SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet"

________________________________________________________________

October 24, 2002 Promote Your Event - Free! - Send a

NOV. CALENDAR LISTING - FRIDAY OCT 25 DEADLINE:

TREATMENT

* Treating Related Problems, Not Autism: NY Times

ADVOCACY

* Few Getting Help From Vaccine Fund

* Disabled Compete For Funds - Independence Depends On Help

RESEARCH

* Mutation Analysis of Coding Sequence Mecp2 Gene In Infantile Autism.

* A Link Between DNA Deletions And Autism?

* Adults Speak Out About the Autism Tissue Program

CARE

* Probation for Mental Health Worker

FUNDRAISING

* Trust Will Fund MMR Research

* $248 K in the CAN

* Readers' Posts

TREATMENT

Treating Related Problems, Not Autism

A growing number of autistic children are treated with drugs. But the drugs are prescribed not for autism itself but for behavior problems that often accompany it: self-injury, hyperactivity, aggression, tantrums, anxiety and repetitive behavior.

No drug treats the impairment in social and language skills and the inward focus that make up autism's core symptoms.

"At this stage no one has come up with a truly compelling line of thinking that would lead us to an agent that would alter the course of autism," said Dr. Michael Aman, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University.

In a survey he conducted in North Carolina, Dr. Aman found that 23 percent of autistic children ages 3 to 6, and about 46 percent of 7- to 14-year-olds, were given drugs for behavior problems.

The drugs often include S.S.R.I.'s (for selective serotonin reuptake

inhibitors) for the repetitive and ritualistic behaviors found in autism; antipsychotic drugs, which treat self-injury, aggression and tantrums; and stimulants, for hyperactivity.

Many of these drugs have not been well studied in autistic children, experts say; the drugs are prescribed because they are effective against similar symptoms that occur in other disorders.

The antipsychotic drugs, however, received important support from a study published on Aug. 1 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

A new class of so-called atypical antipsychotic drugs was found effective, with fewer serious side effects, in autistic children than the older antipsychotics like haloperidol.

Of the children taking the atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone, 69 percent showed significant improvement, compared with only 12 percent of those taking placebos.

Most experts believe that children will not have to take these medicines for life. Dr. Lawrence Scahill, a child psychiatry professor at Yale and a principal investigator on the risperidone study, said, "If you can reduce these very challenging behaviors when they occur in a 7- or 8-year-old child, you can bring to bear behavioral and educational treatments that can obviate their use later."

_______________________________________________________

>> DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW <<

Subscribe, Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report.

No Cost!

_______________________________________________________

* * *

Few Getting Help From Vaccine Fund

A record number of families this year have filed cases with the nation's Vaccine Compensation Fund on behalf of children who've suffered side effects from their immunizations.

More than a decade ago - with a broad spectrum of support from doctors, lawyers, families and pharmaceutical companies - Congress established the fund to help in the rare cases when there were vaccine injuries.

The fund now contains nearly $2 billion - but the government is making it extremely difficult for victims to collect.

Corbin Lane, 7, can't write his name or carry on a conversation. However, he can recite from memory at least twenty different children's books. His parents are convinced that Corbin's neurological disorder was triggered by the mercury in his vaccines. Tests show - like dozens of other American children diagnosed with autism symptoms after being immunized - Corbin has a mercury level off the chart.

"He does this flexing 'stim', which looks like central nervous system damage to me," mother Donn Lane said. "But when he gets excited or upset, he'll stim. And now we can say to him, 'What are you doing?' And, he'll say, 'I'm stimming'.

"We actually looked back on our videotape - he was our first child so we videotaped him like crazy. We saw it begin right around twenty months - standing in front of the TV doing it. We thought he was just excited."

It was only last year that Corbin was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, or PDD - a diagnostic cousin of autism. Yet, his family is not eligible to apply for financial help from the Vaccine Compensation Fund because of a three-year statute of limitations.

The catch is that the clock starts ticking from the first symptom of injury - not the day of diagnosis. In Corbin's case, the video shows he began having problems more than five years ago, although his parents had no clue what was happening.

"I used to say 99 out of 100 parents who said their child had an adverse reaction to a vaccine were time-barred," attorney Jeff Sell said.

