B.R.A.S.S.

Police ask for public's help in finding missing autistic man - After disappearing on Friday, 30-year-old Micah Anderson returned safely to his home on Sunday afternoon. He told family and police that he had been camping in the woods for several days. He returned home in good condition.  Anderson has mental health issues and had not taken his medication for several days prior to his disappearance.  Anderson's family reported him missing after he failed to return to his home on Friday evening.  Detectives from the Portland Police Department said Micah Aaron Anderson’s mother told them she last saw her son at his home around 7:30 p.m. on Friday night.  She reported him missing when he could not be located on Saturday. Anderson lives on his own at a semi-assisted care facility on SE 106 th Avenue and has the mental capacity of a 10-12 year old.

Doctors 'missed autism in thousands of children' - Thousands of adults classed as having language disorders in childhood may be autistic, research suggests.  Re-examination of young men and women with severe language disorders showed up to a quarter fitted the current criteria for autism.  The Oxford University findings suggest many would have received more appropriate care had they been been treated for autism.  The study - published in the journal Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology - suggests rising rates of autism may be partially explained by a widening of the diagnostic criteria over the past 20 years.  More than one child in 100 children have autism or a related condition - a ten-fold increase on 30 years ago.

Autism Diagnosis Runs In Families - While researchers still know very little about autism and its causes, they do know there seems to be a genetic link.  In the April issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, a story on The Children of Sperm Donor "X". The national Donor Sibling Registry has determined that in seven families in five states, donor "X" has fathered 11 children, all believed on some end of the autism spectrum. "We have a few families who have more than one child diagnosed on the autism spectrum," said Dr. Catherine Tripani, PH.D., Education Director at the Marcus Institute in Decatur, which treats children with developmental disorders such as autism.

Barnes & Noble Speaks for Autism - Barnes & Noble kicked off its support of Autism Awareness Month on April 2 with celebrity storytime events in Los Angeles, Dallas, New York and Chicago stores. Partnering with New York-based nonprofit Autism Speaks, the retailer will host events in children's departments at 500 locations throughout the month. The events include a reading of Awaken Specialty Press' Since We're Friends, a book explaining the disorder. Representatives from Autism Speaks will be present at most events to promote the organization's various functions and hand out information. An endcap at the entrance of the children's department merchandises Since We're Friends and other relevant books for kids, while a table display near store entrances merchandises titles for adults. A stanchion sign bearing the Autism Speaks and Barnes & Noble logos introduces the events as "A Special Storytime supporting Autism Awareness Month."

CNN's Autism Day Scores....Online - CNN's coverage of World Autism Day Wednesday paid off for CNN.com and iReport.com. CNN.com received more than 6 million page views of the content related to the medical team's autism coverage. iReport.com, meanwhile, received nearly 450 contributions from people who shared personal stories about living with autism. This is the first major health initiative on the new iReport.com which launched in February. Insiders tell TVNewser, previous day-long coverage for events, including World Aids Day and World Refugee Day, scored well but nothing to the extent Autism Day did.  As for the cable contribution, viewers were not as tuned in to the coverage. CNN averaged 122K A25-54 viewers during the day and 196K in prime time. That's the lowest demo viewership for CNN in total day, this year. By comparison on Wednesday, FNC had 230K total day and 396K demo viewers in the prime time; MSNBC had 156K total day and 315K in prime.

Violent Video Games Relax You, Game Addiction Compared to Autism / New studies on video game players dispel the violence connection but find neuroticism and lack of extraversion in game addicts. - One new study suggests video game players are less aggressive and even calmer after playing violent online video games. The British Psychological Society presented Middlesex University's findings on video game research this week at their Dublin-based symposium. This is an interesting finding that contradicts the limited studies already conducted. The University study questioned players before and after hostile game play. Most studies in this field are conducted through questionnaires that measure a player's level of aggressiveness before and after playing video games. The new study found that "There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the [violent] game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type." The researchers also hope this study will pave the way to finding the "personality type" that is more likely to "transfer their online aggression into everyday life." Their aim is a public health policy that addresses troubled young people, not video game players at large.

