Clinton Outlines Autism Plan

This week in Iowa, Hillary Clinton announced a detailed plan to address autism, including additional resources and research. NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks with Ron Fournier, a columnist for National Journal and father of a child with Asperger's syndrome, about the plan and the significance of a presidential campaign taking on the issue.

Opinion: Why I Despise Autism Awareness Month

Thoughtful opinion piece by Kim Stagliano has authored a novel and two books on parenting daughters with autism. She is managing editor of Age of Autism. Anyone else feel this way? 

Today, you’ll be seeing a lot of blue: World monuments will be cast in blue lights, your co-workers will be wearing blue clothes, and companies will be hawking blue products. Why? April 2 is World

Autism Awareness Day, when advocacy group Autism Speaks “celebrates” its international Light It Up Blue Campaign. But while you’ll be seeing blue everywhere, I’ll be seeing RED. The feel-good frippery of Light It Up Blue cloaks an often debilitating disorder in an air of festivity, with balloons, sparkling lights and pep rallies. The campaign implies autism is a party, rather than a crisis. For families living with autism, reality is far more sober, and their needs extend far beyond “awareness.”

Feds Clarify Autism Coverage Rules

In what advocates are calling a major win, federal officials are for the first time telling states that Medicaid coverage must include treatments like applied behavior analysis for children with autism.

Medicaid programs nationwide must offer “medically necessary diagnostic and treatment services” to kids with autism, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told states in abulletin this month. That includes everything from speech and occupational therapy to personal care services and medical equipment, the agency said.

Can Running Help Children with ASD?

At a time when people more often reach for the remote than for their running shoes, finishing a five-mile race is a commendable achievement for anyone.What if we told you that among the runners crossing these finish lines are children with autism? And that running is actually helping with the symptoms of autism?

At What Age Is Accurate Autism Diagnosis Possible?

Rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are not creeping up so much as leaping up. New numbers just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that one in 68 children now has a diagnosis of ASD—a 30 percent increase in just two years. In 2002, about one in 150 children was considered autistic and in 1991 the figure was one in 500.

A clinician observes a child with his
mother at the Marcus Autism Center.

The staggering increase in cases of ASD should raise more suspicion in the medical community about its misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis than it does. Promoting early screening for autism is imperative. But, is it possible that the younger in age a child is when professionals screen for ASD—especially its milder cases—the greater the risk that a slow-to-mature child will be misperceived as autistic, thus driving the numbers up?

Testing Robots to Aid Kids with Autism

WICHITA — For a group of elementary students at Heartspring, a center for children with autism, robots may be the key to better human interaction.

The students last week danced “Gangnam Style” with a robot, imitating its moves and getting used to its presence.

Teachers at Heartspring hope the benefits of working with the robot go far beyond dancing.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/11/11/3111526/heartspring-testing-robots-to.html#storylink=cpy

Maybe There Is No 'Autism Recovery'

I have been hearing the words "autism recovery" for over 13 years now. Truth be told, when my son was initially diagnosed 11 years ago, I too latched on to these words and held on for dear life. I mean, who wouldn't? If your child received a diagnosis of autism and you later hear the possibility of recovering from it, wouldn't you grab this thin strand of hope and at least try? I did. If autism recovery was possible, then we would achieve it.

Early Intervention Beneficial, Regardless of Method, for Children with Autism

For parents of preschoolers with autism, finding a classroom program for their child may have just gotten a little easier.A new study has found that it's the quality of a teaching program -- not the model of instruction -- that seems to be most important to a student's success.

Autism Study Identifies New Treatment Approach

INDIANAPOLIS -- A team of researchers from Indiana University and Rutgers University has developed a new approach that could help better pinpoint therapies for children with autism.
The method relies on a quantitative analysis of a way a person moves. Researchers say it could eventually revolutionize interventions for children who have a range of conditions, from autism to ADHD.

Autism in Flight Prepares Kids for Travel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A month ago, Ruth Goldman couldn't imagine taking her twins to the airport to board a plane. Her 11-year-old sons have autism and don't react well to unfamiliar sights and sounds.

Daniel Goldman at the security check.

"It just wasn't even on the list," said Goldman, of Miramar.

Growing Up Autistic: My Story

Editor's note: Trevor Pacelli was diagnosed with autism at age 5 and has had to deal with many of life's complexities in an entirely different light. Now 20, Pacelli attends college and has written a book. "Six-Word Lessons on Growing Up Autistic" was published in May 2012 and talks about the daily struggles of living with autism and raising an autistic child. Pacelli lives outside Seattle.

