SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet"

What's Happening? Check The Autism Calendar of Events:

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Wednesday, February 05, 2003

ADVOCACY

* "Therapeutic Cloning" Advocates Gather in Washington DC

MEDIA

* Pseudo-Science and the Media: Problems and Lessons

EDUCATION

* How To Resolve Spec Ed Disputes - Negotiate, Mediate, Litigate

* Parents Say Teacher Harmed Autistic Kids

RESEARCH

* CDC Study To Survey Autism in the Phoenix Area

* Transmission Disequilibrium Testing Of Arginine Vasopressin Receptor 1a

AWARENESS

* Autism Is On The Rise in Israel

* "My Brother Sammy" Book Wins Dolly Gray Award

* Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism: Family Portrats

CARE

* The ABC's of Special Needs Planning. . .Made Easy? Part II

* Minister Pleads Not Guilty To Sexual Assault

* Poodle Mutilation Case Dismissed

* Parents Charged In Autistic Boy's Death

ADVOCACY

"Therapeutic Cloning" Advocates Gather in Washington DC Wednesday, February 5, 2003 @ 1:30 PM 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building 1st and C Streets, NE

If you live in the Washington DC area please

consider attending this press conference organized

by the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical

Research, urges the organization.

Scientists, Patient Advocates, and Political

Leaders Support Research Kevin Kline Joins Senators

Hatch, Feinstein, Specter, Kennedy and Harkin, Nobel

Prize Winner David Baltimore to Support Somatic Cell

Nuclear Transfer (aka "Therapeutic Cloning")

Washington, DC - Senate leaders will join members of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR), patient advocates, parents and prominent scientists on Wednesday, February 5 at 1:30 p.m. to urge the Senate to pass legislation that would ban human reproductive cloning but allow somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), sometimes called "therapeutic cloning", to move forward with federal oversight.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer is about saving and improving lives. It is fundamentally different from human reproductive cloning; it produces stem cells, not babies. In somatic cell nuclear transfer, the nucleus of a donor's unfertilized egg is removed and replaced with the nucleus of a patient's own cells, like a skin, heart, or nerve cell. These types of cells are called somatic cells.

The goal is to develop stem cells that will not be rejected or destroyed by the patient's immune system. No sperm is used in this procedure. The cells are not transplanted into a womb. The unfertilized egg cells are stored in a petri dish to become a source of stem cells that can be used to treat life-threatening medical conditions.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer aims to treat or cure patients by creating tailor-made, genetically identical cells that their bodies won't reject. In other words, somatic cell nuclear transfer could allow patients with diseases and conditions like cancer, diabetes, ALS, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries and many more to be cured using their own DNA.

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MEDIA

Pseudo-Science and the Media: Problems and Lessons

Thomas R. DeGregori is professor of economics at the University of Houston and the author of two recent books: "The Environment, Our Natural Resources" and "Bountiful Harvest: Technology, Food Safety, and the Environment" (Cato Institute).

Two recent articles in my hometown newspaper show how hard a time the media have understanding and explaining science. [The first part of this article, having to do with Organic Foods, is not included in this clipping below. The material picks up at the discussion of autism and the edia. –editor.]

The "Autism and Vaccinations" Story

The following month, the Houston Chronicle's Sunday edition carried a front-page story on autism and immunization, a long and well-researched one. The article opened with the stories of children who had developed the overt signs of autism shortly after being vaccinated, or so it was believed. This was interwoven with a description of what we know about autism, the heart-rending hook being used to draw the reader into the larger story.

Problem Number Two: This one is almost too obvious to mention. In any story about children being harmed by medical science or by toxins in the environment, the readers' sympathy for children tends to cloud their judgment about the theories offered to explain the children's health problems. If the response of my students the day after that story ran is any indication, the thing readers retained was the plight of the autistic children. They should have known the larger issues because we had discussed them in class.

Lesson: It is difficult to fault reporters, who may have spent weeks researching a story, for using a lead that plays upon the readers' sympathy to hold their attention throughout the article. We have to find ways of showing sympathy for the children while separating the issue of their grievous misfortune from the scientific issue of the cause of their misfortune. (For more on that subject, see ACSH's new book Are Children More Vulnerable to Environmental Chemicals?) The reporters did contact a variety of genuine scientific experts on the subject and did include data and references to sources refuting the claim that various vaccines cause autism in children. They clearly stated the various problems with the anti-immunization claims, but most of the good science tended to be towards the end of the story, by which point many readers have already made up their minds.