Are we over-stressed or over-diagnosed? - The United States has reached a point where almost half its population is described as being in some way mentally ill, and nearly a quarter of its citizens--67.5 million--have taken antidepressants.  Studies indicate that 40 percent of all patients fall short of the diagnoses that doctors and psychiatrists give them, yet 200 million prescriptions are still written annually in the U.S. to treat depression and anxiety.  Those who defend such widespread use of prescription drugs insist that a significant part of the population is under-treated and, by inference, under-medicated. Those opposed to such rampant use of drugs note that diagnostic rates for bipolar disorder, in particular, have skyrocketed by 4,000 percent and that overmedication is impossible without over-diagnosis.

Premature babies and autism - “One in four premature babies ‘faces the risk of autism’,” reports the Daily Mail today. The Daily Express also covers the story, saying that those who are the smallest at birth are the most vulnerable. Both newspapers go on to say that this could explain the rise in the number of children with autism in recent years. They add that the estimated amount of children with autism has risen concurrently with the numbers of babies born prematurely who survive into adulthood and attribute these higher survival rates to advances in medicine. The Daily Mail also says there are more preterm births as there is a “trend for older women, for whom premature babies are more likely, to give birth”.

Children's Hospital Contributes Genotype Data to Enhance Autism ... - The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has contributed a large genotype dataset to the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE), a scientific program of the organization Autism Speaks, dedicated to advancing genetic research in autism. This large genetic dataset will now be broadly accessible to autism researchers worldwide. The Center for Applied Genomics at Children's Hospital employs highly automated microarray technology to perform high-speed genome analysis. The center's HumanHap550 system, manufactured by Illumina, Inc., analyzed 4,500 DNA blood samples gathered by AGRE and generated genotypes -- a compilation of 550,000 genetic markers for each person. Children's Hospital then contributed the genotyped data to AGRE. / Release

Autism Is My Universe - My name is Michael Buckholtz. I have Asperger's Syndrome. This is a high-functioning form of autism. I'm also a multi-platinum record producer that wrote music for MC Hammer back in the day. I have been living with it for 42 years, since birth basically. I wasn't diagnosed until in my early 30's. I continue to cope with the effects of this disorder and in doing so, found there was no real assistance for adults with Asperger's disorder in my current hometown of Macon, Georgia. I decided to become proactive.  I started a MySpace page to address this issue. At www.myspace.com/aacfdonation  I decided to start a non-profit that would assist adults with autism that had been essentially ignored by the medical community at large. The concept has grown to include all autistic people and their families. The families are coping as well and they need just as much assistance as autistic children and adults. In some states programs are plentiful. In other states, particularly the southern ones, not a lot of services are available. It's even worse when it comes to minorities and autism. The traditional view, especially in the Bible Belt, is that nothing is really wrong with you if you are African-American. You just need more spiritual guidance or just snap out of it and that will solve the problem. Nope, doesn't work. When a person has a neurological problem, all the spiritual guidance and 'wishing it will go away' won't fix it. What will help is to show love and compassion for the person who has the disorder. That, to me, is how spiritual guidance helps when it comes to autism. The biggest issue I've had to deal with while living with Asperger's Syndrome is people not believing I have a disorder. That is the most frustrating problem I have had over the years. People will tell me I look, speak and behave fine. 'You've even become a multi-platinum record producer that worked for MC Hammer! What could be wrong with you?' What most people don't know is that I have to constantly adjust my behavior to fit into specific circumstances. I do that to this day. The way I process information hasn't changed. I have to observe (maybe for many months) how a person deals with, or reacts to, different situations and then, I literally have to rehearse them. I will act them out audibly so I can hear myself talking. It's sort of like thinking out loud to oneself. Once I'm satisfied that the way I will respond (facial movements, tone, hand gestures, etc.) to something is as close to what someone else would do normally, I try it out to see if it gets the desired response. If it does, I was successful at mimicking the behavior. I store that information away for a time when I will need it. That's the way I learn and process emotions. I don't just feel emotions, I have to observe, rehearse and then test it on someone, who unfortunately is unsuspecting of my intentions.

