SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

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The Autism Calendar, November 2002 Update is out!

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November 07, 2002 Promote Your Event - Free! - Send a CALENDAR

LISTING:

COMMENTARY

* Denmark Study on Autism & MMR Vaccine Shows Need for Biological Research

TREATMENT

* Child Neurologists Set Guidelines for Tests of Global Developmental Delay

RESEARCH

* Case Reports Growth Attenuation Found in Four Pediatric Patients on SSRIs

* Autism and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Finland: A Recent Increase

PUBLIC HEALTH

* Immunization Gone Bad

* To Vaccinate Or Not?

RESEARCH

* Diet in Autism And Associated Disorders

MEDIA

* Autism Magazine Celebrates 3rd Birthday with Special Discounted

Holiday Rates!

COMMENTARY

[From SafeMinds.]

Denmark Study on Autism and MMR Vaccine Shows Need for Biological Research

Cranford, NJ - The newly released study on autism and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (“A Population Based Study of Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccination and Autism.” New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 347, No 19; Nov 7, 2002: 1477-1483, by Kreesten Meldgaard,et al) is a welcome addition to autism epidemiology. Unfortunately, the study conclusions appear overreaching, claiming that this analysis is the final word on autism and vaccines and implying that more research on the topic is unnecessary. Safe Minds asserts that other vaccines besides MMR may be involved in autism, and that only biological research, not epidemiology, can answer the question of whether the MMR vaccine plays a role in autism.

“It is important to note that the study only focused on the MMR vaccine, and not vaccines also implicated in autism which contain the mercury preservative thimerosal,” explains Sallie Bernard, executive director of Safe Minds. “The study also failed to investigate whether the MMR vaccine might be interacting with the thimerosal from other vaccines to increase the severity of symptoms in children who already have autism. Finally, the study did not differentiate between regressive autism, which is the type being linked to MMR vaccine, and the more prevalent early onset autism, which is the type being linked to thimerosal.”

Safe Minds is an advocacy organization which focuses on the role of mercury in neurodevelopmental disrorders, including autism. It was founded by parents of autistic children. Thimerosal contains 50% ethylmercury and has been used in most recommended childhood vaccines, including the Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP), Haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB), and Hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccines.

Research studies have shown that mercury exposure in utero or during early postnatal life – the time when thimerosal vaccines are being given – can cause immune system abnormalities which predispose the child to ongoing viral infections. It is biologically plausible that this immune disruption may have allowed the live measles virus component in the MMR vaccine to persist in susceptible autistic children, making the symptoms of the disorder worse. This connection would not be detected through an epidemiology study like the Denmark one. Nor does the Denmark study have the power to detect differences in rates of regressive autism between vaccinated and unvaccinated children, since the number of regressive cases – estimated to be 10%-20% of all autism cases - would be too small.

“The overreaching conclusion of the study should not obscure other important findings from this extensive and well planned analysis from Denmark,” continued Ms. Bernard. “The authors report an increased prevalence of autism in that country, and thus it supports other recent studies that are also showing increases. This rise tells us that an environmental agent is at work worldwide that is driving this trend. We believe that thimerosal and environmental mercury – which are worldwide pollutants – are behind the surge. Also, Denmark has had lower and later exposures to thimerosal in vaccines, and the report shows that their rate of autism is lower than in the US, which is also consistent with a thimerosal connection.”

Safe Minds is encouraged that the Centers for Disease Control sponsored such an extensive study on autism, which shows that this terrible disease is finally getting the attention of public health officials. Safe Minds looks forward to increased support for autism research, especially at the biological level.

For more information, contact:

Sallie Bernard Executive Director Safe Minds 970 429-1460

sbernard@nac.net

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Child Neurologists Set Guidelines for Tests of Global Developmental Delay

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Reuters Health - Tests to uncover genetic problems and imaging by MRI instead of CT are among the strategies advised in a new set of guidelines for evaluating children with global developmental delay, pediatric neurologists reported here Thursday at a briefing for medical and science writers.

A specific etiology can be determined in the majority of children with global developmental delay, said Dr. Stephen Ashwal of the department of pediatrics at Loma Linda University Medical School in Loma Linda, California. Dr. Ashwal is a co-author of the guidelines.