Additional Lesson: One scientist who has been involved on various advisory committees on vaccines, clearly stated that they have been "tested every which way and no link to autism has ever come up...They're safe." Quite clearly, had the scientist been pushed on the issue, she would have made it clear that safe meant something other than absolute certainty but nevertheless so overwhelmingly likely to be safe that any reasonable person would consider vaccines as safe as any human endeavor can possibly be. The other references in the article supporting the no-link position used more circumspect language.

One would hope that an open-minded individual reading the article would recognize that the preponderance of scientific evidence was in favor of the safety of the vaccine, since there was no scientific evidence presented to substantiate the autism connection. However, the reporters never presented the evidence to seal the deal. The reporters could argue that their task is to report an issue and not to promote one side or the other. But by presenting the plight of the children with autism and the alleged connection to immunization, they had planted seeds of doubt. It was therefore their responsibility to present the issue in a manner that allowed the reader/parent to make a rational choice -- and overcome doubt, if the science warranted it.

Problem Number Three: If all I knew about the issue was what I read in the article, would I as a grandparent recommend measles-mumps-rubella vaccination (MMR) for my grandchild Alejandro, who was due to receive his MMR shots shortly after the article was printed? The answer is unequivocally no! Why? Even though overwhelming scientific is against an autism connection, the probability is not zero, so why put Alejandro at risk when he could be a free-rider and obtain the benefit of other children's risk taking? We will call this paranoid but strategic view the Alejandro factor, and it is an increasingly serious problem.

The vaccination article contained a statement that there are some "who worry about the effect of the allegations" of an immunization-autism link and who argue that "society is vulnerable because people don't know what it was like before vaccines, when diseases such as diphtheria and polio claimed thousands of lives a year." If I were a reader unfamiliar with the underlying issues, though, my response to talk of past plagues might be: that was then, this is now -- Alejandro is the present and future.

In spite of the general professionalism of the authors, there was not a clear statement of the risks to Alejandro and other children from not being immunized. One might have inferred it from the description of conditions before widespread immunization, but now, with immunization widespread, readers might still come away thinking they would be wise to avoid being the ones to try vaccination. Back when the article was being written, I gave one of the authors of the article references to medical journals, magazines, newspapers, and my own books that provided tales -- just as heart-rending as the autistic children's plight -- about the harm that has resulted from children not being immunized. The references now at the author's disposal included data on the increase in mortality and morbidity rates from diseases like measles caused by parents who, out of fear, did not have their children immunized. The author now had access to data on an upsurge in death and disease as a result of concerted campaigns against immunization by proponents of "alternative" therapies. Some of the material in medical journals was quite graphic, providing a more than adequate emotional counterweight to the story of the autistic children. I am at a loss to explain why none of these references, particularly those to prestigious medical journals available online, were used.

Lesson: Once again, somehow we have to teach assignment editors, journalists, and journalism professors that no story on risk is complete unless it compares the risk under investigation with the risk of foregoing the action or thing from which the alleged risk arises. "Risk vs. risk" ought to be programmed into journalists' minds. In other words, risk vs. risk should be a basic rule of professional journalism. If we can just get this one idea to become common practice, it alone will bring a palpable improvement in risk reporting.

Unfortunately, risk reports have become a media stable such that many believe that modern life is dangerous despite the fact that we are living longer and healthier lives than ever before. Given the fuller understanding of risk vs. risk, Alejandro's parents (with the enthusiastic support of all of his grandparents) continued with the process of having him receive his recommended shots and he is and will be far safer and healthier because of it.

Additional lesson: The quote about "what it as like before vaccines" was "balanced" by reference to a local researcher who claims, probably legitimately, that she is unable to obtain funding to study the "theory that in some people the immune system attacks itself rather than the vaccine's viral material." She may indeed be having difficulties researching that theory, but the article might have helped readers if it had told them of scientists in the United Kingdom who complain that they have had to spend so much effort following up false theories about harm from vaccines that they do not have the time and resources to follow what they consider promising leads on the likely cause or causes of autism. False fears of health risks, spread by activism, force funding for research up blind alleys and thereby divert efforts from potentially life-saving research, just as articles focusing on imaginary risks divert attention from real ones.

This article was published in HealthFactsandFears.Com, Jan. 13, 2003.

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Autism Resource

News Archive – Autism Database

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EDUCATION

How To Resolve Special Ed Disputes - Negotiate, Mediate, Litigate

[From the current Special Ed Advocate newsletter, February 4, 2003.]