A New, Genetic Model for Schizophrenia - A new study indicates that the genetic culprits behind schizophrenia may be much less common than previously believed. Researchers report this week in Science that a rare but devastating change in one of several different genes may dramatically increase the risk of developing the debilitating brain disorder affecting 1 percent of the world's population and marked by psychotic behavior, hallucinations and delusions. Until now, most scientists believed that it was likely that a cluster of relatively common genetic mutations was to blame.Until recently, researchers trying to unravel the mysterious disease searched the genomes of schizophrenia patients for flaws not present in the genes of healthy people. Their probes turned up a few possible genetic suspects, but the findings were contradicted by those from other studies. In addition, candidate mutations typically only showed up in no more than 10 percent of schizophrenia sufferers sampled. The new study identifies more than 20 genes that may trigger the disease. If researchers can positively link any or all of these genes to the disease, it would set the stage for development of new therapies. In this study, researchers combed the genomes of 150 schizophrenia sufferers and 268 healthy individuals for never-before-seen copy number variations (CNVs)—mutations that result in large swaths of DNA encompassing multiple genes either being deleted or duplicated. Some such mutations have been found to be benign, but others have been implicated in ailments such as autism and cancer. The team of scientists, from research facilities across the U.S., found novel gene alterations in 5 percent of the healthy volunteers and 15 percent of the schizophrenia patients; new CNVs showed up in 20 percent of those subjects who developed symptoms at or before the age of 18.

Autistic poet gives rare glimpse into mystery illness / In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events.  Tito Mukhopadhyay uses poetry to talk with his mother, Soma. The autistic teenager is a published author. - Tito Mukhopadhyay shuffles to the front door of his home in Austin, Texas. He's coming home from school, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. His mother, 45-year-old Soma Mukhopadhyay, is considered a pioneer in a breakthrough treatment for some autistic children who face the stigma of being considered "mentally retarded." That was a label Soma never accepted for 19-year-old Tito. And after hearing Tito's story, you'll never look at an autistic child the same way. "How was your day?" Soma asks. Before Tito can answer, he obsessively moves around the house, placing the TV remote in its proper place, arranging the salt and pepper shakers just so. Then he sits down in front of his specially designed keyboard to type his response. It was like a floating kangaroo that kept itself invisible," Tito answers.

iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction - Walk into Naughty Auties, a virtual resource center for those with autism, and you'll find palm trees swaying against a striking ocean sunset. Were it not for the pixelated graphics on the computer screen in front of you, you would swear you were looking at a tropical hideaway. David Savill, who has named himself Dave Sparrow in Second Life, has Asperger's syndrome. 1 of 3 David Savill, 22, lives in Gloucester, England, in real life and created this spot within the virtual world of Second Life. Residents of this digital realm can represent themselves with 3-D images called avatars and connect with each other over the Internet.  Savill has Asperger's syndrome and said he wanted Naughty Auties to serve those with autism spectrum disorders and their friends and family.  Savill, who represents himself in the virtual world using an avatar named Dave Sparrow, said one benefit is that visitors can practice social interaction and find information about the condition. The graphical representations of real people create a "comfort zone" that can coax users out of their shells and get them communicating with others, he said.

HBO and Autism: Perfect Together - A lot of adults (myself among them) are arguing very vocally right now over the scope, cause, and impact of autism in America. Acrid debates over mercury, vaccines, special diets, alternative therapies and conceded court cases are flooding the media almost daily.  It's enough to give autism a bad name. Then, along comes an honest little documentary like Autism: The Musical. This all-too-real movie lifts the heart up and then slams it right back down on the pavement -- and we love every minute of it.  This simply shot, beautifully conveyed portrait of life with autism premieres tonight on HBO (and will stream for free for one week at hbo.com). It serves to remind us all that, no matter what "causes autism," no matter what, if anything might "cure" it, children affected by the disorder deserve all of the honor, love and patience that we, a nation consumed by our own attention deficits, can muster. This moving and funny film opens with the jarring data that autism in America has spiked from 1-in-10,000 kids in 1980 to 1-in-150 today.

Television Review | 'Autism: The Musical' - There’s a commendable use of bait-and-switch in “Autism: The Musical” on Tuesday night on HBO, beginning with this documentary’s title. It promises a feel-good, let’s-put-on-a-show story with autistic children in the roles usually played by plucky singers and hoofers. And eventually the film makes its way to the inevitable standing ovation. But in the process it exposes you to a story that is not feel-good at all, but instead is full of stress and frustration and despair. It’s the story of what it’s like to be the parent of a child with autism or any other serious disability, a tale that deserves to be told even if it is difficult to watch. The film, directed by Tricia Regan, follows the Miracle Project, a musical theater program for autistic children in Los Angeles run by a woman named Elaine Hall, who herself has an autistic child. Ms. Hall wants to put the children in a show, and she does, though it’s no more grandiose than much of what you could see at any school for the disabled with a halfway decent arts program.

