Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome

A newly released book by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, See Sam Run details the experience of raising a child with autism. Her son is now 20 years old and was originally going to focus on him but she found, as writers often do, that sometimes the story that needs to be told is a different one. In […]

Brian Muller at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has developed a “novel “deep-pressure” vest which can also be used for adults with mental illness, delivers a “portable hug” called deep pressure touch stimulation (DPTS).
“People with developmental disorders and mental illness are often overwhelmed in everyday environments such as school and the workplace, and solutions available […]

NIne year old Brandon was diagnosed with autism and his parents, Kelvin Mark and Cheryl Lie were very concerned he would never be able to live a normal life. Brandon had a hypersensitivity to sunlight, dirt and loud voices, making typical childhood activities all but unthinkable.
Brandon entered an essay contest where he won $5000 for […]

Researchers in Canada and around the world are attempting to develop a test for autism for infants because early treatment is critical for those with ASD. Research presented by Mel Rutherford, associate professor of psychology in the faculty of science at McMaster at the 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research in London, indicates that […]

According to research published in the May 15, 2008 issue of Biological Psychiatry,  “individuals with autism who exhibit repetitive behavior show reduced activity in brain regions normally responsible for attention and executive function,  the processes that help organize our actions and behaviors, researchers at Hofstra, Duke, and the University of North Carolina report in the […]

Oxytocin has been tested on adults with autism and it has been found to “improve their ability to recognise emotion in people’s voices and the effects of just one injection last for a fortnight.” This chemical is produced during sex and childbirth could help treat autism, depression and other personality disorders. Oxytocin is thought to […]

Pregnant women who bathe their animals might need to read animal shampoo labels. Pet shampoos with pyrethrins have been correlated to an increased risk in ASD when women used these products on pets during the months of their pregnancy. According to Professor Irva Hertz-Picciotto, from the University of California, “expectant mothers who used the treatment […]

Researchers are beginning a new research study and will look at 200 infants with older autistic siblings to “seek patterns of early brain development that predict whether they will also develop the condition.”
The researchers are attempting to “identify criteria that can be used to assess very young children’s risk of autism long before its symptoms […]

Affiliative behaviors are touching and hugging that tend to strengthen social bonds that tends to be missing or decreased from people who have received an autism diagnosis.  On May 15th, Biological Psychiatry is publishing an article that reports new findings on genetic bases of these behaviors.
Yale University researchers extensively investigated a large sample of autistic […]

In an attempt to understand the genetic factors behind ASD, researchers from the Montreal Children’s Hospital is participating in a major international study and needs 200 families who have one child four years or older with an autism diagnosis. This study will also involve a dozen schools in the United States. Dr. Eric Fombonne, the […]