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?

autism

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.

autism

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.

autism

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

Where's Conor? Where Did Conor Go?

Conor has autism disorder.

He also has his own lively personality quite separate and apart from his autism. He is much more as a person than his autism. He is a lot of fun. While these pictures were being taken I was asking "Where's Conor?" "Where did Conor go?" (When my mouth wasn't covered).

Conor enjoyed every second of our fun. And so did Dad.

autism

FEAT-BC “Campaign Kick-off Rally”: Sunday, March 2, 2008

FEAT-BC “Campaign Kick-off Rally”: Sunday, March 2, 2008

Vancouver, BC: - FEAT-BC [Families for Early Autism Treatment in BC] today announced it will be holding a “campaign kick-off rally” on Sunday, March 2, 2008, beginning at 2:00pm, at the Jack Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, 6450 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby. This rally launches the FEAT-BC goes coastal campaign, aimed at influencing the electoral outcome in more than a dozen targeted constituencies across Canada in the upcoming federal general election.

“ In its Auton decision, the Supreme Court of Canada told parents of autistic children to ‘get political’ if they wanted to see their children no longer be orphans of the Medicare system,”states Jean Lewis, a founding director of FEAT-BC. “Well, we’re taking the judiciary at their word and launching a nation-wide campaign to elect MPs, regardless of which political party holds office following the next election, who will vote for legislation that enshrines the treatment of autism under Medicare because it is the morally and economically correct thing to do.”

The rally is intended to attract parents of autistic children and their supporters from across Metro Vancouver. Its aim is to ignite a grassroots campaign that will help elect candidates for Parliament who will support Medicare for Autism Now!

“As a Canadian who does not have an autistic child, but who believes strongly in the fundamental values of this country, I am disgusted by the federal government’s willful indifference to the plight of these children and their families,” says Scott Hean, who will be master of ceremonies at the rally.

-30-

For further information, contact: Jean Lewis at 604-925-4401 or 604-290-5737, and jean.lewis@telus.net.

autism

Autism Disorder Versus Asperger's Syndrome

The Autism Society of America has published a good overview of Autism Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome on TylerPaper.com. The article contains a basic description of both Autism Disorder and Asperger's Syndrome and helps distinguish between the two similar but distinct disorders:

What distinguishes Asperger's Syndrome from autism is the severity of the symptoms and the absence of language delays. To the untrained observer, a child with Asperger's may seem just like a normal child behaving differently. They may be socially awkward, not understanding of conventional social rules, or show a lack of empathy. They may make limited eye contact, seem to be unengaged in a conversation, and not understand the use of gestures.

One of the major differences between Asperger's Syndrome and autism is that, by definition, there is no speech delay in Asperger's. In fact, children with Asperger's frequently have good language skills; they simply use language in different ways. Speech patterns may be unusual, lack inflection, or have a rhythmic nature or it may be formal, but too loud or high pitched. Children with Asperger's may not understand the subtleties of language, such as irony and humor, or they may not recognize the give-and-take nature of a conversation.

Another distinction between Asperger's Syndrome and autism concerns cognitive ability. While some individuals with autism experience mental retardation, by definition a person with Asperger's cannot possess a "clinically significant" cognitive delay, and most possess average to above-average intelligence.

autism

Charles LeBlanc's Other Blog

Fans of Charles LeBlanc's blog site "Charles LeBlanc Political ADHD Activist" have been surprised to see a blank white page where Charles' blog used to be located.

Blogger has been having problems for the past 24 hours but Charles speculates that there may be more to it in the case of his blog site. Time will tell.

In the meantime anyone wanting to see Charles' pics, and read what he and his guests have to say, can still do so at Charles LeBlancs Other Blog.