Three documentaries put faces on autism - On-screen, autism is usually portrayed as part of an incredible and often uplifting tale. Audiences embraced "Rain Man," with Dustin Hoffman as an autistic math whiz, and "Spider-Man" producer Laura Ziskin has optioned the life story of Jason McElwain, the autistic Rochester, N.Y., teenager who scored 20 points in the last four minutes of his high school basketball team's final home game.  But the parents and families of autistic children say that depictions of such extraordinary stories risk misleading the public unless they are balanced with more varied accounts. People with autism may be highly intelligent chatterboxes or nearly catatonic, but broadly speaking, it's characterized by impaired social function, difficulty with communication, and repetitive movements. With estimates of children with an autism disorder running as high as one in 166, several new documentaries -- "Autism Every Day," "Autism: The Musical" and "Her Name Is Sabine" -- are attempting to broaden the public's understanding of the condition.

Filmmaker plans to shoot movie on autism in Normal - Adults with autism have been portrayed on film as serial killers and as autistic savants, as in “Rain Man.” A feature film director hopes to diversify those portrayals, with help from folks in Normal. Graham Streeter of Hollywood, Calif., made his second visit to Normal earlier this week as pre-production and casting continues for “Normal Folk,” a movie that he hopes to film here from October to March 2009. Streeter hopes to cast Marty Murphy, a 45-year-old Normal woman who has high-functioning autism, in the role of Dora, a woman with severe autism who has been institutionalized her entire life. “My first reaction was ‘No,’” Murphy said when Streeter offered her the part. “But I decided that it would be a growing experience for me to understand people with autism who are elsewhere on the spectrum. I decided this is important and I’d be a part of it.” “We are out there in the community,” Murphy, who works in the recovery support department at Afni in Bloomington, said of many adults with autism.

Mapping the Brain - Scientists with Seattle's 'Allen Institute for Brain Science' launched two new brain mapping projects this week. They'll create a 3–dimensional map of a human brain and a series of similar maps showing the development of a mouse brain. KUOW's Joshua McNichols has more.

Out of tune / A delicate depiction of dysfunction intrigues Rachel Hore  - The Language of Others
by Clare Morrall - In her Booker-shortlisted debut, Astonishing Splashes of Colour, Clare Morrall explored the world of a woman with synaesthesia. Two books down the line, her central character, Jessica Fontaine, occupies a parallel mental existence to other people because she has Asperger's syndrome. It isn't the extreme form made familiar by Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (she isn't even diagnosed until she's in her 40s), but it's significant enough to mark her out as different. The subtleties of communication with others bewilder her, leaving her isolated and vulnerable. All this combines to lend her voice distinctiveness and the same endearing tenderness Kitty showed in Astonishing Splashes of Colour. It's the warmth and roundedness of her characters that give Morrall's novels their appeal.

Autism Still on Rise in Oregon - Oregon students have autism, triple the count 10 years ago and 11 percent higher than just a year ago, the state reported Wednesday.  In many cases, educators say, schools lack the training, staffing and specialized programs to serve this group of students, who are being identified in growing numbers in every part of the state and across the nation.  "We don't have enough autism specialists, and the resources we can bring to the table don't nearly cover the services that schools really need for these kids," says Jay Gense, assistant director of Columbia Regional Program, which helps provide services to autistic students in four counties. "Parents are saying 'My kid isn't getting everything he needs.' " Overall, the count of Oregon students with disabilities was virtually unchanged from a year ago, the state report showed.  Nearly 49,000 of the 80,000 students in special education programs have learning disabilities or speech and language impairments.  Overall, one in eight Oregon schoolchildren receives special education services -- a statistic that is in line with national statistics and which has held steady for years.  The eye-popping exception is autism, where the numbers have risen sharply for a decade and show no signs of abating.  The brain-based disability is known as autism spectrum disorder because the type and degree of impairment varies widely. It is characterized by profound difficulties with social interactions and communication and, frequently, an aversion to noise, light and other sensory input. Nationally, boys with autism outnumber girls 4-to-1.  Researchers haven't figured out what causes autism, and there is no definitive test to show whether a person has it.  Experts aren't sure whether the surge in autism is driven by a rising incidence of autism or by schools doing a better job of diagnosing the condition. Many say it is both.