Why do parents and school personnel disagree? Why can't parents and school people get along? Pete and Pam Wright explain why conflict between parents and school personnel is normal -- and why you need to learn to negotiate.

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Parents Say Teacher Harmed Autistic Kids

The personnel file of Indira Dias paints the picture of a quick-tempered woman unfit for work with autistic children.

Dias has had a brief, tumultuous history with the Gilbert Unified School District, as indicated by records released this week. The 53-year-old was hired in August to work with five autistic students at Finley Farms Elementary School - a job, records indicate, she may have had no business doing.

Gilbert police Lt. Ken Fixel said two families have filed complaints accusing Dias of child abuse. She has been on paid leave since Jan. 16.

Dias provided glowing references in regard to her work with special-needs children in several private schools in California. But the four instructional aides in Dias' class at Finley Farms Elementary painted a different portrait of the teacher. They told Finley Farms Principal John Maas that Dias was quick to scold yet failed to provide instruction.

In a report dated Sept. 16, district speech coordinator Kathi Cummard and special-education coordinator Jane Hecker observed Dias' class and noted there was "no coherent plan for the children. The children were wandering and appeared to have no planned activities."

"Autism is beyond her abilities," wrote one of the aides. "She has a hard time realizing that these are not typical kids, and they cannot be taught like typical kids."

Dias defended herself by saying she was not given autism instruction or training by the school district. Records indicate she signed up for but failed to attend several training sessions.

Aides also said Dias had very little interaction with students. When she did, she irritated easily and, on occasion, physically handled the children in a harsh manner.

A mother filed a child abuse complaint Jan. 22 with Gilbert police indicating her daughter, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy, was handled roughly by Dias. Classroom aides corroborated the mother's claims.

Dias is accused of force-feeding the girl on several occasions. According to the report, Dias once "grabbed (the girl) by the arm and threw her down to the ground; dragged her across the room to a chair; picked her up and slammed her down into it."

Fixel said Dias may have returned to California. Attempts to reach her have been unsuccessful.

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RESEARCH

CDC Study To Survey Autism in the Phoenix Area

AP - Maricopa County is participating in an autism project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The autism-surveillance study will assess the extent of the fast-growing neurological disorder by determining how many eight-year-old children had autism-spectrum disorders in the county in 2000.

That includes Asperger syndrome and other autismlike disorders that affect up to one-point-five million Americans, including five-thousand in Arizona schools.

An epidemiologist working on the project says to be considered autistic, children must have language problems, repetitive behaviors and trouble socializing.

That definition is being used by the CDC and 12 states to quantify the disorder.

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ABSTRACT – contains technical language

Transmission Disequilibrium Testing Of Arginine Vasopressin Receptor 1a

(Avpr1a) Polymorphisms In Autism

5a.html&filetype=&_UserReference=C0A804ED46B4AF60B67FE57C72113E401586

2002, Volume 7, Number 5, Pages 503-507

S-J Kim1, L J Young2, D Gonen1, J Veenstra-VanderWeele1, R Courchesne3, E Courchesne3,4, et al.

Abstract

Impairment in social reciprocity is a central component of autism.

In preclinical studies, arginine vasopressin (AVP) has been shown to increase a range of social behaviors, including affiliation and attachment, via the V1a receptor (AVPR1A) in the brain.

Both the behavioral effects of AVP and the neural distribution of the V1a receptor vary greatly across mammalian species.

This difference in regional receptor expression as well as differences in social behavior may result from a highly variable repetitive sequence in the 5' flanking region of the V1a gene (AVPR1A).

Given this comparative evidence for a role in inter-species variation in social behavior, we explored whether within our own species, variation in the human AVPR1A may contribute to individual variations in social behavior, with autism representing an extreme form of social impairment.

We genotyped two microsatellite polymorphisms from the 5' flanking region of AVPR1A for 115 autism trios and found nominally significant transmission disequilibrium between autism and one of the microsatellite markers by Multiallelic Transmission/Disequilibrium test (MTDT) that was not significant after Bonferroni correction.

We also screened approximately 2 kb of the 5' flanking region and the coding region and identified 10 single nucleotide polymorphisms.

Molecular Psychiatry (2002) 7, 503-507.

doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001125

AWARENESS

Autism Is On The Rise in Israel

[In the Jewish Post.]

