Autism Blogger

AH @#*!

I found an article discussing a possible correlation between autism and Acetaminophen. The preliminary findings indicate that "Acetaminophen use after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination was significantly associated with autistic disorder when considering children 5 years of age or less" and "Ibuprofen use after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination was not associated with autistic disorder". Obviously, more research needs to be done on this subject, but this information may help some people decide which treatment method(s) to pursue. Alot of people feel their child regressed into autism after receiving the MMR vaccination. If this study can be proven true, then people may have an alternative cause to look into. Rather than scaring people into not vaccinating their child, this may help encourage people to still vaccinate, but be more careful to administer ibuprofen instead of tylenol if anything is needed. I believe my daughter was born with autism because I have watched home videos of her showing signs in infancy. Feel free to leave any comments on this or more information.

Wyatt had a splinter in his foot.  It was there for a few days.  We think it was a cactus spine.  He wouldn't let us touch his foot, so last night when he was sleeping we tried to remove it, but with no luck.  It was in there pretty good, a little black dot covered by a layer of skin with an angry ring around it.  Today, Wyatt woke up from a cat nap, screaming.  He brought me the PEC that I made for the pool key, but when we got outside he wouldn't budge from the front steps.  He kept screaming.  Finally, he took my hand and WANTED me to get the splinter out.  But he wouldn't let me past him to get into the house to get tweezers. 

My neighbor and her teenage granddaugher saw what was happening and offered their assistance.  I was so surprised, it almost made me cry.  The grandmother and I held a struggling Wyatt while the girl valiantly pried the sticker from Wyatt's foot with her fingernails.  My other neighbor saw what was happening from her window and ran down to us, then returned with a pair of tweezers.  So then there were three of us holding Wyatt down and one teenager tweezing.  The granddaughter was able to tweeze out the last bit of sticker-spine.  And she said, "I hope I got it all because I'm not trying that again!"

=X I still cant respond grrrrrrr

Wyattsmom try valarian root. It helps to calm. It's cheap, like $7 a bottle and you can get

it at a health food store. Only I'll warn you when you open the bottle the capsules smell

like dirty socks ugh. It's worth a try if you can figure out a way to get one down him.

OKAY TODD WE'RE HAVING TROUBLE AGAIN!!

Recently I found a Myspace profile created for a 15 month old baby. The mother is the other woman to the father to my neighbor's children. She often hacks his profile. This girl is notorious for putting last names of everybody out there. Even to children who are not her own.

I reported her son's profile for the reasoning that she listed his age in the about me section, which is 15 months. Though she put 18 years old on the main information. She also listed where he lives, which is a small town. His first middle and last name. The girl also went on to list both of his parent's first and last names. This child is in foster care, and neither parent will eer have rights again, so he is slightly more protected, but I thought this was disgusting.

Identity theft is rising rapidly, and it is becoming easier to find somebody's details. Many young people lay it all out there on public profiles. Children are not safe from this crime.

There are also so many perverts out there. Some may be satisfied to browse and find pictures of little kids. Some specifically search for areas close to them. Adding your children's names and locations like that is almost asking for somebody to hurt them....

This is a sad world we live in. Which is why I take some extra measures to protect my son.

I have a myspace profile, like millions of other mothers. I am keen on custom layouts, which I design myself. So I cover up all the information. My profile is simple yet nice. My profile is public because I hate the look of private profiles, but I put all my pictures as friends only. I have more of Michael than anything.

I also keep a blog specific for Michael. Though I would like to add pictures, I refrain since it is public blog. I keep the information to the type you would talk to a child about. Nothing too personal or revealing.  read more »

The past few days I've practically had laryngitis, I can hardly speak. Weird. I can't help but think of the similarities between my current communication difficulties and my son's struggles with speech. It's made me realize how often I have to yell across a parking lot or a playground to my husband or a friend.

I feel like I don't have time to recover, but I have the worst sore throat. I can hardly go without speaking for an hour let alone an entire day. Of course, that's when my husband wants to debate something from across the house.

Things feel a bits strained this morning. Wyatt threw two of Marc's favorite cacti over the balcony. It's not like we can easily replace them. One of them was a rescued cactus. Marc rarely gets angry with Wyatt, but he lost patience and asked me to take Wyatt out for an hour to get him out of the house and entertain him. So I took Wyatt out to McDonalds .  He screamed in the drive-thru because there was a line of cars.  Normally, I count to calm him down, but I just couldn't speak, so he screamed.  My ears are ringing.  Silence and screaming.  Then on to the store for a balloon.  At the store, I made Wyatt wait for his balloon and as a result, he bit me on the back of the knee. Ouch!

The summer is limping along. I hope tomorrow I am feeling more optimistic. Everything seems worse when you are not feeling well.