Invigorating the mind -  Joe Ford, president of Mindworks located at Frederick Crossing Lane, is looking to expand his programs to include seniors, with training including e-mail music and brain games.  A Frederick company whose services improve students' learning abilities plans on doing the same for the elderly. Mindworks Learning Institute offers students academic tutoring, including foreign languages, and helps students with neurodevelopmental challenges -- such as autism spectrum disorders, Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Mindworks is expanding into the seniors market through a collaboration with Vigorous Mind Inc., a developer and distributor of software programs that enable the elderly to maintain and strengthen their brains. Mindworks will sell and support one of Vigorous Mind's software products, My Vigorous Mind, in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington. The web-based software is comprised of nine modules designed to improve cognitive functions. The software can be operated on touch-screen monitors and conventional PC monitors using a mouse.

Autistic people prove valuable in software testing - Microsoft and Computer Science Corporation are among a number of companies that are using the skills of people diagnosed with autism within their software testing processes.  The companies found that people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders have a greater attention to detail than average, making them suitable for software testing.  Both companies hired staff and testing services from Specialisterne, a Danish consultant, which employs and trains people diagnosed with ASD, to provide software testing services. Microsoft outsourced testing on its Windows Media Centre product and some of the testing of its business software to Specialisterne. IT consultants with ASD work on software testing tasks where other people would lose concentration. "This is not corporate social responsibility. We are using the service because it is comparable to other commercial testing services," said Microsoft.

Brooklyn Blogger Takes on Asperger’s Syndrome - A Brooklyn blogger has recently started developing an Asperger’s Syndrome community Web site that aims be a “hub for researchers, educators and service providers who are unearthing new findings, solutions and treatements” for the neurological disorder as well as a place to address new research, reported www.EastVillagePodcasts.com     For instance, a recent post on the site covered a new study that suggests Melatonin could be an effective sleep-aid for children with Austism Spectrum Disorder. The new blog joins an growing community of bloggers and Web sites that address autism and the issues surrounding it. The new site can be found at www.aspergers.ning.com.

Missing autistic boy found safe and well - AN autistic boy who was reported missing has been found safe and well several kilometres away from his Melbourne home. William Higgs, 11, was last seen at his home in Berry Street, East Melbourne, about 3.45pm (AEDT) today, police said.  Police had been concerned for William's welfare because of his autism, adding he would be able to say his name but little else if approached.  Staff at a Subway restaurant in High Street, Kew, reported William's presence to local police at about 7.15pm (AEDT)..

ABC'S AUTISM OUTRAGE - UNDER pressure from the American Academy of Pediatricians, ABC tonight will include an extraordinary disclaimer on the first episode of its new series "Eli Stone" - reminding viewers that everything in the lawyer drama, which depicts real-life issues, is just fiction.  Why the unusual disclaimer?  Because the show perpetuates an insidious myth - namely, that childhood vaccines are a cause of autism.  At issue in the episode is whether the thimerosal preservative formerly used in vaccines causes autism. A jury in the show concludes the opposite of what just about everyone in the real world should now know: that the supposed vaccine-autism link is based on discredited studies and wacky activist assertions.  On the face of it, ABC's disclaimer that the show is fiction seems unnecessary. Who'd really think a prime-time drama is a documentary?  Problem is, popular media and celebrities hold great sway over public opinion. A new report released by my organization, the American Council on Science and Health, notes that celebrities are making all sorts of mistaken as assertions about public-health matters.

Controversy surrounds "Eli Stone" before show even airs - A new series starts tonight on ABC called "Eli Stone." In it, actor Jonny Lee Miller plays a lawyer who has musical visions of singer George Michael.  Tonight's debut is causing quite a stir in the medical community. The episode focuses on the fight against a drug company, accused of causing injuires because of mercury in its vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics is calling for the show to be cancelled because they say it will keep parents from getting their children vaccinated.

Study: Babies quickly excrete vaccine mercury - The American Academy of Pediatrics really, really, really wants you to vaccinate your child. In light of the controversy over the fictional television show 'Eli Stone' (which the AAP started when it called for ABC to cancel the pilot episode of the program), the doctors' group is lifting the embargo on a new study. The reason? The study shows the ethyl mercury previously used in U.S. vaccines as a preservative (thimerosal) is excreted much faster than other forms of mercury in the environment. The researchers discovered this by testing 216 infants in Argentina, where thimerosal is still routinely used. (Thimerosal is still found in most U.S. flu shots.) "The body rids the kind (of mercury) found in thimerosal more that 10 times faster than it removes the kind one might encounter in a Friday night fish fry," according to a press release about the study from the University of Rochester. 

