Autism is a subject that affects a few Setizen families, including mine, so I thought a thread on the subject, with news of new discoveries might be helpful.

So to start it off, there is a news Item on the BBC, Autism 'begins long before birth'

Scientists say they have new evidence that autism begins in the womb.

Patchy changes in the developing brain long before birth may cause symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), research suggests.

The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, raises hopes that better understanding of the brain may improve the lives of children with autism.

It reinforces the need for early identification and treatment, says a University of California team.

This is a lovely thread Winterknight! Thank you! It's a passion of mine to promote much better understanding of autism. I wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to start a thread because I didn't know if I was just a lone drummer. :) You're a star and now I'm crying! (happy tears though :)) The research being done now is exciting - because it shows that the old theories are finally being discarded. :)

Thanx for starting this thread WK:)

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Thank you. Autism Spectrum Disorders are an area of my professional expertise. About ten years ago one of the best books I have ever read on the subject was published - The Neurobiology of Autism edited by Margaret Bauman and Thomas Kemper. I have heard there is a new edition out and I look forward to reading it this year. The first edition was one of the best summary works on the probable poly-genetic origin of autism that I have ever read, and I suspect the new edition will be even better. I have heard Dr. Bauman speak at two different conferences. I do not know if she is still doing speaking tours, but if she hits your geographic area, she is worth the price of admission.

Thank you. Autism Spectrum Disorders are an area of my professional expertise. About ten years ago one of the best books I have ever read on the subject was published - The Neurobiology of Autism edited by Margaret Bauman and Thomas Kemper. I have heard there is a new edition out and I look forward to reading it this year. The first edition was one of the best summary works on the probable poly-genetic origin of autism that I have ever read, and I suspect the new edition will be even better. I have heard Dr. Bauman speak at two different conferences. I do not know if she is still doing speaking tours, but if she hits your geographic area, she is worth the price of admission.

Thanks Angela! I will look out for it and for her! :)

For those of us in the UK, tonight's Horizon at 21:00 BBC2 is Living with Autism

When pioneering developmental psychologist Professor Uta Frith started her training back in the 1960s, she met a group of beautiful, bright-eyed young children who seemed completely detached from the rest of the world.

It turned out they had just been given the then-new diagnosis of autism. Uta passionately wanted to know more about these children, and they inspired her to dedicate the rest of her career to studying the autistic mind.

On the eve of National Autism Day, Horizon reveals how Uta's lifetime study of people with autism has transformed our understanding of this mysterious condition.

In this film, Uta shows how people with autism perceive the world and interact with their surroundings, and how, for them, another kind of reality exists. She meets people with autism who have extraordinary talents, and explains why they often fail to understand jokes. She also explores whether many of us could be just a little bit autistic.

For those of us in the UK, tonight's Horizon at 21:00 BBC2 is Living with Autism

When pioneering developmental psychologist Professor Uta Frith started her training back in the 1960s, she met a group of beautiful, bright-eyed young children who seemed completely detached from the rest of the world.

It turned out they had just been given the then-new diagnosis of autism. Uta passionately wanted to know more about these children, and they inspired her to dedicate the rest of her career to studying the autistic mind.

On the eve of National Autism Day, Horizon reveals how Uta's lifetime study of people with autism has transformed our understanding of this mysterious condition.

In this film, Uta shows how people with autism perceive the world and interact with their surroundings, and how, for them, another kind of reality exists. She meets people with autism who have extraordinary talents, and explains why they often fail to understand jokes. She also explores whether many of us could be just a little bit autistic.

:) Thank you Winterknight.

Seeing the world from the eyes of someone with autism is the only way to help them reach their full potential, and they have enormous potential! Too often following diagnosis parents and professionals are forced into focussing on the "Triad of Impairments" which is a grotesquely limiting term when what it in fact is referring to are those things they simply haven't had time to get to yet, given how much work their brains are doing elsewhere or how much work they've invested in withdrawing from the world in the first place. Each and every one of them are more individual from one another than we are from each other and only now are we beginning to understand that. What they all need most from us and their surroundings is probably predictability more than anything else.

