States Move Ahead with Preschool Push

Preschool is having its moment, as a favored cause for politicians and interest groups who ordinarily have trouble agreeing on the time of day. President Obama devoted part of his State of the Union address to it, while the deeply red states of Oklahoma and Georgia are being hailed as national models of preschool access and quality, with other states and cities also forging ahead on their own.

With a growing body of research pointing to the importance of early child development and its effect on later academic and social progress, enrollment in state-funded preschool has more than doubled since 2002, to about 30 percent of all 4-year-olds nationwide. In just the past year, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and the city of San Antonio have enacted new or expanded programs, while in dozens of other places, mayors, governors and legislators are making a serious push for preschool.

Findings Raise Concerns About Path to Autism Early Intervention

A new study from researchers at Autism Speaks shows improvement towards universal early screening for autism. The report, published online today in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, also found that few approaches to early detection, such as screening during well-child visits, were evaluated to understand their impact on early diagnosis and access to services.

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.

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.

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.

Graduation, One of Many Milestones for Mark

Mark Jameson will be graduating
on May 30.

CHAPIN, S.C. -- When Mark Jameson walks across the stage May 30 to receive his diploma from Chapin High School, it will be the grand finale of an educational journey that took him from a near-silent toddler and frustrated first grader to a loquacious and personable young man.
The milestone will be cheered by his family, parents Donnie and Theresa Jameson, and brothers, Matthew and Michael, and the dozens of teenage friends Mark has come to know as he learned to master a “regular” school and take control of his autism.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/05/21/2284071/a-milestone-for-mark-after-a-diagnosis.html#storylink=cpy

Searching for the Onset of Autism

Early behavioral intervention has shown some promise as a way to help children with autism. But it’s difficult to see the hallmarks of autism before two years of age with today’s diagnostic criteria. Could we find other methods?
Seeking to answer that question is Jed Elison at the California Institute of Technology, who is working with Ralph Adolphs at Caltech and Joe Piven at the University of North Carolina among other colleagues around the U.S. and Canada. Elison provided some preliminary findings at the Neuromagic 2012 conference held from May 7 to 10, 2012 on San Simón, the Island of Thought, near Vigo, Spain.

Most Children Lack Early Intervention

Just a fraction of the nation’s children with disabilities and developmental delays may be accessing the early intervention services they need, a new advocacy group report suggests.
An analysis released Tuesday by Easter Seals indicates that fewer than 3 percent of kids are participating in the government-funded Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C program, which offers early intervention services to children up to age 3.
At the same time, estimates suggest that almost 13 percent of children across the country should qualify.

Helping Children with Autism Attend College

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Dr. Roel and Katrina Laygos’ fourth child, Nate, was diagnosed with autism shortly before Nate turned 3.

Katrina Laygo, a Savannah mother of five, suspected Nate had the increasingly common neurological disorder because she noticed changes in him around 18 months of age.

He didn’t have a lot of language. But what he did have, he lost. He acted vacant and non-responsive “like someone flipped off the lights in his eyes,” Katrina said.

Katrina had enrolled Nate in Babies Can’t Wait — an early intervention program for children who have delays — even before the official diagnosis.

So by the time the autism diagnosis came, Katrina was already in survival mode. She recalls telling herself, as she and her husband left the pediatric neurologist’s practice, there had to be more she could do for her son than just speech and occupational therapy.

Turns out, there is much more that parents can do for children with autism.

Ozark Center for Autism Plans to Rebuild After Joplin Tornado

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Families whose children get some of the best autism services available are scrambling for help after a prominent treatment facility was destroyed in the tornado that ravaged the city of Joplin last month.
The Ozark Center for Autism, which has a national reputation and draws families to the area, offers hands-on, intensive therapy at an early age. The program had recently added a diagnostic team and was slated to expand with services for adults, including vocational training. But the May 22 tornado that pummeled the city, killing more than 150 people and injuring hundreds, demolished the center.
It has relocated to an indoor skate park on the outskirts of town until it can move to another temporary facility closer to its previous location. But fewer families can easily reach the current location, and while Ozark Center staff members have increased their number of home visits, they are concerned that some children could see their progress halted.

N.Y. Early Intervention, Therapy Cuts

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Alexzander Hayden spoke like any other toddler until a few months after his second birthday.
"Out of the blue, his speech started disappearing," said his mother, Hollie Hayden, who lives in Latham. "He would scream and throw a cup at the refrigerator instead of giving me the cup and telling me he wanted something to drink."
Alexzander was evaluated and qualified for "early intervention" services that helped him start talking again.
Therapists who treat infants and toddlers with speech, behavioral and physical problems say fewer children like Alexzander will get services due to state budget cuts.

Looking for Early Signs of Autism

A technology that monitors electrical activity in the brain could help identify infants who will go on to develop autism, scientists say.
The technology, known as electroencephalography, or EEG, is also providing hints about precisely how autism affects the brain and which therapies are likely to help children with autism spectrum disorders.
"Right now, the earliest we can reliably identify a child is, say, 3 years of age," says Charles Nelson, a professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School. "Our work is designed to see [if we] can we do that in early infancy, long before any signs or symptoms of autism are apparent in the child's behavior."
If EEG lives up to its early promise, Nelson says, children with autism might start getting therapy before their first birthday.

Study: Easy Survey Can Detect Autism Early

Call it mother's intuition. Linda Powell's only son Samuel was just two months old when she said she knew something was wrong.
"I had a colorful mobile over the changing area and he didn't focus on it at all," Powell said. "Usually by that time they're able to see some colors. I even switched to a mobile with all these different vibrant colors, and he still didn't focus."
That wasn't the only red flag. Samuel made long humming sounds instead of the "da's" and "ga's" of babbling babies his age. And although he liked toys, he didn't play like his curious peers.
Despite the warning signs, it would be three years before Samuel's unusual behavior had a name: Autism.