Houston attorney, Jeff Sell, has a personal stake in the fight to get Congress to change the vaccine injury legislation. His son is autistic with extremely high mercury levels.

"I'm time-barred," Sell said. "By the time I sat down and looked at my son's vaccine records, we were beyond three years and, there is an iron clad

rule: Three years from the manifestation of the injury - that is an unforgiveable rule."

The compensation fund is set up to help injuries from all vaccines. However, within the past two years, thousands of families have come forward claiming their autistic children were hurt by a mercury-based preservative found in many vaccines called Thimerosal.

Medical opponents said those families have been stirred up by lawyers looking to create a litigation bonanza in this country.

Ironically, this is exactly why the Vaccine Compensation Fund received so much support - both from Democrats and Republicans - when it was established in 1988. It was supposed to be a win-win situation for families and pharmaceutical companies.

Initially, the Fund had three goals: To protect vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits, to stabilize the nation's vaccine supply, and to provide generous compensation to families without tying them up in court for years.

Indiana Congressman Dan Burton was one of the bill's biggest supporters, and said the fund is not working like it should.

"No, it isn't at all," Burton said. "There's $1.7 billion in the fund and, instead of it being one that does not require litigation, almost every single person that we've talked to who has had children harmed by vaccines has had to fight and fight and fight to get compensation from them.

"In most cases, they don't get any compensation, and when they do, sometimes it takes as much as ten years."

For the past year, Burton's congressional committee on government reform has held a series of hearings highlighting the problems of a parade of parents with injured children.

He and others blame the Department of Justice, which administers the Vaccine Fund, for making the process unnecessarily adversarial.

Some families said that in order to collect any compensation, they've been forced into signing agreements that would keep information about their cases from being published - information that could help other parents caught in similar circumstances.

"I think if you talk to the average citizen in this country whose child was dead or dying, who was suffering from lupus, and they said, 'I'll tell you what we'll do - we'll settle this thing as long as you don't publish it', I think most people would think that was unseemly (conduct) by the Federal Government," Burton said.

The Department of Justice declined to comment for this report. But during the congressional hearings, officials claimed that for the past five years, they have been streamlining the process.

Yet since the fund was established 14 years ago, less than a third of the 6,000 cases filed have resulted in compensation.

For many families facing years of mounting medical bills, the only alternative is to do exactly what the bill hoped to prevent: file a lawsuit. In Texas alone, three law firms in Houston and Dallas have gathered nearly 5,000 vaccine injury cases.

Like the Lanes, these families have nothing to lose.

"You know that adage, 'We're going to force you to take this vaccine, but we don't want to be responsible for what it does to you' - that's basically what's happened," Lane said.

There are at least three different bills that have popped up during the past year that would alter the Vaccine Compensation Fund. The most popular is the Burton/Waxman bill, proposed by a staunch Republican and a die-hard Democrat.

The most notable change is that the bill would extend the statute of limitations to file a claim to six years.

* * *

ADVOCACY

Disabled Compete For Funds - Independence Depends On Help

When Anya M. Schwabe graduates from Keene High School next year, she'd like to find an apartment, perhaps work at an animal shelter and see a movie with friends on weekends, her father says.

But that's in doubt.

Schwabe, 19, of Keene is one of 83 developmentally disabled people in Cheshire and western Hillsborough counties who are on a waiting list for state help offered through Monadnock Developmental Services, a regional agency based in Keene. After graduation, she'll no longer be eligible for public school programs, such as her special education class.

Schwabe needs help primarily with reading. Her father, Christopher L. Schwabe, calls it a quality-of-life and a safety issue. For example, using an electric appliance without a guiding hand nearby poses a hazard, he said.

"We would like her to have an independent life and move out of her home," said Christopher Schwabe, a Monadnock Developmental Services board member.

With the Nov. 5 election bearing down, Schwabe and others at Monadnock Developmental Services are busy sending a questionnaire to area candidates, hoping to draw attention to people in his daughter's situation. They say helping the developmentally disabled is being lost in the campaign shuffle as candidates debate other issues such as school-finance problems.

For others, however, that's precisely the point: The Legislature must balance the needs of the developmentally disabled against a myriad of other spending requests. Still others see the courts as the only way of getting people off the waiting lists and getting them the help they need.

