Author name: Ahmad

Hi folks, I am still here, just ran off my feet with DIY on a 1920s house; helping bang in nails (an my fingers), fell on my backside and scraped it climbing over a rubbish pile, fell through a ceiling and got caught on my thigh (wow, that was a whopper bruise but it probably saved my life), had a black fingernail for about 3 months. Presently only very sore lips from wood dust (I didn't eat it but it doesn't get along with skin and my lips are protesting). But its great to be doing wildly physical work as opposed to being a writer/artist, so I'm out there filling rubbish skips and helped tear down old plaster and even knocked down two partition walls! Otherwise I've been spending my time with paint all over my arms and hands and getting wildly into art on canvases as well as making a new DVD - A Life in Pictures, which is coming to the website soon. I'm not good at DIY but at least its my own project and I work for nothing! anyway, when I finish with the paint brushes and broom, I'll send out some emails. Hope alls well with you all. We have some new info on the website www.donnawilliams.net a testimonials page about my talks under 'events' five more lecture/workshop topics updated paintings on the paintings page. Hope some of you might make it to the art exhibition Oct 10th-28th at Vanguard Gallery. Warmly, Donna Williams *)

By CLAUDIA WALLIS Epidemic is a powerful word. It generates bold headlines, congressional hearings, research dollars and dramatic, high-stakes hunts for culprits. It's a word that has lately been attached to autism. How else to account for the fact that a disorder that before 1990 was reported to affect just 4.7 out of every 10,000 American children now strikes 60 per 10,000, according to many estimates--the equivalent of 1 in 166 kids? What Autism Epidemic? But what if there is no epidemic? What if the apparent explosion in autism numbers is simply the unforeseen result of shifting definitions, policy changes and increased awareness among parents, educators and doctors? That's what George Washington University anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker persuasively argues in a new book sure to generate controversy. In Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism, Grinker uses the lens of anthropology to show how shifting cultural conditions change the way medical scientists do their work and how we perceive mental health. In addition to rising awareness of autism, Grinker points to these factors: BROADER DEFINITIONS Each successive edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--the bible of mental health--has revised the criteria for identifying autism in ways that tend to include more people. Two conditions on the milder end of the autistic spectrum--Asperger's syndrome and the awkwardly named PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified)--were added to the DSM in 1994 and 1987, respectively. Grinker and others say 50% to 75% of the increase in diagnoses is coming in these milder categories. SCHOOL POLICY U.S. schools are required to report data on kids who receive special-education services, but autism wasn't added as a category until the 1991-92 school year. No wonder the numbers exploded--from 22,445 receiving services for autism in 1995 to 140,254 in 2004. Grinker points out that "traumatic brain injury" also became one of the 13 reportable categories in 1992, and it had a similar spike. MORE HELP, LESS STIGMA As services have become more available for kids with autism, more parents are seeking a diagnosis they would have shunned 30 years ago, when psychiatrists still blamed autism on chilly "refrigerator" mothers. Doctors are also more willing to apply the diagnosis to help a patient. "I'll call a kid a zebra if it will get him the educational services I think he needs," National Institute of Mental Health psychiatrist Judith Rapoport told Grinker. FINANCIAL INCENTIVES In some states, parents of children with autism can apply for Medicaid even if they are not near the poverty line. A diagnosis of mental retardation doesn't always offer this advantage. RELABELING For all the reasons above, many kids previously given other diagnoses are now called autistic. University of Wisconsin researcher Paul Shattuck has found that the number of kids getting special-ed services for retardation and learning disabilities declined in 47 states between 1994 and 2003, just as those getting help for autism was rising. In 44 states, the drop exceeded the rise in autism. As convincing as Grinker's analysis seems, arguments about the apparent epidemic will probably continue. It's simply impossible to accurately reconstruct the past incidence of the disorder, given how radically definitions have changed. Those who believe the increase is real often focus on the mysterious paucity of autistic adults. With their conspicuous symptoms like hand flapping and little or no language, "I think we would be recognizing them in institutions," says Dr. Robert Hendren, executive director of the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California, Davis. Grinker's answer is that autistic adults are out there but wearing other labels. "Where are all the adults with fetal alcohol syndrome?" he asks. No one over 40 has the condition, thought to affect up to 1 in 500 kids today, because it was not recognized until the mid-'70s. "But no one would say alcoholism among pregnant women just started," says Grinker. Grinker, whose 15-year-old daughter is autistic, concedes that there's something reassuring about the idea of an epidemic: "Thinking about any disorder as an epidemic is easier than thinking about it in terms of multiple causes, shifting definitions and a scientific reality we are only just beginning to understand." Besides, if a disease suddenly spikes, it seems more plausible that the increase could be reversed--if only we could find the mysterious environmental trigger. With autism, though, that hopeful scenario seems just too simple.