Insurers and even parents may refuse to pay for the testing costs, which can mount to several thousand dollars, Dr. Ashwal said, even though parents want to know specifically what is wrong with their child.

The report of the quality standards subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the practice committee of the Child Neurology Society contains a decision tree for tests aimed at unraveling causes of delayed development, based on evidence published in clinical studies and reviewed by the committees. The guidelines will be published in the journal Neurology.

Global developmental delay is defined as deficits in at least two of four domains: speech, cognition, social, and self-care. Most doctors, including neurologists, do not carry out the detailed battery of testing that the new guidelines now recommend for diagnosis, Dr. Ashwal said.

The new recommendations call for routine cytogenetic and molecular testing, such as for the Fragile X syndrome. The decision on which tests to perform are based on what clinicians find on examination.

The steps are to obtain a detailed history, refer for auditory and visual screening "no matter what the etiology," Dr. Ashwal said, and consider metabolic studies only if no neonatal screening was carried out.

An EEG should be obtained if seizures are suspected. "MRI should be obtained in preference to CT," Dr. Ashwal said. MRI yield is higher, especially if abnormalities, particularly dysmorphic features, are evident on the physical exam.

If no explanation for the developmental delay can be found in the family history, testing should look for subtelomeric chromosomal rearrangements. Rett syndrome should be considered for girls with unexplained developmental delay.

"You use your expertise to decide which testing is indicated," Dr. Ashwal said.

Even though treatment is not yet available for most cases of global developmental delay, Dr. Ashwal pointed out that new diagnoses and new treatments may become available in the future. "I think all of us who take care of children with these neurologic disorders" have seen a new definition suddenly fit existing patients, he commented.

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Case Reports Growth Attenuation Found in Four Pediatric Patients on SSRIs

Brown University Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology Update 4(10):1, 2-4, 2002. © 2002 Manisses Communications Group, Inc. Posted 10/30/2002 Introduction

A new report of four cases suggests there may be an isolated effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) therapy on growth and possibly growth hormone secretion in some children who are taking these medications, providing new and controversial evidence of a possible association between treatment with SSRIs and endocrinologic adverse events. Studies linking SSRIs with endocrinologic changes have been previously reported in the adult literature.[1] However, no information exists on the effects of therapy on growth and puberty in pediatric populations, as the focus of the investigations conducted in children and adolescents have been primarily psychiatric rather than endocrinologic. This is the first report in children to suggest that there might be an isolated effect of SSRI therapy on growth and possibly growth hormone (GH) secretion, which the authors speculate could possibly "via a reduction of central alpha2-adrenoreptor-mediated GH release."[2] However, experts say that the findings remain preliminary and caution against making any conclusions about the effects on growth due to therapeutic use of SSRIs in this population at this time.

Case Study

Naomi Weintrob, M.D., of the Institute for Endocrinology and Diabetes at Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, and colleagues report on four pediatric patients who showed growth attenuation and decreased growth hormone (GH) secretion during treatment with SSRIs for obsessive-compulsive-disorder or Tourette syndrome. All patients were treated with either fluvoxamine (dose range, 50 to 100 mg per day) or fluoxetine (dose range, 20 to 80 mg per day) for a period of six months to five years and showed growth attenuation or arrest despite the absence of chronic disease and other hypothalamic-pituitary function abnormalities. Patients (3 boys, 1 girl) in the study were referred to an endocrinologic clinic for short stature, slow growth rate and/or overweight. Three patients had decreased GH response to clonidine stimulation and two patients to both clonidine and glucagon stimulation. In each of the patients, weight gain was consistent during SSRI therapy, and thyroid, prolactin and urinary cortisol levels appeared within normal range.

Case Report One

In the first case, an 11-year-old girl with Tourette syndrome began treatment with fluvoxamine 50 mg a day. After six months of SSRI therapy, she showed growth arrest despite normal pubertal development, consistent weight gain, and normal prolactin levels and other anterior pituitary functions. Usual growth resumed after fluvoxamine was discontinued at 12 years, 1 month.

Case Report Two

In the second case, a 13-year-old boy with obsessive-compulsive disorder was treated with fluoxetine 80 mg a day. After six months of treatment, he showed growth attenuation, followed by complete growth arrest for four months. Weight gain was consistent during SSRI therapy and thyroid, prolactin and urinary cortisol levels appeared normal. Treatment with fluoxetine was discontinued. Growth velocity improved, and an increase in testicular volume was noted, indicating progression of puberty. Fluoxetine therapy was resumed at 15 years, 11 months, but discontinued again after six months of treatment due to a recurrent decrease in growth velocity. Usual growth resumed after discontinuation of SSRI therapy.

