When Children with Autism Grow Up

In the public consciousness, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a disorder that affects only children. In truth, ASD is a lifelong condition. But how it affects older adults is a gaping unknown in autism research. Now, a new and significant grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will help researchers at San Diego State University understand how the disorder plays out across the lifespan.

Ralph-Axel Müller and Ruth Carper

“Developmental disorders do not end after childhood,” said Ruth Carper, a neuroscientist at SDSU and a co-investigator on the project. “Development is a lifelong process, and there is a real need to know what happens later in life for people with autism.”

Retired Cop Educating First-Responders

A retired police officer from Lansing has made it his mission to educate first-responders and others about how to more effectively interact with people with autism spectrum disorder.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one in 68 American children is affected by autism spectrum disorder, and research indicates autistic people are seven times more likely to come into contact with law enforcement.

Open Letter to Journalists on Eve of Autism Awareness Month

From Age of Autism's Media Editor Anne Dachel.

Dear Fellow Members of the Media: (That includes all of you at CBS, NBC, CNN, Forbes, New York Times, Chicago Trib, LA Times, et al.)

April is coming up and I wanted to say a few words about the month dedicated to autism awareness.  Many of us in the autism community are tired of stories about lighting the world up in blue and celebrating autism as if parents should be happy about a diagnosis.  We've endured years of feel-good coverage about awareness, fund-raising walks, and no explanation for the mystery of autism.  

Most of all, we want you to do your jobs. 

Social Skills, Contentment Evade Adults with Autism, According to Studies

The social lives of people with autism remain poor well into adulthood, and they struggle to find the sense of well-being and the fulfillment that comes from meeting one’s own goals and expectations, conclude two new reviews of long-term studies in people with the disorder.As the number of autism diagnoses grows, researchers are increasingly examining long-term trajectories of the disorder. One group of people that has been little studied, however, is adults with autism, especially the elderly. Despite estimates that the prevalence of autism in adults approaches that in children, there is little research on how they fare.The two new reports begin to fill in the gap, using systematic and quantitative analyses to assess adult life with autism.

Opinion: Do We Really Need Cure for Autism?

Does autism need to be cured? I am forever reading articles, mainly on American sites, that claim they have found a 'cure' for autism. These are observed when scrolling down my Twitter feed or conducting online autism research, I mainly look for interesting news stories and new interventions, ways in which I can help my child. I use the word 'help' rather than 'cure' as this word sits uneasy with me.

Information Technology Firms Recruiting Workers with Autism for a Good Reason

FORTUNE — In May, Ernest Dianastasis, the managing director of Computer Aid, Inc. (CAI), the Delaware Valley's largest IT consulting company, unveiled a surprising initiative: by the end of 2015, individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) would comprise at least 3% of CAI's workforce. "This move is not about advocating for the rights of the disabled," Dianastasis explains. "It's about bringing highly skilled people, who have often been overlooked, into the corporate world."

DSM Panel Shifts Course on Definition of Intellectual Disability, but Not Autism

Experts behind the new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders didn’t back down on major changes to the definition of autism, but appear to have made an about-face when it comes to intellectual disability.
Initial plans to revise the diagnosis of “mental retardation” in the forthcoming fifth edition of the psychiatric manual called for the condition to be renamed “intellectual developmental disorder.” Critics blasted the proposal because it was inconsistent with the more commonly accepted term “intellectual disability” which has already been adopted in many federal and state laws.

Social/Language Therapy: A Must

Kathie Harrington is a Speech Language Pathologist and a mother of a son on the autism spectrum. This is her blog post from Advanceweb.com's blog.

 Social skills aren't really so hard. Most children glean them during play and with appropriate guidance. No, social/pragmatic skills aren't hard at all, not unless you have ASD (as well as other mental disorders)

Why Autistic Kids Make Easy Targets for Bullies

A new study finds that children with autism spectrum disorders are bullied far more often than their typically developing peers — nearly five times as often — but parents of autistic kids think the rate is even higher than that.
In the study, about 46% of autistic children in middle and high school told their parents they were victimized at school within the previous year, compared with just over 10% of children in the general population. Calling it a “profound public health problem,” lead author Paul Sterzing of Washington University in St. Louis told the New York Times that the “rate of bullying and victimization among these adolescents is alarmingly high.”
Many people with autism have trouble recognizing social cues, which makes them awkward around others. They also often engage in repetitive behaviors and tend to be hypersensitive to environmental stimuli, all of which makes kids with the disorder ripe targets for bullies who home in on difference and enjoy aggravating their victims. About a third of autism cases are severely disabling — those affected may suffer from low IQ and be unable to talk — but most autistic people have average or high intelligence and many can function well, if their social and sensory issues are appropriately addressed.

App On iPod Touch Helps Autistic Adults Work More Efficiently

With difficulties related to behavior, communication, cognition, and sensory processing, people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a hard time not only finding a job, but keeping the job as well. In the United States, just 15% of adults struggling with ASD are getting paid for some type of work. However, according to new research, people with the disorder are able to work more efficiently with the task management and organizational features on personal digital assistants (PDAs).

The research consisted of case studies that demonstrated the use of Apple® iPod touch® PDAs as vocational supports, which was published in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.

A Dad Fights Back for His Son with Autism

I confess, I hesitated before posting this piece. I do believe there are two sides to every story. I also don't usually post or watch 17 minutes video clips, but this definitely caught my interest. This is a sad commentary that a parent felt it was necessary to wire his son.

CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- With the statistics that nearly 13 million children suffer in schools and their community every year, we know that bullying happens to children frequently. But a recent NPR story discussed a recent survey, which found that nearly two-thirds of children with autism spectrum disorders have been bullied at some point. And it found that these kids are three times as likely as typical kids to have been bullied in the past month.

Wandering Children with Autism

Creve Coeur, Mo -- A 10-year-old boy with special needs is safe after running away from school on Monday. Doctors say so-called "autism-related wandering" is common for people with developmental issues including autism.
"Parker is five and a half. He was diagnosed with autism when he was two," said Amy Lim of Creve Coeur.
Lim says in the past two weeks, her son, Parker, ran away from home twice.
"It is really difficult going out in public or even just at home. If he chooses to leave the yard he will find a way to do it," said Lim.

Asperger's To Lose Its Diagnosis Status

Eileen Parker was 41 years old when she discovered her quirky, misunderstood behavior had a name: Asperger's. The syndrome, which is marked by impaired social interaction and sensory overload, joins other neurological disorders on the autism spectrum. And for Parker, the label came as a relief.
"It opened up my world," said Parker, who is now 45. "Having been on the outside, I all of sudden found I was on the inside with millions of other people."
Parker said the Asperger's diagnosis, which is used interchangeably with high-functioning autism, made it easier for her to get along with others -- even her husband and their four kids.
"They could finally understand why I was a certain way. They said, 'Oh, that's why you're like that.'"
The American Psychiatric Association formalized the diagnosis of Asperger's in 1994, 50 years after it was first described by Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger. But the association plans to remove the term "Asperger's" from its new diagnostic manual, set for release in 2013 -- a decision that has sparked criticism from advocacy groups.

Displaced Special Educator Speaks Up

The feeling of telling someone you lost your job is difficult task to undertake. I didn't really lose my job though; I had it taken from me by New York Governor Cuomo with his budget cuts to education and by NYSUT, the union I belong to, whose support of an inane "Last in, First out" rule has prevented me from continuing my work with my high school students.
I have been on a nine-year journey through two graduate schools, three one-year teaching positions between New York and Florida and countless days of substitute teaching in the hopes that I would be more marketable to a district in the process. The 'Last in, First out' rule cost me and thousands of others around the state this year and it is destroying the institution of teaching.
As a nation, we do not give support to teachers and educators: instead, politicians and parents alike condemn teachers when students do not succeed and decide to make drastic budget cuts that make educating the next generation less appealing as a career. Where are the priorities of this once great nation? Governor Cuomo says that districts should have better fiscal management: "Manage the school system. Reduce the waste. Reduce the fraud. Reduce the abuse."
Well, which one am I Governor Cuomo? A waste? A fraud? An abuse of the system? Was my hiring a poor choice for a resource room for students with Asperger's Syndrome despite my expertise with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders? Are you really in a position to make a call like that?

Barber Educating Public About Autism

OCALA, Fla. -- The floor at Stacy’s Barbershop has a special insert with blue puzzle pieces, and owner Stacy Gerrity-Sansevere is astounded that some customers still don't know what the logo stands for.
"If you are an adult and you don’t know about autism by now — shame on you," she said.
She is so passionate that she is sponsoring an essay contest about autism through the end of April, which is National Autism Awareness Month.
Any child in grades three through eight who enters will receive a free haircut, and the winner will receive free haircuts for the rest of the year. The family of the winner — up to four people — also will receive free haircuts for a year.
Gerrity-Sansevere opened the shop in 2009 and dedicated it to her 10-year-old son, Garian, who has autism. He was diagnosed at 18 months old after his constant babbling became complete silence.

Colorado School Becomes a State Model for Teaching Children on the Spectrum

LITTLETON, Colo. -- Several years ago when Sarah Handy began teaching students with autism at Mortensen Elementary in Littleton, she found her students were rarely allowed to mix with other pupils in the Jefferson County school.
That has changed.
Now most of the 18 students with autism are integrated, and the work of the staff has caught the eye of the Colorado Department of Education.
Mortensen last week was named to be a model site for the Denver metro area in how to teach students with autism — providing the school with a $1,000 grant, training for teachers and an on-site coach.
The school has good inclusion practices, an anti-bullying program and an effective "Response to Intervention" model to give early assistance to children having difficulty learning.

Teen With Autism Honored For Artwork

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. -- Victoria Wright, 13, threw up her arms in triumph. One hand gripped a bouquet of flowers and the other a proclamation citing Victoria Wright Day here.
Victoria, who has autism, was honored July 19 during a Chesterfield City Council meeting with a proclamation recognizing her skills as an artist.
She grinned ear to ear and blew kisses to her family when the entire crowd stood to applaud her.

High School Prepares for First Class for Students on the Spectrum

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Stamford High School and four ninth-graders will share a first Monday.
Students in a distinct class for autism spectrum disorders have progressed through Westover and Roxbury elementary schools, then Cloonan Middle School. Now, four of the five students who finished eighth grade last year in Cloonan's modified home economics room are starting high school with the promise of a classroom, Room 106, outfitted to help them learn life skills, such as cooking, along with academics.
The high school isn't new to them. During the summer, they took part in an extended school-year program, which took place, in part, at Stamford High, home of the Black Knights.
"Mickey is enchanted with Stamford High School. He thinks it's a castle, because he sees all the stuff on the knights," said Heidi Teubert of her son.