Dr. Michael Davidovich, author of a study on autism in Israel and the director of the Institute for Child Development at Bnai Zion Hospital in Haifa said: "We face a rise of autism among Israeli children." The rate is 10 children for every 10,000 children. Margolit Tirosh, chair of the Association for Autistic Children, said according to Haaretz that each year at least 60 to 90 children were diagnosed as autistic children.

It is not clear as to the reason for this increase. One expert claimed that the pollution of our environment with rays or dangerous chemicals caused a rise of these sad cases.

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Autism Resource

* Free Readers' Posts

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"My Brother Sammy" Book Wins Dolly Gray Award

Kauai, HI – The Dolly Gray award for best picture book will be presented to Becky Edwards (author) and David Armitage (illustrator), for My Brother Sammy, published by Millbrook Press. This book beautifully illustrates the relationship between a child with autism and his brother, who learns what it means to be special. Also awarded the English Association's English 4-11 Award for the Best Children's Picture Books of 1999 - Key Stage 1 Fiction, My Brother Sammy “offers a way of understanding what makes each child unique.” “This is a sensitively written book with illustrations which help the reader thing about Sammy and his special needs. Children enjoy this story when it is shared with them and is used to talk about how they can help other children,” notes Helen Lucas of Leicester, England.

The Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Developmental Disabilities (DDD) will present the second biennial Dolly Gray Award for Children’s Literature at their conference in Lihue, Hawaii, February 12, 2003. The Dolly Gray Award recognizes high quality fictional children’s books with positive portrayals of individuals with developmental disabilities.

Barbara O’Connor will receive the Dolly Gray Award for best chapter book, Me and Rupert Goody, published by Thorndike Press. Kirkus Reviews praises this novel for being “grounded by a clear sense of place, and by the well-defined characters who inhabit it.” The character with mental retardation, Rupert Goody, is central to “this gutsy, heartwarming novel, which ultimately shows the capacity for love in the human heart,” as noted by Shelley Townsend-Hudson of Booklist.

“It is past time to recognize individuals who make positive contributions to the field of disabilities and who enhance the lives of persons with disabilities by picturing them in a positive light in various forms of literature,” says Tom Smith, Executive Director of DDD.

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Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism: Family Portrats

McGraw-Hill Education Publishes Book That Demystifies Autism; Proceeds To Be Donated To Ray of Hope Charity

CSRwire - A new book published by McGraw-Hill Education, provides a new understanding of autism, a complex development disorder that affects one in 250 births.

Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism, offers insights by parents and family members who experience autism in their daily lives.

The 129-page book combines the insightful words of Barrington, Illinois resident Sharon Rosenbloom, who has worked and trained in the field of autism for the last 13 years, with the poignant images of artist/photographer Thomas Balsamo. Their book includes portraits of families and seeks to clarify the many misconceptions and misunderstandings associated with autism.

"This is a story of diagnosis, challenge, and redemption that ultimately is a story of hope that casts autism as an allegory for life. The book is intended to inspire as it provides a glimpse into the lives and souls of these very special children and the families, teachers, and caregivers who love them," Rosenbloom said.

The book became a reality when a McGraw-Hill Higher Education employee, whose family has been touched by autism, brought the project to the attention of several McGraw-Hill colleagues. McGraw-Hill Education and several vendors then contributed the production and distribution support for the book.

"We hope that this collection of essays and photographs helps educate and enlighten readers. McGraw-Hill employees with passion and purpose gave their time and talents to see this project through," said Ed Stanford, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

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CARE

The ABC's of Special Needs Planning. . .Made Easy? Part II

Did You Know. . .Options for Families with Disability

["The ABC's of Special Needs Planning. . .Made Easy" is the name of a book by Bart Stevens that promotes itself as a "step-by-step comprehensive guide" that "helps families and professionals plan for the furture care, supervision, security and quality of life for a person with special needs."

This is the second installment of a three part series written by the author, Bart Stevens, and is provided for our readers' information only. –LS]

Yesterday, I talked about why planning for the future of your loved one with a disability is so critically important. Today, I want to talk about what proper planning can actually accomplish. What it really means.

With proper planning, you will decide who will care for your child; where they will live; who will manage assets left for their care; the type of care he or she will receive; and what your specific wishes and goals are for your loved one. If you do not plan, these decisions will be made by the state in which your loved one lives and those who will be appointed to provide care and supervision. You have no assurances that what you want for your loved one will be done.