Case Report Three

The third case involves a 12-year old boy who had received methylphenidate from age 5 to 10 years and had been switched to risperidone 1.0 to 1.5 mg a day and fluvoxamine 100 mg a day for Tourette syndrome and ADHD. Growth attenuation was noted from age 6 to 11 years. A one-year follow-up revealed a decrease in growth velocity, but with consistent weight gain and pubertal progression. SSRI therapy in this patient could not be discontinued. Therefore, somatropin therapy was started when the boy was 14.5 years, resulting in a marked improvement in growth.

Case Report Four

In the final case, a 12-year-old boy who had been receiving methylphenidate 10 mg a day for ADHD since he was seven years old was started on additional therapy with fluvoxamine 150 mg a day for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The fluvoxamine was later switched to fluoxetine 20 mg a day. The boy's growth rate slowed, and his height dropped from the 50th percentile to the 15th percentile within one year. Weight gain was consistent and thyroid, prolactin and urinary cortisol levels appeared normal. Somatropin therapy was started when the boy was 14 years old as treatment with fluoxetine could not be stopped due to his psychiatric symptoms. After the addition of somatropin, there was an increase in growth rate and pubertal advancement.

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Autism and Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Finland: A Recent Increase Is there a link between MMR, Autism, and IBD? No, say vaccine authorities. But...

[By F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP.]

In February 1998, Andrew Wakefield published results of a small study, in which he described, for the first time, some specific changes in the ileum and colon of children with autism and suggested a possible relationship with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination. (1) This and subsequent publications by the same team have changed the way parents perceive autism and vaccination. The attack on Wakefield and his work by the vaccine authorities and the pro-vaccine lobby was prompt, massive and relentless. Two publications by a team from Finland are most often quoted. (2,3). In both, the authors describe the adverse events reported following the administration of some 3 million doses of MMR vaccine to about 1.8 million individuals during a national immunization campaign in Finland between 1982 and 1996. Children were immunized between 14 and 18 months of age and again at 6. Also receiving the vaccine were older children and selected groups of young adults, such as military recruits and nursing students (2,3,4). The main authors of the two publications in question were H. Peltola and A. Patja and both stated that there was no evidence for MMR vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in the 14-year study (the title of the Peltola paper).

Many criticized the study findings and its conclusions because: Fewer than 200 individuals, those who had developed acute events within 3 weeks of vaccination, were followed for 14 years. The rest of the 1.8 million vaccine-recipients were not.

Both autism and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are chronic illnesses, which develop over months or years. No one ever claimed that they start within 21 days of vaccination.

Wakefield never contended that children who develop diarrhea immediately after vaccination, a known and accepted reaction, are those who will go on to develop IBD as young adults.

The Finnish study ended in 1996. Autism and IBD were never mentioned in connection with MMR vaccination prior to 1998 Peltola stated on BBC Radio-4 on January 13, 2001 that the study was not designed to look at IBD and autism The vaccine manufacturer funded the study.

But because of an expensive and extensive campaign, the pro-vaccine lobby prevailed and the study findings are constantly interpreted in the press, and over the Internet, as proving that there was no increase in autism and IBD in the millions who received the MMR vaccine during the vaccination campaign in Finland and were followed for 14 years.

Obviously, this is not true.

Autism & Inflammatory Bowel Disease have increased in Finland in recent years.

Autism. M. Kielinen et al, in a study published in the Journal of European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (5) described a significant rise in autism in the northern provinces of Oulu and Lapland, which represent 1/8 of the total population of Finland. The Kielinen study included all children born in the two provinces, between 1979 and 1994. Every single one of those children was eligible and must have received the MMR vaccine. The authors personally reviewed all records of children with autism to determine that they fulfilled the criteria of ICD-10 and DSM-IV. The cumulative incidence of autism was 12.2/10,000, a significant increase when compared to the previously reported incidence of 4.75/10,000 by Vinni and Timonen. The increase in the younger children, all born in the second half of the MMR campaign, was even more striking. In the 5 to 7 age group, the cumulative incidence was 20.7/10,000 or more than 1 in 500.