Children with autism undergo language and social difficulties that cause stress for the family. I should know. I was the oldest of five children growing up on a farm in Kansas. My sister, born in 1954, was diagnosed with autism at the age of four. The knowledge of autism at that time was scanty, so her difficulties were largely misunderstood and even unknown. At that time persons with autism were estimated to be about one in ten thousand. Now estimates have risen to approximately one in five hundred. Today many more children are growing up with siblings who have autism. Parental attitudes make a big difference in the lives of all their children. These suggestions from my experience and from talking to others who have grown up with similar sibs may be helpful for parents who also have typically developing children. Acknowledge feelings of the sib. Parents will feel shock, depression, guilt, anger, sadness and anxiety. So will the sibs. With fewer life experiences, including inexperience at recognizing feelings, children will be less prepared to cope with their emotions. Simple acknowledgement on an age-appropriate level can help. Especially if life seems too difficult, some families will want to consult a professional. Hold family discussions. Discuss problems openly with other children in the family. Encourage questions and reactions. A disability needs to be talked about. Lack of communication made understanding and living with my sister more difficult. Avoiding dialogue will only encourage children to hide problems when they are adults with families of their own. Keep sibs informed. As the parents learn about autism, children should be informed on an age-appropriate level. An excellent book for young people who have brothers or sister with autism is Everybody is Different by Fiona Bleach, available from the Autism Resource Network, Inc., 904 Mainstreet #100, Hopkins MN 55343 USA. The book explains some general behavior, three characteristics of autism and then answers questions such as "Why does my brother or sister make strange noises?" Encourage the sibs to go on after an embarrassing situation. Tiffany, now twenty-six, experienced many embarrassing situations while growing up with her sister Lindsey, who has severe autism. Once when the girls were much younger, they were singing in church in a minor key-'Lord, have mercy.' Lindsey suddenly burst out screaming-"Oh, no, we're all going to hell." Her mother hastily took her out of church. Tiffany said, "For the good of everyone, forgive, learn from the situation and move on." Have a sense of humor. This does not mean make fun of the person with a disability or laugh at him or her. However, laughter helps. Ceara chose her disabled brother to be at the guest book at her wedding. "I picked him because I love him," she said. She rehearsed for months with him what to say, 'Welcome to Ceara's wedding. Sign the book.' What he actually said was, 'You're late. Go home.' "You have to have a sense of humor," said Ceara. "He's kept his through all that's happened to him." Give the brother or sister opportunities to find a friend whose sibling also has autism. This may be especially important in a family where there are not other typically developing children. Gordon, who's seventeen, has a twelve-year-old brother with autism. He made a friend, the drummer of a band he plays in. The drummer's brother is also in special education. "No one else [besides the drummer friend] knows what that's like [having a brother with disabilities], even my best friend." Places for brothers and sisters to find friends might be in a sibling support group or the children of those who attend a parent group. Encourage the sib to develop a special interest. A strong interest can help through rough spots and even lead to a future career. Ceara loved playing the piano as a child and adolescent. Her college degree is in music therapy. My escape was always reading and creating stories. Though I taught for a number of years, today I spend much of my time writing. Other interests such as playing tennis or gardening can provide hours of enjoyment. Respect individual differences. As any parent knows, no two children are exactly alike. I am five feet two inches tall. One of my brothers is six feet four. A sister is almost six feet. Another brother and sister are five feet and ten inches. Our personalities are as different as our sizes. My daughters are also very different in size and personality. One started driving, reluctantly, at the age of eighteen. The other begged for car keys-and the car--- from the moment she turned sixteen. They chose to attend different high schools, both inconvenient and rewarding for me. In the long run, their choices benefited them both. Promote an attitude of gratitude. At the age of three, my brother was thankful for "green beanz, pork'n beanz, and all other else beans." Though I like beans, this would probably not be my top priority in the thankfulness department. Nevertheless, kids have their own ideas. Though I do not do it daily, I keep a gratitude journal. In the journal I write down five things I'm thankful for and date it. When I look back, I am reminded of what was happening on that day, as well as many blessings. There's nothing magic about the number five. Two or ten will do just as well. Support volunteering. As a college student, I volunteered in a chapel in a state school for the mentally retarded. With other college students, I helped escort residents back and forth from cottages for chapel. We organized choirs and bell choirs and Sunday school classes. We took some of the more able residents Christmas caroling to the cottages of the less able residents. One cold, wintry night, I trooped through snow singing off-key, not that anybody cared. Afterward, we gathered in the chapel for hot chocolate. For me, that was a very rewarding experience. Opportunities to volunteer abound. Even children as young

