Autistic Man With 8 Year Old Mental Capacity Missing In LA Area

Police in the Los Angeles area are asking for public help in finding a 20 year old autistic man, with the mental capacity of an 8 year old, who has gone missing:

Police are asking for the public's help to find a missing 20-year-old Sylmar man with autism.

Daniel Robert Logan has been missing for two days, according to his family. Logan, who police say has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old, was last seen Wednesday at his residence on Cobalt Street.

The police say Logan is also unlikely to ask anyone for assistance. He knows his name, birth date and address, but does not remember his telephone number.

Logan is described as 6 feet tall, 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, and probably at this point sporting facial hair. He was last seen wearing a gray shirt, blue jeans and black slip-on shoes.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts was asked to contact
Missing Person's Unit at (213) 485-5381 or 1-877-LAWFULL.

- CBS2.com

Hopefully this young man will be found safe and sound. Neurodiversity ideologues who argue incessantly on the internet, appear in endless media interviews, lobby political bodies and courts and purport to speak for all autistic people, should explain how they have anything in common with low functioning autistic people like this missing young man. Of course, they refuse to acknowledge, reality and common sense notwithstanding, the existence of any low functioning distinctions amongst persons with autism.

After all, how could high functioning autistic people like Michelle Dawson (researcher, anti-ABA activist, intervenor in Court proceedings, former postal worker) and Amanda Baggs (former student at Simon's Rock College for gifted youths) garner so much attention for themselves, and purport to speak for all autistic persons, if the media realized that their disorders are so different from those of lower functioning autistic persons like the 20 year old man with autism disorder and an 8 year old mental capacity in this report?

As the father of a 12 year old son with Autism Disorder and profound developmental delays I have lived through similar experiences to those being experienced by Daniel Robert Logan's family although not for such an extended period. Some autistic persons who go missing are in fact found safe. I hope this is again the case for Mr. Logan and his family.

autism

17 Year Old Dies After Being Tasered

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A teenager died after police used a Taser on him inside a grocery store in northeast Charlotte.Charlotte-Mecklenburg police homicide detectives said they will investigate why police used the Taser on 17-year-old Darryl Turner Thursday afternoon.

WSOCTV.com

The police forces who repeat TASER company propaganda that Tasers don't kill should explain how a 17 year old could die after being shot with a Taser.

It is offensive to common sense to suggest that Tasers did not cause or contribute directly to the deaths of more than 300 people who have died after being Tasered.

Autism and Vaccines - Measles Outbreak in San Diego

The ugly side of the autism and vaccines debate is showing its dangerous face in the San Diego area where 12 children have fallen ill with measles. 3 of the children are too young to have received the measles vaccine but 9 were children whose parents refused to let them be inoculated against the measles. Some parents believe that vaccines are connected to increases in autism rates. The belief is not supported by the scientific and medical communities which maintain that the evidence in support of a vaccine autism connection does not exist. The New York Times News Service reports:

"Measles, almost wholly eradicated in the United States through vaccines, can cause pneumonia and brain swelling, which in rare cases can lead to death. "

...

In 1991, less than 1 percent of children in the states with personal-belief exemptions went without vaccines based on the exemption; by 2004, the most recent year for which data are available, the percentage had increased to 2.54 percent, said Saad B. Omer, an assistant scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.


autism

Canada's Sham Autism Symposium Failure and the Need for a REAL National Autism Strategy

The National Autism Symposium was supposed to be a key plank in the Harper government's otherwise pathetically weak National Autism Strategy. The symposium was initially postponed when the Harper government and the directors of the CIHR got word that actual, honest to goodness, parent autism advocates were being put forward as autism society representatives. Scared at the prospect that parents would voice the need for federal funding of Applied Behavior Analysis for autistic children in Canada the Harper government and the politically sensitive directors of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research postponed the symposium and rescheduled it for November 7 - 9 in Toronto. This time the CIHR took no chances and determined for themselves and without the names of persons who would allegedly "represent" the provincial autism community. Apparently the CIHR is as weak on democratic principles as it is in its understanding of autism and autism treatments.

In New Brunswick the Autism Society New Brunswick was not asked for the name of a representative to send to the symposium. In fact the ASNB was not even consulted about the names of persons they might wish to have represent New Brunswick's autism community. Some persons in New Brunswick were consulted and I know for a fact that my name was put forward but rejected by the CIHR political leadership. It seems clear that the CIHR wanted to avoid any outspoken advocates of evidence based interventions for autistic children.

There was no list of guest speakers or specific subjects published in advance of the "National" Autism Symposium. Unfortunately, even after the symposium there has been very little in the way of actual substantive information about the symposium made available to the Canadian public. Here is the only summary of the National Autism Symposium that I have been able to find as published on the CIHR web site by Dr. Rémi Quirion, OC, PhD, FRSC, CQ, Scientific Director of the CIHR's Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA):

National Autism Research Symposium

Toronto, November 8-9, 2007

CIHR had been tasked by the Hon. Tony Clement, Minister of Health, with organizing this event and CIHR-INMHA, with assistance from CIHR-IHDCYH, took the lead. The symposium was part of a series of initiatives on autism announced by Minister Clement in November 2006. The other commitments included exploring the establishment of a research chair focusing on effective treatment and intervention for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs); launching a consultation process on the feasibility of developing an ASD surveillance program through the Public Health Agency of Canada; creating a dedicated page on the Health Canada web site focused on ASD; and designating the Health Policy Branch of Health Canada as the ASD lead for actions related to ASD at the federal government level.

The symposium brought together 95 attendees including researchers, health professionals, educators, service providers, family members and persons with autism, as well as community organizations and government representatives. All the provinces and two territories (Northwest Territories and the Yukon) were represented. The goals of the symposium were to inform participants about the current state of knowledge on autism, to further the dissemination of ideas and to assist the research community in planning for research.