There is no reason to doubt that this increase is not occurring nationwide nor that it is less spectacular than in other European countries.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

According to figures obtained from the Statistical Branch of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, the number of patients entitled for special refunds because of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis DOUBLED between 1992 and 2001, from 9 737 to 20 807. In the same period, the prevalence rate per thousand of the two conditions also doubled while the population of

Finland only increased by 3%. (Table I) Increase in the number of patients entitled to special refunds for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis in Finland Also of concern is the fact that, not only did the number of patients with IBD reporting to Social Services increase yearly, but that the rate of increase is accelerating, with more patients having registered in the last five years than in the previous five.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 35. The older children, adolescents, nursing students and army recruits who received the MMR vaccine in Finland starting in 1982, reached that vulnerable age in the last ten years and figure in all likelihood, in the increasing statistics. No one is claiming that other causes of IBD do not exist because they certainly do. Nevertheless if the rates of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis continue to increase and accelerate in Finland in the next few years, when the younger vaccinees reach adulthood, then Peltola and his colleagues will owe the scientific community an explanation and the vaccine authorities will be accountable for endorsing their unwarranted conclusions.

References

1. Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A, et al. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet 1998; 351: 63741

2. Peltola H, Heinonen OP, Valle M et al. The Elimination of Indigenous Measles, Mumps, and Rubella from Finland by a 12-year, two-dose vaccination program. N Engl J Med 1994; 331: 1397-402

3. Patja A, Davidkin I, Kurki T, Kallio MJT, Valle M, Peltola H. Serious adverse events after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination during a fourteen-year prospective follow-up. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 2000;19(12):1127-1134.

4. Peltola H, Heinonen OP, Valle M, Paunio M, Virtanen M, Karanko V, Cantell K. The Elimination of Indigenous Measles, Mumps, and Rubella from Finland by a 12-year, two-dose vaccination program. N Engl J Med 1994; 331: 1397402. ) 5. Kielinen M, Linna S.-L, Moilanen I. Autism in Northern Finland; European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 9:162-167 (2000) November 2, 2002 © 2002 F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA tlautstudy@aol.com

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Immunization Gone Bad

A White county family wants the Arkansas State Health Department to changes its policy about a medical exemption. That family learned that in rare cases, a child's DNA can react disastrously with immunizations.

Alice Clinton lives everyday with the consequences of her eldest daughter having a severe allergic reaction to immunizations. Clinton is concerned that her younger children's genetic make-up will respond the same tragic way. Sarah was the apple of her mother's eye.

Alice Clinton says she did everything she was supposed to do. "She had her first immunization at 3 months, within 8-10 hours after that, she started having seizures…she's had seizures everyday for 22 years."

Now, that girl is a mentally retarded woman, who spends her life being taken care of. Clinton must take care of her daughter's every need. "She never spoke, no self help skills, doesn't feed herself…she's like a 6-month-old."

Alice's DNA clashed with the immunizations. Pediatricians have said this is a direct result of her immunization. So, Clinton has withheld such shots from her three younger children. They've received medical exemptions in Tennessee and Virginia, where they used to live. Now, the Clintons' doctors have sent letters to Searcy schools, stating that since the elder daughter is mentally retarded from a immunizaiton reaction, they urge the district to honor the parents wishes to withhold further immunizations, saying all three children should be exempt.

Clinton explains, "our pediatrician has advised for years that it wasn't in our children's best interest."

The MMR vaccine comes with this warning: saying that “due caution should be employed to persons with a history of cerebral injury.” But, the Arkansas Department of Health has responded, saying that a family member's experience with a vaccine is not a valid medical reason, and they cannot grant a medical exemption. Dr. Sandra Snow, of the Arkansas Department of Health, tells News 4 Arkansas, "there is no medical reason that these children should have problems with vaccines, just because siblings had a reaction to it."

But, Clinton replies, "with what we have from our doctors, with information in the warning package insert, it’s beyond me why that's not enough."

If the exemption isn't granted, this mother says she has some tough decisions to make. Doctor Snow says she's willing to look at further medical information and re-evaluate the case, but as it stands now, the request is still denied.

The students have until December 2nd to get their shots, or they cannot attend public schools in Arkansas.