Psychoanalysis Helps Kids With Autism - From the strict dairy-free and wheat-free diet that actress Jenny McCarthy details in her best-selling book, "Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism," to mercury detoxification and other types of speech and behavior therapies, there is little that parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders will not try to help reach their children.  And psychoanalysis may be a valuable addition to the mix, researchers said at the annual meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association in New York City.  The CDC estimates that one in 150 individuals has autism, a disorder that begins in early childhood and is marked by developmental delays and lagging social and communication skills.  Autism is part of a larger group of disorders that is referred to as autism spectrum disorders. The symptoms of autism can range from very mild to quite severe. Children who are diagnosed with autism often see numerous specialists several times a week for various types of speech and behavioral therapy.

1000 Genomes Project: Expanding the Map of Human Genetics - The number of sequenced human genomes will soon swell to more than 1,000 as part of a new international research consortium's effort to trace the potential genetic origins of disease. But first the mother, father and adult child of a European-ancestry family from Utah and a Yoruba-ancestry family from Nigeria will join an anonymous individual as well as famous geneticists Craig Venter and James Watson as part of the handful of humans to have on record a complete readout of their roughly three billion pairs of DNA. And these six will also each have their genetic codes examined at least 20 times, providing 10 times the accuracy of existing genetic sequences as well as paving the way for the ambitious effort dubbed the 1,000 Genomes Project, which will comprehensively map humanity's genetic variation. "The reference sequence that we obtained in 2003 [from the anonymous individual] is just a human genome sequence, but there are six billion humans and it is the sequence of all of us that is important," says project co-chair Richard Durbin of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, England. "We can't get that, but the output of the 1,000 Genomes Project will be a lot closer."

Hopkins Team Identifies Autism Susceptibility Gene - Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a common genetic alteration that appears to be associated with autism only when inherited by sons from their mother. The CNTNAP2 gene, also identified by two other groups publishing jointly in the January issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics, is one of the strongest common genetic links to autism susceptibility found to date. “While there probably are other, yet unidentified gene variants that also contribute to autism susceptibility, our data clearly show that CNTNAP2 is associated with an increased risk and an excellent entry into further study for understanding autism,” says Aravinda Chakravarti, Ph.D., professor of medicine, pediatrics and molecular biology and genetics and member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Hopkins. Using samples collected by the National Institute of Mental Health Autism Genetics Initiative, the Hopkins team analyzed genetic material from 72 families, each having two or three affected children who were diagnosed before 36 months of age by the most stringent clinical classification of autism disorder.

Missing Teen Found in Luzerne County - A missing teen has been found in Luzerne County and an alert neighbor is being credited with finding him.  That 15 year old woke up with his family in Luzerne County Wednesday morning, putting an end to a massive search in the Edwardsville area.  From the air and on the ground, a massive search took place to find Jacob Clarke, 15, of Edwardsville. Police, firefighters, search dogs along with dozens of volunteers worked relentlessly in frigid weather trying to track down the missing teen.  "Whoever came, nobody stopped. Everybody stayed right to the end. When the call went out for volunteers to find a missing kid, it's unbelievable the support you get," said Officer Mike Lehman with the Edwardsville police department.

UCR’s SEARCH program hosts “Autism Heroes” Author - UC Riverside’s SEARCH program will host a book signing for “Autism Heroes: Portraits of Families Meeting the Challenge,” with author and Help Group founder Barbara Firestone on Jan. 29 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the UCR Sweeney Gallery, 3800 Main Street.   SEARCH [Support, Education, Advocacy, Resources, Community and Hope] is an outreach program established in late 2007 through UCR’s Graduate School of Education. The program assists families with finding information on proper diagnosis and treatment; educates families on the disorder itself and on selecting evidence-based intervention options; helps them access educational, medical, social support and legal services; and works to ease the transition from early childhood to kindergarten and from school to adulthood.  “Part of our mission is to bring additional resources to the region, which has been terribly underserved until SEARCH was established,” said Dr. Jan Blacher, UCR professor and SEARCH founder. “We are also undertaking research related to education and families, and currently are collaborating with the Help Group to expand our research and evidence-based studies.”

