What is love? Chemically speaking, it’s a hormone called oxytocin, which is at the center of a new findings that suggests the hormone that’s present when breastfeeding mothers bond with their babies can also help autistic people with social interactions. The study, which is set to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy [...]
There is an excellent opinion piece in the February 9 edition of The New York Times arguing against my position that Asperger’s syndrome should be placed outside the autism spectrum. While it’s hard to argue with the hope that Asperger’s can serve to reduce the stigma around autism, I fear this is a naïve claim to make.
I doubt I’m alone in saying I need another tearjerker, disease-of-the-week movie like, well, a hole in the head. Good thing HBO’s recent biopic, Temple Grandin, is no such thing. Sweet, studied, and poignant, Temple Grandin isn’t about overcoming a handicap, but instead it shows us how to look at the world differently and succeed. [...]
By Melissa Feldsher Asperger’s syndrome looks a lot like autism, but it isn’t. That isn’t stopping medical experts from considering a change to a national mental illness classification guide to roll Asperger’s under autism — a move that has many people connected to Asperger’s in an uproar. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the [...]
By Melissa Feldsher One in every 100 U.S. children has an autism disorder, according to new data released on December 18, 2009 from the Autism Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. That’s approximately 1 percent of all 8-year-olds in this country. The CDC defines autism to be a [...]
On a panel with social media innovators and educators, Andy Carvin (@acarvin) moderated a discussion on the different social media channels available to students and others. Carvin is a social media strategist for NPR and the author of EdWeb: Exploring Technology & School Reform. Other panelists included Steve Hargadon, founder of the Classroom 2.0 social [...]
The 2009 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference focuses on how learning and assistive technologies can supercharge education for all students. At the start of the morning session, here are five trends that will unleash the power of assistive technology in the classroom: 1. Convergence. The transformation of a variety of devices onto a single platform or device, [...]
By Suzanne Robitaille At the upcoming 2009 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference, it’s no surprise that the agenda hinges on new and emerging technology trends. The National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI), which hosts the conference each year, was smart to include the much-anticipated topic of social media, and those attending will hear from experts such [...]
by Melissa Feldsher As the flu season gets underway, health officials have a weighty job convincing the public that the H1N1 vaccine is safe – if they can get it. Meanwhile, some parents juggle safety concerns while confronting the popular belief that mercury-laden vaccines can cause autism in children, though this myth has been widely debunked [...]
Trying on a sweater should never end in a lawsuit. Yet, that’s exactly what happened between retail giant Abercrombie & Fitch and a 14-year-old autistic customer, Molly Maxson. The Ohio-based chain of popular mall stores known for employing (and selling to) the preppy, collegiate and impeccably symmetrical was ordered to pay $115,000 for [...]
