Weekly digest of news and headlines (for week ending 25 May, 2001)

This week's headlines:

• 'An unimagined life': profile of Clara Claiborne Park
  
  
• Maryland Families Learn To Deal With Autism
  
  
• Family Hopes Dog Will Track Autistic Son
  
  
• Could this diet beat autism?
  
  
• Call for Help for Autistic Adults
  
  
• Workshop for autistic children in India
  
  
• Does the MMR Vaccine Trigger Autism? (2 reports)
  
  
• Autism Research Reports (9)

1. 'An unimagined life'

A profile of Clara Claiborne Park who has just published EXITING NIRVANA about the life and learning of her daughter Jessy (42). Her earlier book, THE SIEGE (1967), is a classic account of raising a young child with autism.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=57885&category=L

2. Maryland Families Learn To Deal With Autism

The story of STEP, Strategic Teaching for Everyday Progress, that offers workshops in Montgomery County for people interested in practical approaches to treat autism.

http://www.gazette.net/200121/kensington/news/56165-1.html

3. Family Hopes Dog Will Track Autistic Son

Jake von Voigt (7) is accomplished at slipping away from home or school, to explore potentially dangerous situations. His family’s solution is a specially trained 18-month-old yellow Labrador retriever that is learning to track the boy’s scent and lead his family to him

http://www.modbee.com/living/story/0,1155,264243,00.html

4. Could this diet beat autism?

A story about the benefits of a gluten-free casein-free diet, based on the experience of a British family with a young autistic child.

http://www.femail.co.uk/pages/standard/article.html?in_article_id=48156&in_page_id=171

5. Call for Help for Autistic Adults

Parents of autistic children are lobbying the Welsh Assembly to provide a framework of care into adulthood. Wales only has two specialized adult centres dealing with autism and figures show that the numbers of children being diagnosed with autism and similar disorders is rising.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/wales/newsid_1330000/1330874.stm

6. Workshop for autistic children in India

The Sangath Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance has been providing multi-disciplinary services for the last four years.

http://www.timesofindia.com/190501/19mpan6.htm

7. Does the MMR Vaccine Trigger Autism?

a. Congress Autism Hearings Continue: No Evidence MMR Vaccine Causes Disorder

"With no known cause and few useful treatments, autism remains an enigma. And by many accounts, it is becoming more common...."

By Brian Vastag in JAMA Vol. 285 No. 20, May 23/30, 2001

http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v285n20/ffull/jmn0523-1.html

b. Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autistic Spectrum Disorder:

Report from the New Challenges in Childhood Immunizations Conference Convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, June 12-13, 2000, that concludes: "Pediatricians need to work with families to ensure that children are protected early in the second year of life from these preventable diseases. Continued scientific efforts need to be directed to the identification of the causes of ASD."

1: Pediatrics 2001 May;107(5):E84 Books Halsey NA, Hyman SL.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11331734&dopt=Abstract

8. Autism Research Reports (9)

-Repeated Doses of Porcine Secretin in the Treatment of Autism: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.
1: Pediatrics 2001 May;107(5):E71 Books
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11331721&dopt=Abstract

-The Pediatrician's Role in the Diagnosis and Management of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Children.
1: Pediatrics 2001 May;107(5):E85 Books
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11331735&dopt=Abstract

-Screening and surveillance for Autism and PDD
1: Arch Dis Child 2001 Jun;84(6):468-475 Books, LinkOut
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11369559&dopt=Abstract

-Autism Disorders and Brain Stem Disorders: a comprehensive study of 25 individuals
1: Dev Med Child Neurol 2001 May;43(5):338-45 Books
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11368487&dopt=Abstract

-Prenatal, Perinatal, and Neonatal Factors in Autism Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, and the General Population
1: Pediatrics 2001 Apr;107(4):E63
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11335784&dopt=Abstract

-Study Suggests Gene Mutation-Autism Link
Another account of the finding that rare mutations in a gene called WNT2 may account for the inherited risk of autism in some families, according to research published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics.
The Reuters article

-The Mental Health In Mothers With Autistic Children: A Case-Control Study In Southern Taiwan
1: Gaoxiong Yi Xue Ke Xue Za Zhi 2000 Jun;16(6):308-14
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11360348&dopt=Abstract

-Immune Response Factor in Autism: Cytokines and Etiopathogenesis Of Pervasive Developmental Disorders.
1: Med Hypotheses 2001 Mar;56(3):321-324
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11359354&dopt=Abstract

-Neuropeptides and neurotrophins in neonatal blood of children with autism or mental retardation.
1: Ann Neurol 2001 May;49(5):597-606 Related Articles, Books
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11357950&dopt=Abstract

A Note about Autism News

OAARSN’s main focus is on adult autism issues in Ontario, but we are interested in the larger context of autism spectrum disorders generally and in related and parallel developments in other places. In scanning our sources for items to include in our weekly summary, we seek:

• news of adult autism issues anywhere
• developments in knowledge of autism spectrum disorders generally
• positive information about adult disability and inclusion issues.

Our leading source for most news from outside Canada is the FEAT DAILY NEWSLETTER http://www.feat.org

We welcome other items of news from our contacts.

URL links are tested and work at the time our news digest is posted. If there is any doubt, or after a URL link may have expired (in some newspaper archives after one week), most reports may be reached through the FEAT archives. Click on this URL and search by keyword and dates. Search FEAT Archives: http://www.feat.org/scripts/wa.exe?S1=featnews