Saturday, September 30, 2006

NYS health insurers must cover autism disorders

Insurers in New York state cannot deny health insurance benefits because claimants have received a medical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders under a bill signed into law by Gov. George Pataki. The new provision covers all health policies issued, renewed, modified or amended after Jan. 1, 2007. Legislators sponsored the measure after complaints were received that some consumers were having insurance coverage denied for such services as speech therapy and magnetic imaging tests. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Friday, September 29, 2006

Braxton upset with doctors over son's autism

Toni Braxton has blasted doctors who failed to diagnose her young son with autism because she's sure the three-year-old could have been helped if the neurological disorder had been spotted earlier. Braxton says, "They dismissed me. I don't know if it would have made a difference or not for him to be diagnosed earlier, but they had a 'wait and see' attitude. "It makes me so angry because a mother knows when something is wrong with her child." child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Challenges for adults with autism

The public face of autism is young and cute. When most people think of autism, they think of children. But children grow up. They stop being cute. At 21, they stop getting the help they need.

Planning is crucial.

Parents are forced to navigate an often tangled bureaucratic system in order to get on the right waiting lists, secure available money and apply to suitable programs. The problem is, many parents are so overwhelmed caring for a child with endless needs they can't see past the end of the week, let alone plan ahead five or 10 years. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Click here for full article

Click here for practical ways to help, plan and manage daily living with autism.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Awares' Autism2006 second free online autism conference October 4-11, 2006

This is the largest such conference ever to be held. You can register for free right now at http://www.autism2006.org to read the abstracts of most of the experts' papers and exchange views with other conference delegates in the online Foyer Café. The conference opens officially on October 4.

Topics for discussion include: Brain Research, Biomedical Approaches, Education, Asperger's syndrome, Autism and relationships, Autism and computers, Communication methods, First-hand experiences - Voices from the spectrum, Genetics, Autism and the environment, The immunology of autism, Diagnosis, Music therapy, Language and autism, Autism in adolescents and Adults with autism.

Most of the abstracts are available online now at http://www.autism2006.org and the full papers will be available from the beginning of October 2006. Experts will be on-line to answer questions in person between October 4-11. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Saturday, September 23, 2006

The Combating Autism Act of 2006 Needs Your Help Today!

Action Alert from Cure Autism Now. We must pass the Combating Autism Act of 2006 in the House this year! Time is short in this congressional session, so we must act now to gain passage in the House of Representatives to ensure all of our work in the Senate is not lost at the end of the session.

We currently have 181 House members cosponsoring the house version, HR 2421.

We need 218 cosponsors, a majority, in the next 10 days to give us our best shot at quick passage in the House! That’s 37 more cosponsors—we can do it!!

We need your help today! Please call your Congressman today and ask them to cosponsor HR2421. Their “support” or their “vote” is not enough—tell them you need their cosponsorship now! Go to www.combatautism.org to find your Representative and their telephone number to make your call. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Friday, September 22, 2006

FDA Panels Reject Staff Position on Mercury dental Fillings

From Charlie Brown, National Counsel Consumers for Dental Choice
Dear friends -- On September 6 and 7, two FDA panels of distinguished scientists convened for the sole purpose of addressing the neuro-toxicity of mercury amalgam. One panel was primarily physicians, the other primarily dentists, with an array of scientist-consultants added. All of them are credentialed in their fields, and all must pass FDA ethics requirements before being appointed.

The FDA staff presented a White Paper consisting of shopworn rhetoric, selected studies (some of whom were misinterpreted) and out-of-date conclusions about mercury toxicity; in short, the staff paper argued that mercury fillings are safe. By two votes of 13 to 7, this panel decisively rejected the FDA staff position. It is highly unusual for a panel to disagree with staff. The questions presented:

“Does the draft FDA White Paper objectively and clearly present the current state of knowledge about the exposure and health effects related to dental amalgam?”
Yes 7
No 13.

“Given the amount and quality of information available for the draft FDA White Paper, are the conclusions reasonable?”
Yes 7
No 13. [N.B.: Two-thirds of panelist says the position that mercury fillings are safe is not reasonable!]