Autism Software Available to US Schools through MAXIMUS-AutismPro ... - an innovative software program for delivering autism services over the Internet -- and MAXIMUS, a nationally recognized leader in special education, instructional management and response to intervention (RtI) solutions, today announced the creation of an international partnership that enables MAXIMUS to deliver the award-winning AutismPro® software solution to the US education market. Recent studies show a startling increase in the incidence of autism world-wide. In 2003, one study noted that one child in every 166 in North America was diagnosed with autism but it has since risen to one child in every 150. Many experts believe that the rate will rise even higher. Another study calculates that 67 children are diagnosed with autism each day in the US. With an impressive collection of seasoned special educators, world-renown autism specialists and technology development experts, VEC created AutismPro® in 2006 -- the first web-based software package designed specifically to enable educators to deliver strategies that help put children with autism on a path to educational achievement.

Depressed by This Paper? Just Pop a Prozac - Watching a commercial for a drug to treat something called restless-leg syndrome, one cannot help thinking, “Wow, they aren’t even trying to come up with clever names for these conditions anymore. I wonder if restless leg syndrome has ever been diagnosed in Darfur?” Of course not. Restless-leg syndrome is one of the dozens of thoroughly exaggerated and totally over-diagnosed diseases and disorders sweeping Americans by the thousands off their couches and into their doctors’ offices, where they complain about all kinds of ordinary life problems in the hopes that Medicare covers them.  These days, everyone is a self-appointed doctor. Schoolteachers aggressively push the diagnosis of autism and other disorders in their students in pursuit of extra funding and teaching assistants. Lazy parents conclude that their children have attention-deficit disorder and require Ritalin anytime they feel like running around and acting like, well, children. And when someone feels sad about something in life, it is, of course, due to an unnatural chemical imbalance in his head – and there are plenty of Prozac-inspired drugs out there waiting to "cure" them.

Epilepsy: How I Got My Life Back - When Janet found out she had epilepsy at the age of 14, she thought her life was over. She couldn’t go to parties or ride her bike, dropped out of school and lost full weeks of her life in a series of seizures and unconsciousness. Now, 25 years on, she’s got her epilepsy under control, put herself through college and runs her own successful accounting business. Maire Bonheim spoke to Janet from Bognor Regis in West Sussex, to find out how getting her epilepsy under control turned her life around.  In the UK, there are more than 80,000 people living with epileptic seizures – but most could be seizure free with the correct treatment. A new Take Control campaign launched by Epilepsy Action is urging patients to take a look at their quality of life and discuss their epilepsy with a GP to make sure that they are receiving the most appropriate treatment. How did you discover you had epilepsy? I had a major seizure when I was 14 so I was diagnosed from that, but it turned out I had been having smaller seizures leading up to it that hadn’t been recognised. There are so many different types of epilepsy and each one has its own characteristics. It can be very mild, just having mild absences where you can still be functioning but your mind’s not there, and I used to have those as well. Or it can be right through to full blown losing consciousness and shaking.  What happens to you when you have a seizure? I don’t have them any more because the medication controls it, so it’s a long time ago now, but I used to lose consciousness and have the shakes. Afterwards, I used to feel very drained, and for a while after I came around I’d be functioning but I wouldn’t have any awareness and I couldn’t actually remember anything of it. So I’d lose hours of consciousness each time I had a fit. At one point the medication they put me on was completely wrong and I was having up to 8 fits a day. I’ve always kept a diary, and there were three weeks that were completely blank because I had no awareness at all in that time. If I’d just accepted that I would have carried on taking that medication and not having a life at all. But we kept working with the neurologist and managed to get a cocktail of drugs that stabilise it and it’s made such a difference.

Gene Tests Can Detect 'Proportion' Of Autism - Genetic testing should be routinely considered as part of clinical workup in suspected cases of autism, researchers here recommended. Action Points  Explain to interested patients that the causes of autism remain unclear, although about 0.6% of the population is autistic.  Note that this study finds that structural variations in 13 regions of the genome are associated with autism spectrum disorder. It was the third major report on the genetics of autism in the past two months. In this one, Stephen Scherer, Ph.D., of the Hospital for Sick Children, and colleagues found that structural variation of genetic material is widespread among those with autism.  The variations include gains and losses of genetic material, as well as translocations and inversions, they reported in the February issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.  All told, Dr. Scherer and colleagues identified 13 genetic regions with overlapping or recurrent chromosomal changes in 427 unrelated people with autism that were not seen in healthy controls.