Someone asked me about the *) I used at the end of my name. For those of you who have wondered and don't know, here's what I told her.... *) is a dandelion. its the head of the dandelion on its stem. a dandelion is called a weed but it is the most resilient of all flowers and it goes through amazing transitions, always bouncing back. it takes much to kill a dandelion, some say you can't kill them. we can get too complex and tangled and forget the simple and the basics we can choke on a pride sandwich we can run from every horse that's thrown us till we have extinguished every offer in life. the dandelion is a symbol of simplicity, humility, resilience and what I hope to strive for. I use *), the symbol, as my signature. I had immune deficiency most of my life, and had times I really struggled badly to breath or to breath without pain or have the strength to cough through some of the 3 mth long severe chest infections my body had no immunity to fight. One day when I was terribly sad about and tired about this I decided I was like a dandelion, the abuse in my childhood couldn't kill me, immune deficiency couldn't kill me, my mood disorder couldn't kill me, my anxiety disorder couldn't completely destroy all love of life, my compulsive disorder could only take my body and not the 'me' within it, my fragementation and tumbling and processing delay couldn't close out all of life, chronic fatigue couldn't steal my personhood...and I was always determined but not always so positively, determination is like a wild horse and it needed to be tamed enough that I could manage it constructively. (you know this has set off an old cartoon intro in my head for an ancient cartoon called 'Fearless Fly'... a send up of Superman....it goes...no flypaper can hold him, no insecticide can stop him.....you wonder where one learns these frameworks... see, its from some of the simple garbage on the idiot box... somehow our minds collect frameworks we don't conciously understand just because they are useful). Anyway, I used my determination in very different ways... From 0-9 I tried merely to survive and to preserve the containment of 'my world'. From 9-13 I tried to catch up and walk a tightrope between stored learning and not lose the security of my own world. From 14-17 I tried to destroy myself because I had no resources to care about myself and had internalised that my own world was worth nothing, less than nothing in the world around me. From 18-25 I determined, in the absence of enough self love to do it out of care for myself, to help myself to spite those who gloated or advertised me as stupid, hopeless or crazy and keep myself safe from them. From 26-30 I determined to reclaim the sanctity of my own world, to accept my individuality without shame and to do so simply because every person deserves a chance, even oneself. From 30-now I have helped myself because I looked at this battlescarred veteran outside of myself like a stranger would and I decided she had earned my respect and deserved all the help the 'I' in me could find, however patchwork that 'I' was. I also determined along the way to try to put down guilt when I found myself carrying it, to try to let go anger when it was destroying me, to try to have achievable expectations and not impossible ones that would bring me only bitterness, to try to accept that I was a flawed human and all humans are flawed whether they admit it or not, and to try to stop looking back and keep turning back to focus forward no matter who or what was shouting back there that I notice them. For those who may find it useful, this was my journey. :-) Donna Williams *) www.nobodynowhere.com

By DAVID CORCORAN It was an exciting moment for me and, I imagine, for other parents of children with the baffling neurological disorder called Asperger syndrome when The New York Times Magazine published Lawrence Osborne's "Little Professor Syndrome" in June 2000. The title may have been condescending, but the article itself was terrific, perhaps the best yet about Asperger's in a mainstream publication: a 4,500-word exploration, in remarkably vivid and sympathetic language, of a world that few readers had visited. So it was doubly exciting when Mr. Osborne, a widely published health and science journalist, expanded the article into a book, "American Normal," published last month. Asperger's, as most readers probably still need to be told, is a lifelong disorder of unknown origin that usually shows up around 18 months to 3 years. Generally thought to be a form of autism, it is characterized by normal or above-normal intelligence, social awkwardness, verbal rigidity and, most conspicuously, a fixation with an obscure topic that can be learned by rote. People with Asperger's have a hard time relating to other people. But they can and do go on for hours about their obsession Ñ Civil War battles, lighting fixtures, members of Congress, train engines (hence, "little professors"). The syndrome