The opening evening session featured presentations from a person with autism (Daniel Share-Strom), a parent (Jennifer Overton) and a prominent researcher in the field (Dr. Susan Bryson, Dalhousie). On the second day, after introductory comments from the Health Minister, twelve leading Canadian researchers in the field of autism discussed the latest findings, with brief question and answer periods. Symposium participants then broke into six groups to discuss specific issues relevant to autism research. Each group suggested three key ideas to help inform research and presented these to the symposium as a whole. Every participant then had an opportunity to provide written feedback on these ideas and the symposium closed with some general comments from the floor.

Feedback from the symposium was very positive, with many participants appreciative of the opportunity to meet with individuals from different sectors and many expressing a wish to make this kind of meeting a regular event. For further information on this meeting, please contact Barb Beckett at {bbeckett@cihr-irsc.gc.ca}[mailto:bbeckett@cihr-irsc.gc.ca]

After bragging about Health Minister Tony Clements weak National Autism Strategy Dr. Quirion then stated in the summary that the goals of the symposium included "to inform participants about the current state of knowledge on autism, to further the dissemination of ideas and to assist the research community in planning for research." The summary itself sets out no description of the current state of knowledge on autism and, to my knowledge, no ideas have been disseminated. Judging by Dr. Quirion's objectives it appears that the National Autism Symposium was a failure.

In all fairness to the timid, politically sensitive, bureaucrats at the CIHR the American Academy of Pediatrics stole their thunder by releasing on October 29, 2007, just eight days before the CIHR "facilitated" autism symposium, two landmark reports on autism. In one of those reports, Management of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders the AAP stated that:

The effectiveness of ABA-based intervention in ASDs has been well documented through 5 decades of research by using single-subject methodology21,25,27,28 and in controlled studies of comprehensive early intensive behavioral intervention programs in university and
community settings.29–40 Children who receive early intensive behavioral treatment have been shown to make substantial, sustained gains in IQ, language, academic performance, and adaptive behavior as well as some measures of social behavior, and their outcomes have
been significantly better than those of children in control groups.31–40

The significance of this report on the effectiveness of ABA and its impact on the Tony Clement/CIHR sham autism symposium can not be overstated. Released just eight days prior to the sham symposium put on by Minister Clement and the CIHR bureaucrats the report undermined one of the real goals of the symposium - to present ABA as merely one treatment option amongst a host of such options. The AAP review updated previous credible American reviews of the Autism treatment research literature including the New York state and California reviews, the US Surgeon General review and the MADSEC Autism Task Force Report 1999-2000 all of which endorsed ABA as, to date, the only autism intervention with a solid evidentiary bases in support of its effectiveness in helping autistic children. This result ran directly contrary to the hopes of Minister Clement and his staged autism symposium; a symposium so obviously contrived to suit the political agenda of the Harper-Clement government that no substantive report of the "ideas to be disseminated" about autism has yet been "disseminated". The CIHR people are apparently too ashamed of their sham symposium to issue a detailed report of its proceedings, which would undoubtedly stand in direct contradiction to the much more credible AAP report.

It is long past time that the Canadian autism community stopped putting up with such contrived nonsense and demanded a real National Autism Strategy; one which would see our federal government help autistic children wherever they live in Canada.

autism

Autism and The Dangers of Facilitated Communication

In Part two: Sex abuse case against Oakland couple was legal horror show Brian Dickerson of the Detroit Free Press reports on the dropping of sex abuse charges against a Michigan couple accused of sexually abusing their teenage autistic daughter. The case was based on allegations allegedly typed by the daughter with the assistance of an aide. Ultimately professionals who became involved with the case testified that there were signs that the girl was being subtly directed or influenced by the aide in typing her allegations. Charges were dropped. Before that point arrived however the mother had been placed on an electronic tether, the father had been jailed and the girl and her brother were sent to live in foster homes for over 100 days.

During the trial the girl was unable to type responsive answers to 17 question asked of her during the trial as shown in these questions and answers:

Q: What color is your sweater?

A: JIBHJIH

Q: What are you holding in your hand right now?

A: I AM 14

As the Free Press article reports Facilitated Communication had been rejected by researchers and in court proceedings:

Spurred by a flurry of cases in which autistic children using FC accused seemingly trustworthy adults of sexually molesting them, researchers began conducting double-blind experiments. In trial after trial, experimenters demonstrated that typed messages were actually being directed -- albeit unconsciously -- by the facilitators themselves.

Alan Zwiebel is a New York civil rights lawyer whose legal crusade against FC culminated in a celebrated 1997 case in which a federal jury awarded $750,000 to a New York couple who'd lost custody of their retarded daughter. Jurors concluded officials knew or should have known the girl's facilitated allegations of abuse were bogus.

Zwiebel professed astonishment when I told him that Oakland County prosecutors had relied on FC evidence to bring criminal charges against the West Bloomfield girl's parents.

"Facilitated communication? My God -- I though we stuck a stake through its heart in 1997," he said.

Since his 11-year-old federal case, Zwiebel said, "there's been a bright-line rule that facilitated communication is unreliable, period."

Mr. Zweibel's assessment of Facilitated Communication was consistent with the MADSEC Autism Task Force Report 1999-2000 which concluded that:

Accumulated peer-reviewed, empirically-based research studies have not supported the
effectiveness of facilitated communication. Equally important, the research has substantiated
the potential for great harm (Foxx, 1995; Margolin, 1994, Myers, 1994). Researchers may
consider further investigation using research protocols, with particular care to protect subjects and their families against harm. It is not recommended that professionals consider the use of facilitated communication.