After the vote, each panelist made a statement. Virtually all expressed concern in one of more of the following three areas: (1) the need for informed consent (real informed consent, telling about the mercury and its effects; (2) the need to stop usage for pregnant women and children (as Canada, Sweden, the U.K., etc., already do), and (3) the reality that a substantial number of persons are severely hypersensitive. Some highly intelligent and educated consumers testified that they had no idea that “silver” fillings are mercury – until it was too late. Please, please proscribe the term Silver Fillings, and make dentists say the “M” word when describing a material that is so full of mercury.

FDA is itself divided on whether mercury fillings are safe, meaning, in our regulatory system, they are not proven safe (there is no category between safe and unsafe). In short, then, our government can no longer guarantee American parents and young women that mercury fillings are safe for their children and babies.

The solution is obvious -- we need an immediate ban on mercury fillings for pregnant women and children under seven -- the Health Canada model. From there, we work to put mercury fillings into the dustbins of history. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Studies seek new treatments for autism

The National Institute of Mental Health has launched three studies. One study will define differences -- biological and behavioral -- in autistic children with different kinds of developmental histories. Another will examine the usefulness of the antibiotic minocycline in treating regressive autism. Research suggests that autism may be linked to inflammation in the brain. A third study will test whether autism may be treated by removing heavy metals from the blood, based on the belief that autism can be caused by thimerosol, a mercury-based preservative once used in childhood vaccines. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Click here for info

Monday, September 18, 2006

Disabled Are Targets of Abuse

People who are mentally retarded/developmentally disabled are easy targets for sexual abuse. The Kings County District Attorney's office is attempting to educate the public about this type of victimization. Catherine Reed, the program coordinator for the DA's Project Shield program, said there were five major types of developmental disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neurological impairments and mental retardation.

"A lot of perpetrators work in group homes," Reed explained of the sexual assault crimes.

Click here for info

LA County Efforts To Reduce Health Disparities

The Los Angeles County Early Identification and Intervention Group (EII Group) aims to improve the lives of children and families through early identification and intervention of disabilities, developmental delays or other problems.

This initiative does not focus exclusively or primarily on children who are low-income or ethnic-minority, but it does disproportionately help these children. Early identification and intervention are important yet often overlooked health disparity issues.


  • White children with serious disabilities are typically identified at much younger ages than ethnic- or language-minority children. A study of Pennsylvania children covered by Medicaid found that Caucasian children were diagnosed with autism more than one year earlier than their African-American or Hispanic counterparts (age 6.3 for Caucasian children, 7.9 for African-American children, and 7.4 for Hispanic children).

  • Racial and ethnic minority children are less likely than white children to get early intervention. In Los Angeles County, Hispanic children (age 3-4) with serious disabilities are the least likely to get early intervention and receive special education services, even though they make up two-thirds of children Countywide and are the most likely to be poor.

  • The highest-income areas of LA County also have the highest percentage of children identified as having special needs. The two lowest-income areas of the County have much lower rates.

  • A child in foster care is at least four times more likely to have a disability than a child living with one or both parents.



Contact:

Shavonda Webber-Christmas, Acting Director,
Children’s Medical Services at 626-569-6001, schristmas@ladhs.org and
Margaret Dunkle, Convener, LA County Early Identification & Intervention Group at 310-441-2345, mcd729@aol.com, MargaretDunkle@aol.com



For more information on health disparities and autism visit: http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/disparities-in-health.html.
child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Seeking Participants in Clinical Research Study

The Cody Center and Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Stony
Brook is currently recruiting participants ages 6-17 with a diagnosis of
Autism (not autism spectrum), who are medically healthy and not on
medication (or not responding to medication) to participate in an
investigational study.

The purpose of the study is to see if the investigational medication is more
effective than placebo (inactive medication) in reducing behavioral problems
like irritability, tantrums and aggression.

All clinical and laboratory assessments as well as study medications for the
8 weeks of the clinical research study are provided at no cost. If your
child responds to the study medication, there may be an option to
participate in another similar research trial.

