Autsim, Desperation, Alternative Treatments

After her daughter Jodie was diagnosed with autism, Alison Singer went online, searching desperately for anything that looked like it might help her little girl.
She tried gluten-free and casein-free diets and supplements. She sprinkled something called DMG on her daughter's French toast. She even heard from a doctor who suggested buying a giant electromagnet that could reorganize ions in the brain.
"Parents are very vulnerable when their children are diagnosed. They want to do anything and everything to help their children, and they fall prey to these charlatans peddling the 'cure du jour,'" said Singer, who lives in Scarsdale, N.Y.

'Eye on the Door:' Life with Autism

Whether it's to a swimming pool or a doughnut store, Michael Browne knows where he wants to go -- and since he doesn't have the words to say so, he'll just dart off.
Michael, who's about to turn 10, has a severe form of autism. People with the developmental disorder typically have difficulty communicating and socializing. But another sometimes dangerous aspect of autism has received less scientific attention and causes endless stress for parents: A tendency to run away from home or adult supervision.
"We constantly have our eye on the door and on Michael, and it's a hard way to live," said Melanie Browne of Katy, Texas. "I think that's the hardest part of raising him, is just the wandering issue."

Seeking Data on Autism and Wandering

Though wandering has long been a concern within the autism community, no one knows exactly how many people are affected by the issue. Now, a handful of autism organizations are banding together to find out.
The Interactive Autism Network, or IAN, is launching a survey Wednesday asking parents of those with autism whether or not their children have a tendency to bolt from home or school.
Researchers say the survey is designed to answer a number of key questions including who is most at risk for wandering, how often it occurs and what can be done to help families dealing with the issue.

Autism's Impact on Grandparents

Great story from NPR's All Things Considered about how children with autism affect their grandparents. You can read the story (link below) or listen to it.

Having a child with autism can turn parents' lives upside down. But it can also profoundly affect the lives of grandparents, according to an online survey by the Interactive Autism Network (IAN).
Preliminary results from the survey of 2,600 grandparents found that many of them responded to a grandchild's diagnosis by changing everything from where they lived to how they spent their retirement savings.