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To Vaccinate Or Not?

The uncomfortable truth about vaccines is that they protect the many at the expense of a very few. While millions are protected from infectious diseases every year, a small number of infants are injured or even killed by the shots they received as their parents stood by.

And while killers such as smallpox and polio have been all but eradicated thanks to mass immunization, critics question why vaccines, which are in effect mandated by the government, are not uniformly safe.

They also say they wonder if it is not better for children to contract childhood diseases such as mumps, measles and chicken pox rather than be vaccinated against them. And they call it irresponsible to inoculate every baby against Hepatitis B when the virus is spread mainly by sexual contact and shared IV-drug needles.

Of the 4 million children each year who receive multiple vaccines, about 10,000 adverse reactions are reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most of those reactions are minor, but about 15 percent involve incidents of hospitalization, disability, life-threatening illness or death. Those reports do not prove the vaccine caused the problem, however.

Despite all these questions, most parents take their infants to the pediatrician's office for shots every few months as a matter of routine.

My husband and I tried to find a middle ground. Armed with facts culled from books, reports and friends, we tailored a vaccination program for our son, submitting to some vaccines and eschewing or postponing others. Our son Anthony's pediatrician didn't blink when we told him we wanted to hold off on the Hepatitis B shot for half a year, and he even suggested we wait to administer the polio vaccine.

At 6 months, Anthony got his first round of shots: Hib, to protect against Haemophilus influenzae type b, which can cause deadly meningitis; and DTaP, which contains the diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (or whooping cough) vaccines.

I won't pretend that holding down my son while a nurse thrust four needles, one at a time, into his little chubby legs wasn't a nightmarish experience.

Anthony screamed and writhed, and I felt I had betrayed the trust I worked so hard to build in the first months of his life. In the days following the immunizations, Anthony was fussy, weepy and clingy. He rolled around less and didn't grab at things as heartily as he had before. But in a few days, he was back to banging on Daddy's keyboard and Mommy's piano. It took a few weeks before he refrained from crying when I left the room.

Still, Susan Lett, the medical director for the immunization program for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, told me that by delaying the shots, I had exposed my son to "unnecessary risks."

"I wouldn't urge any parent to defer vaccines," she said. She also said my pediatrician stood in the minority by suggesting we wait to administer the polio vaccine.

"We don't know at any time what risks are being introduced," Lett said.

"People travel all the time," possibly from countries where the population is not vaccinated against diseases such as polio.

Lett had convincing answers for all my skeptical questions. The incidence of hepatitis B, and its corresponding liver cancers and liver cirrhosis, would be cut dramatically if every baby got the vaccine. Diseases eradicated in the United States still lurk in other parts of the world. No causal link exists between vaccines and developmental disorders such as autism, according to the scientific literature and a report by the Institute of Medicine. She had a soothing answer for my concerns about overwhelming the immune system of a weeks-old newborn with toxins.

"Babies are exposed to hundreds of millions of antigens," Lett said. "The hundred or so they get in the vaccine is really quite tiny."

New mother Sue Keller of Deerfield said she hadn't given a second thought to vaccinating until her "crunchy granola" friend raised some of these points.

Once she started doing research, she decided to ask her physician to fax her a list of ingredients, along with the manufacturer and the lot number of each vaccine scheduled for her daughter. Keller, a dentist, also talked to several pediatricians about vaccines and urges parents to do the same.

"Pediatrician? What's that?" joked a Northfield mother of two. Her son, she said, has gotten nonstop ear infections since getting one round of shots, and she since has taken her kids to holistic healers for their routine aches and pains. She won't vaccinate her daughter and says she plans to use a religious exemption for her child when it's time to enter public school.

In Massachusetts, parents who don't vaccinate their children can seek either a religious or medical exclusion to attend public schools, according to Cindy Dourmashkin, director of health services for the Northampton public schools.

She said that in each Northampton school "one or two" children are not vaccinated, and that number has remained steady over the last 10 years.

In the end, parents have to weigh the risks and benefits of vaccination for themselves. However, they may want to consider the words of Andrew Weil, a noted doctor of alternative medicine and best-selling author. Weil was quoted in Natural Health magazine in 1997 as saying, "The debate about immunization could only be going on in a country where the people are mostly immunized. If people in this country lived with these diseases, you wouldn't hear them questioning immunization."

