Study: Large Percentage of Hispanic Children with Autism Remain Undiagnosed

Maribel Hernandez is a mother of two young sons with autism, Max, 12, and Chris, 10, and she agrees with the importance of early intervention.
“Sometimes, as parents, we want to justify the behavior of our children, but we have to admit the behavior is not right,” she says. “For example, when I noticed my son stopped talking, I justified it saying that he was just looking for attention.”
UC Davis MIND Institute released this week the largest study to date comparing the development of Hispanic and non-Hispanic children and found a higher percentage of Hispanic children often have undiagnosed developmental delays, or autism.

Mom Realizes Denial Is No Way to Live

Schuyler and mom Christine
Walker on Capitol Hill.

CHICAGO -- Recently I had the privilege of meeting Maria Shriver at a conference. I told Shriver that her book, Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out into the Real World, served as inspiration for my upcoming book and consulting business, Chasing Hope.
Why Chasing Hope? Because as any parent of a childliving with a challenge knows too well, effort, energy, time and money spent seeking treatment can feel as though you are chasinghope.

Can Autism Really Be Diagnosed in Minutes?

A Harvard researcher says he's achieved exceptional accuracy in identifying autism by using just seven online questions and an evaluation of a short home video of the child, instead of conventional, face-to-face exams that can take hours.