Illinois passes autism bill

Gov. Rod Blagojevich (IL) is expected to sign legislation passed this week requiring insurers to provide up to $36,000 in coverage annually for the diagnosis and treatment of autism until the patient turns 21. The coverage mandate applies only to fully insured individual and group policies and will not apply to self-insured benefit plans. At least 4,500 Illinois families are expected to qualify for the expanded coverage. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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Childhood Language Disorder Linked to Autism Gene

Simon Fisher, University of Oxford geneticist and researcher led the study explaining why some children develop language difficulties. The condition known as specific language impairment affects 2-7 percent of pre-school children and is as common as dyslexia. Tests on children from 184 families showed children who carried certain changes in the gene CNTNAP2 had reduced language abilities characteristic of the common disorder. An earlier study had shown that the same gene hinders language ability in autistic children. Researchers do not know exactly how changes to the gene interfere with language development. One possibility may be that changes in CNTNAP2 somehow interferes with production of a type of protein called a neurexin important to the fetal development of the nervous system and eventual language ability. child-autism-parent-cafe.com

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