Stop for a minute and think about what would happen tomorrow if you were not here. Review all the things you do each day for your loved one. Dressing; feeding; getting them off to school, work or the adult center; knowing their dietary needs; how to communicate; and all the other “little” details. This information must be given now to current providers (teachers, therapists, medical practitioners, case workers) and those who will serve in the future (guardians, trustees, conservators). Do you want the people who provide care and protection for your child to have to figure everything out on their own? What if they can’t figure it out? What effect will this have on your child? Is it fair to them or your child not to plan now before it’s too late? Creating the Letter of Intent, does just this. It’s not a legal document, merely the instrument to provide comprehensive information to current and future providers about your loved one’s abilities and requirements. This is a document that should be updated each year as your loved one grows and his or her needs change.

How can you provide for the supplemental needs of your loved one with a disability without jeopardizing their Social Security and healthcare benefits? Why is it so important to make family and friends aware of the planning you have done for your loved one? How is it possible that one well meaning person can throw a “monkey wrench” into all the careful plans you have made and jeopardize your loved one’s Social Security and healthcare benefits, and result in the loss of assets left for his or her care? By creating a Special Needs Trust to hold, manage and protect the assets you leave for your loved one, you will ensure them a lifetime of care and supervision. By setting-up the correct Trust, family and friends can put their assets into the Trust while still living. Not all Trusts allow you to do that.

When you set-up a Special Needs Trust, your loved one with a disability is the beneficiary of the Trust. Why is this so important? Because some families are concerned that should a Special Needs Trust be established, and their loved one with a disability becomes self-sufficient and no longer needs the Trust funds, the money is no longer available to them. What happens to the money can be used for their college education, a home, a car, to start a business, anything they want to use it for.

In addition to the above, let’s look at what else you can accomplish with the proper planning. No planning, or improper planning can have dire consequences, including:

All the guardians and trustees and their successors can be chosen ahead of time. You can even ask your child with special needs who they would like to take care of them after your death. What peace of mind for you knowing that your loved one will have guardians and trustees of your choosing taking care of them.

Not all assets pass through a Will. Life insurance, retirement plans and annuities pass by beneficiary designation. Your child could receive these assets even if they are not named as a beneficiary. With proper planning, a serious potential problem can be averted.

If the State is unable to find a single home for all of your children, they could be forced to live in separate homes.

Your Estate will be distributed according to the rules of “Intestacy” in our State of residence. You have no say in this matter. If you are divorced from your child’s biological parent and remarried, your current spouse receives all your personal property and can do anything they want with it. If you are unmarried, your children share your Estate equally. Either way, your loved one with special needs may not get enough to live on, or anything at all.

Regardless of how much in assets your loved one receives in their name, this money is subject to an immediate payback to Medicaid for previously provided healthcare services.

In addition to the payback to Medicaid, if the person’s remaining assets exceed $2,000, they will be ineligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid. The result is the loss of part, or all of their inheritance, ineligibility for SSI cash benefits and healthcare through Medicaid.

Your child’s standard of living could be seriously jeopardized with the loss of these benefits and assets. To make matters worse, there are no budgetary guidelines to know exactly what your child’s monthly income requirements will be.

NEXT: Failing to Take Action

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[Note to our readers: the following clippings are tabloid in nature, but have a relevant bearing on the legal and social care of people with autism. Some details may be disturbing to the more sensitive reader.]

Minister Pleads Not Guilty To Sexual Assault

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South Kingstown - Bruce C. DiMaria, pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Wakefield and a teaching assistant at the South Kingstown School District's Farm School for learning-disabled students, pleaded not guilty to one count each of second-degree sexual assault and simple assault in his arraignment at Washington County Superior Court Monday. DiMaria, 53, of 37 Whitford St., Wakefield was accompanied by his attorney, H. Jefferson Melish.

Associate Justice Edwin J. Gale issued a no-contact order with the alleged 17-year-old victim and released DiMaria on $25,000 recognizance bail. As a condition of his bail, DiMaria is required to report to the North Kingstown Police Department to be fingerprinted.

He was arrested by that department last November for alleged incidents involving a female student who has autism and cerebral palsy.

The original charges of three counts of second-degree sexual assault were amended to the current charges following a screening by the state attorney general last month.

Second-degree sexual assault is a felony that can carry up to two years imprisonment and a $500 fine.

The Church of the Nazarene is an American Protestant denomination that follows many of the doctrines of early Methodism.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for Monday, March 3 in Washington County Superior Court.

©The Narragansett Times 2003

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Poodle Mutilation Case Dismissed

"I'm very pleased that it's over." An economy of words with a wealth of meaning.