If you are interested in participating or wish to learn more about the study
please contact: Gregory Carlson at (631) 632-8828 or email: Gregory.Carlson@StonyBrook.edu. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Friday, September 15, 2006

Verizon Center for Customers with Disablities

Verizon LifeLine Assistive Equipment Distribution Program

VLS is a discount telephone service that allows eligible Verizon customers to receive basic phone services for as little as $1.00 per month. New LifeLine customers must be income eligibile or receiving benefits from any one of the programs listed on Part C of the application (includes: Medicaid, SSI, or Income Eligible but not receiving benefits)

Equipment offered under this program includes TTYs, large button phones, hands free phones, signalers, loud ringers & amplifiers. There is no charge for the equipment and it becomes yours to keep.

If you have any questions or would like to obtain an application, please call Verizon Center for Customers with Disabilities on 1-800-974-6006 Jeffrey Sampson, Program Administrator. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Asperger's Frequently Misdiagnosed as Other Psychiatric Disorders

Common characteristics of child with Asperger's Disorder

• Has difficulty interpreting non-verbal gestures such facial expressions, body language and gestures.

• Avoids eye contact with other people,

• Fails to make friends with children the same age,

• Doesn't share enjoyment, interests or achievements with other people,

• Often insistent on following inflexible rituals or routines,

• Not comfortable with own body; clumsy,

• Preoccupied with parts of objects and special interests. child-autism-parent-cafe.com


Click here for info

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

New NIMH Research Program Launches Autism Trials

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched three major clinical studies on autism. These studies will define the characteristics of different subtypes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and explore possible new treatments. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Click here for info

Monday, September 11, 2006

Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education

From the enactment of the 1975 federal law requiring states to provide a free and appropriate education to all students with disabilities, children in some racial/ethnic groups have been identified for services in disproportionately large numbers.

Click here to read the National Acadamies Report, Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education

Dr. Haley special guest on Autism One Radio 9-11-06

Dr. Boyd Haley discusses mercury and chelation on Autism One Radio, Monday, September 11, 2006 12pm-1:30pm with Stan Kurtz: From the Children’s Corner: “Research, Reform, Recoveries.” Dr. Boyd will discuss mercury, the effects of antibiotics, fungus, viruses and bacteria, and chelation, and Dr. Haley’s latest chelation agents. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

Click here for info

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Study: 'Friendly' bacteria found helpful as autism treatment in children

Autistic children improved their concentration and behavior so much in a PROBIOTIC bacteria study that medical trials collapsed because parents refused to accept placebos, a scientist revealed yesterday. The effect of the placebo was so pronounced some of the parents taking part in a blind trial realised their children were taking something other than a placebo. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Study: Older fathers bring higher autism risk

Men who become fathers in their 40s or older are much more likely to have autistic children than younger dads. A new study involved about 130,000 Israeli Jews born in the 1980s based on biographical information on Israeli boys and girls who at age 17 were being assessed for eligibility to serve in the Israeli military. Among them, 110 had been earlier found to have autism or related disorders which include a less severe condition called Asperger's syndrome. However, most of the affected children in the study had autism and the researchers said their results may not apply to Asperger's or other autism-like disorders. Those fathered by older men were almost six times more likely to have autism or related disorders than those fathered by men younger than 30, and more than one-and-a-half times more likely than children fathered by men ages 30-39. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Monday, September 04, 2006

The Latest on the Autism Epidemic

Psychologist Geraldine Dawson says, "What is meaningful is that we have found evidence for two genetic subtypes of autism, male versus female and early versus late onset." Researchers scanned the DNA of 169 families that had at least two siblings who met the strict criteria for autism. They also scanned the DNA of another 54 families that also included members who had less severe forms of autism, such as Asperger syndrome. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Sunday, September 03, 2006

"Putting People First" - Inaguaral Bicycle Tour and Fund

Help AMPLIFY the voices of people with disabilities... SUPPORT Self-Advocacy! On August 31st Max Chmura of Loudonville, New York will begin a 360 mile ride to support self-advocacy for people with disabilities. This ride will take him through the Alaska Range from Fairbanks, Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska, past the imposing Denali (Mt. McKinley). child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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