with autism experience less social inclusion than other special education students, according to results of a new study led by researcher Paul Shattuck of Washington University in St. Louis. Examining data from a group of 11,000 students enrolled in special education, the study found that teens with ASD were significantly less likely to see friends out of school, to get called by friends, or to be invited to social activities when compared with adolescents from all the other groups. The full study can be found here.
"On the Spectrum," a play by screenwriter Ken LaZebnik, will premiere on November 17 at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis and will subsequently be streamed live via the Internet on November 22. The play tells the story of a relationship between two young adults with ASD, and is playing is part of the theater's "Center of the Margins" festival showcasing plays about disability.
A vocational training program for students with autism and other disabilities in New Jersey is preparing young adults for jobs working with animals. In the program, students have the opportunity to interact with therapy and shelter animals in a supervised setting.
In a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medicinal Association (JAMA), lead investigator Eric Courchesne's team of researchers found an unusually high number of neurons in the prefrontal cortex of brain tissue from deceased children with autism. This area of the brain is crucial to communication and social/emotional functioning, and develops during the second trimester of pregnancy. In an interview with Rueters, Courchesne says that he believes that this points to a prenatal cause for autism. While the sample size of the study is very small, the magnitude of the difference in neuron count suggests a significant biological difference, and potential "wiring," between neurotypical and autistic children's brains.
In May of 2011—19 years after I was first diagnosed with autism at age 4—I was on my way to receive my undergraduate degree from Seton Hall University.
“I’m just not sure what to do, or how to help her,” my friend Marie (a pseudonym) said. Her voice trembled slightly.
When I graduated from college, I found out quickly that to support myself in the “real world” I would have to work two jobs.
April wasn’t only Autism Awareness Month. It was National Stress Awareness Month too. Coincidence?
Part II of our story on autistic adults living in rural America.
Friday night, Cameron attended his high school prom. This wasn’t his first prom, as his school invites all high school students to attend each year, and Cameron had attended the year before...
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