has no known cure. But growing awareness of it, coupled with the federal law that requires schools to provide appropriate services to students with disabilities, means that many more children than in the past are receiving needed attention and can hope to grow into happy and productive adults. Still, what Asperger's awareness has lacked is a wide-ranging book by a writer with journalistic and literary credentials Ñ a book that could do for Asperger's what Oliver Sacks's "Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" did for other obscure brain disorders. But those of us who were hoping that "American Normal" would be that book are in for a severe disappointment. It takes the form of a transcontinental odyssey in which Mr. Osborne drops in on children with Asperger's and adults who are too old to have had it diagnosed in childhood but who clearly show its symptoms. (Some are parents of Asperger's children, suggesting that the condition may run in families.) He is an acute observer, and his descriptions are penetrating and tinged with empathetic humor. Nicky, a 9-year-old in Adelanto, Calif., who writes tiny poems in the shape of diamonds and has already scored in the 99th percentile on an SAT, has a mind that is "disturbingly hyperfactual and blithely associative." A. J., whose obsession is vacuum cleaners, "loved the promotional video that came with the new Phantom model and watched it over and over, while rocking back and forth." When his grandmother disciplines him by telling him he won't be able to touch the new vacuum, "a sullen look of castigated impotence would suddenly come over his face." But when Mr. Osborne leaves the company of people with Asperger's, the book runs seriously off track. Much of it is devoted to long, tangential and unrewarding meditations on the American psychiatric establishment, the horrors of highway sprawl and the possibility that various figures Ñ Thomas Jefferson, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould Ñ may have had Asperger's. Mr. Osborne himself suspects that he may have undiagnosed Asperger's, and he returns at tiresome length to his obsession with the "Iron Chef" television program and his insistence on staying in Red Roof Inns. His larger point, and the meaning of the title "American Normal," is that Asperger syndrome may be less a disorder than a societal and psychiatric construct Ñ a condition that he concedes is real, but one whose diagnostic criteria are "so complicated and so contradictory and so blurred around the edges as to sometimes stretch credulity." The implication is that society's obsession with "normality" has led it to diagnose anything abnormal as an illness, one that needs to be treated with expensive drugs and psychotherapy. It's a familiar indictment. (The introduction approvingly quotes Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrician at the University of North Carolina, as saying, "We're pathologizing all human behavior, and in so doing we're creating an institutionalized nightmare Ñ a truly mad system in which everyone is `sick.' ") But Asperger's is an odd candidate, because few experts believe that drugs and psychotherapy can do anything more than relieve some of its side afflictions like depression and attention deficit disorder. In one of his digressions, Mr. Osborne takes us to a Malaysian tribe, some of whose members have an exaggerated reflex called latah, which causes them to go into a trance when startled and behave in ways that would embarrass them if they knew what they were doing Ñ cursing, taking off their clothes, singing bawdy songs. Yet in the tribal culture, such people are treated with affectionate amusement. By contrast, Mr. Osborne says, Americans with Asperger's are viewed as having a "disorder" that needs "curing." What if "around a core biological illness," he asks, "a large superstructure of behaviors and moods had been created by the society itself?" But the difference between latah and Asperger's is plain from Mr. Osborne's descriptions of the two syndromes. One is limited to special circumstances, and it does not disable its sufferers; the other is pervasive, meaning that it invades nearly every aspect of a patient's life. This book trivializes its subject by making it a vehicle for a diatribe against psychiatry and the larger ills of society. In the end, it turns out to be less about Asperger syndrome than about its author. The subject is not as fascinating as he seems to think it is. http://people.sca.uqam.ca/~peter/peter_home.htm

"The rising incidence of autism should be a matter of urgent public concern" Public Health Reports, Volume 119, Issue 6, Pages 536-551 (November 2004) The complete paper is available without charge at this address: Mark F. Blaxill Synopsis Increases in the reported prevalence of autism and autistic spectrum disorders in recent years have fueled concern over possible environmental causes. The author reviews the available survey literature and finds evidence of large increases in prevalence in both the United States and the United Kingdom that cannot be explained by changes in diagnostic criteria or improvements in case ascertainment. Incomplete ascertainment of autism cases in young child populations is the largest source of predictable bias in prevalence surveys; however, this bias has, if anything, worked against the detection of an upward trend in recent surveys. Comparison of autism rates by year of birth for