Moving from institutions into the community Developmentally disabled people's problems include, among other things, autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy and severe learning disabilities. They need help preparing meals, shopping, paying bills and learning job skills. All require time and money, be it from friends or government.

Lacking outside help for his daughter, Christopher Schwabe said, he or his wife will have to leave their job to tend to her needs.

Statewide, more than 500 developmentally disabled people are on waiting lists to receive help through the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Developmental Services, which oversees Monadnock Developmental Services and 11 similar agencies around the state.

Topping the waiting list are people who need help immediately or within a year, such as those whose close relative or caregiver has died. Others require help within two years. Still others, while not in such immediate need, would benefit from help.

Twenty-five years ago, the developmentally disabled lived either with their families or at Laconia State School. A 1978 lawsuit against the school by parents of a resident led to the institution's closing and the opening of the various regional agencies that help the developmentally disabled live as independently as possible in their communities.

Two decades later, dollars for community-based care are becoming increasingly scarce.

For the 2001-02 fiscal year, the Legislature appropriated $3 million. The division is seeking $17 million for the two-year period beginning next July.

And that's a gulf that many legislators likely didn't foresee when the state moved from institutionalized to community-based care.

"We're competing with all the other needs in New Hampshire, including education," said Dennis H. Powers, Division of Developmental Services director.

R. Alan Greene, director of Monadnock Developmental Services, compares the problem to a frog in a boiling pot of water. He said his agency can no longer stretch dollars to meet the demand for its services.

"We haven't had a rate increase since 1994," Greene said. "We can't take people off the waiting list if we have no money."

In 1994, Monadnock Developmental Services supported 395 developmentally disabled people on a budget of $9.28 million, of which the state government kicked in $5.8 million. The agency is currently helping 665 people with $13.44 million. Of that, the state's contribution is $6.7 million, Greene said.

That's a net loss of $3,281 per person, not factoring in inflation or accounting for the people on waiting lists.

This fall, Greene and Christopher Schwabe have taken their concerns one step further by sending a questionnaire to 61 area candidates running for the N.H. Legislature. They call the candidates' responses important, because many voters are focused on the school-funding crunch and other tax-and-spend issues.

So far, about half of the candidates have returned the questionnaire, which asks them how they might get people off the waiting list. Equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans answered the questionnaire, which asks them, among other things, if they would allocate more money for the developmentally disabled.

Among those answering the questionnaire, 79 percent said they would support increased funding. Broken down, that's 100 percent of the Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans.

Also, 68 percent of respondents supported separate funding for court cases involving people accused of a crime but deemed incompetent to stand trial because of their mental state. So far, the various agencies pick up the costs. Broken down, 92 percent of Democrats supported separate funding, and 47 percent of Republicans.

Mark D. Fernald, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state senator from Sharon, calls the level funding of the past decade unacceptable, given the growing waiting list for people in need. He said legislators must tackle the school-funding problems to get dollars flowing to the social-service agencies.

"We haven't figured out how to pay for education," Fernald said. "We

(must) stop robbing from human services to pay for education."

The campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Craig Benson didn't respond by press time.

State Sen. Thomas R. Eaton, R-Keene, who's running unopposed in District 10, said all spending requests, including services for the developmentally disabled, will suffer until the school-funding matter is resolved.

The courts may step in As candidates debate, the Disabilities Rights Center in Concord is pressing forward with a class-action lawsuit against the state. The suit, filed January in Hillsborough County Superior Court, resembles the N.H. Supreme Court's Claremont 2 decision in 1997, which mandated that the state provide an adequate education for every child.

"It's our hope that the court will find the state does have an obligation to provide a comprehensive array of services for the developmentally disabled," said Amy B. Messer, an attorney with the center.

The center filed the suit on behalf of five developmentally disabled residents who are currently on waiting lists for services. One is a 67-year-old woman living in the Monadnock Region. A relative is finding it increasingly difficult to care for her, Messer said.

Rep. Neal M. Kurk, R-Weare, doesn't dispute that people are waiting for services. But he said legislators must balance the needs of the developmentally disabled with other needs, such as welfare, staffing state police, Medicaid and "all the thousands of other things the state does."