(CNN) -- Growing up as an autistic has never been easy.

Trevor Pacelli

At 5, I was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, or PDD-NOS, one of the five autism spectrum disorders. Those with PDD-NOS have difficulties in areas of social interaction and communication.

Florida Seeks to Overturn Autism Ruling

MIAMI, Fla. -- Already facing sharp criticism over policies that have resulted in the rationing of care to severely disabled children, Florida healthcare regulators are challenging a federal judge's order that the state provide a costly -- but potentially life-changing -- treatment to children with autism.
Last spring, U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard struck down the state's refusal to pay for applied behavior analysis (ABA) for autistic children, calling the state's policy "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable."

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2013/01/06/4341212/faced-with-a-judges-order-that.html#storylink=cpy

Judge Orders Therapy for Ohio Toddler

Robert and Holly Young watch as
their son, Roman, 2, plays at  home.

CINCINATTI -- A federal judge ordered state officials on Wednesday to provide speech therapy and other care to an autistic boy in Clermont County who has gone without those services for more than four months.
The judge stopped short, however, of a more sweeping order that the boy’s parents say is needed to get crucial, comprehensive care to their son and other autistic children across Ohio.

Troubling Sandy Hook Legacy May Be Backlash Against Children with Autism

On the first day back to school after 20 first-graders and six adults died at a Connecticut elementary school, students at a Utah middle school gathered to discuss the massacre.

A boy raised his hand. "The reason why this man shot little kids is because he has autism," he said.

Tricia Nelson's seventh-grade son was at the assembly. He's shy, not the kind of child apt to speak in public, but his hand darted up in response. "Autism doesn't make people shoot other people," he said.

Study Suggests Autism Less Likely in Poor Families

To reduce risk of autism, it may be important for mothers to give their children enough nutrients like vitamin D, thiamine and riboflavin if they excursively breastfeed their children, according to a new study in Journal of American College of Nutrition.

R.J. Shamberger at King James Medical Laboratory Cleveland, Ohio conducted the study and found mothers who participated in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program were less likely to have children with autism.

New Autism Rules in Pennsylvania Has Some Paying for Once Free Services

PITTSBURGH – Parents of children with autism are protesting new rules that took effect Monday in Pennsylvania, which will require parents at certain income levels to partially pay for services that used to be free.
Nicki Gratton, of Plum, is one of them. She has three children. Jeremy has cerebral palsy and Riley has pervasive developmental disorder, which is a type of autism.
Gratton told KDKA-TV’s Dr. Maria Simbra that three home visits per week to help her with her children’s behavior issues have “been a God-send.”

Educational Planning Tips for Autistic Children

A child with an autistic spectrum disorder does not intuitively understand the social world. Severely affected kids may have little apparent interest in people around them. Someone with mild impairment may be quite motivated socially, but lacks the skills to initiate or maintain social exchange or play. Regardless of whether the diagnosis is autism, Asperger's syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder (PDD)-nos, this difference in social development defines the disability.
Educational planning for children with autistic spectrum disorders is often complex and difficult to negotiate.

Autism, Parenting and Feeling Judged

I saw a woman at the gym the other day that I really wanted to avoid.
I used to see her a lot when Matthew was small. It seemed she was always there when he was bolting away from me at the grocery store, the swimming pool, the park. She watched me as I tackled Matthew before he wandered into the street, and while I tried to defuse a big bad meltdown. She was always sitting right behind us in church while Matthew flapped and tapped and giggled. Her pale blue eyes followed us everywhere and her frown was constant.

Parents to Sue Connecticut School in Autism Case

CHESHIRE, Conn. -- The parents of an autistic child are planning to sue the town, its school system and several of its employees, charging that district officials during each of the last two years caused their son’s condition to regress.
Norwalk attorney Anne Treimanis filed notice with the town on July 26 that a town family is planning to file suit.
Treimanis’ letter claims that several incidents at Highland Elementary School in Cheshire over the past two school years “caused significant injuries and damages” to the boy, who is now 9 years old.

Mets Gear 'Quiet' Section Toward Autistic Kids

NEW YORK -- For some New York Mets fans, a designated quiet area without loud music or cheering in their home stadium of Citi Field would be nothing short of blasphemy.
But in an email to their fans Wednesday, the baseball team introduced the proposal, before revealing the section's motive: to accommodate autistic children.