Brain mapping detects autism earlier - A new way of understanding autistic disorders, incorporating both psychological and biological factors, could lead to the conditions being picked up earlier, research from UNSW has found.  A review of research, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, integrates psychological with biological theories of autism.  The work relates to autistic and Asperger’s disorders, which are characterised by ritualistic behaviours – such as counting, tapping, flicking, or repeatedly restating information – and compulsive behaviours including as a rigid adherence to routine and a marked resistance to change.  “Until now we have relied mostly on psychological approaches in making a diagnosis, but this needs to be incorporated with the biological approach – utilising information from brain mapping technology,” says the paper’s author, Professor Florence Levy, from UNSW’s School of Psychiatry.

How 'Second Life' therapy helps Asperger's patients - Have you ever been to Second Life?  It's an online world where people meet, date, conduct business and travel with virtual identities and pseudonyms.  But now, the funky computer pastime has been adopted by a local brain research center for treating autism, with very real results.  Matt Kratz, a brain health center client, brags about himself in a virtual job interview, where he can practice real-world social skills.  He has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism.  "I'm listening to the conversation, to pick up keys as to what to say and when to say it," he said.

Living with Asperger's - Asperger's Syndrome is a form of autism, one where people can often speak eloquently, and have extraordinary abilities in engineering, computer science, systematic thinking ? yet have real difficulties with social interaction and engaging the world. Lizzie Gottlieb's brother Nicky was never like most other kids. He was very smart, but talked late, walked late, didn't make eye contact, and didn't socially connect. It wasn't until he was 20 that Nicky was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Now, Lizzie and Nicky are telling their story in a new documentary titled "Today's Man." Listen to an On Point conversation with Nicky, and others, about what it means to live with Asperger's Syndrome. Have you lived with Asperger's syndrome in your life? In your family? Can you imagine how difficult it would be to navigate society if you couldn't read others' emotions, their social cues?

'Misfit' discovered his niche - When John Elder Robison was growing up, other children called him a "retard." He had no friends. Some of his teachers ridiculed him.  "I grew up as a misfit. From an early age, I knew I was different. I would try to play with other kids, but I didn't know how to make friends. I was always the kid who sat alone in the corner," Robison, the author of "Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's," told the students of White Brook Middle School on Friday.  Robison, a 10th-grade dropout who didn't learn he has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, until he was an adult, told the school's fifth- through eighth-graders that just because they are different doesn't mean they can have tremendous success in life.

Chromosome Abnormalities Raise Risk for Autism - Abnormalities on chromosome 16 appear to raise children's risk for developing autism, a new study suggests. The discovery, made by a consortium of autism researchers, pinpoints one of the causes of a disorder that is turning out to be as complex in its origins as it is in its symptoms. Not only is autism complicated, its incidence has grown rapidly in recent years, with an estimated one in every 150 children in the United States now struck by the neurological disorder. "This has given us another piece of the puzzle of the genetics of autism," said study leader Mark Daly, a member of the Autism Consortium with the Center for Human Genetic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital Center in Boston. "Autism is very complex, and we have only a few pieces in hand. We're trying to gain an understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying it. This is an opportunity to understand that." According to the study, published Jan. 9 in the online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, a section of chromosome 16 is deleted or duplicated in about 1 percent of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). About 15 percent of autism cases have known genetic causes.

Putting his heart into sailing - A bout three years ago, George Saidah awoke at 3 a.m. with the idea for his retirement: offer free sailing trips as a form of therapy for developmentally disabled kids and their families across the globe.  The Lebanese-born Frenchman and lifelong sailor had made millions as a software entrepreneur. But he disliked the greed and cutthroat mind-set all around him in the business world. He was ready to move on, to share his time, money and love for sailing with families less fortunate than his own. Inspired by a cousin with schizophrenia and a friend in France who set up a similar program, Saidah retired at age 45, created a nonprofit organization called Heart of Sailing and launched into the most fulfilling venture of his life.  Which brings Saidah, now 48, to the Portland Boat Show this week. Heart of Sailing, sharing booth space with the Vancouver-based Island Sailing Club, is among more than 200 exhibitors who are promoting their products and services at this year's show. It runs through next Sunday at the Expo Center in North Portland.

  "I know of nobody who is purely Autistic or purely neurotypical.  Even God had some Autistic moments, which is why the planets all spin." ~ Jerry Newport

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