New treatments for a rare genetic disorder may hold clues for treating autism, researchers said Thursday at the International Fragile X Conference held at Union Station.

Fragile X syndrome is a common inherited cause of cognitive impairments, including about 5 percent of autism cases. Symptoms can include hyperactivity, seizures, learning disabilities and speech delays.

About one in 4,000 boys and one in 6,000 to 8,000 girls are born with the Fragile X, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Because the disorder can be linked to a defect in a singular gene, it's a promising field of study for researchers. At the weeklong conference sponsored by the National Fragile X Foundation, St. Louis hosts several hundred parents, physicians and researchers looking for the latest developments in treatments and patient support.

Typically, treatment for Fragile X includes medications that treat behavioral symptoms. Researchers are now working on the underlying disorder that over-stimulates the nerve pathways in the brains of people with the syndrome and those with autism.

Drug therapies that block those pathways are still experimental. To date, there have been no large clinical trials in Fragile X patients. The small studies have shown some promise, however.

"It's been the first conference where the promise of powerful new treatments is literally around the corner," said Robert Miller, the foundation's executive director. "There's just a lot of hope and excitement because everybody's picked up on the buzz."

One drug, the mood stabilizer lithium, corrected hyperactivity and reduced seizures in mice. In a two-month trial in 15 children, behavioral symptoms improved in 13 patients after two months, but IQ levels did not change.  read more »

The number of children diagnosed is soaring but as families reach out for help, the HSE admits it's struggling to cope, reports Fiachra O'Cionnaith

AUTISM services across the country are struggling to meet the needs of children desperate for help because they are being swamped by a "huge increase" in demand.

Confirming the situation in an official response to a parliamentary question, the HSE has stated that the "huge increase" in the number of children being sent to specialist autism services is making it almost impossible to meet demand.

Disability

Autism is a serious disability that affects a child's development in terms of social interaction, communication and a range of other social skills.

The first signs of the condition can usually be identified by medics and disability experts before the age of three if enough time is spent diagnosing the child in question.

If such a quick diagnosis is made, the impact of autism on a child can be drastically reduced, with specialist care from multi-disciplinary medical teams specialising in intellectual disabilities and child mental health services helping an affected child to overcome the condition.

Approved

However, despite major improvements being made in the service on paper in recent years, with a €5m research fund approved by the Department of Health through the Health Research Board into the causes of the condition, the HSE has now formally acknowledged that it is failing to fully meet the needs of hundreds of children diagnosed with the condition every year.

And in a worrying formal response to a series of parliamentary questions from Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan in recent weeks, the HSE has now confirmed that serious "challenges" are being experienced by medics because of the sheer numbers of children being diagnosed with the condition.

Srini Donthireddy's basement is quite colorful. Toys and puzzles are scattered throughout. A mirror hangs on the wall and a big beanbag chair covers the floor. So, it might be quite surprising to some that this room was specifically designed to help his 5- year-old autistic son to focus.

Donthireddy's son Anuraag has PDDNOS, which stands for pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified. Donthireddy is now using a new form of treatment for autism, called The Son-Rise Program. The program works with all of the disorders on the autism spectrum.

"With autism, there are very specific symptoms that you can identify and isolate," Donthireddy said. "This is milder than others, but it's not specific enough. It's just another shade of gray."

His son was diagnosed with PDDNOS in 2005, at the age of two.

"We did not believe the diagnosis," Donthireddy said. "[The doctor] took 20 minutes for the diagnosis and he didn't make eye contact. We wanted a second opinion. We believed it was just a language delay."

Eventually, Donthireddy and his wife came to realize their son did, indeed, have a form of autism.

I am in mommy heaven! She bathed Elsie AND she cleaned the master bath =)

She's really nice, easy going & she actually likes to clean toilets!

Gas dropped twenty cents here! There is a reason to celebrate :)

 Woo hoo Dolly has arrived!

Governor David A. Paterson signed a bill this week that will require the Department of Health (DOH) to update the guidelines used by pediatricians to identify children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and refer them for appropriate services.

“This legislation will help pediatricians across the state quickly and comprehensively identify kids with ASDs, so that they can receive the support they need at an early age,” said Paterson. “Coupled with other efforts recently announced by the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, this bill will not only ensure our children have access to appropriate services, but will help educate the public on these often overlooked disorders.”

ASDs are developmental disabilities usually evident and typically diagnosed within the first years of life and often associated with mental retardation. Individuals with ASDs often have difficulty relating and responding to persons, events or objects, and engage in repetitive behaviors or exhibit preoccupation with narrow interests. The severity of these challenging behaviors varies considerably, resulting in multiple diagnoses along the autism spectrum.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ASDs affect one in every 150 children in some communities.  read more »