specific geographies provides the strongest basis for trend assessment. Such comparisons show large recent increases in rates of autism and autistic spectrum disorders in both the U.S. and the U.K. Reported rates of autism in the United States increased from ,3 per 10,000 children in the 1970s to .30 per 10,000 children in the 1990s, a 10-fold increase. In the United Kingdom, autism rates rose from ,10 per 10,000 in the 1980s to roughly 30 per 10,000 in the 1990s. Reported rates for the full spectrum of autistic disorders rose from the 5 to 10 per 10,000 range to the 50 to 80 per 10,000 range in the two countries. A precautionary approach suggests that the rising incidence of autism should be a matter of urgent public concern. Note: The editor of PHR offered this poignant introduction: One article, by Mark Blaxill, reviews the question of temporal trends in the frequency of autism. It is from a different vantage point than most other articles on the subject, including ones we have run in the Journal, but he puts forth a well-reasoned position. It is also a good reminder why many of us picked public health as our career choice.

Well, EVERYBODY.... Finally, here's the champagne, the scissors, we cut the ribbon, we hit the side of the boat and streamers fly and......... Welcome to the grand opening of www.auties.org - (not at all linked or associated with Autistics.org) its a website created by my incredible techy guru husband Chris, ( www.csamuel.org ) with some blah and ideas from me and the other Autie Spectrum committee members (yes, we gathered about a year ago and actually now got this idea off the ground!) who helped us gather our ideas along the way. Its a site to promote the self employment skills of often under employed people on the Autistic Spectrum as well as to promote businesses which for some clear reason are deemed 'Autie friendly'. You will have to login to look around (stops the spammers). Its a free service and hopefully generally non-political so its for everybody. Do let people know about it so feel free to send this email to anyone in the Autism world you feel may find it useful. Warmly, Donna Williams *)

Article By: Cynthia Creary Article Date: 09/21/2008 Welcome to My World of Autism By Cynthia Creary (A Mother’s story of her journey with her son diagnosed with Autism) My parenting route was not as I had predicted. I would like to share my experience in the hope that another parent may read this and feel not so alone and scared. To me, Autism is not a disorder, but a unique way of life. I did not always feel this way, nor did I foresee that Autism would be a blessing, not a hindrance, for me. “Your son has Autism.” These four words change your life and your whole perception of the world around you. If you are like me, I had no idea what those four words meant when I first heard them. Part of me wanted to disbelieve. Part of me wanted to cry. Part of me was angry. I was incredibly confused. However, I was quickly grounded when my dear friend, Linda, looked at me and questioned why I was crying. “This doesn’t change how you feel about Alex*. And it certainly doesn’t change how he feels about you. It only means that you now know what it is, and doors will open for services needed to help him.” I was truly blessed to have someone say this to me. It brought me back from the “Flight” mode and into the “fight” mode. A fight to help my son. The first thing was to learn as much about Autism as I possibly could. I attended all workshops regarding not only Autism, but behaviour management, anxiety, sensory sensitivities, toilet training, promoting language, and skill building. There were several workshops offered by our Region Support Services at various times throughout the year. As well, there are always speakers visiting the community, offering evening workshops and short conferences to those interested. In the meantime, my husband and I needed to develop a profile of the areas of strength, and areas of need in our son. It was so easy to point out his needs, while we struggled to find some strengths. Everything was so hidden beneath his solitude surface. However, with keen observation skills, we could detect the many marvels that existed within our beautiful boy. He worked so hard at everything he did. He always wanted to please us, or the gentle dedicated people who provided therapy to him. We worked together to complete reasonable goals and objectives for Alex. We needed to determine the areas that we needed to be educated in, as well as the areas that we needed to focus on. Needless to say, we also needed to stay in sync with each other. We needed breaks now and then. Without family around, we were fortunate to hire a day care teacher to babysit on a consistent basis. Every second Thursday, we had date night. We would go out to dinner and feel comfortable knowing that the day care teacher was fully capable to deal with matters at home. Actually, it was harder for me than it was for Alex to adjust to this. I needed the push to get out the door. However, I was in a learning curve and discovering knowledge as I continued. I learned to set clear ground rules and be consistent. I learned to avoid all power struggles, and to give choices. Overall, I learned that if I remained calm, then this would reflect on Alex, and he would be much calmer. It is always important to remember that our emotion will mirror theirs. I found that lowering my voice to just above a