Kurk calls taking the issue to court "a second bite at the apple" that's best left to the Legislature. He said the Legislature has provided generously for people in need across the state.

"That's why there is a waiting list. There is not an unlimited number of resources," Kurk said.

* * *

RESEARCH

Mutation Analysis of Coding Sequence Mecp2 Gene In Infantile Autism.

Beyer KS, Blasi F, Bacchelli E, Klauck SM, Maestrini E, Poustka A, International Molecular Genetic Study Of Autism Consortium (IMGSAC). Department of Molecular Genome Analysis (H0600), Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

Mutations in the coding region of the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2

MECP2) gene cause Rett syndrome and have also been reported in a number of X-linked mental retardation syndromes.

Furthermore, such mutations have recently been described in a few autistic patients.

In this study, a large sample of individuals with autism was screened in order to elucidate systematically whether specific mutations in MECP2 play a role in autism.

The mutation analysis of the coding sequence of the gene was performed by denaturing high-pressure liquid chromatography and direct sequencing.

Taken together, 14 sequence variants were identified in 152 autistic patients from 134 German families and 50 unrelated patients from the International Molecular Genetic Study of Autism Consortium affected relative-pair sample.

Eleven of these variants were excluded for having an aetiological role as they were either silent mutations, did not cosegregate with autism in the pedigrees of the patients or represented known polymorphisms.

The relevance of the three remaining mutations towards the aetiology of autism could not be ruled out, although they were not localised within functional domains of MeCP2 and may be rare polymorphisms.

Taking into account the large size of our sample, we conclude that mutations in the coding region of MECP2 do not play a major role in autism susceptibility.

Therefore, infantile autism and Rett syndrome probably represent two distinct entities at the molecular genetic level.

PMID: 12384770 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

* * *

A Link Between DNA Deletions And Autism?

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and repetitive behaviour.

It is diagnosed in childhood and persists throughout life.

Familial clustering, and significantly higher... Trends in Molecular Medicine, 2002, 8:10:461-462

There is no abstract for this article.

The text below is the first paragraph of text within the article.

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and repetitive behaviour.

It is diagnosed in childhood and persists throughout life.

Familial clustering, and significantly higher concordance rates between monozygotic twins than between dizygotic twins, suggest that there is a large genetic component to autism susceptibility.

The disorder has a continuous severity spectrum and probably results from the complex interaction of many genetic factors (perhaps 10-15) and the environment, in a cumulative but not necessarily additive effect.

Several studies of candidate genes have failed to reveal causative mutations, although genome screens have pointed to several chromosomal regions that are likely to be involved in autism.

* * *

Adults Speak Out About the Autism Tissue Program

Since 1998, adults with autism or autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been registering to donate brain tissue to the Autism Tissue Program. Adults with no known disorders have also offered the gift of their brain tissue for future controlled research studies. Dr. Jane Pickett, Autism Tissue Program coordinator, spoke with three adults about becoming a brain tissue donor and why they made the choice to register in the program.

Jean-Paul Bovee, 31, lives in Kansas City, Mo., and has autism.

In 1972, I was diagnosed at age three-and-a-half with early infantile autism and childhood schizophrenia and again at age 6 with autism. Mom was told on my second diagnosis that there was no hope for me to do anything. Well, they were wrong. I was in public school throughout my schooling. I was pulled from class to go to speech therapy for an hour a day and got help with my learning disabilities during another hour each day. [I earned] my first master’s in Medieval History at the University of Kansas in 1992. [I received] my second master’s in Library and Informational Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1994. Since then, I have been the manager of the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Resource Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Institute for Human Development, University Affiliated Program for Persons with Developmental Disabilities.

I believe that more can be understood about autism by studying my brain after I die. The aim should be to understand autism and to know how people with autism do things, not to cure or penalize them. Having autism is not a bad thing — [the purpose of] research is to understand autism.

Some of us have severe and very difficult problems and it is important to know the cause. I like who I am, but it is not easy to live with autism. I am glad to be signed up for the brain research. I will not need my brain after I am dead. It may as well be used to help know more about autism.