In Oakland County Michigan a family has suffered from the ignorance of local officials about the unreliability and dangers of facilitated communication. The Detroit Free Press, in reporting this story, is doing a service to all persons with autism, their families and carers who might be harmed by this unreliable and dangerous autism intervention.

autism

Autism and Brain Connections - Contactin 4 Gene Disruption Implicated in 2.5 Per Cent Of Autism Cases

A study led by Dr. Eli Hatchwell of Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York has found that disruption of a gene called contactin 4 prevents the brain from making proper networks. Two copies of the gene are required for proper functioning but some children have either three copies or one copy. Dr. Hatchwell estimates that contactin 4 gene disruption may be involved in as many as 2.5 percent of autism cases:

"Generally the mistake that people make is they are looking for one unifying cause for autism, and there is no such thing and there never will be," Hatchwell said in a telephone interview.

....

"Autism is a syndrome. These individuals have all been grouped together as having the same thing. There will be many, many dozens if not hundreds of different causes," he said.

Contactin 4 is involved in the development of axons, which are the long strings that connect one neuron to another. Other disruptions of this gene are known to cause developmental delay and mental retardation.

autism

Autism Tragedy In Tasmania, Australia

AUTISM CAMPAIGNER SAYS THE TRAGEDY AT CLIFTON BEACH YESTERDAY HIGHLIGHTS THE TOTAL LACK OF ADEQUATE SERVICES AND A TOTAL LACK OF KNOWLEDGE WITHIN GOVERNMENT SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR THE CARING OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN IN TASMANIA.

ROGER LAW, Secretary of ATAC, (Action For Tasmanian Autistic Children) said today that the tragedy at Clifton Beach highlighted the total lack of services for Autistic children in Tasmania, and the lack of qualified and knowledgeable professional help for families with autistic children.

Mr Law said that on Friday afternoon, he and the missing boy's mother had been with the Commissioner for Children and had raised with him the appropriateness of housing two seriously disturbed autistic children, who did not like each other, in the same unit.

Mr Law queried why only one carer was left to look after these two very seriously disturbed autistic children, neither of whom had the capacity for language. Mr Law said he understands that the normal practice was for two carers to be rostered when both boys were present in the unit. He questioned whether this was a case of budget considerations getting in the way of best practice for vulnerable children in care?

Roger said he had no criticism of the Carer involved, who was known to him, and whom he had trusted to give respite for his own autistic grandson. He was a strong gentle giant of a man whom it appears was placed in an impossible situation by his employer and who [apparently] gave his own life trying to protect a seriously disabled child.

'His family is now another family thrown into tragedy by the lack of understanding of autism so prevalent in the government departments responsible for caring for these children.'

Mr Law called on the Government to immediately come to the aid of the family of the missing boy. as they are in shock and crisis.

'This tragedy would not have happened if the family were not in emergency accommodation awaiting placement with the Housing Department. It was normal practice for the son to stay with his family on Friday and Saturdays, but this was not possible because of the accommodation problem this week.'

Roger said that the boy's mother had tried desperately for seven months to get help in her own home to help her keep the boy, who was experiencing a total breakdown, with his family. When government services refused to give the aid she needed to keep her other children safe, she had no option but to leave her son with the authorities.

'What role did the neglect of these Government Services over an extended period of time play in this tragedy?' he asked.

The Coroner has already been asked to assess the role that lack of appropriate Government Services played in the death of another autistic youth last year.

'And now it appears to have happened again,' he said.

'Government Services do not learn.,' Mr Law said. 'Even now there is another tragedy waiting to happen. A very ill single mother with a severely autistic child is in crisis. ATAC had been able to obtain a government funded program for her son, and significant improvement was being made. The funding for this program has been withdrawn in an attempt to force her to place her son into school. This was in spite of warnings from a world-recognized expert that all the child's gains will be lost and that he will break down if returned to normal schooling.

'So we have a seriously ill mother having complex seizures on a daily basis with a seriously disabled son who is being refused help in her home by Government Services. And these Government Services are supposed to be helping disabled children and their families. This is another tragedy just waiting to happen!'

Mr Law instanced a case where the mother of another autistic child in care got funding from legal aid for her child to be examined and tested by an interstate expert in Autism Spectrum Disorder to get an alternative assessment of what was required for her child , and the Department refused to release the child for testing!

Roger went on to say that ATAC had just received a copy of the Californian Health Department's 'Guidelines for Best Practice in the Diagnosis of Autism', and that Tasmanian practices failed on all of the recommended best practice guidelines.

Mr Law said that there is a pressing need for a full independent enquiry into the services for people Autism in this State. He said that such was the paucity of Services in this State that international experts and interstate experts will need to be brought in to advise on changing the care of autistic children in this state,

ROGER CAN BE CONTACTED ON O3 6286 1316, MOB 04004271500

email; jerobi40@bigpond.com

web site for ATAC: http://www.atacc.biz/atac

http://melbarant.com/atac

autism

Autism and Stimming - Conor Shows How It Is Done

The photos above are of Conor relaxing with Dad this morning at the Second Cup, Kings Place, Fredericton, one of our favorite weekend haunts. The staff have seen him there with Dad for the past several years. They know he has autism disorder. They know him as Conor. They have seen Conor laughing and enjoying himself. They have seen him melt down on occasion. Conor has always been very welcome at the Second Cup.

In the photos above, in sequence from top to bottom, Conor is seen stimming with a straw, his favorite stim object. In the bottom picture the straw is moving so fast you can barely see it in the photo. If you look at the basket behind Conor in the first 3 photos you will clearly see a red ribbon hanging down the side of the basket. If you look at the bottom pic you will see an object in front of the basket, slightly obscuring the red ribbon, Conor's straw, moving so fast it is barely discernible.

For Conor stimming is not a way of communicating with his environment. It is not a special autistic language. It is what he does.

autism

Low Functioning Autism, Laurent Mottron and Common Sense

Dr. Laurent Mottron is an icon of sorts of the Neurodiversity movement. A prominent autism researcher who has published voluminously if somewhat narrowly on autism subjects (tending to focus primarily on autistic savants, Aspergers syndrome and High Functioning Autistic persons) he has nonetheless lent his high functioning autism expertise to advocate in Canada against government funding of ABA treatment for autistic children whether they are low functioning or not. Together with anti-ABA activist Michelle Dawson, the good Dr. Mottron is one half of the Quirks and Quarks duo that has made representation to the Supreme Court of Canada (Auton case, Mottron filed an affidavit in support of Dawson's request for intervenor status), the Canadian Senate committee studying autism treatment and financing in Canada and numerous media interviews about the views of "autistics". His views about low functioning and high functioning autism though appear to have escaped examination by his Neurodiversity admirers who mock use of terms such as low functioning or high functioning autism.