whisper when Alex was upset seemed to bring him back down. He needed to stop screaming to try to hear me. As well, transition times are always unsettling. I learned to give warnings about what was going to happen, or where we would be going and when. I also built in scenarios to let Alex know that sometimes, things change and we would still be fine. Although I was trying to keep things predictable for him during the early years, I knew that I needed to build in flexibility. The world is not a predictable place, and Alex needed to learn to be adaptable. He still needed to learn how to cope with those random changes which keep life so interesting. We broke things into “big deals” and “little deals”. We both learned that there aren’t too many life experiences that are really “big deals”. Therefore, Alex learned to shrug off those previous anxiety provoking thoughts. However, Alex had some other challenges that I always had to take into consideration. He was auditory sensitive. Alex could hear the planes, trains, ambulances and fire trucks well before anyone else even noticed. Some loud noises not only seemed to scare him, but they also seemed to hurt him. I tried to train Alex to put ear plugs in when things bothered him, but this proved very trying and non-successful. Alex could more easily put his hands over his ears than put ear plugs in. Nevertheless, trial and error was necessary to find what would work for him. During the ear plug training, Alex put his hands to his ears and I did the same. I quickly removed my hands and smiled. Alex did the same. For the next few months, I put my hands on my ears whenever I saw Alex do it. I would quickly remove my hands and Alex would do the same. My son’s imitation skills were excellent. I knew that this was the best he could manage at that time. I figured that this was a success when trying to deal with a sensitivity that I could only imagine what it was like. Sensory sensitivities are very complex, and should not be treated lightly. I once worked with a girl who was very light sensitive. She would come into the classroom, sit at her desk and close her eyes. Of course, everyone tried to make

By Charnicia E. Huggins Reuters Health - Children with signs of autism are more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder in wealthier school districts, results of a new study show. "For some reason school districts with more resources have the ability to capture a greater percentage of autistic kids that are residing in their districts," study author Dr. Raymond F. Palmer, of the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, told Reuters Health. In light of this finding, "it is important to consider providing resources to poorer districts and economically disadvantaged communities to help them identify children with ASDs (autistic spectrum disorders) and other developmental delays that require attention," write Palmer and his colleagues in the American Journal of Public Health. Through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, children with ASDs are eligible for special education services such as one-on-one instruction and behavioral interventions, from birth to 21 years old. Yet, up to 80 percent of children with an autistic spectrum disorder are not diagnosed until school age, studies show. In the current study, Palmer and his team investigated the effect of community and school district resources on the identification of children with autism. They looked at 1,040 school districts in Texas, representing approximately 4 million kindergartners through twelfth graders, from the 1994-1995 though the 2000-2001 school year. In 1994-1995, 2.5 out of every 10,000 children, on average, were identified as having autistic disorder. This rate increased by about one child per 10,000 per year, the report indicates. Revenue in the school districts ranged from $100,000 to $966.7 million, with the average being $17.4 million. School districts with the highest revenues showed a three-fold increase in their rates of identification of children with autistic disorder, similar to the increasing rates of autism identified throughout the nation, Palmer and his team report. "This disorder is exponentially increasing over time," said Palmer, who describes the phenomenon as an "epidemic." Yet, districts with the lowest revenues showed little change in their rate of identification during the study period, Palmer and his team report. By the end of the study period, for example, 21 out of every 10,000 children in the highest revenue districts were diagnosed with autism, compared with 3.5 per 10,000 children in the lowest revenue districts. "Is there really less kids with autism in (poorer districts)?" Palmer asked. "I would think not." Citing the importance of the "parental push factor," Palmer said that parents in wealthier districts may be better educated and more assertive and may push for the resources their child needs. On the other hand, even if children in poorer districts are identified and diagnosed with autism, the lack of resources may force schools to "scramble" to provide even sub-par services, he said. SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, January 2005. By Charnicia E. Huggins Reuters Health - Children with signs of autism are more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder in wealthier school districts, results of a new study show. "For some reason school districts with more resources have