Autism Fact Sheet

The Autism Fact Sheet hosted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is an excellent source for those interested in learning about autism. In the autism fact sheet, the reader can discover symptoms of autism, how someone can be diagnosed, treatments, research, links to useful websites and much more.

Classic American Cuisine

Classic American Cuisine by Stephanie Hemenway is the latest in the Autism Mom Cooks Gluten-Free Casein-Free series. Hemenway provides gluten- and dairy-free recipes for the retro diner gamut: from fluffy pancakes to savory corn dogs and sweet banana splits. Every recipe is accompanied by a tantalizing full-page photo and provides alternatives for children with soy, nut and corn allergies.

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Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library through WorldCat.

Autism: Asserting Your Child's Right to a Special Education

Autism: Asserting Your Child's Right to a Special Education by David A. Sherman provides an excellent guide to getting your child the special education they deserve. In this book, the reader will discover such things as early intervention tips, IEP meetings,what transition services to use and when, damages and claims. They will also learn what training and qualifications people at your school must have in order to teach your child and much more. Autism: Asserting Your Child's Right to a Special Education is excellent for those just starting out in the special education world or those still trying to make it.


Interested in this book? Indiana resident? Email us!

Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library through WorldCat.

Look-- Listen-- I Can Do It!

Look-- Listen-- I can do it! is a video-modeling DVD by Watch Me Learn, Inc. Aimed at children with autism spectrum disorders or speech delays ages three and up, the show is divided into manageable segments that teach social and daily life skills through fun activities. Children sing with friends, do puzzles, and do basic crafts. Each of the three age-appropriate DVDs contains ten modules.

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Not an Indiana resident? Find this DVD at your local library through WorldCat.

Sing, Move, Learn

Sing, Move, Learn is a CD by Jenny Clark Brack, author of the similar and popular Learn to move, move to learn: dinosaurs and Learn to move, moving up! Sensorimotor elementary-school activity themes. The upbeat songs, matched to organized lesson plans, teach vocabulary and actions to children on the spectrum.

Interested in this CD? Indiana resident? Email us!

Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library through WorldCat.

Sensory Friendly Movie Event

The Kerasotes ShowPlace Theater East 11 will be showing the The Tooth Fairy on January 30, 2010. This sensory-friendly version of the movie, about a hockey player sentenced to one week as the legendary fairy. During the showing, the movie auditoriums will have their lights brought up and the sound turned down.

Doors open at 9:00 a.m. and the movie begins at 9:30 a.m. There will be no previews rated PG. The cost for the film will be $7.75 for children and adults. The Kerasotes East Theater is located at 1351 South College Mall Rd, Bloomington, IN.

Questions? Contact: Pam Anderson, Outreach Specialist (IRCA):Email or phone her at (812) 855-6508.

2009 Disability Compendium

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, recently released a compendium of disability statistics for 2009. The Annual Disability Compendium brings together in one place disability statistics published by various federal agencies. It may be useful when individuals or organizations needs disability statistics for press or public information activities, advocacy materials, grant writing or other matters relating to persons with disabilities

The report, found at http://www.disabilitycompendium.org/", can be viewed as a PDF or a series of web pages. The statistics are at the state level and show parameters such as enrollment in education, special education and social security programs, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and prevalence of disabilities.

OCD Gene Located in Dogs

A letter in this month's Nature Molecular Psychiatry revealed a recent study of dogs that have led to the isolation of a gene that may be related to autism and OCD-like behaviors.

Researchers studied a group of dogs who exhibited repetitive behaviors, such as manic tail-chasing and continuously sucking on blankets. A region of chromosome #7 seemed to be responsible for their condition. However, Dr. Michael Slifer, an assistant professor of human genetics and genomics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and one of the study's authors, cautions the public against taking the findings too literally. "It's certainly true we have basically the same gene in us, so it's an intriguing lead, but there's a lot more work that has to be done to see if this particular finding is relevant to human health and obsessive compulsive disorder [OCD]," he said.

You can read the report in Business Week's Health Day article.

A is for "All Aboard!"

A is for "all aboard!" is by renowned ASD expert Paula Kluth and her sister Victoria. The text is a hardcover picture book with short phrases for children with autism, or young children who love trains, to learn all about the environment of a train and station. Each aspect of the experience is tied to a letter of the alphabet (like "Q is for queue" to describe waiting in lines). The illustrations are prominent and vibrant, but lack distracting details to allow children to focus on the words and abstract the images they learn to apply in similar real-life situations.

Interested in this book? Indiana resident? Email us!

Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library through WorldCat.