It comes from the mother of the teenage Asperger's boy accused of mutilating a seven year old poodle last September at a home on Davis Monthan Air Force Base.

But due to a lack of evidence and inconsistent testimony from a 9 year old witness, the case was dismissed Tuesday at Pima County Juvenile Court.

"I think it got resolved because he didn't do it," says Dan Cooper, attorney for the 15 year old boy.

"And I think the state realized that.

The evidence was substantial he did not do it, including the alibi evidence we had." Says Susan Faw, the teenager's mother, "As we've pointed out, he was not home the time this took place.

He is innocent of this--he has been all along.

There's never been any confession...and I'm glad the judge was able to bring that out." The woman by Faw's side agrees: "This has been really unfortunate." Patty Sea is a member of the Autism Society of Pima County.

She became interested in this case when she learned the suspect suffered from Aspergers Syndrome: a form of autism that alters one's perception of reality.

Sea says people with this condition take things very literally...which may have proven detrimental during questioning.

"So if someone said something like, 'Well you know about that, don't you?' he'd say, 'Yeah, I know about it,' only because someone has just told him about it." As for the boy, who's not being identified because he's a minor, Tuesday's dismissal marks the first time since September he's been off electronic tether.

His mother is taking advantage of that...by taking her son out to dinner.

"He has not left the home in four months," Faw says.

"He's been imprisoned in his home and looking forward to being able to go out." Authorities say this doesn't change the fact an innocent dog was mutilated...at the hands of a very disturbed individual.

Their case against this young man may be over, though they're still looking for leads.

If you have any information...you're asked to call the Pima County Sheriff's Department--or 88 crime.

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Parents Charged In Autistic Boy's Death

Autistic 6-year-old was thought to have drowned, but police say he was suffocated

Almost two years after a 6-year-old autistic boy, Gabriel Britt, was found dead in a rural Dorchester County pond, his parents have been charged in his slaying.

Renee and Terrence Britt of St. George say they have had three other children die, of natural causes. Police now say they are looking into those deaths.

Renee Britt, 42, could face a grand jury next week on a charge of homicide by child abuse. Her husband, in his late 30s, is sought by police and is believed to be in New York City.

Each faces up to life in prison if convicted.

No one from the family would talk when contacted Wednesday at the family's home about 53 miles northwest of Charleston. The couple's attorney, Andy Savage of Charleston, could not be reached.

Two of the couple's children, a 10- and 13-year-old, were taken into protective custody by the state Tuesday night, when Renee Britt was arrested at her home. A family court judge will decide today where the children will go. An older child was left at the home.

Police have been investigating Gabriel's death since March 11, 2001, when he was found in a pond near his home. His mother had reported him missing eight days earlier.

Dorchester County sheriff's Maj. Tim Stephenson, who has headed the investigation, would not say why it took so long to build a case against the Britts.

"We are pleased and confident with our arrest," he said.

Britt was denied bond at a hearing Wednesday, said Ralph Hoisington, 9th Circuit solicitor.

When Gabriel was found in the pond about 400 yards from the family's home, investigators initially thought he had drowned. A second autopsy showed he had been suffocated and left in the pond.

Investigators said they charged the Britts on Tuesday because of inconsistencies in their statements and because they were the last adults to have contact with Gabriel. Stephenson would not give further details.

More than a year ago, the attorney general's office asked Hoisington to look into the case. He ordered more scientific tests.

A medical examiner's report, issued Nov. 2, said the reddish discoloring of the skin around Gabriel's nose and mouth was there before he died and indicated someone had held his nose and mouth shut.

Investigators' reports showed the parents' account of how the boy disappeared were inconsistent with the way Gabriel usually behaved.

They said the boy took his father's keys from his pants, opened the door and went to two different places, then to the pond, the affidavit said.

Physicians and caretakers who helped the family deal with Gabriel's autism told investigators the boy couldn't have done anything that complicated.

Gabriel, who was described as hyperactive, muttered only a few words and had the mental capacity of a 2-year-old, they said.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Joel Sexton ruled the death a suffocation. He said Gabriel also had a damaged kidney from a blow to his midsection.

The Britts moved from Brooklyn to St. George more than six years ago.

In earlier interviews, Terrence Britt said two of his children died within a month's time while they were in New York -- one at age 11 from cerebral palsy and the other at age 7 during surgery.

When the couple arrived in South Carolina in August 1996, there were five children in the family. One of Renee Britt's teen-age sons died of cerebral palsy.

Hoisington said the sheriff's department and pathologists are looking into the deaths of those children.

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