the ability to capture a greater percentage of autistic kids that are residing in their districts," study author Dr. Raymond F. Palmer, of the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, told Reuters Health. In light of this finding, "it is important to consider providing resources to poorer districts and economically disadvantaged communities to help them identify children with ASDs (autistic spectrum disorders) and other developmental delays that require attention," write Palmer and his colleagues in the American Journal of Public Health. Through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, children with ASDs are eligible for special education services such as one-on-one instruction and behavioral interventions, from birth to 21 years old. Yet, up to 80 percent of children with an autistic spectrum disorder are not diagnosed until school age, studies show. In the current study, Palmer and his team investigated the effect of community and school district resources on the identification of children with autism. They looked at 1,040 school districts in Texas, representing approximately 4 million kindergartners through twelfth graders, from the 1994-1995 though the 2000-2001 school year. In 1994-1995, 2.5 out of every 10,000 children, on average, were identified as having autistic disorder. This rate increased by about one child per 10,000 per year, the report indicates. Revenue in the school districts ranged from $100,000 to $966.7 million, with the average being $17.4 million. School districts with the highest revenues showed a three-fold increase in their rates of identification of children with autistic disorder, similar to the increasing rates of autism identified throughout the nation, Palmer and his team report. "This disorder is exponentially increasing over time," said Palmer, who describes the phenomenon as an "epidemic." Yet, districts with the lowest revenues showed little change in their rate of identification during the study period, Palmer and his team report. By the end of the study period, for example, 21 out of every 10,000 children in the highest revenue districts were diagnosed with autism, compared with 3.5 per 10,000 children in the lowest revenue districts. "Is there really less kids with autism in (poorer districts)?" Palmer asked. "I would think not." Citing the importance of the "parental push factor," Palmer said that parents in wealthier districts may be better educated and more assertive and may push for the resources their child needs. On the other hand, even if children in poorer districts are identified and diagnosed with autism, the lack of resources may force schools to "scramble" to provide even sub-par services, he said. SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, January 2005.

Article By: Shelley Margow Article Date: 08/24/2010 Cole was diagnosed with PDD-NOS around age 2- 3. He has an amazing family who embraced the challenge of learning this new path that life had offered them and navigated through the information, professional opinions and programs that were being recommended for their child. We had the pleasure of meeting Cole and Chrissie in December of 2009. They had just moved from Texas and were looking for new, exciting treatments that could help Cole (now 9), find his way through the social nuances of “9 year old boy life”. Cole still could not ride a bike, during swim team, his strokes were awkward and unco ordinated and he struggled to play board games with other kids, because he just hated losing and would tantrum; leaving his peers baffled and not quite sure how to handle the situation. Cole couldn’t always express his feelings appropriately either. After the comprehensive occupational, physical and speech therapy evaluations that CTW performed, we developed an intense treatment protocol, using our technology and wonderful team of therapists and off we went – on the therapy journey! Fast forward 6 months. We have seen tiny little steps and leaps and bounds. The outcomes are? (I need a good word here). One of the first Ahas! Occurred on a Friday night at swim meet. Chrissie and her neighbor were sitting watching the kids swim when her neighbor turned to her and said something like “Chrissie, look at Cole, his stroke is even and smooth, wow what have you been doing?” This was 6 weeks after starting our programs. Each week we had mini revelations that we discussed. One week it was how much his handwriting had improved at school (we had not done any hand writing programs yet), the next time, Cole was more aware of his mom’s emotions. Then his tangential thought patterns were occurring less and less, he was staying on topic and everybody could follow his conversation without these random thoughts popping up. During the second week of his intensive program, Cole zipped his pants up for the first time in his life – he could now go and buy jeans at the store like other kids his age. We had many tear jerking moments during this time. But the most poignant time was when Cole rode his bike independently – all his therapists cheered as if he had just one his first marathon – and he had, he could now do what other kids his age did! We are very proud of our children and in this particular case, very proud of our parents too. With the love, support and effort that Coles’ parents have put into him, it was an honor to be able to teach Cole how to reach his milestones and then go beyond that. Way to go Cole!