Visual Language in Autism

Visual Language in Autism by Howard C. Shane and Sharon Weiss-Kapp gives an introductory view of the Visual Immersion Program, also known as VIP. VIP is based on clinical research highlighting what would typically be strong visual processing skills of children. Visual Language in Austim goes over the basics of communication and language acquisitions, outlines the three models of VIP and provides special attentions to ideas such as assistance technology, and inclusive classrooms and much more.

Interested in this book? Indiana resident? Email us!

Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library through WorldCat.

Dr. Sula Wolff

Dr. Sula Wolff, researcher and founder of the Association of Child Psychiatrists and Psychologists, was highlighted in the Edinburgh Evening News today. She passed away last September at the age of 85.

Dr. Wolff was born in Germany in 1924. When the Nazi party rose to power, her family fled to Britain, where she was educated and practiced clinical psychiatry. In 1969 she wrote the classic Children Under Stress on how children and adolescents cope with stressors like new experiences and death. She was a strong advocate for children with autism, described by a friend as a "pioneer dissecting and rebuilding multiple complex 'pictures' of the different phenotypes from severe autism to the milder Asperger's syndrome."

You can read her mini-biography here.

Autism Society of America

The Autism Society of America is an excellent source for parents, professionals, and other who deal with autism on a regular basis. At the Autism Society of America, you can discover frequently asked questions about autism, symptoms, education and treatment options as well as tips on how families can learn to cope together. The Autism Society of America also provides several links to websites that provide useful information on how to get services and aid for those in your life that have autism.

Brain Imaging May Help Diagnose ASDs

A team at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, supported by grants from the NIH, Autism Speaks, and others, have used magnetic signals from brain activity to discover that children with autism spectrum disorders process sound a fraction of a second slower than their peers.

So far, doctors have relied on anecdotal evidence and non-concrete patterns like speech development to recognize autism spectrum disorders. With refinement, this finding may provide an objective biological measurement for diagnosis.

You can read the Science Daily press release of the study here.

Art and Autism

Art and Autism: An Exploration of Identity by Rahila Weed explores dialogues on the subject of disability, social identity and autism. Weed explains these topics by looking closley at the artwork of three boys diagnosed with autism. Weed draws on her experiences as an art teacher to look into how these boys are defined by autism and also examine the frameworks that are used to understand autism and their being in the world.

Interested in this book? Indiana resident? Email us!

Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library through WorldCat.

Autism Clusters in California

Researchers at the UC Davis MIND institute studied the prevalence of autism in children born between 1996 and 2000 in California, and found that the number of diagnoses in ten key wealthy, primarily Caucasian regions was 70% higher than in less affluent areas.

The study authors do not believe these "clusters" arise from a common environmental factor, but from the residents' higher levels of education and superior access to health care. Web MD sums up the most probable cause:

"The California DDS [Department of Developmental Services] does not go out and look for kids with autism. Parents have to go to the DDS and seek services. Better educated women are more likely to know about these services -- and are more likely to have access to doctors who can diagnose their child's autism."

Epidemiologist Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a senior author in the team, said that the study did not yield the 'smoking gun' of autism, as they had hoped. It's back to square one: "We are casting a wide net, looking at everything we can--pesticides, medical conditions in the mother, medications, flame retardants, etc."

You can read more about the study in the Los Angeles Times or WebMD.

Autism : an introduction to psychological theory

Autism:
an introduction to psychological theory by Francesca Happe provides an overview of current psychological theory and research that incorporates the currently believed work on the biological foundations, cognitive consequences, and behavioral symptoms of people with autism. Happe focuses her discussion in the book on the cognitive approaches that deal with thought and feeling of those with autism and tries to offer better approaches to effectively managing the behavior of people with autism in the world.

Interested in this book? Indiana resident? Email us!

Not an Indiana resident? Find this book at your local library through WorldCat.

Public Hearing for First Steps

On January 20th at 10am, a public hearing for proposed changes to the First Steps program will be held at the Indiana Government Center South (IGCS) Auditorium in Indianapolis.


First Steps is a state-wide agency that serves parents of children ages zero to three with developmental disabilities. The program currently offers Assistive Technology, SLP services, nutrition/medical/nursing services, family education, occupational therapy, transportation and more to Indiana residents.

If you wish to participate and give a 10-minute testimony, bring a written copy of your comments. If you cannot attend but wish to give input, you can mail your testimony (consisting of your name, title, and address, specific concerns, and recommended actions to be
taken) on or after January 27 to:

First Steps Early Intervention System
Bureau of Child Development Services
402 W. Washington St., Room W-364, MS-51
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Attn: FS Cost Participation

If accommodations are needed for a person with a disability to attend, call Cathy Robinson at (317) 233-6094.