Autism Blogger

Andrew Caster MD is one of only a few Lasik surgeons in Southern California (and one of less than 100 in the entire United States) to meet the extremely high quality standards required to become certified by the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance.

Dr. Andrew Caster has been asked to serve on the Clinical Advisory Board of Alcon, the world's largest eye care company. Dr. Andrew Caster's duties on the Clinical Advisory Board are limited to the area of Lasik laser vision correction, and he is one of only four ophthalmologists in the United States to receive this appointment. In this capacity, Dr. Caster advises physicians from the United States and other countries in advanced Lasik treatments, hosts educational seminars for physicians on the internet, hosts physicians from other cities and countries in day-long training sessions, and interfaces with the scientists and engineers at Alcon who are developing further advances in laser treatment. This close working relationship between Dr. Caster and the engineers who are developing new technology enables Dr. Caster to be knowledgeable about the most intricate aspects of the Lasik technology.  read more »

Drawing on his own practice, Dr. Andrew Caster MD, FACS - a surgeon who has performed thousands of eye operations using lasers discusses the pros and cons of such surgery--approved by the FDA in 1995--and explores all the factors one should consider before surgery.
 
Eye laser surgery is a nearly painless, 10-minute operation which corrects nearsightedness, making eyeglasses unnecessary. In this book, Dr Andrew Caster MD - a surgeon who has performed more than 15,000 procedures offers the first in-depth look at the surgery, exploring all the factors one needs to consider before and after having it done.
 
Now you can have normal vision all the time, thanks to excimer laser treatment - commonly known as PRK and Lasik - a painless procedure that takes less than five minutes. Dr. Andrew Caster, one of the leading physicians in the permanent correction of nearsightedness and astigmatism, takes anyone who is considering PRK or Lasik through the entire process - including the experiences of patients who have undergone the procedure and their incredible joy at suddenly being able to see again.   read more »

Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization, today announced that Susan Maxwell and Marcia Weinstein have been named Walk Co-Chairs for the Inaugural Treasure Coast Walk Now for Autism. Maxwell and Weinstein will be responsible for directing the Inaugural Treasure Coast Walk Now for Autism community event on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at Jensen Beach High School.

Susan Maxwell’s experience as Co-chair of the 2008 Palm Beach Walk Now for Autism and as a real estate agent with her partner Gabe Sanders of Premier Reality Group and Marcia Weinstein’s advocacy efforts for the autism community and leader of the local Autism Society make them the ideal people to lead the team of dedicated volunteers on the Treasure Coast.

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North Yorkshire Police have joined forces with the National Autistic Society (NAS) to promote a new card that alerts members of the emergency services and the criminal justice system to someone with the condition.

The cards are available to anyone in North Yorkshire who has a condition under the autism spectrum and are designed to improve communication with emergency services and criminal justice professionals.

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Researchers have found all the signs of autism in a strain of noisy laboratory mice that are used to diagnose human beings, a finding that may help them study the complicated genetics of the disorder.

For the study, Maria Luisa Scattoni of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues, separated baby mice of different laboratory strains from their mothers.

They found that the pups, which had not yet opened their eyes, made noises aimed to bring their mother back.

These ultrasonic sounds, too low for the human ear to detect, come in 10 different types, from clicking to pure tones.

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Ah man my naughty rubber ducky must have gotten hungry in the middle of the night. I got up

this morning.., all my medical marijuana brownies were GONE. He ate an entire bag of Cheetos,

& wouldnt ya know I found him sound asleep infront of the tv & it was on the cartoon channel

ugh =)~~~

I have been working on a couple interactive books to teach my son "wh" questions for a while.  I'm so happy they are finished.  Well, to be honest the ones that I put up on the website (http://www.freeprintablefun.org) aren't totally finished.  There are a few very minor mistakes and some images that could be clearer.  BUT, they are finished enough to be used.

We did a trial run with both books today and I was totally impressed with how well my son did!  His speech therapist said that "why" is the most difficult of the "wh" questions and that it is normally taught last, but he went through the book just GREAT.  I don't think he'll have a total grasp on it any time soon but I'm very encouraged by his ability to use picture cues to figure out the answer.   He still struggled with a few of the prepositions.  "Behind" seems to get him every time.  At speech therapy and at home he often confuses it with either "in" or "next to."    While "in" is never really correct "next to" is very realitive and I find it hard to correct him on it.  I can see where it gets difficult for him.

I will probably tackle "What" next, then "Who", then "When."  I think "When" will be the hardest to write since my own personal grasp on time is very weak.  read more »

My son has had a terrible time dealing with the summer vacation transition.  He has been literally begging for school every day for two solid months.  We did everything we could to get him into a summer program but he was either too young or we didn't have the financial resources to apply to various programs. He's been so miserable that he's reverted to headbanging and spitting and nothing I do calms him. 