Dr. Mottron's anti-ABA advocacy, his articles designed to show hidden and perhaps superior intelligence of autistic persons, and his collaboration with Michelle Dawson, have made him a darling of the Neurodiversity movement as in the following comments by Neurodiversity blogger Autism Diva:

"Autism Diva must say though, that the real heart breaker of Fracophone 'oh-TEEZM" researchers is LauRENT MotTRON. (sigh, sigh) Mottron is at the Hopital des Rivieres des Prairies (?) and Fombonne is at McGill with Szatmari. (not so cute, not French)

Autism Diva met Dr. Mottron a year and a half ago. He doesn't have pretty hair like Fombonne, but he's the best homme in autism research, English speaking or French."

Yet despite his intellectual, and other, appeal to the Neurodiversity movement Dr. Mottron has acknowledged throughout the course of his research career that there are important distinctions to be drawn between low functioning autism and higher functioning autism, Aspergers and autistic savants. At least he has made those distinctions in many of his research articles. Any search of Google Scholar with the terms "autism" and "Mottron" will turn up numerous summaries mentioning function level distinctions of the autistic subjects of his studies. (The good Dr. Mottron has tended to focus his studies on higher functioning autistic subjects. It is not clear if any of his findings have been questioned as to whether they would apply to lower functioning autistic persons). Here are but a few examples where Dr. Mottron has used the high functioning label to characterize his autistic subjects:

… and Global Processing of Music in High-functioning Persons with Autism: Beyond Central Coherence? - all 9 versions »
L Mottron, I Peretz, E Ménard - The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied …, 2000 - journals.cambridge.org
... enhanced pitch processing is highly compatible with the exceptional pitch-processing
abilities exhibited by musical savants with autism (Mottron, Peretz, et al ...
Cited by 86 - Related Articles - Web Search

Do high functioning persons with autism present superior spatial abilities? - all 5 versions »
MJ Caron, L Mottron, C Rainville, S Chouinard - Neuropsychologia, 2004 - Elsevier
... for participants with autism exhibiting atypical gain in cued recall condition
relatively to free recall condition ([Bennetto et al., 1996 and Mottron et al ...
Cited by 24 - Related Articles - Web Search

Face perception in high-functioning autistic adults: evidence for superior processing of face parts, … - all 2 versions »
A Lahaie, L Mottron, M Arguin, C Berthiaume, B … - Neuropsychology, 2006 - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
... Lahaie A, Mottron L, Arguin M, Berthiaume C, Jemel B, Saumier D. Hopital
Riviere-des-Prairies, Montreal, PQ, Canada. Configural processing in autism was ...
Cited by 14 - Related Articles - Web Search


Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience
February 15, 2003, Vol. 15, No. 2, Pages 226-235
Posted Online March 13, 2006.
(doi:10.1162/089892903321208169)
Enhanced Pitch Sensitivity in Individuals with Autism: A Signal Detection Analysis
These findings confirm that pitch processing is enhanced in “high-functioning” autism. Superior performance in pitch discrimination and categorization extends previous findings of enhanced visual performance to the auditory domain. Thus, and as predicted by the enhanced perceptual functioning model for peaks of ability in autism (Mottron & Burack, 2001), autistic individuals outperform typically developing population in a variety of low-level perceptual tasks.


Given Dr. Laurent Mottron's persistent use of functioning levels to describe autistic persons in his research it is not clear where the Neurodiversity movement finds its inspiration for its misguided attempts to obscure the distinctions between lower functioning autistic individuals and those like Neurodiversity bloggers who demonstrate great command of language and ability to function in the real world. Parents, including me, who must keep a 24/7 watch on their autistic children for fear that they will, as my son once did, cross a busy street oblivious to the dangers of automobile traffic. are often outraged at such absurd Neurononsense. The story I blogged of autistic 7 year old Samantha in Scotland who inflicts serious injury on herself by beating her head with her hands and other objects surely would be described by anyone with an ounce of common sense as Low Functioning Autistic.

Parents and others who function in the real world can distinguish between the functioning levels of children who are a danger to themselves, or the middle aged woman in a New York residential facility who could not communicate the abuse to which she was being subjected by staff and those who attend colleges for gifted students such as Simon's Rock College or become legal , political and media advocates. In the Neurodiversity world? That is another story.

autism

Autistic Self Injury - The Autism Story CNN Does Not Tell You

CNN has offered a number of features on autism over the past few years. For reasons that remain unknown to many parents of autistic children CNN with all its resources and with its ability to speak to the world has chosen to obsess over Amanda Baggs, an allegedly low functioning autistic person, diagnosed with an autism disorder as a young woman, who amongst other abilities and accomplishments, was able to attend a college for gifted young people, (Simon's Rock College), make friends, and engage educators and professionals in discussion. Meanwhile CNN ignores the plight of millions of autistic people around the globe, including autistic children who hurt themselves quite severely.

DailyRecord.co.uk is not as squeamish as CNN. In Help My Autistic Daughter Before She Kills Herself, the DR tells the story of Samantha, a seven year old Scottish girl who will sometimes beat her head off any solid object within reach. She has broken her own nose and fractured fingers while hitting her head with her own hands. Doctors think it is Samantha's autism which directly causes the self injurious behavior while Samantha's mother believes it is because she is suffering from an undiagnosed medical ailment, possibly a tumor, and pain which she can not understand or communicate. Regardless of which is the more accurate picture in Samantha's case many severely autistic children, are known to injure themself. My own son has engaged in self injurious behavior although nowhere nearly as seriously as Samantha whose parents are fighting to obtain the specialist services including autism specific education that Samantha needs.

