2011

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Interview: Rupert Isaacson, author of The Horse Boy

Rupert Isaacson www.horseboymovie.com horseboyfoundation.org Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff were in crisis after their son Rowan was diagnosed with autism, because for Rowan autism meant constant distress, tantrums, and social isolation. His parents sought out the best help and therapies, but little helped ease Rowan’s dysfunctional autism symptoms until the family stumbled upon Rowan’s connection […]

When Medication Is the Right Choice

Jennifer Byde Myers www.jennyalice.com Jack is asleep in my bed right now. He wandered in while I was folding clothes; I pulled back the covers and asked if he wanted to snuggle. He’s non-verbal, but he made a happy sound I know to be yes, and from across the room he leapt in, buried his

Interview: Vaccine Expert Dr. Paul Offit

Vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit is the author of the new book Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All. We talked with Dr. Offit about realities of vaccine-preventable diseases, the importance of herd immunity, just how contagious measles really are, why you shouldn’t have chickenpox parties, why neither he nor Jenny McCarthy are

On Autonomy and Establishing Guardianship for My Adult Son

Kim Wombles http://kwomblescountering.blogspot.com/ http://www.science20.com/science_autism_spectrum_disorders My husband and I obtained guardianship of my bright boy when he was approaching 18 years old — the legal age of adulthood in the US. Bobby has a blood clotting disorder which lead to a stroke at aged nine, which left him with significant cognitive disabilities. Bobby’s certainly an adult,

In the Echo Chamber

Mark Osteen www.loyola.edu/fas/mosteen www.oneofusbook.com It’s easy to imagine that a deep silence hangs over people with autism, but nothing could be further from the truth, at least in our case. My autistic son Cameron has always been a noisy, histrionic child. He speaks most volubly with his body, and over the years we’ve learned to

Rethinking Employment Opportunities for Adults with Autism

Scott Standifer Disability Policy and Studies Office School of Health Professions University of Missouri http://dps.missouri.edu/Autism.html standifers@missouri.edu Introduction from the editors: Many of our readers are from outside the United States, or have children with autism under the age of 16, and so are not yet fully aware of some of the elements of employment and

Profound Lessons from Asperger’s Syndrome

Sam Keller www.scrappysam.com It was the night of the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at our church. As the pastor’s wife, I am generally required to attend these sorts of things with the unspoken expectation to always smile, be nice, and glow with the joy of the Lord, even if I have to, dare I say …

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An Interview with Seth Mnookin, Author of The Panic Virus

It is bizarre that claims linking vaccines to autism have persisted for more than a decade when they can be debunked by a sixty-second Google search. But, as investigative journalist Seth Mnookin explains in his new book The Panic Virus, vaccine facts can’t always compete with parent-, internet-, and media-generated vaccine beliefs. The Thinking Person’s

Autism and Mother-Blame

Amy Tuteur, MD skepticalob.blogspot.com www.askdramy.com On the surface, the old idea of the “refrigerator mother” causing autism and the new quack idea of vaccines causing autism might appear to have little in common. However, as Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick notes, they both rest on the same deeply flawed belief: it is the mother (through her emotional

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Dentistry and the Autism Spectrum

Dr. Greg Evans DDS www.biggrinswithdrgreg.com In my pediatric dental practice I like to say we treat children. And I like to pause at the end of that sentence. No qualifiers. My father, a junior high school teacher of thirty years, said it a little differently: “They are all good kids, only the time and circumstances

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