Michelle Lockwood, 25, lives in Baltimore, Md. She is a behavior specialist at the Howard County Public Schools in Maryland and volunteers her time providing respite care. As an undergrad my experience with people with autism was somewhat limited. When I moved to Maryland to pursue my master’s degree in 1996, I needed a job that left my evenings free to attend classes and study so I found a position as a paid helper working with an eighth-grader with autism. It proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. As I watched this child learn new skills and make friends, I realized what I hoped to do with the rest of my life.

Joining ASA has been beneficial to me both personally and professionally. I enjoy reading the newsletter and have tried to attend any conferences that fit into my budget. I have found them to be extremely informative. In fact, my first exposure to neurological research with respect to the etiology of autism was at one of these conferences. Presenters stressed the importance of identifying neurobiological markers of autism for use in finding therapeutic pharmacological strategies to treat autism spectrum disorders. This is a line of research I find quite compelling.

I believe that any information learned from neurological research projects can only provide choices to individuals with autism spectrum disorders. I am very intrigued by research, but I have not had the opportunity to become very involved in that end of things. My gift to the Autism Tissue Program is my way of having some involvement in research. Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity.

Kent Reed, 33, lives in Woodlands, Texas and has the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome. This photomontage depicts important aspects of Kent’s life.

I discovered that I had learning disabilities in fifth grade, when my brother Mark had fits on the floor. Mother had both of us tested. Today, I am struggling to keep a 3.5 CPA in a junior college in the honors program and pursuing an A.A. degree in computer graphic arts as well as a certificate in multimedia. I hope to write science fiction books and movies; after all, I do have a very advanced creative imagination.

I am a serial blood donor at my local blood bank because it will save lives in one form or the other. When I have passed this earthly existence, I shall have no use for this body. Why not continue to help people by donating my brain? For years or decades, I have been living with the false idea that I have learning disabilities, yet that didn’t explain my learning processes, coping skills, and other things about my identify. I knew that I had no short-term memory or no audio retention. Since I live in the neural-typical world, I have to constantly deal with ignorance, bigotry, and percussion, all because my “difference” is on the inside rather than the outside. What people cannot see, they will not understand.

I think that people will one day become educated to the point that arrogance and ignorance come down. We search for new forms of life out in space, when there are aliens right here among them. If the neural-typical race can’t cope with us, then how do they expect to do this with others? Maybe I wouldn’t feel so alien if my friends and family knew more.

* * *

CARE

Probation for Mental Health Worker

A 24-year-old man with autism and retardation

was beaten with a belt buckle. A Woods Services worker

who was asleep while on duty admitted in court to

falsifying documents to hide the attack.

A former Woods Services worker was sentenced yesterday to three years probation and ordered to stay out of the mental health field after admitting in court to falsifying records to cover up a beating.

Clarissa Harcum, 47, of Philadelphia pleaded guilty in Bucks County Court in Doylestown Borough to one count of tampering with records. She admitted she changed information on logs to make it look like a 24-year-old assault victim was asleep at the time he was attacked.

Harcum worked the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift watching the victim, whose name is being withheld, and several other mentally challenged residents at the Woodlands program, a residential unit at Woods Services.

She admitted in court yesterday that she was awakened June 12 by the victim's screams, but didn't get him medical help and didn't report the incident to her supervisor.

Prosecutors have not been able to determine who attacked the victim, who has been diagnosed with autism and mental retardation. He had numerous belt buckle-shaped bruises on his body, said Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Schorn.

In court yesterday, the victim's parents testified that the beating has traumatized their son. After a recent visit home in Washington, D.C., the victim became aggressive upon returning to the Langhorne school, his parents said.

"[The victim] is not the happy person he used to be," his father said.

"We just don't understand how any individual could let our son lie in bed all night crying and hurt," said the victim's mother.

Harcum has no prior criminal record. She told county Judge John Rufe that she was sorry she fell asleep while she was supposed to be watching the residents.

"The crime was not falling asleep," Rufe replied. "It was falsifying the records that other people could have relied on to provide care to this child."

Harcum's attorney, Niels Eriksen, said Harcum is "extremely remorseful" for her actions.

Schorn said she was pleased with the sentence, which is the maximum allowed under the law for falsifying a document. But she said Harcum still doesn't understand the seriousness of her actions.