The DailyRecord story includes two pictures of Samantha. One picture shows her without apparent injury and the other shows her extremely bruised face. You are unlikely to see such a hard autism reality on Dr. Sanjay Gupta's CNN autism productions but it is a reality that some parents of autistic children must face, and their children must suffer with, if they do not have access to the services of appropriate autism specialists.

autism

Autism Rising In Oregon But Services Are Lacking

Autism is rising in Oregon but services are lacking. KVAL reports Oregon state statistics indicating that autism is up 11 percent compared to last year. Services have not kept stride with the dramatic increase: "Local autism activists said schools lack the training, staffing and specialized programs to serve students with autism."

The situation in Oregon is not unique. Reports of startling increases in autism diagnoses across North America are common. Also common is the failure of many education authorities to come to grips with the challenges of educating autistic school children.

Here in New Brunswick, Canada, we have at least started to address this challenge in a serious and comprehensive manner. The outstanding UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program has, for the past couple of years, been providing autism specific training to Teacher Aides and Resource Teachers working with autistic students. The current government of Liberal Premier Shawn Graham and Education Minister Kelly Lamrock has committed to training 3 more years classes of Teacher Aides and Resource Teachers to work with autistic students, placing New Brunswick ahead of many jurisdictions in North America in making a serious effort to educate all autistic students.

Persons interested in more information about the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program for pre-schoolers or students with autism might wish to contact:

Anne Higgins
Director, Professional
Development Division
University of New Brunswick
College of Extended Learning
E-mail: eah@unb.ca

Jayden's World - Living With CDLS

Jayden's World - Living with CDLS blog site, above, and web site, were brought to my attention by Kimmie Bevans, mother of 4 year old Jayden, who has CDLS. Kimmie and Jayden live in New Brunswick. Her mother indicates that some of the symptoms, and challenges, of CDLS are similar to autism although it is much more rare. CDLS, or Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, is described on Jayden's World web site:

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome is an extremely rare congenital syndrome that is also recognized under the name Brachmann-de-Lange Syndrome.CdLS is a very serious disability affecting almost every aspect of an individual's intellectual and physical development.Problem areas include vision,hearing,speech and language development,fine motor skills,motor skills,nutrition and feeding,sleeping habits,behavior,intellectual development,muscle development,and severe complications all of which can range from mild to severe.

Check out Jayden's World blog and web sites; to read Jayden's story and for more links and information about CDLS.

Autism Rising in Oregon

More than 7,000 Oregon students have autism, triple the count 10 years ago and 11 percent higher than just a year ago, the state reported Wednesday."

The Oregonian, March 13, 2008

Neurodiversity believers will automatically state that increases in autism in Oregon are due to changes in the definition, diagnostic criteria , and increased public awareness of autism disorders. They are partly correct in that such factors have occurred. And it is very reasonable to assume that such factors account for some of the increases in Oregon and elsewhere. But it is not reasonable to assume that the startling increases in autism disorder diagnoses is attributable entirely to definition change and social factors.

The belief that these increases are due entirely to changes in how we view autism is a faith based belief unsupported by credible studies or data. It amounts, without evidence, to a rejection of the possibility that environmental factors, not just thimerosal, but any environmental factors, are causing or contributing to the rise, across Canada, the US, and Europe to the startling increases in autism diagnoses. The presence of mercury, lead, aluminum, and a long list of chemicals and plastic components in our drinking water, and our environment generally, are ruled out as possible causes or contributing factors to the rise of autism.

The true believers of the neurodiversity movement are free to cling to their beliefs. I prefer to keep an open mind and, until more study is done, and more information is available, work on the assumption that the very dangerous substances in our environment might be having harmful effects on our children. Increases in autism disorder diagnoses might be one of those harmful consequences of our increasingly toxic environment.

Autism and Mercury Debate - Is the Focus Too Narrow?

I do not get too deeply involved in the blogger-internet debates over whether thimerosal causes, or contributes to autism. As a father of a boy with Autism Disorder, and a humble small town lawyer, I rely on expert sources to interpret the data and report their conclusions, and the reasoning behind their conclusions, in a way that I can follow. I do not try to "argue" the positions of the scientific researchers into submission. To date, it is my understanding that the data does not support a vaccine/mercury/thimerosal connection to autism although further research and further data could modify that conclusion.

I do read blogger and mainstream media commentary on the debate although I rarely find that these sources offer much real information and seldom depart from the "does thimerosal cause autism or does it not" dynamic. A full discussion of the issues is lacking. I have previously commented on other environmental contaminants as possible environmental causes or triggers of autism. There seems to be little consideration of the long list of environmental contaminants as possible autism causes or triggers. With that perspective, I was very interested when I found this online article discussing media coverage of the autism-vaccine debate The Wrong Debate Over Autism Why focusing on thimerosal misses a larger story in the Columbia Journalism Review.

In The Wrong Debate Over Autism Russ Juskalian, a student in the M.A. Science journalism program at Columbia University and a freelance writer, reviews media treatment of the vaccine/autism debate and suggests that the discussion may be too narrowly focussed. While acknowledging the importance of full, and continuing, investigation of the mercury and autism issue, Juskalian asks whether the intense, narrow focus on mercury has distracted from other possible environmental causes or triggers of autism:

" the whole issue of whether vaccines containing thimerosal or mercury cause autism served as a distraction from the ongoing efforts to tease apart the causes of this enigmatic disorder. That’s not to say the vaccine issue shouldn’t be covered at all, but that there are many more important—if less emotionally driven—questions related to autism that deserve further investigation.

Is autism caused by environmental factors? Can it be triggered by these factors? How does epidemiology try to solve these riddles? Are some people genetically predisposed to respond to environmental factors (like mercury)? Can we find a way to screen for these predispositions (like Poling’s metabolic condition)? What else is in our environment that poses a risk?"