Two weeks ago I received a call stating that school was starting again on the 25th.  We went school shopping, talked about school, and got all excited about it.  When the day came he got up early, dressed himself smartly, and even wanted to gel his hair into spikes (first time EVER!)  He was so excited.

We got to the school and guess what?  No school for preschoolers till Sept. 8th.  The message I got was not intended for him.

Both of us were CRUSHED.  It took all my strength not to cry. It meant so much to him and we had been talking about it for weeks.

He's not been in a good mood today, though I can hardly blame him.  The bus goes by and he can't ride and he doesn't understand why.

I just hope this two weeks goes by fast.

Hello Everyone,I am the dad of two great kids on the spectrum, Michael 6 and Jack 5. My wife and I deal with challenges every day, like many of you, and look for ways to help our kidos develop skills to minimize these challenges. This has lead us to create a new product: Playtime with Zeebu.Playtime with Zeebu is a learning aide designed for children on the spectrum that allows you to build social awereness with, and for, your child. It's a vehicle that will allow you to stay engaged with your child longer, and with purpose.  Playtime with Zeebu helps you develop the following:

      o Perspective taking - How do my actions affect those around me.
      o Whole body listening - What nonverbal signs are given by my friends that tell me how they feel.
      o Calming techniques - When we are having a "melt down", what can I do to become calm so I can think.

All of this is done in a "Blues Clues" type setting that is fun and engaging for children on the spectrum. To find out more about us and view a sample of the video, please visit: www.playtimewithzeebu.com.

Sincerely,Dave GalloFounder - Thought Bubble Productions

"Bondage duckie" lol ..., its from this site I check almost daily

http://bitsandpieces.us/ There ya go Holly =)

Wyatt had an EKG today.  I thought that we would have to go to a children's hospital way down in the city, but it turns out that our regular pediatrician does them right in his office.  The EKG was ordered by the psychiatrist who wants to prescribe an off-label blood pressure medication, Tanoflex, to calm Wyatt down.  That means, Wyatt doesn't have a blood pressure problem but the medication will be prescribed for a use other than what the manufacturer created it for.

When I had an EKG, they hooked up electrodes to me and made me walk on a treadmill.  For Wyatt, they wanted him to lie down quietly on an examination table.  The nurse didn't tell me all of that, she just asked me to get Wyatt onto the table.  We did that and we were able to put all of the stickers and electrode clips (about a dozen of them) onto Wyatt's chest and legs.  He didn't thrash around like I expected.  He was just up on his knees crying his eyes out and his lower lip was quivering in fear.  One of the ABA therapists was able to come to the appointment with me and she held one of Wyatt's hands and I held the other.  The therapist, the nurse, and I all sang/counted to a hundred a few times, which calmed Wyatt down quite a bit to the point that he stopped crying.  The nurse had said that the EKG machine would be big and loud, but I couldn't even tell that it was on because of the noise Wyatt was making.  It was basically just a printer placed onto a rolling cart, so it wasn't even all that big, but the exam rooms are tiny.  read more »

Michael and I had the first day of school. It was a half day with parents for phase in. We all had breakfast, playtime, stories, and lunch together. Amazingly there were only a few hiccups with Michael. A few others were actually having a harder time than him. I think his problem was he did not like sitting around while the teachers explained everything else to the other kids. He starts his first full day on Thursday.

Pediatricians do not know what causes autism or autism spectrum disorders, but we do understand the frustration of families who want to know the answers.

Children with autism are not all alike but they have many of the same features. They may have social problems such as not keeping or making eye contact, not reacting to a smile, or not looking at objects that we point to. They may have communication problems such as no words by age 2 or not responding to their name. They may have behavioral problems such as rocking, spinning, or flapping hands.

There are many ongoing studies looking for the cause of autism. Some cases have already been linked to genetic conditions, but most are still unknown.

While we are searching for the cause of autism, we want to continue to protect children from other diseases that we do know the cause of, specifically, vaccine preventable infections. There are many bacterial and viral organisms in the environment just waiting to make children sick. Pediatricians want to make sure that parents do not rely on incorrect or incomplete information about the safety of vaccines when deciding to get vaccines.

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ADULTS with autism in Coventry are being invited to express their personal experiences of living with the disability by entering a new competition launched by The National Autistic Society (NAS).

The theme of the UK-wide competition is 'My life with autism or Asperger's syndrome' and forms part of a campaign launched earlier this year.

The nine winning entries and any commended entries will be exhibited at various venues around the country.

The list of prizes are still being compiled and announced on the website.

NAS chief executive, Mark Lever, said: "We believe this competition is an exciting and rewarding way for adults with autism in Coventry to express themselves and share their unique experiences. We also hope that the works generated by this competition will bring home to government, local authorities and the general public just some of the realities faced by adults with autism across the UK today."

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