In my son's case, assessing micro-changes in facial expression effectively crippled him at times. When being told to "look at me when I'm speaking to you" required so much processing of data when then asked a question for example (because he would need to establish what each expression might mean in the face he was looking at, then evaluate why he was being asked the question and someone else wasn't, and what effect his answer might have on the face asking the question, before then answering the question) that his thought processes would then be interrupted by the question being repeated, so heaping further data processing onto his shoulders and further increasing his anxiety. Then there's that huge problem western cultures have with making judgements on whether we get eye contact from others or not. Eye contact HURTS children with autism!!! One child I know described it as having a knife in their tummy. We don't need eye contact with our wonderful autism guys to know they're honest! Trust me... they are PAINFULLY honest! :)

Then there were things my son needed to teach himself - like having to learn how to tune out the doppler effect when walking beside a road (when the doppler effect predictably precedes buffeting from passing vehicles) so as to prevent it acting as a trigger to dash to the nearest lamppost for something to hold onto (wherever that lampppost may be @.@ eeeeeeek!) and still be alive at the end of every walk and have parents who hadn't dropped dead from a heart attack.

Small changes by us can make enormous differences to them. Teaching in natural light as opposed to artificial means they're not being distracted by the constant electrical flicker from lighting which we simply don't see by virtue of our lazy brains averaging everything out for us. As one English tutor said to me following one of my "understanding autism" talks "That's gone right into my brain that has! It's like they have their doors of perception stuck open... We have to drop acid to get that!" I must say I was rather stunned by the analogy - but I think he sort of got my message :)

My son has retuned or re-wired himself a lot in an attempt to join our world and understand it and fit into it. It saddens me terribly when he says "I used to be much more interesting though mum" :(

In the words of another young adult asked how he would feel if there was one day a pill to cure autism, he thought long and hard before answering, "I would perhaps take half of it".

When you can spare a moment... :) read the letter on this link

from their perspective

...because they are our greatest teachers :)

When you can spare a moment... :) read the letter on this link

from their perspective

...because they are our greatest teachers :)

All I can say is...

What a letter!

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Hi everyone :)

Found a really interesting source of information into recent outcomes in autism research. Been so busy I haven't even had a chance to scrape the surface of it though :( so thought I'd post it here in order that people can dip into it themselves in the meantime.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/autism/

Best wishes to all and hope everyone is at the start of a good week. :)

Hi everyone :)

Found a really interesting source of information into recent outcomes in autism research. Been so busy I haven't even had a chance to scrape the surface of it though :( so thought I'd post it here in order that people can dip into it themselves in the meantime.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/autism/

Best wishes to all and hope everyone is at the start of a good week. :)

My son's boy has had it but they have it under control now, I don't know all what they done but since the mother is an ER nurse i'm sure she got plenty of advise. Them and a few others started a school in Phoenix before they left and is going strong. He is now going to reg. school and doing good. :)

Hi everyone :)

Found a really interesting source of information into recent outcomes in autism research. Been so busy I haven't even had a chance to scrape the surface of it though :( so thought I'd post it here in order that people can dip into it themselves in the meantime.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/autism/

Best wishes to all and hope everyone is at the start of a good week. :)

My son's boy has had it but they have it under control now, I don't know all what they done but since the mother is an ER nurse i'm sure she got plenty of advise. Them and a few others started a school in Phoenix before they left and is going strong. He is now going to reg. school and doing good. :)

I'm so glad he's doing well Grant! :) It makes such a difference to receive a diagnosis earlier rather than late, not just for the child, but for parents teachers and health professionals alike. Unfortunately it is still too often one that focusses on "impairments" and "deficits" which is really more an indictment of our crazy world, rather than theirs, but we're getting there. I truly admire the fact that your son and his wife helped to set up a school that could specialise in reaching and teaching these amazing individuals :) and that it is going strong. :) We neuro-typicals are VERY slow learners - despite decades of opportunities to learn from them what it is they need from us - we're only just beginning to grasp the basics.

I wish your grandson the absolute very best :)

It has been reported that Elliot Rodger who killed seven people in California had a form of Autism as did Adam Lanza the Newtown Connecticut shooter. This could be a problem for those with the condition going forward.

Blaming shootings on autism a mistake

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It has been reported that Elliot Rodger who killed seven people in California had a form of Autism as did Adam Lanza the Newtown Connecticut shooter. This could be a problem for those with the condition going forward.

Blaming shootings on autism a mistake

Hi Batter Up. Thanks for the post. It sadly is a problem. The public at large is very ill-informed when it comes to "labelled" groups, such as those with autism. The press plays on that, like on so many things. The long-term damage is often irrepairable and only leads to greater isolation and misunderstanding. The shooting by a soldier on an American airbase recently was reported here as being perpetrated by a PTSD sufferer, as if it was PTSD that made him a killer. So wrong.