Juskalian references Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and the long list of environmental contaminants that have been identified. He also mentions the recent AP information concerning the numerous pharmaceuticals in American tap water. Another relevant news item which could be added to Mr Juskalian's sources is the very recent report by Canadian Press that thirty per cent of Canadian dentists missed a voluntary 2007 target to better control how they release mercury into the environment.

It might be helpful for active participants in the mercury autism debate, and media outlets covering the debate, to read Mr. Juskalian's article, pause and ..... reconsider their approach to these issues. Neither an entrenched belief that vaccine mercury causes autism nor the equally entrenched belief of the Neurodiversity camp that there are no environmental causes of autism provide a wide enough lens to see the whole autism picture.

autism

Ultimate Autism Reality - Who Will Care For My Autistic Son When I Am Dead?

The great and unshakable certainty in each person's life is that it ends, that at some point each of us dies. Most of us put that undeniable reality out of our minds as we go about our daily lives. We use euphemisms to describe the reality of death. We refer to the "time of our passing" or "when I am gone". In that way we are able to enjoy our time, the precious, fleeting moments that we have allotted to us. But for some of us it is not that easy to forget what waits for us. Some of us have a child that we know will not be able to live independently, to care for himself or herself as adults. That is the case for many parents of severely autistic children. Like many I wonder who will care for my autistic son when I am dead.

In New Brunswick, Canada at this time I do not have an answer to that question that haunts me with increasing frequency. The realities of life for autistic adults in need of residential care in New Brunswick are not pretty. We do have a group home system but the homes in question lack professional expertise and offer little in the way of life style opportunities for enjoyment, recreation and exercise. They are not generally equipped to deal with the more severely challenged autistic persons.

We have no institutional level facility designed to provide residential care and treatment of autistic adults in New Brunswick. This has become brutally clear in the past few years as we literally exported our autistic adults to the United States and other Canadian provinces. We are failing our autistic adults. In New Brunswick we do not have the institutional level facilities necessary to provide residential care and treatment, to provide expertise, security and life enjoyment to severely autistic adults.

My son, now 12 years old, with Autism Disorder and profound developmental delays, is well on his way to becoming one of those adults with autism for whom the Province of New Brunswick offers no suitable residential care. And I am now, as I type these words, one of those parents who can not answer the question - who will care for my son when I am dead?

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World Autism Awareness Day Resolution

United Nations A/RES/62/139


Distr.: General

General Assembly

21 January 2008

Sixty-second session

Agenda item 66 (a)

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

[on the report of the Third Committee (A/62/435)]

62/139. World Autism Awareness Day

The General Assembly,

Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome1 and the United Nations Millennium Declaration,2 as well as the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields,

Recalling also the Convention on the Rights of the Child3 and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 4 according to which children with disabilities should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community, as well as the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children,

Affirming that ensuring and promoting the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities is critical to achieving internationally agreed development goals,

Aware that autism is a lifelong developmental disability that manifests itself during the first three years of life and results from a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, mostly affecting children in many countries irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status, and characterized by impairments in social interaction, problems with verbal and non -verbal communication and restricted, repetitive behaviour, interests and activities,5

Deeply concerned by the prevalence and high rate of autism in children in all regions of the world and the consequent development challenges to long -term health care, education, training and intervention programmes undertaken by Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, as well as its tremendous impact on children, their families, communities and societies,

1 See resolution 60/1.
2 See resolution 55/2.
3 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
4 Resolution 61/106, annex I.
5 See International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, tenth revision


(subcategories F84.0 and F84.1), endorsed by the forty-third World Health Assembly in May 1990.

Recalling that early diagnosis and appropriate research and interventions are
vital to the growth and development of the individual,

1. Decides to designate 2 April as World Autism Awareness Day, to be
observed every year beginning in 2008;

2. Invites all Member States, relevant organizations of the United Nations
system and other international organizations, as well as civil society, including
non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to observe World Autism
Awareness Day in an appropriate manner, in order to raise public awareness of autism;

3. Encourages Member States to take measures to raise awareness
throughout society, including at the family level, regarding children with autism;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the
attention of all Member States and United Nations organizations.

76th plenary meeting

18 December 2007

Disgusting Autism News - Lunch Money Stolen From Autistic Student in California

"We trusted this caregiver, the assistant teacher, with our child, the most precious thing we have, and she violated that trust day after day by victimizing her," Spitzer said. "And this was a victim that couldn't speak, that couldn't tell anybody she was hungry or that her teacher was stealing from her."

- Shawn Spitzer

Shawn Spitzer was commenting in the LA Times, about the Teacher's Assistant sentenced to six months in jail for stealing lunch money on 57 occasions over a three month period from her severely autistic 13 year old daughter who cannot speak. Ms Spitzer had been puzzled by her daughter's behavior, heading straight for the refrigerator when she got home from school every day, even though she had always been given a lunch box of snacks and money to buy a hot meal. Using a hidden camera, police caught the assistant stealing her autistic daughter's lunch money twice over a three day period.

autism

Disgusting Autism News In The OC - Teacher's Aide Accused of Abusing Autistic Student

The ocregister reports that a teacher's aide has been arrested on suspicion of felony child abuse after two other staff members at Alton School reported that he had repeatedly hit a teenage autistic boy on the arm while he sat at his desk, twisted his am behind his back, and lifted him out of the chair to his feet. The aide reportedly told detectives that "he had "crossed the line" in dealing with the teenager."

The aide is now being held in Orange County jail. I am guessing that he will not "cross the line" in dealing with guards at the jail.

autism

Disgusting Autism News - Home Alone In Oregon

Some times the news about severely autistic children can be scary such as when, as all too frequently happens, the story is of a child with autism wandering away from home. In Oregon though the story was much different. In Mother convicted of mistreatment for leaving autistic son home alone the Oregonian's Aimee Green reports the story of a Portland Oregon mother who left her 11-year-old severely autistic son alone at home so she could go to a local bar. A fire broke out and the boy was rescued by a fire fighter after a neighbor's 911 call. Fortunately, the boy is now in state custody.