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Diet in Autism And Associated Disorders

ds=12415751&dopt=Abstract

Garvey J.

Royal Free Hospital, London.

A dietitian discusses the theory that peptides with opioid activity may cause or trigger autism. The use of an exclusion diet to treat autism is explained, weighing the potential benefits against some of the practical difficulties of keeping to a strict exclusion diet. The use of nutritional supplements is described. An abnormal gut flora has also been implicated in autism and the use of probiotics and prebiotics in improving the integrity of the gut mucosa is also discussed.

PMID: 12415751 [PubMed - in process]

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Autism Magazine Celebrates 3rd Birthday with Special Discounted Holiday Rates!

[From the magazine's publisher.]

With the release of the November-December 2002 issue, the Autism Asperger’s Digest, the nation’s only magazine devoted to autism spectrum disorders, begins its fourth year of publication.

“It’s hard to believe the Autism Asperger’s Digest turns three with the printing of this issue. Just like our children grow so fast and start developing their own unique personalities, so has the magazine. Looking back through the 18 issues we’ve now published, we can definitely see the developmental changes that have occurred. And, best of all, we’re still growing!” commented Veronica Zysk, Managing Editor of the magazine.

Each 52 page issue features an assortment of originally written articles, regular columns on topics related to language/communication, research, special education law, early intervention and adult issues, and excerpts from the newest books released in the field. Noted autism experts such as Temple Grandin, Jerry Newport, Reed Martin, and Diane Twachtman-Cullen contribute to each issue. Personal stories about life with autism are intermingled with instructional, educational information about therapies, treatments or hands-on techniques that have been effective with children or adults with autism.

Contents of the November-December issue include:

Books Asperger Syndrome and Adolescence Helping Preteens and Teens Get Ready for the Real World By Teresa Bolick, Ph.D. Explore the challenges faced by AS teens, learn helpful tools, strategies and solutions to help your AS teen achieve social success.

A Picture’s Worth PECS and Other Visual Communication Strategies in Autism By Andy Bondy, Ph.D. & Lori Frost, M.S., CCC/SLP A step-by-step guide to developing effective communication strategies with children with autism.

Articles Autistic Thinking: Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees by Peter Vermeulen, Belgium The core of autism is not to be found on the outside, in behavior, but on the inside, in understanding how people with autism think.

Transitioning into a New World by Maureen Bennie, Canada Transitioning from the perfect preschool into the not-so-perfect public education system can be difficult. One mother describes her journey.

The Ambassador Club: Or How An Un-cool Middle Age Woman Teaches Teenagers to Fit In by Pat Rakovic MA CCC/SLP How do you teach social skills in a context that is attractive and acceptable to a teenager? Create a club and make a movie!

FAMILY: Make Way for a New Definition by Anne Patterson Let’s face facts; when a child is diagnosed with autism, ‘normal family life’ go out the window. For some parents, this causes enormous stress. Learn how to let go of old ideas and create new dreams.

Traversing Autism: The Origins of the HANDLE Approach to Autism by Judith Bluestone Humans function as complex interactive systems housed in one body, each part continually affecting every other part. When we view autism from its neurodevelopmental basis, growth, progress and change CAN occur.

Advice for Adult Aspies by Lawrence M. Rubin 25 ways of making Aspie-ness work for you!

Departments Autism: The Way I See It by Temple Grandin Insights into Autistic Social Problems

Special Education Law by Reed Martin, J.D. Has your Child ever been Evaluated for what REALLY Counts?

Ask the Experts Visual Processing by Lois Hickman & Rebecca Hutchins

Research Update Selectivity with Food and Iron Deficiency by Dr. Abbas Latif

Inspiration: Autism by Jennifer Kummins Skills for Life, Lessons for the Heart

Straight Talk About Language & Communication by Diane Twachtman-Cullen Connecting the Language-Learning “Dots” for Students with ASD

Into the Light: Our Journey through Early Intervention by Jacqueline McCracken-Houck A Ray of Hope Emerges

Horse Sense: Wisdom Shared by Autistics Already Winning the Race of Life Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum: Working towards a Better Mutual Understanding by Stephen Shore

GF/CF: Plain and Simple by Lisa S. Lewis, Ph.D. Cleaning Out the Pantry

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