People with autism, ADHD, or whatever "disorder" you care to name are no different to the rest of the public in the sense of what you put in can and will affect what you get out. We still have so much to learn - and people with autism are far more often the victim. There was a very sad case in my local area of a yound lad with autism who whilst out riding on his bicycle was chased by a group of older children. He rode into the path of a lorry and was killed. An unprosecutable "non offence" :(

Would it be fair to cast all men born with one testicle in the same light as Hitler? Or believe all stutterers are potential serial killers like David Carpenter? Absolutely not!

I firmly believe killers are made, not born that way, and they can be made from any one of us irrespective what disorder or not that we may have at the time we are born.

Autism manifests in my boy as a complete lack of guile, hypersensitivity to the emotions of those around him, stimming behaviors, and a few other less obvious things. His behaviours can be off-putting but once beyond that you have to love him. I say that without hyperbole, most adults do adore him if they know more about him than the stimming.

A couple of weeks ago he revealed to me that last year on the school bus a girl would come seek him out, sit with him and tell him horrific stories of his family being killed and him being all alone. I assume she did that because he was different and defenseless.

Sometimes he tells me he doesn't have anyone to play with at recess and would it be Ok if he played with the kindergarteners. I have to say no, he shouldn't do that but then, what do I tell him he should do? I just give him a hug or a tickle attack because I don't know what to say.

Every day we worry whats going to become of him.

Parenting these kids, you get used to being over-matched all the time. So now some people might associate autism with mass murder? Sure why not. Pile it on.

Autism manifests in my boy as a complete lack of guile, hypersensitivity to the emotions of those around him, stimming behaviors, and a few other less obvious things. His behaviours can be off-putting but once beyond that you have to love him. I say that without hyperbole, most adults do adore him if they know more about him than the stimming.

A couple of weeks ago he revealed to me that last year on the school bus a girl would come seek him out, sit with him and tell him horrific stories of his family being killed and him being all alone. I assume she did that because he was different and defenseless.

Sometimes he tells me he doesn't have anyone to play with at recess and would it be Ok if he played with the kindergarteners. I have to say no, he shouldn't do that but then, what do I tell him he should do? I just give him a hug or a tickle attack because I don't know what to say.

Every day we worry whats going to become of him.

Parenting these kids, you get used to being over-matched all the time. So now some people might associate autism with mass murder? Sure why not. Pile it on.

I'm so sorry your son has been subjected to such cruelty. :( Your opening sentence is so typical of so many people with autism, including my son, who has only ever wanted to please others. It leaves them so terribly vulnerable in a world that is so full of deceit, and cruelty just for the pleasure of seeing another person suffer. At seven my son asked me how he could kill himself - because although he'd asked God over and over again to help him die, God was helping the other children to make him sad instead. That's how I found out he was being bullied. At eight he asked me again - but this time the bullies were people who were "his friends" Would my son ever hurt anyone or anything? Only himself :( fortunately that happens nowhere near as much as it used to though.

Do talk to your son's teachers or someone at his school that you can trust. Younger children are kinder children - that's why he wants to play with them, and most adults WILL adore him because they're seeing the brilliant young person he is. I don't know how old he is - but try not to worry about his future too much if you can. That is hard I know because it's a scary abyss :( ... but as he gets older, he will learn some of the tricks he'll need, to fly under the radar should he wish to.

As for the way the press report on incidences like this - I am beyond fed up. :| I think it's time something was done about it... and I'm a doing kind of person.

As for the way the press report on incidences like this - I am beyond fed up. :| I think it's time something was done about it... and I'm a doing kind of person.

There are mountains of money to be made catering to the lowest common denominator. Vicious men like Rupert Murdoch consider it their divine right to have that money no matter who they hurt. I wish you well.

I do not personally know anyone with autism nor have i read any of the science books about the subject. But last year i did read an amazing book "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon. The story is about a boy with asperger's that is determined to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor's dog. The whole story is told by the boy, Christopher, so you get to see the world through his perspective. It's a marvelous book, it's funny at just the right times, heartwarming, inspiring, and of course cruel at times (because of how Christopher is treated).
I recommend the book to everyone because it's one of those books that anyone can enjoy and learn from, regardless of what genre you normally read. Just thought i'd throw that out there. Have any of you already read it?

The story is about a boy with asperger's that is determined to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor's dog.

The DSM-5 no longer lists "asperger's" but uses autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with severity based on social communication impairments and restricted repetitive patterns of behavior.

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The story is about a boy with asperger's that is determined to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbor's dog.

The DSM-5 no longer lists "asperger's" but uses autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with severity based on social communication impairments and restricted repetitive patterns of behavior.

Yeah, as i said, i'm not up on the science. That's just how it was described in the book, which was written over 10 years ago. So, the story is about a boy with ASD etc. etc.