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Autism and Wandering, Missing Autistic Girl Found Safe

It is sometimes difficult to listen to, or read, statements by a few celebrity, high functioning autistic persons, and others who embrace their ideology, who claim that autism is just another natural variation of the human condition, a difference to be embraced, a joy in itself. I have never pretended to accept this view. At least not for those, like my son, for whom autism presents serious life restrictions and risks. One of those dangerous, even life threatening risks, is the tendency of some autistics to wander off, to get lost ... or worse. In some cases things end well ..... in others they do not. This story has a good ending:

Missing Autistic Girl, 13, Found Safe, ... Janelle Halbrook had last been seen near Lake Center Middle School at Clarkman Street and Pioneer Boulevard around 4 p.m. Wednesday, Whittier police Officer Jason Zuhlke said. ... The mother told police that Halbrook has a tendency to wander whenever her routine is interrupted, as she did in a similar "walk-away" incident several months ago.

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Autism and Maternal Antibodies On The Johns Hopkins News-Letter

In Maternal antibodies may cause autism, published in the March 6, 2008, issue of The John Hopkins Newsletter Sam Ohmer discusses the recent study led by Hopkins pediatric neurologist Harvey Singer suggesting a possible connection between maternal antibodies and autism. The study focused on the role of the immune system in causing autism.

Singer and his group found that, in some cases of autism, pregnant women's bodies actually raise antibodies against their babies, which sets off a series of events that slowed the normal development of the infants' brains.

The team found that mothers of children with autism had heightened levels of certain antibodies during their pregnancies. "The presence of specific antibodies correlated with the presence of developmental regression in the affected child," Singer said.

"About 40 percent of mothers with autistic offspring had significant differences on Western immunoblots," Singer said, referring to analyses conducted on fetal fluids to measure levels of certain anti-brain antibodies.

This finding suggests that there may be a truly devastating link between maternal antibodies and autism. Singer's team and others are now moving toward a greater understanding of the causes of the illness.

The next step of the research is aimed at trying to discover which proteins are engaged in this immunological backfiring, in hopes of being able to prevent this process.

autism

More AutismPro Promotion But Where is the Evidence?

New Brunswick media have been actively engaged in helping Virtual Experts Inc. promote AutismPro over the past 24 hours in New Brunswick. Not itself shy about tooting its own horn, see - Autism and AutismPro-Buzzwords Aplenty But Where's The Evidence?, AutismPro - "Somewhat" Evidence Based or Not Evidence Based At All?, AutismPro and Autism Self Promotion, AutismPro has been actively promoted by CBC and the Telegraph Journal. Indications are that more feel good stories may be on the way from other media. The Telegraph Journal article reports the testimonial evidence of parents of an autistic child that the child made very impressive gains as a result of their use of AutismPro.

The reality though is that every form of autism treatment or intervention known can offer similar testimonial support. But this is the weakest form of evidence. Therapies from facilitated communication to swimming with dolphins all can offer testimonial support. The serious reviews of autism interventions conducted over the past 20 years have examined autism treatments and weighed their effectiveness on the basis of the quality of the evidence in support.

In New Brunswick parents fought hard to obtain a commitment from the Province of New Brunswick to provide evidence based interventions to prevent quack treatments from being used to "help" autistic children. Non-evidence based treatments and education interventions can be directly harmful in some instances. Even when not directly harmful a non-evidence based intervention can wast parents valuable financial and emotional resources and the autistic child's even more valuable development time. That is the real danger presented by an unproven, non evidence based method of intervention.

In Autism and AutismPro-Buzzwords Aplenty But Where's The Evidence?, AutismPro - "Somewhat" Evidence Based or Not Evidence Based At All? and AutismPro and Autism Self Promotion I commented on the lack of published control studies of the effectiveness of AutismPro as an autism intervention. In 2006 the ever active marketing component of VEC Inc. indicated that studies were being done. Perhaps they were not completed for some reason but I have never seen the results of such studies published.

The CBC feature Online autism therapy gets national recognition points out that AutismPro is receiving an innovation award. That is great for VEC Inc. but it does not establish that AutismPro is actually effective.

New Brunswick Department of Education AutismPro Pilot Project

That CBC feature also refers to pilot projects being conducted in New Brunswick and Ontario. In New Brunswick the Department of Education was aware of concerns previously expressed by the Autism Society New Brunswick and did not inform the ASNB that it would be conducting the AutismPro pilot project. I personally attended a meeting of the Department's Dialogue on Education Committee as a last minute replacement for an ASNB representative and was only able to stay half the day because of a court commitment. The agenda for the meeting did not indicate that an AutismPro pilot project would be discussed. This is the actual agenda that was circulated for that meeting, which makes no mention of AutismPro pilot project, which I found out later, was discussed after I had to leave the meeting:

AGENDA

Dialogue on Education Committee Meeting

Friday, September 21, 2007

Place 2000, Fredericton, NB

10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

1. Welcome & Introductions

2. Review of Minutes from May, 2007

3. Additions to Agenda

4. Implementation of the MacKay report

5. The place of students with disabilities in the mandate and work plan of the commission on second-language training.

6. Updates and/or Concerns from Committee Members

7. Mediation Training Information

8. Updates from Department of Education

9. Other

I was present as an Autism Society rep at the meeting and discussed autism related issues in the morning. I indicated that I had to leave early but no one informed me that the Department of Education, which was conducting that meeting was going to discuss an AutismPro pilot project. The only conclusion I can draw from those facts is that the Department official conducting the meeting, did not want the input of the Autism Society Representative in discussing an AutismPro pilot project. To me that conduct casts in doubt the credibility of the NB Department of Education AutismPro pilot project.

