Hi I've posted before about starting an autism awareness group for the community here and guess what.  the school disrict wants me to represent parents with specail needs for the state assesment they have.  so here is the delima.  I have two children with autism and one i think i might be pulling out to home school while leaving my other child in.  I got mad when i went into the school that my children go to and was told that i couldn't find out what progress my children were making untill the director was there.  I didn't blow up on anyone, i was thourghly disgusted and simmering on the inside.  I've worked there i unerstand the confidentiality laws i asked for my childrens information only.  i could see the ring binder where they are supposed to keep reports on the daily progress going on.  With that aside I know i can not properly represent the children or parents if i don't know their feelings and how they feel their children are doing with in the public schools.  I feel like a detective, and know that this could go very bad or very good.  In this community change is frowned upon and i am already the black mark for standing ground for not just for my children but other children too.  I wonder if this is to palacate me or if this is the schools way to get the state to see that parents are dissatisfied and a change has to be made because parents realy do care (I care).  I would ask to all those out there your feelings on the schools and the systems, this could potentualy go all the way to the top beyound my state to a federal matter.  lets make a positive change for all those that don't have the voice.

A Marietta College student and Warren High School graduate is attempting to cover new ground in autism research, exploring an area of the disorder mostly ignored until now.

Heather Haught, 20, of Tunnel, a junior at the college, is entering the second phase of a research project aimed to form a better picture of what foods those with autism spectrum disorders prefer and how a diet can be made to cater to their needs and address eating problems associated with autism.

Often, children with autism are underweight, while many adults with autism are overweight or obese.

"I want to try to determine how we can get these people into a healthy weight range and have it be based in science," Haught said.

Haught had little background on autism when she learned a bit about it in a developmental psychology course at the college. She took that interest to assistant psychology professor Alicia Doerflinger, who had a background in the research of development of feeding behaviors, and the study was born.

The two found they would be virtual pioneers in their experiment, titled "The Effect of Food Preferences, Food Intake and Taster Status on Body Weight in Children with Autism."

"When we started to look at the literature, there was obviously not a lot of work done in that area," said Doerflinger. "Even though it's pretty well known that parents of children with autism have feeding issues on a daily basis, there didn't seem to be investigation into that in any depth. It was a little niche we could move into."

The lack of previous studies may be due to the difficulty of working with young children who are autistic or simply because with all the functionality issues related to the disorder, it may not have been a high priority, she said.  read more »

BYU is conducting a study to understand brain development in developmental disorders.  PARTICIPANTS AFFECTED BY AUTISM SPECTRUM CONDITIONS ARE NEEDED FOR OUR CURRENT STUDIES.  We need children and adults ages 8 and up with fluent language skills.  Participation in the study requires 1. Completion of questionnaires and 2. Brief Neuropsychological testing.  Some inidividuals may also be eligible to participate in Experiments about learning.  Participants will recive up to $15 dollars for their particiaption. 

 If interested please call (801) 422-2183 or email autism@byu.edu

For more information visit our site at autism.byu.edu

Hi, I am looking for parents who can help a research about early intervention of autism.The purpose of this survey is to collect short stories from the parents of autistic children in relation to Joint Attention Skills, (or lack there of) detected during the pre-linguistic time period. All observations that the parents can recall of their child before the age of 2 years old is of interest. The information gathered will be used for a book to be published on Autism in hopes it will be useful to other parents.

Completion of this survey authorizes the publication of its contents. The information will be edited to protect your privacy. Identities of participants will remain anonymous.

Your participation is greatly appreciated.
SURVEY QUESTION:

Please describe all observations of your autistic child’s responses to joint attention during the pre-linguistic
time period (before the age of two). Any names given will be changed to protect the privacy of the participants.

Remember:
* Completion of this survey authorizes the use of its contents for publication.
* Your identity will remain anonymous.
* You may use additional sheets of paper as needed, as well as the back of this form.
* Please return the Survey to the Main Office of your school.

THANK YOU!
Please call me if you have any questions, 856-912-4555 or email at muniseulker@yahoo.com

QUESTION:

Please describe any observations you remember of your autistic child`s responses to joint attention ( playing with another person or pet/ any kind of social behavior) before the age of 2...

No study has shown a link, but people don't seem to let go of this. It feels empowering -- and nobody needs empowerment like the parent of a child with autism -- to make medical pronouncements without a medical degree. http://www.blisstree.com/autismvox/show-me-the-science/

I know that this seems kinda crazy but I have been trying this and it seems to be working. The reason I started doing this is because I was just annoyed everytime my little ones would start crying and screaming whenever they wanted something that wasn't being catered to. I think this will work for most people. It does take some time for the results that you would probably require but remember nothing good comes easy in life, so just stick to it.

1)  What I want you to do is when your child starts crying and doesn't listen to what you say, if you understand why they are upset acknowledge it by saying for example "You wanna go outside".

2)  When you say the phrase say it in a similar tone as the child.

3)  Repeat the phrase a couple of times.

4)  You will start to notice the child will look at you in shock that you are understanding what is wrong with them and most will shake their heads and say yes.

 5)  When they do this explain to them they can not have or do what ever it is that they want to do at the time and that later or tommorrow will be a better time.

8 out of 10 times this work, when I tried it with my kids and other children. Try it and see how it goes. If it works let me know. I can explain in better detail if you need. Just let me know.

Hi all...

We are four master's level OT students from California State Dominguez Hills in Carson CA who are researching the "experience of caring for a child with autism." Our interest in autism stems from working with some of the most wonderful children and families, as well as our deep desire to find out the experience caregivers have had as a result of caring for their child with autism. Our short electronic survey is almost ready to go, so please stay tuned and we will post it ASAP.

 Thank you so much!

Kristen, Whitney, Amy and Colleen...future occupational therapists

To whom it may concern:

We are social work graduate students at Loyola University of Chicago
interested in studying the early signs of autism from the parents'
perspective.  We are currently conducting a short and quick online
survey for our research methods course. The survey will take
approximately 5-10 minutes and would appreciate feedback responses as
soon as possible.

We would appreciate any help in contacting parents who have children
diagnosed on the autism spectrum disorder.

We have attached the following link below to our survey, easily
accessed online via surveymonkey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1xs44f9qZjydrQiaVZHOsQ_3d_3d

Your participation is greatly appreciated and we thank you in advance
for forwarding on this survey.

Sincerely,

Allison, Andra, Anne, Christina, and Katie