"She tried to downplay her role," Schorn said. "She does not seem to understand the full impact that her actions had on the victim and his parents."

Laurie Mason can be reached at 215-949-4205 or lmason@phillyBurbs.com.

* * *

FUNDRAISING

Trust Will Fund MMR Research

A trust has been set up in Cheltenham to fund research into potential links between vaccination and autism.

Search on for jab's link with autism

The MMR Research Trust has been founded by people who witnessed changes in their children's behaviour following vaccination.

They want to fund a £10,000 study examining whether it might have been a cause of their children's autistic spectrum disorders.

Although the name of the trust suggests it will look at only the controversial combined measles, mumps and rubella jab, its founder Tony Bateson (pictured right) said it would go beyond that and look at all vaccinations and any potential links to autism.

His daughter, Claire, 39, is severely disabled and it is Mr Bateson's belief she developed autism after receiving the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) DTP vaccine as a child.

Mr Bateson believes vaccination is a "serious insult to the immune system".

He said: "Our hypothesis is simple. Is there anyone with autism who has not been vaccinated?

"So far we have not been able to find anyone.

"There is a huge raft of circumstantial evidence surrounding this. It is a highly contentious issue.

"When my daughter had the DTP vaccine, she totally changed.

"When I put it to doctors the vaccination could be the cause, they dismissed it. That was more than 30 years ago."

Mr Bateson said there was not enough research done into the ingredients put into vaccinations and he wants tighter guidelines introduced.

He said: "The components that go into a vaccine do not go through the same rigorous testing as other drugs. They should satisfy stricter criteria."

Mr Bateson said concerns over vaccinations had been heightened by the debate surrounding the controversial MMR jab.

He said autistic people who have had the MMR vaccine would be examined as part of the study.

He added: "We are not making the claim that MMR is responsible for autism, but there seems to be a connection."

The trust is seeking charitable status to help its fundraising efforts.

It hopes to make more people aware of its work by writing letters to individuals and groups involved in the debate and launching a poster campaign.

Other founders include David Launchbury from Cirencester and Fay Goodman from Birmingham.

Mr Launchbury has a daughter Lucy, eight, who developed signs of autism after having the MMR jab.

He is one of a group of 2,600 people involved in an action against the government which claims the MMR jab has caused problems in their children.

Fay Goodman is a mother of two daughters. She refused to let them have MMR jabs in the 1970s.

_______________________________________________________

>> DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW <<

Subscribe, Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report.

No Cost!

_______________________________________________________

* * *

$248 K in the CAN

The Cure Autism Now Northwest Chapter held it's third annual gala and auction on Saturday, October 19. Held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle and attended by over 350 people, the event raised $248,000 for autism research. (That's over $700 per nose, average.)

* * *

Readers' Posts

******

I am an architect currently doing my Ph.D. at Cairo University about "Designing for Autistic Children". I need first-hand input from parents, teachers, therapists etc. to do this important issue justice. magda_m@starnet.com.eg

******

******

We live in VA which has relatively poor systemic support for my 6-yr-old son. Considering relocating to northeast US to find a better support situation, to give David a better chance. Considering Penn, NY (not city), western MA. Any advice on best locale? cborglin@attbi.com

******

What educational models have our teen-age kids with Autism thrived in? I'm working with my school district to improve our special education dept. and would appreciate any success stories! –Maya macardle@lmi.net

******

******

>> FREE (Almost) READERS' POSTS <<

For Individuals, organizations, non-commercial and

commercial. Limit your posting to no more than 60

words please. There is no charge for this service,

but posters are obligated to thank all those who take

the time to answer your ads. This is a consideration

for others with autism after you and yours, who seek

assistance from appreciated readers. Send submissions to:

--------------------------------------------------------

* SUBSCRIPTIONS: SUBS@doitnow.com

* NEWS: POSTNEWS@doitnow.com

* EDITORIAL: Schafer@sprynet.com

_________________________________________________________________

Lenny Schafer, schafer@sprynet.com Kay Stammers Edward Decelie

CALENDAR EVENTS@doitnow.com Michelle Guppy Ron Sleith

++ To Unsubscribe, Send an email to unsubscribe@doitnow.com ++