Parents whose children are invited to participate in the AutismPro pilot project are given a positive, not a neutral introduction to the project, and are encouraged by the NB Department of Education to visit the AutismPro web site, with its heavily self promotional information, for more information:

"Hi,

Please find attached my consult notes from my visit with XYZ on Tuesday. .......

I was also wondering if it would be of benefit to XYZ to take part in an individual computer program that the Dept of Ed is piloting this year. As a clinical supervisor, I have access to the program, Autism Pro Professional, software developed here in Fredericton and marketed world wide for support for children with autism.

It provides an assessment of where he is in learning in all 8 domains and generates programs that are suited for him. It also allows me to graph his progress and allows his teacher, TA, parent and others (Private workers) to print off the activities, see the progress charts and find helpful resources and strategies for all areas, including behaviour.

If you want to look at it, just go to the website, http://www.autismpro.com and you can see a demo. All information is secure and is approved by the dept of Ed. All I would need is his birth date to add him to the program.

Please let me know…. Thanks,"

That web site is heavily promotional in nature, extolling the virtues of AutismPro. In the NB Department of Education some senior bureaucrats have been ardent promoters of AutismPro. It is difficult to see how the results of the AutismPro Pilot Project will be objective and reliable.

Hopefully, the Toronto AutismPro pilot project will be conducted more professionally than that being offered by the NB Department of Education. And hopefully the New Brunswick and Toronto students with autism whose parents are being asked to enroll them in the AutismPro pilot projects will do well, whether because of AutismPro or otherwise. Hopefully too the VEC Inc. people will spend a little less of their time and effort promoting AutismPro around the world and a little more on producing objective, credible studies of the effectiveness of their product.

autism

An Autism Message From BC for Alleged Federal Health Minister Tony Clement

The Medicare for Autism NOW rally held in Burnaby was a huge success. The message is being heard across Canada. Autism is a medical disorder. A well studied treatment is available and it should be covered under Canada's medicare system. The Global News video which follows includes some commentary from dedicated autism advocates Jean Lewis and David Marley.The video also includes some nice footage of parents and the children they love; the children they are doing everything they can to help.

Nothing will be done, though, unless our federal politicians, people like Prime Minister Harper and Alleged Health Minister Tony Clement can be convinced that it is in their political best interests to take action. "Health" Minister Clement prove you really are a Health Minister, take steps now to include medicare coverage for ABA, a proven effective treatment for autism.

autism

Conor Loves The Snow

This is one of the hardest winters we have experienced in this part of the world for a long time. But Conor is not complaining about the snow. Heck no, the snow is no problem and autism is not an issue. Conor enjoys the snow, he loves the snow, just like so many other Canadian kids.

autism

A Shout Out for New Blogger TJ Burke

SAY IT LIKE IT IS is the title of the new blog by Fredericton-Nashwaaksis MLA and New Brunswick Justice Minister and Attorney General TJ Burke. I commend Minister Burke for stepping out from behind the curtains of office and layers of bureaucracy to communicate directly with the people of New Brunswick. It may not surprise too many here in New Brunswick that I have taken advantage of Minister Burke's venture into the blogosphere to comment on his government's Transformational Change agenda and how it might impact on the lives of persons with autism disorders in New Brunswick.

Welcome to the blogosphere Minister Burke!

autism

Medicare for Autism Rally TODAY In Burnaby BC

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
6450 Deer Lake Avenue
Burnaby

Why should you attend?

Despite a decade of lobbying, collaborating and litigating – autism treatment is still excluded from our universal health care system. Canadian families are still bankrupting themselves in order to provide treatment for their autistic children.

The current and limited funding provided through the provincial government’s social services ministries could evaporate tomorrow with the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen. No legislation exists within these ministries to protect or enshrine our children’s medically necessary treatment.

In 30 years of "advocacy", the only two initiatives which have achieved ANY success for our children and families has been
litigation, and more recently, focused political action. Both were brought by the members of FEAT of BC – a 100% volunteer organization.

Autism is an epidemic of staggering proportions, it now afflicts one in every 150 children in North America, one in every 94 boys. It is time for the Federal Government to act! We need to let those who govern and those who wish to govern that they are going to be held accountable at the ballot box in the next federal election.

Who should attend?

You - and every fair-minded Canadian you know!

Children with autism suffer from political indifference. It will take the sustained energy and dedication of EVERY CANADIAN who desires a just society to correct this injustice. For our children’s sakes, and the sake of future generations, we urge you to attend this rally.

Please bring friends, family, anyone and everyone you know who is appalled by the gross injustice done to our children every day by the governments of Canada and its provinces.

Featured speakers will include:

Dr. Sabrina Freeman – Executive Director, FEAT of BC and parent

Jean Lewis – Director, FEAT of BC and parent

David Chan – Director, Autism Society of BC, FEAT of BC and parent

Dubravka Skrijelj – FEAT of BC member and parent

Dr. Glen Davies – Clinical Director - ABLE Developmental Clinic

Beverley Sharpe – FEAT of BC member and parent

Louise Witt – Director, Autism Society of BC, FEAT of BC and parent

David Marley – FEAT of BC member and Political Strategist

Please RSVP to www. featbc.org and forward this notice to anyone you think will be interested.

FEAT of BC: "To see justice is done"

autism

"Medicare for Autism Now!" Rally, Sunday, March 2nd at 2 PM

"Medicare for Autism Now!" Rally

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
6450 Deer Lake Avenue
Burnaby

Don't forget the Medicare for Autism Now Rally tomorrow March 2nd in Burnaby! Medicare coverage of autism treatment, particularly ABA, would ensure that all autistic children in Canada receive ABA coverage without regard for accidents of geography. It would also help ensure that ABA services that are provided are protected from erosion or loss resulting from that minority, but still common, and often influential, type of bureaucrat who places his, or her, career agenda before the interests of the autistic children they are supposed to help.

Come out and voice your support for Medicare for Autism NOW! Voice your support for autistic children and their right to effective, evidence based treatment NOW!

autism